PASADENA, Calif. — The herpes zoster vaccine, also known as the shingles vaccine, is generally safe and well tolerated according to a Vaccine Safety Datalink study of 193,083 adults published online in the Journal of Internal Medicine. More than 1 million people develop shingles every year in the United States. Shingles is a painful contagious rash caused by the dormant chickenpox virus which can reactivate and replicate, damaging the nerve system. The elderly are especially vulnerable because immunity against the virus that causes shingles declines with age. The VSD ...

The Volvo World Match Play Championship returns to the Costa del Sol next month, with many top golfers set to take part. Held at the Finca Cortesin golf course in Casares, the tournament will take place from Thursday May 17th to Sunday May 20th and should see many golf fans making the short trip down the coast from Malaga. An elite field of 24 players is set to gather for the competition, with defending champion Ian Poulter going up against the likes of 2011 British Open champion Darren Clarke and world number six Martin Kaymer. Kaymer, who lost to Luke Donald ...

San Diego, CA — "Come and get it!" A phrase historically proclaiming that the communal meal is ready, is heard all too infrequently among contemporary American households, especially as children get older. Indeed, over 40% of the typical American food budget is spent on eating out, with family meals often being relegated to holidays and special occasions. Aside from negative effects on the family budget, eating out has been shown to be generally associated with poor food choices and bad health. Of particular interest to public health experts is growing scientific evidence ...

San Diego, CA — The international obesity epidemic is widespread, nondiscriminatory, and deadly. But do we really understand all of the factors underlying this alarming trend? The concept of energy balance (energy consumed = energy expended + energy stored) is undeniable, being driven by the first law of thermodynamics. Consequently, there is no contradiction that excessive calorie intake and plummeting levels of physical activity are largely to blame for our ever-expanding waistlines. However, scientists remain baffled as to why some individuals are particularly prone ...

Rugby league fans are set to descend on the Etihad Stadium in Manchester for next month's Magic Weekend. For the first time, the home of Manchester City FC is due to host a full round of Stobart Super League fixtures over two days. The Magic Weekend will take place on Saturday May 26th and Sunday May 27th, with three matches held on the first day and four games kicking off on the second. Current league leaders Huddersfield Giants are set to take on local side Salford City Reds at 14:00 BST on May 27th, while second-placed Wigan Warriors will play St Helens at 18:00. At ...

San Diego, CA — Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable, progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting over five million people worldwide, and is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. Currently, intravenous human immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment is being explored in multiple off-label uses other than immunotherapy, including AD. Several clinical studies assessing the tolerability and efficacy of IVIG in Alzheimer's disease subjects are in progress with inconsistent outcomes. Recent studies conducted by Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, Saunders Family Chair and Professor ...

EDITOR'S PICK Vitamin D: a double-edged sword in the fight against osteoporosis? | Back to top Vitamin D is renowned for its role in creating strong bones and is a key regulator of serum calcium levels. Calcium is primarily obtained through diet and absorbed through the intestine and into the blood stream. In addition to building bone, calcium is required for a variety of important physiological processes. Vitamin D, which is detected by receptors in bone and intestinal cells, regulates the level of calcium in the blood stream and determines how much should be stored ...

An evening of haute cuisine lies in store for Bali visitors on May 21st 2012 when the St Regis Bali Resort hosts its Chateau Grand Mayne Wine Dinner. To be held at the luxury hotel's Kayuputi restaurant, the event will see guests treated to a high-calibre degustation menu prepared by a top chef, accompanied by fine wines from the Chateau Grand Mayne. Located in Bordeaux, the chateau is well known for its premium wine and is owned by producer Jean Antoine Nony, who will be in attendance at the event. Attendees will have their taste buds tantalised by delicious dishes ...

Vitamin D is renowned for its role in creating strong bones and is a key regulator of serum calcium levels. Calcium is primarily obtained through diet and absorbed through the intestine and into the blood stream. In addition to building bone, calcium is required for a variety of important physiological processes. Vitamin D, which is detected by receptors in bone and intestinal cells, regulates the level of calcium in the blood stream and determines how much should be stored in the skeleton. Several recent clinical trials have examined the effects of vitamin D supplements ...

An international team of scientists has uncovered the first evidence of a non-human species cultivating plants for use other than as food. Instead, bowerbirds propagate fruits used as decorations in their sexual displays. The researchers discovered male bowerbirds had unusually high numbers of fruit-bearing plants growing around their bowers, and used these fruits in order to attract females. Published today (24 April), in Current Biology the research was carried out by the Universities of Exeter (UK), Postdam (Germany), Deakin and Queensland (Australia). This is the ...

A rescued black female Labrador retriever recently adopted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Cokie Roberts was lost on Bradley Blvd. at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Lab Rescue of the Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac announced today. Named Katie, the 48-lb. Lab is about five years old and has a bit of gray around her muzzle (see photo). She was wearing a collar with a Lab Rescue tag attached. Katie is a recently rescued stray. She is gentle but extremely shy, so please do not try to catch or approach her. If you see her, please try to keep her in sight at a distance and ...

When it comes to adapting to climate change, diversity is the mammal's best defense. That is one of the conclusions of the first study of how mammals in North America adapted to climate change in "deep time" – a period of 56 million years beginning with the Eocene and ending 12,000 years ago with the terminal Pleistocene extinction when mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, giant sloths and most of the other "megafauna" on the continent disappeared. "Before we can predict how mammals will respond to climate change in the future, we need to understand how they responded to ...

Taipei visitors will be able to see a production of classic farce The Importance of Being Earnest from May 24th to 27th 2012. To be staged at the National Theater Concert Hall, the show is one of legendary Irish author and wit Oscar Wilde's most famous works, offering a sharp and hilarious dissection of social etiquette. It follows two Victorian gentlemen who gain advantages in their social lives by maintaining false identities as "Ernest", only for two women to upend their comfortable existences by falling in love with their carefully constructed fake personas. Since ...

Cognitive decline is a pressing global health care issue. Worldwide, one case of dementia is detected every seven seconds. Mild cognitive impairment is a well recognized risk factor for dementia, and represents a critical window of opportunity for intervening and altering the trajectory of cognitive decline in seniors. A new study by researchers at the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia shows that implementing a seniors' exercise program, specifically one using resistance-training, can alter the trajectory ...

According to a new study, the neuron-killing pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which begins before clinical symptoms appear, requires the presence of both amyloid-beta (a-beta) plaque deposits and elevated levels of an altered protein called p-tau. Without both, progressive clinical decline associated with AD in cognitively healthy older individuals is "not significantly different from zero," reports a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the April 23 online issue of the Archives of Neurology. "I think this is the ...

CHICAGO – A study that examined the relationship between two cerebrospinal fluid proteins associated with Alzheimer disease in clinically and cognitively normal older patients suggests that amyloid-β (Αβ)-associated clinical decline was linked to the presence of elevated phospho-tau (p-tau), according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA Network publication. Identifying clinically normal older individuals destined to develop Alzheimer disease (AD) is increasingly important as therapeutic interventions to prevent dementia are ...

CHICAGO – An analysis of individual data from prospective studies assessing the risks of thyroid dysfunction suggests that subclinical hyperthyroidism may be associated with increased risk of total mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD) death and incident atrial fibrillation (AF), although the risk of CHD mortality and AF is higher when thyrotropin levels are below 0.10 mIU/L, according to a report published Online First in Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Subclinical hyperthyroidism is defined by low thyrotropin levels with normal concentrations ...

CHICAGO – Treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism with the medication levothyroxine appears to be related to fewer ischemic heart disease events in younger patients but this finding was not evident in older patients, according to a report published Online First in Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is defined as an elevated serum thyrotropin level in the presence of normal thyroid hormone concentrations. The condition is relatively common and often asymptomatic, although recent meta-analyses have suggested that ...

Slotland has had two major jackpot winners in the last few weeks. Since there'd just been a massive $180,000 jackpot win, last week's $68K winner was hardly expecting Slotland's progressive jackpot to pay out again so soon. "On average, we've always gone six to eight weeks between big jackpot winners," said Slotland manager Michael Hilary. "None of us, least of all the winner, thought there'd be another jackpot win already!" First Alice M, known as SCRAPPIER at Slotland, won the progressive jackpot at $180,717. It was re-set to $50,000 and just ...

Scientists have discovered multiple gene switches in Salmonella that offer new ways to curb human infection. The discovery of the mechanisms of gene regulation could lead to the development of antibiotics to reduce the levels of disease caused by Salmonella. The breakthrough was made by Professor Jay Hinton, Stokes Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis, Trinity College Dublin and his research team* and has just been published in the leading journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Science Foundation Ireland funded the research. Salmonella causes ...

Since the 1930s, there have been 75 documented episodes of malaria resurgence worldwide, most of which were linked to weakening of malaria control programs, finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Malaria Journal. The study, which is allied to the theme of this year's World Malaria Day (25th April 2012) "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria", found that the most common reason for weakening of malaria control programs was funding disruptions. There are over 200 million cases of malaria each year with 85% of all cases being children ...

Seattle, April 24, 2012— Rotavirus vaccines offer the best hope for preventing severe rotavirus disease and the deadly dehydrating diarrhea that it causes, particularly in low-resource settings where treatment for rotavirus infection is limited or unavailable, according to studies published in the April 2012 special supplement to the journal Vaccine. The special supplement, "Rotavirus Vaccines for Children in Developing Countries," summarizes data on the performance of rotavirus vaccines to help maximize their impact in developing countries and adds to the growing body ...

History Associates Incorporated has been contracted by The U.S. Maritime Administration to inventory and catalog all if its heritage assets at the campus of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in Kings Point, NY. "The merchant marine is an important part of our country's heritage," noted History Associates president Brian Martin. "We are honored to be selected to help capture and preserve this important legacy for the benefit of the public, the academy, and generations to come." Professional collections managers from History Associates ...

Lake Bonney in Antarctica is perennially covered in ice. It is exposed to severe environmental stresses, including minimal nutrients, low temperatures, extreme shade, and, during the winter, 24-hour darkness. But, for the single-celled organisms that live there, the lake is home. To study them, Dr. Rachel Morgan-Kiss from the University of Miami, Ohio, and her team went to Antarctica to sample the ice-covered lake. The article describing her method will be published April 20, in the JoVE (the Journal of Visualized Experiments). "Our laboratory has a focus on understanding ...

For 300 million years, they were the ultimate survivors. They successfully negotiated three mass extinctions, only to die out eventually at the end of the Cretaceous along with the dinosaurs: Ammonoids, or ammonites as they are also known, were marine cephalopods believed to be related to today's squid and nautiloids. Ammonoids changed their reproductive strategy early on in the course of evolution. However, what was once a successful initial strategy may well have proved to be a fatal boomerang at the end of the Cretaceous, as an international team of researchers headed ...