A study led by Hans Verhoef, a researcher at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and published in this week's PLoS Medicine shows that supplementing young Tanzanian children with zinc —either alone or in combination with other multi-nutrients — does not protect against malaria. Zinc helps to maintain a healthy immune system, and previous studies had shown a benefit of zinc in reducing diarrhea. Most African children are deficient in zinc, and in this study the authors wanted to investigate a possible role ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Mona Loutfy of the University of Toronto, Canada and colleagues report their study examining experiences of stigma and coping strategies among HIV-positive women in Ontario, Canada. Using focus groups, the researchers found that women attributed their experiences of stigma and discrimination to HIV-related stigma, sexism and gender discrimination, racism, homophobia and transphobia, and involvement in sex work. The coping strategies they used included resilience (at a micro level), social networks and support groups (at a meso level), and challenging ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine Taghi Yasamy from the WHO, Geneva, Switzerland and colleagues identify challenges facing good mental health research governance in low- and middle-income countries and provide suggestions for a way forward. The authors recognize the need to establish the general orientation of mental health research to deal with problems such as organizational structure, research prioritization and relatively limited capacity and resources, and to balance expensive research with assessment of services and resources using low-cost methods. The authors state: ...

In the 19th century, Francis Galton noted that certain people who were otherwise normal "saw" every number or letter tinged with a particular color, even though it was written in black ink. For the past two decades researchers have been studying this phenomenon, which is called synesthesia. In an "Unsolved Mystery" article and accompanying podcast to be published November 22 in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology, David Brang and VS Ramachandran strive to bring synesthesia into the broader fold of biology and to the scientific study of the arts through understanding ...

How does awareness influence information processing during decision making in the human brain? A new study led by Floris de Lange of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University Nijmegen, offers new insight into this question, and is published November 22 in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology. When making a decision, we gather evidence for the different options and ultimately choose on the basis of the accumulated evidence. A fundamental question is whether and how conscious awareness of the evidence changes this decision-making ...

DURHAM, N.C.— Surgery significantly improves short- and long-term outcomes in patients with heart failure caused by a bacterial infection known as endocarditis, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. "About 60 percent of patients with heart failure in endocarditis undergo surgery during initial hospitalization," says Duke cardiologist Andrew Wang, M.D., senior author of the study which appears today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He believes that percentage should be higher. American College of Cardiology guidelines strongly recommend ...

For persons with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, urinary sodium excretion (a surrogate for salt intake) at higher levels or at lower levels compared to mid-range values was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events (for higher levels) or cardiovascular death and hospitalization for congestive heart failure (for lower levels), according to a study in the November 23/30 issue of JAMA. Also, higher estimated urinary potassium excretion was associated with a reduced risk of stroke. There is uncertainty regarding the optimal daily intake of sodium. Findings ...

CHICAGO – Among patients with infective endocarditis (an infection of the heart lining which may involve the heart valves) and heart failure, about two-thirds undergo valvular surgery, which is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death in the hospital and at one year, according to a study in the November 23/30 issue of JAMA. "Infective endocarditis is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Several published studies have reported in-hospital mortality of 15 percent to 20 percent and l-year mortality of 40 percent. In the United States ...

Repeatedly taking slightly too much paracetamol over time can cause a dangerous overdose that is difficult to spot, but puts the person at danger of dying. Patients may not come to hospital reporting the overdose, but because they feel unwell. This clinical situation needs to be recognized and treated rapidly because these patients are at even greater danger than people who take single overdoses. These so-called staggered overdoses can occur when people have pain and repeatedly take a little more paracetamol than they should. "They haven't taken the sort of single-moment, ...

Chapel Hill, NC – Researchers from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are part of a team that has identified a protein, called P-Rex1, that is key to the movement of cells called melanoblasts. When these cells experience uncontrolled growth, melanoma develops. Melanoma is one of the only forms of cancer that is still on the rise and is one of the most common forms of cancer in young adults. The incidence of melanoma in women under age 30 has increased more than 50 percent since 1980. Metastases are the major cause of death from melanoma. The team found that ...

OAKLAND, Calif., November 22, 2011 – HIV-infected patients are at increased risk for cancer as a result of both their impaired immune system and lifestyle factors, such as smoking, according to researchers at Kaiser Permanente. The study, which appears in the current issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, is among the first to directly compare the risk of cancer in HIV-infected patients with a comparison group without HIV infection, while accounting for major cancer risk factors. Of the 10 cancer types studied, six were more common in HIV patients, ...

A new study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that a group of volunteers who consumed a serving of canned soup each day for five days had a more than 1,000% increase in urinary bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations compared with when the same individuals consumed fresh soup daily for five days. The study is one of the first to quantify BPA levels in humans after ingestion of canned foods. The findings were published online November 22, 2011, in the Journal of the Medical Association (JAMA) and will appear in the November 23/30 print issue. "Previous ...

(Boston) – Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have, for the first time, identified an intracellular signaling enzyme that regulates the wake-sleep cycle, which could help lead to the development of more effective sleep aid medications. Subimal Datta, PhD, director and principle investigator at the Laboratory of Sleep and Cognitive Neuroscience at BUSM, led the study, which points to a specific enzyme inside neurons in the brain that trigger an important shift in consciousness from sleep to wakefulness and wakefulness to sleep. The results will ...

Madison, Wis. — Images of prisoners' brains show important differences between those who are diagnosed as psychopaths and those who aren't, according to a new study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers. The results could help explain the callous and impulsive anti-social behavior exhibited by some psychopaths. The study showed that psychopaths have reduced connections between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), the part of the brain responsible for sentiments such as empathy and guilt, and the amygdala, which mediates fear and anxiety. Two types ...

Hamilton, ON (Nov. 22, 2011) – For years doctors have warned that too much salt is bad for your heart. Now a new McMaster University study suggests that both high and low levels of salt intake may put people with heart disease or diabetes at increased risk of cardiovascular complications. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) today, found that moderate salt intake was associated with the lowest risk of cardiovascular events, while a higher intake of sodium was associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and other ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The U.S. government could save the economy hundreds of billions of dollars per year by 2050 by spending a few billion dollars more a year to spur innovations in energy technology, according to a new report by researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School. Achieving major cuts in carbon emissions in the process will also require policies that put a substantial price on carbon or set clean energy standards, the researchers find. The report is the result of a three-year project to develop a set of actionable recommendations to achieve "a revolution in energy ...

DALLAS -- A research team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists has identified an atypical metabolic pathway unique to some tumors, possibly providing a future target for drugs that could reduce or halt the spread of cancer. Dr. Ralph DeBerardinis, senior author of the study published Nov. 20 in Nature, likened the newly discovered pathway to traffic that is rerouted during a highway construction project. "If we hone in on this reverse pathway, then we may be able to prevent the growth of certain types of cancer," said Dr. DeBerardinis, assistant professor ...

The structural mechanism of typical mortise–tenon joints of southern Chinese traditional timber frame buildings was investigated. The investigation provides a scientific basis for the repair of these ancient buildings. The research was published in SCIENCE CHINA Technological Sciences.2011, Vol 54(7). The timber members of Chinese traditional timber buildings are connected with mortise–tenon joints, which are the core technology of Chinese and East Asian traditional timber buildings. Scientific knowledge of mortise–tenon joints is the key to understanding the structural ...

A magnetic force microscope (MFM) can determine the distribution of stray fields at a level of tens of nanometers near the surface of magnetic films, and therefore is an effective tool for observing the domain structures in magnetic grains of submicrometer size. At present, the coercivity of normal MFM cantilevers is about 0.3 kOe. Being affected by the magnetism of the measured material, the stability of these cantilevers is unsatisfactory. By applying a FePt layer, the coercivity can reach ~10 kOe. However, the accompanying high-temperature (over 750°C) annealing spoils ...

MyDish, the UK based recipe community site, has been witnessing this trend firsthand and is all for this UK resurgence. After all, Thanksgiving is not just about the first American pilgrims, historically, it marked the end of the year's harvest and was a celebration of thanks for the year's crops. People across the UK have cottoned on to this fact and more and more are deciding to give 'thanks' too. Whether it is an indication of Britain becoming further Americanised or the UK exercising their right to get their hands on their favourite roast chicken recipes it is not ...

The results of a recent study by the University of Santiago de Compostela on Kentish Plover eggs has shown that there was a unexpected increase in hydrocarbon levels along the coast of Galicia five years after the Prestige oil spill. Worsened in previous years by works to remove the wreck, pollution levels began to rise again in the summer of 2006 along with numerous forest fires. On 19th November 2002 the oil tanker Prestige sank off the coast of Galicia and spilled 63,000 tonnes of fuel oil into the sea, which reached coasts from the north of Portugal to France. The ...

Britain's leading online parcel delivery specialist Parcel2Go has reminded shoppers looking for great deals on their Christmas presents this year to remember to capitalise on Black Friday on November 25. The annual event, which marks the start of the Christmas shopping rush in America, is designed to inspire US consumers and get the tills ringing at the start of the festive season. But thanks to the internet, next week's shopping bonanza won't be restricted to people living in the United States. Amazon UK is one retailer that is joining in to bring British shoppers ...

Children who started eating fish before nine months of age are less likely to suffer from pre-school wheeze, but face a higher risk if they were treated with broad spectrum antibiotics in the first week of life or their mother took paracetamol during pregnancy. Those are the key findings from a large-scale Swedish study published in the December issue of Acta Paediatrica. Researchers analysed responses from 4,171 randomly selected families, who answered questions when their child was six months, 12 months and four-and-a-half years of age. "Recurrent wheeze is a very ...

Researchers at King's College London have discovered how one of the most common household painkillers works, which could pave the way for less harmful pain relief medications to be developed in the future. Paracetamol, often known in the US and Asia as acetaminophen, is a widely-used analgesic (painkiller) and the main ingredient in everyday medications such as cold and flu remedies. Although discovered in the 1890s and marketed as a painkiller since the 1950s, exactly how it relieves pain was unknown. This study, funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) ...

Amsterdam -- "Would legal regulation and control of drugs better protect children?" is a question posed by former President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso in an editorial to be published in the January issue of Elsevier's International Journal of Drug Policy (IJDP). The editorial, "Children and drug law reform" follows the March 2011 report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, chaired by Cardoso, which made a series of recommendations for reforms of drug laws, including experiments with legal regulation and control. "If we believe that the best interests ...