Researchers have shown that the Trypanosoma cruzi agent of Chagas Disease (CD) invades host embryo cells and spreads its mitochondrial DNA (kDNA) minicircles into the host's genome. Dr. Antonio Teixeira and associates at the University of Brasília, Brazil, inoculated virulent typanosomes in fertile chicken eggs and documented the heritability and fixation of the kDNA mutations in the chicks and their progeny. The results, published in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases on March 29th, show that kDNA-mutated chickens undergo genotype alterations, developing ...

Genetic mutations that lead to antiretroviral (the drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS) resistance in HIV-infected infants may develop as a result of exposure to low doses of maternal antiretroviral drugs via breastfeeding rather than being acquired directly from the mother. This key finding from a study by Clement Zeh from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kisumu, Kenya, and colleagues, published in this week's PLoS Medicine, is important as it may impact the choice of drug regimen given to HIV-infected breastfeeding mothers and their infected infants—an effective ...

Two articles in this week's PLoS Medicine discuss the issues that need to be resolved to ensure that open access can provide for global information needs, and not just those of the developed world. Leslie Chan, Barbara Kirsop, and Subbiah Arunachalam from the Electronic Publishing Trust for Development argue that access and distribution of public knowledge is currently governed by Northern standards, a situation that is increasingly inappropriate in what they call the "age of the networked Invisible College." Taking as a starting point that open access is sustainable ...

BOSTON--By "distracting" cancer proteins from their usual activity, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital have caused cells in a rare, lethal form of cancer to begin behaving like normal cells -- one of the longest-standing, and most rarely achieved, goals of cancer research. The study's findings are published online by the journal Cancer Research and will appear later in a print issue. When the approach was tested in a child with an advanced case of the malignancy, known as NUT midline carcinoma (NMC), it slowed the course of the ...

Elderly patients with heart failure who need skilled nursing care after hospital discharge are often sicker, at higher risk for poor outcomes and are more likely than other patients to die or be rehospitalized within one year, according to research reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal. "Patients hospitalized with heart failure are high risk to start with," said Larry A. Allen, M.D., M.H.S., lead author of the study and assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Colorado-Denver School of Medicine in Aurora. "If they ...

(PORTLAND, Ore.) March 29, 2011— If you want to increase your chances of losing weight, reduce your stress level and get adequate sleep. A new Kaiser Permanente study found that people trying to lose at least 10 pounds were more likely to reach that goal if they had lower stress levels and slept more than six hours but not more than eight hours a night. The paper, published today in the International Journal of Obesity, was the result of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Nearly 500 participants ...

A major UK study on complications of anaesthesia has shown that obese patients are twice as likely to develop serious airway problems during a general anaesthetic than non-obese patients. 'The airway' means the air passages from the outside world to the lungs, which must be kept open to keep the patient alive. The study also shows that the use of a simple breathing monitor, called a capnograph, could significantly reduce deaths and brain damage from such problems in intensive care units (ICUs); it found that absence of a capnograph contributed to 74% of deaths from these ...

BOSTON – March 29, 2011 – Over time, diabetes can wreak havoc on the body's eyes, cardiovascular system, kidneys and nerves. A major study by Joslin Diabetes Center researchers, however, has found that some people who have survived diabetes for many decades exhibit remarkably few complications—a discovery that points toward the presence of protective factors that guard against the disease's effects. The scientists studied 351 participants in the Joslin 50-Year Medalist study, which examines people who have lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years or more. Among this population, ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., - Gliomas are brain invaders. A kind of malignant tumor cell, gliomas branch out like tendrils from a central tumor source, spreading cancer throughout the brain. Traditional therapies, such as cutting out the tumor surgically, can be ineffective if the cells have already spread. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham may have come upon a way to stop a glioma invasion in its tracks, using a drug already approved for use in Europe. Much like early explorers of the Old West followed rivers and streams, depending on them to provide drinking ...

Mothers who were maltreated as children have increased risk for giving birth to low birth weight babies. The findings, by researchers at the University of Washington, are the first to show that maternal maltreatment can affect the health of offspring. The study also finds that childhood poverty and substance use during adolescence and pregnancy contribute to low birth weight, which is linked to infant mortality and chronic health problems. "Our findings suggest that a mother's economic position in childhood and her experience of maltreatment during childhood have implications ...

"Third-hand smoke" stuck to skin or clothing is responsible for the high nicotine levels seen in babies who share a bedroom with their smoker parents. This is the conclusion of a study carried out in Catalonia, which also shows that ventilating bedrooms is not effective in reducing the levels of toxins from passive smoking. "Passive smoking is the leading preventable cause of childhood death in developed countries", Guadalupe Ortega, lead author of the research study and coordinator of the Atenció Primària Sense Fum programme at the Department of Health of the Generalitat ...

MedWOW.com, the multilingual, global online marketplace for medical equipment, announces the launch of their upgraded sales leads program. All of the business leads generated are pre-qualified, registered buyers, looking for services and devices the merchants are offering. More than 10,500 medical equipment professionals visit the MedWOW site daily and transactions occur quickly and on a regular basis, so leads are kept fresh and current. When purchasing leads credits, dealers now have the option of choosing money-saving discounted packages. The larger the package of ...

Doctors who used a free iPhone application provided by the UK Resuscitation Council performed significantly better in a simulated medical emergency than those who did not, according to a study in the April issue of Anaesthesia. "Every year approximately 30,000 people in the UK have an unexpected cardiac arrest in hospital and, despite significant advances in resuscitation research, survival rates for adults suffering a cardiac arrest remain poor" says Dr Daniel Low, the consultant anaesthetist who developed the application. "More than 60,000 free copies of the iResus ...

Insects using vibration to attract a mate are at risk of being eaten alive by killer spiders, Cardiff University scientists have discovered. Studying spider behaviour experts from Cardiff University's School of Biosciences found that the vibrations used by leafhoppers and many other insects to attract a mate can be intercepted and used by predatory spiders to identify their prey. Predators are already known to exploit the sight, sound and smell communications of their prey – but this is the first time that scientists believe they have discovered predators such as ...

This release is available in French and Spanish. Women with osteoporosis in their hip suffer menopause two years earlier than healthy women, a study conducted at the University of Granada says. Additionally, although further study is required, researchers have found at least three genetic markers associated with osteoporosis in the hip in postmenopausal women. Osteoporosis in the hip increases the risk of suffering fractures, which is extremely disabling for the patient, and represents a high cost for the health public system. The aim of this research study developed ...

A two-month old new service - www.worldwideprojectfinance.com - aimed at business owners looking for development funding for medium to large scale projects, has already helped several companies on their way to potentially securing corporate finance. This service - which offers a range of worldwide corporate funding options from $5m - can help businesses potentially benefit from the availability of 100% funding for worldwide projects and with a few limitations. In just the first two months of business they have already helping the following projects access potential ...

American Brick Company (Ambrico), creators of the popular E-Z Wall thin brick installation system and providers of high quality brick products and services, are excited to announce a new partnership with Hanson Brick. This latest partnership brings the highly valued Hanson VersaThin thin brick products directly to Ambrico customers. Specializing in high quality clay brick and thin brick products, Ambrico is thrilled to have Hanson VersaThin on their team. Hanson Brick, North America's largest brick manufacturer, has a total capacity of more than 1.7 billion bricks. ...

Philadelphia, PA, 29 March, 2011 – The Canadian Cardiovascular Society and Canadian Heart Rhythm Society have produced the first-ever comprehensive guidelines on the use of genetic testing in the clinical management of inherited heart rhythm disorders, released in the March/April issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology (http://www.onlinecjc.ca/) published by Elsevier. The guidelines, entitled "Recommendations for the Use of Genetic Testing in the Clinical Evaluation of Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmias Associated with Sudden Cardiac Death," were chaired by Dr. Michael Gollob ...

Spanish researchers have found that liver transplant recipients who quit smoking have a lower incidence of smoking-related malignancies (SRM) than patients who keep smoking. In fact, SRMs were identified in 13.5% of deceased patients and smoking was associated with a higher risk of malignancy in this study. Full findings are published in the April issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. While smoking is a well-known malignancy risk factor both in the general population and in liver transplant recipients, smoking ...

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), jointly with colleagues in the United States, have found out that inflammations of the heart muscle are caused by attacks of a specific type of immune cells. These immune cells attack the body's own tissue because during their maturation they did not have the chance to develop tolerance against a protein that is only found in the heart muscle. An inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis, frequently precedes a dangerous and often fatal heart enlargement. In many cases, the ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn, March 29, 2011 – New clues about plant structure are helping researchers from the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center narrow down a large collection of poplar tree candidates and identify winners for future use in biofuel production. Led by Charles Wyman of the Bourns College of Engineering's Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the University of California, Riverside, a research team from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and UCR determined that the amount and composition of lignin in ...

Following LASIK eye surgery, some patients may notice a temporary decrease in night vision, with symptoms including halos, starbursts, and glare. Caused by the swelling of the cornea, these effects typically subside over time. In some cases, decreased night vision only lasts a few days; for other patients, it can take months for it to fade entirely. Following-up with your LASIK surgeon will help ensure that any problems are carefully monitored and addressed, if necessary. When night vision problems continue past the usual LASIK recovery period, they are usually due ...

In the aftermath of the attack on the Twin Towers, government officials assured recovery workers that the air around Ground Zero was safe to breathe. A mere five years later they were proven wrong when the first public worker died due to toxic chemicals exposure from the World Trade Center debris. How It All Began: The History of the Zadroga Act In January 2006, NYPD Detective James Zadroga, who had spent hundreds of hours working in the rubble at Ground Zero as part of the 9/11 recovery efforts, died of respiratory failure linked to exposure from the toxic dust. According ...

This release is available in German. What part does the thyroid gland have in vision? Thyroid hormone is crucially involved in controlling which visual pigment is produced in the cones. Previously, it was assumed that the colour sensitivity of the cones is fixed in the adult retina. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt/M., together with colleagues at the University of Frankfurt and universities in Vienna, have now been able to show that in mature cones of mice and rats the production of visual pigment is regulated by thyroid hormone. ...

Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel Scottsboro offers nearby lodging to travelers attending Spring Carnival in Scottsboro, AL. The annual event will take place from April 12-16, 2011 at the Veterans Park Fairgrounds. A fun activity for visitors to Scottsboro, Spring Carnival includes midway attractions rides, games, and entertainment. "Spring Carnival is an exciting event the entire family can enjoy. Our affordably priced property is located within minutes Jackson County Veterans Fairgrounds, making us the perfect choice for local lodging," share Nova Sisk, Hampton Inn & Suites ...