In this week's PLoS Medicine, the Editors argue that drug companies should be held much more accountable for their human rights responsibilities to make medicines available and accessible to those in need. Despite decades of advocacy on the part of the access to medicines movement, and human rights guidelines developed in 2008 for pharmaceutical companies that make clear that their responsibilities go beyond stakeholder value to encompass human rights, there is inadequate accountability, say the Editors. "At the same time that the 825 billion dollar global pharmaceutical ...

Whither pandemic H1N1 virus? In a new commentary, scientists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, review the fates of previous pandemic influenza viruses in the years following a pandemic and speculate on possible future courses for the 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) virus during the upcoming flu season and beyond. The authors estimate that at least 183 million Americans (about 59 percent of the total U.S. population) have some immunity to pH1N1 because they were exposed to related viruses or vaccines ...

Average C-reactive protein (CRP) values vary in diverse populations — possibly impacting how doctors estimate cardiovascular risk and determine statin treatment, according to a new study in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, a journal of the American Heart Association. CRP is a marker of inflammation, and high levels of it in the blood have been associated with a higher risk for heart disease. But it's uncertain if the association is causal. Statins are a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that reduce heart risk and CRP. Researchers aren't certain if CRP-lowering contributes ...

DURHAM, N.C. – The yellow monkeyflower, an unassuming little plant that lives as both a perennial on the foggy coasts of the Pacific Northwest and a dry-land annual hundreds of miles inland, harbors a significant clue about evolution. Duke graduate student and native northern Californian David Lowry had become interested in how a single species could live such different lifestyles. He set out to find a gene or genes that would account for the monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus) being a lush, moisture-loving, salt-tolerant perennial on the coast, but a shorter, faster-flowering, ...

Healthy people who caught swine flu during the 2009 pandemic may have been protected against developing radiographically (x-ray) confirmed pneumonia by taking the antiviral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), concludes a study of cases in China published on bmj.com today. The researchers also show that oseltamivir treatment was associated with shorter duration of fever and viral RNA shedding (the period when a virus is contagious), although they stress that their findings should be interpreted with caution. In 2009, pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus spread rapidly, resulting ...

DETROIT – The old saying, "never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear," couldn't be truer for a patient who experienced vertigo and severe hearing loss after a cotton swab perforated her eardrum and damaged her inner ear. But what makes this patient's case unique is that otolaryngologists at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit were not only able to alleviate her vertigo with surgery, but restore her hearing – an extremely rare occurrence. "This case is rare because the goal of surgery is not to recover hearing, but to improve vertigo," says case report lead ...

Playing white noise in class can help inattentive children learn. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions tested the effect of the meaningless random noise on a group of 51 schoolchildren, finding that although it hindered the ability of those who normally pay attention, it improved the memory of those that had difficulties in paying attention. Göran Söderlund from Stockholm University, Sweden, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the experiments at a secondary school in Norway. He said, "There was significant ...

Intrauterine devices, originally developed as contraceptives, can also be used to treat and cure cancer of the endometrium according to new research published online in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology [1] today (Wednesday 29 September). The finding opens the way for young women with the disease, which affects the lining of the womb, to be treated without the need for a hysterectomy, thus preserving their fertility until they have had all the children they want. Endometrial cancer is the sixth most common cancer in women worldwide. In 2008 there were an estimated ...

In mice, early weaning and separation from their mothers promotes long-lasting hyperactivity and anxiety . Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience describe the development of this new behavioral model, which they hope to use to investigate the long-term effects of early childhood neglect in people. Arthur Simen and a team of researchers from Yale University School of Medicine, USA, tested their 'Maternal separation with early weaning' (MSEW) model in a group of 80 male mice. He said, "Childhood adversity, in the form of abuse and neglect, is prevalent ...

The protein could provide a target to develop new treatments for the disease or enable earlier diagnosis, say the researchers from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all cancers due to its lack of symptoms in the early stages, late diagnosis and its resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The research – funded by the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund – found that nearly three quarters of pancreatic cancer tumours had high levels of a protein known as P110γ. In laboratory experiments, when ...

BOSTON, Mass. (September 29, 2010) — Crowdsourcing, the act of contracting out problems to large groups rather than tapping individual experts, has solved puzzles in fields such as marketing, engineering and computer software. But can the wisdom of crowds help cure disease? A large, multidisciplinary panel has recently selected 12 pioneering ideas for attacking Type 1 Diabetes, ideas selected through a crowdsourcing experiment called the Challenge in which all members of the Harvard community, as well as members of the general public, were invited to answer the question: ...

A global analysis of extinction risk for the world's plants, conducted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew together with the Natural History Museum, London and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has revealed that the world's plants are as threatened as mammals, with one in five of the world's plant species threatened with extinction. The study is a major baseline for plant conservation and is the first time that the true extent of the threat to the world's estimated 380,000 plant species is known, announced as governments are to meet in Nagoya, ...

In the last decade, researchers have found evidence that experiences can alter the form and structure of DNA, an effect known as epigenetics. Because these changes affect genes, events early in life have the potential to make a lasting impact on behavior and health. Recent studies focused on cancer and obesity have already shown the power of epigenetics. In a study led by Tie-Yuan Zhang, PhD, of McGill University, researchers investigated whether these changes might apply to the activity of genes in brain regions that control neural function and mental health. The authors ...

A research team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine has identified the mechanism behind a single gene linked to the causes of both Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes. The data show that a gene for a protein called SorCS1, which can cause Type 2 diabetes, impacts the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) in the brain. Abeta plays a key role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. The study is published in the September 29th issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, the Mount Sinai Professor in Alzheimer's Disease Research, Professor of Neurology ...

You may not think of the fizz in soda as spicy, but your body does. The carbon dioxide in fizzy drinks sets off the same pain sensors in the nasal cavity as mustard and horseradish, though at a lower intensity, according to new research from the University of Southern California. "Carbonation evokes two distinct sensations. It makes things sour and it also makes them burn. We have all felt that noxious tingling sensation when soda goes down your throat too fast," said Emily Liman, senior author of a study published online in the Journal of Neuroscience. That burning ...

Researchers from the University of Seville (US) have detected active pharmaceutical substances for the first time in the waters of the Doñana National Park and its surrounding areas. The results suggest eco-toxicological risks for aquatic organisms. The scientists recommend that advanced technologies should be used to treat urban waste water in order to remove these compounds. Five anti-inflammatory drugs (diclofenac, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, naproxen and salicylic acid), a nervous system stimulant (caffeine), two antibiotics (sulfametoxazol and trimethoprim), two lipid ...

Scientists from the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, in collaboration with colleagues from several developing countries, were able to restore a sleeping sickness parasite's susceptibility to drugs. The parasite causes sleeping sickness in cattle. Because it has become resistant against all currently available drugs, it causes enormous economic losses. Until now, that is. Not only people suffer from sleeping sickness. Trypanosoma congolense, a nephew of the human parasite, infects livestock. Millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa depend on their livestock. Nagana, ...

Scientists in Australia and Hong Kong have conducted a comprehensive study to discover how different body measurements correspond with ratings of female attractiveness. The study, published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, found that across cultural divides young, tall and long armed women were considered the most attractive. "Physical attractiveness is an important determining factor for evolutionary, social and economic success," said lead author Robert Brooks from the University of New South Wales. "The dimensions of someone's body can tell observers if that ...

Anyone who simply denies the facts is most certainly behaving unreasonably – aren't they? Bochum's philosophers Prof. Dr. Albert Newen and Christoph Michel expound that in some cases it may be useful to deceive yourself. The self-deception can be an important motivating factor and not entirely lacking reason. The reason may be locally restricted, however basic strategies of rational evaluation processes remain intact. The researchers have published their work in the international specialist journal Consciousness & Cognition. Become as good as you think you are Self-deception ...

A black, two-millimeter-long wasp from East Africa is helping wage war on one of its own kind—the Erythrina gall wasp, an invasive species that's decimated Hawaii's endemic wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) and introduced coral bean trees (Erythrina spp.). Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) officials "recruited" the beneficial wasp, Eurytoma erythrinae, and first released it in November 2008 after evaluating its host specificity as a biocontrol agent. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist Michael Gates' scientific description and naming of the species, ...

Amsterdam, 28 September, 2010 – Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today released highlights from a new survey that reveals researchers around the globe are not only ready for the next phase in search and discovery, but also prepared to actively contribute to making it a reality. In developing SciVerse, Elsevier's recently launched search and discovery platform, the company conducted a significant amount of research within the scientific community. Building on earlier qualitative work, the online ...

Montreal, September 28, 2010 – The consumption of drugs and alcohol by teenagers is not just about rebellion or emotional troubles. It's about being one of the cool kids, according to a study by led by researchers at the Université de Montréal. "Our study highlights a correlation between popularity and consumption," says Jean-Sébastien Fallu, lead researcher and professor at the Université de Montréal's School of Psychoeducation. "The teenagers we studied were well-accepted, very sensitive to social codes, and understood the compromises that it takes to be popular." Link ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a "tipping point" for national debt – the point at which national debt levels begin to have an adverse effect on economic growth. The findings could influence economic policy discussions globally, and will be distributed at the upcoming meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group. "If a country's public debt reaches 77 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), bad things start to happen," says Dr. Mehmet Caner, professor of economics at NC State and co-author of the study. "There ...

September 28, 2010 (Geneva, Switzerland) – At the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) summit in New York this week, world leaders gathered to review progress on the eight goals agreed in 2000 on alleviating world poverty and ill-health by 2015. As the summit came to a close, governments, businesses and aid organisations made commitments totaling $40bn to reach the goals, with particular emphasis on improving maternal and child health. A global strategy for women's and children's health, focused on reducing maternal and child deaths, empowering women and achieving equality, ...

Amyloid protein structures are best known for the troubles they pose in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Now researchers are trying to exploit their presence in a very different place – in semen – to find a new way to stop HIV. Scientists have created a substance that targets amyloid structures in semen and have used it to weaken the ability of HIV to infect the body's immune cells in the laboratory. The experimental compound, originally designed to help Alzheimer's patients by disrupting the actions of amyloid in the brain, make it much more likely that HIV particles ...