Taking oral antiviral medications following infection with the herpes simplex virus may be associated with a reduced risk of recurring eye-related manifestations of the disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a common cause of corneal disease and is the leading infectious cause of corneal blindness among developed nations," the authors write as background information in the article. After the initial exposure to the virus and the resulting systemic infection, ...

STANFORD, Calif. - Repeated use of an antibiotic that is considered generally benign, because users seldom incur obvious side effects, induces cumulative and persistent changes in the composition of the beneficial microbial species inhabiting the human gut, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found. By a conservative estimate, something like 1,000 different varieties of microbes coexist harmoniously within a typical healthy person's gut, said David Relman, MD, professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at the medical school and ...

Unlike adults, children are able to keep information from their senses separate and may therefore perceive the visual world differently, according to research published today. Scientists at UCL (University College London) and Birkbeck, University of London have found that children younger than 12 do not combine different sensory information to make sense of the world as adults do. This does not only apply to combining different senses, such as vision and sound, but also to the different information the brain receives when looking at a scene with one eye compared to both ...

In work suggesting a new approach to treating polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a leading cause of kidney failure, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston were able to block the formation of fluid-filled cysts, the hallmark of the disease, in a mouse model. Their findings, using a compound that inhibits a receptor known as c-Met, will be published in the September 13th online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. PKD is the most common fatal genetic disease affecting Caucasians in the U.S. Currently, there is no approved treatment to halt cyst growth, which ...

Cognitive scientists from the University of Rochester have discovered that playing action video games trains people to make the right decisions faster. The researchers found that video game players develop a heightened sensitivity to what is going on around them, and this benefit doesn't just make them better at playing video games, but improves a wide variety of general skills that can help with everyday activities like multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd, and navigating around town. In an upcoming study in the journal Current ...

(New York, NY) Nearly half the surgeons who made at least $1 million in payments from orthopedic device companies did not have that relationship published in their scientific articles, according to a study released today in the on-line edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study shows that readers are not being adequately informed about conflicts of interest even when the funds involved are significant. The study, conducted by researchers at the New York-based Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP), is the first of its kind to use company records ...

New York (September 13, 2010) - According to a new study a protein crucial for the immune response appears to be a key player in the progression of a devastating form of childhood leukemia called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Suppressing the activity of the protein kills the leukemic cells, the study shows, opening a potential avenue to new drugs that could prevent progression of the disease. Led by Iannis Aifantis, PhD, associate professor of pathology and director of the Cancer Stem Cell Program at the NYU Cancer Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center, ...

DALLAS – Sept. 13, 2010 – A tiny molecule that spurs the progression of non-small-cell lung cancer could become a player in fighting the disease, say researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who published a study on how the molecule behaves in mice in the Sept. 14 issue of Cancer Cell. Scientists have known that the molecule microRNA-21, or miR-21, is present in overabundant quantities in human tumors, including non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Until now, however, it was unclear whether miR-21 contributed to the development of lung cancer, or whether it was simply ...

DAVIS--A research team from the University of California, Davis and Peking University, China, has discovered a novel mechanism as to why the long-term, high-dosage use of the well-known arthritis pain medication, Vioxx, led to heart attacks and strokes. Their groundbreaking research may pave the way for a safer drug for millions of arthritis patients who suffer acute and chronic pain. Using metabolomic profiling to analyze murine (rodent) plasma, the scientists discovered that Vioxx causes a dramatic increase in a regulatory lipid that could be a major contributor to ...

A study led by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) at St. Paul's Hospital and the University of British Columbia has found that supervised injection facilities such as Vancouver's Insite connect clients with addiction treatment, which in turn resulted in greater likelihood of stopping injection drug use for at least six months. The study, recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, is the first ever to examine the link between a supervised injection facility and injection cessation. "Extensive research has ...

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered key plant enzymes that normally make the energy stored in wood, straw, and other non-edible parts of plants difficult to extract. The findings, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, can be used to improve the viability of sustainable biofuels that do not adversely affect the food chain. The team based at the University of Cambridge, and now part of the BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre (BSBEC), has identified and studied the genes for ...

An antibiotic appears to be a safe treatment for stroke and a good companion therapy for tPA, the clot buster that is currently the only FDA-approved drug therapy, researchers report. A safety study in 60 stroke patients in Georgia, Kentucky and Oregon found the drug well tolerated even at three-and-one-half times the dose currently used for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, according to a research team led by the Medical College of Georgia and the University of Georgia. "It's cheap, safe, well tolerated, easy to administer and can be given with tPA," said Dr. ...

The theory holds that one of the best ways to attract foreign capital consists in the adoption of a reduced level of taxes in certain cases, and above all, in the provision of legal certainty. This aim of attracting foreign investment inspired the measures for the the Entidades Tenedoras de Valores Extranjeros (ETVE) or Spanish holding companies, adopted in Spain in the late 1990's and which led to the establishment of these companies in Spain by multinational companies. However, things are changing, according the head of the UC3M Research Group of Taxation and Finance ...

Mom's advice about cleaning your hands may finally be starting to get through. In the latest observational study sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology and the American Cleaning Institute® (formerly The Soap and Detergent Association), 85% of adults washed their hands in public restrooms, compared with 77% in 2007. The 85% total was actually the highest observed since these studies began in 1996. The results were announced at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, an infectious disease meeting sponsored by the American Society ...

Albany, NY—September 13, 2010— New research on the children of LGBTQ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) has unequivocally revealed that they are not only psychologically healthy, but often appear to exhibit better social and academic adjustment and a significantly lower incidence of social problems than their peers. A new article published in the journal Family Process critically examines this research, and how it impacts LGBTQ families. According to Family Therapist and Social Work professor, Arlene Istar Lev these excellent outcomes might be masking ...

RUSTON, La – Dr. Bogdan Strimbu, assistant professor of biometrics and quantitative silviculture at Louisiana Tech University's School of Forestry, recently organized and conducted a technical session at the International Union of Forest Research Organization's (IUFRO) XXIII World Congress in Seoul, South Korea. The Congress, held every five years, brings together industry leaders from the IUFRO's eight divisions to help form the future research direction for the global field of forestry. The group also decides the organization's general course of research and associated ...

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (September 13, 2010) – USGI Medical, Inc., the Incisionless Surgery company, today announced that updated multi-center results confirm durability of the company's Expandable Tissue Anchors™ up to a year or more in a variety of incisionless gastrointestinal (GI) procedures, including use of a ROSE procedure (Repair of Surgery, Endolumenal) to repair dilated tissue after gastric bypass. These findings, which demonstrate long-term, secure tissue approximation with this scarless "through the mouth" approach in the largest cohort of patients ever reported, ...

Gardeners are used to cross-breeding flowers to produce pretty petals or sweet scents – now scientists have shown the importance of nature's talent for producing new types of flowers. DNA analysis of wild evergreen rhododendrons in the Himalayas has suggested that hundreds of species of the plant could be derived from hybrids – cross-breeds between different species. Their findings may help explain the rich biodiversity of the natural world, as it shows how random pairings of wild plants millions of years ago has led to the development of hundreds of new species that ...

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have identified a novel structure in cells that serves as a control switch in the body's system for eliminating damaged cells and also offers new therapeutic potential. The findings provide fresh insight into the machinery at work as cells ramp up production of p53 protein following DNA damage. The p53 protein plays a critical role in how cells respond to the stress that damages DNA. The gene that carries instructions for making p53 protein is the most commonly mutated gene in human cancers. Investigators also identified ...

A team of Welsh scientists have successfully cloned a human virus offering new hope for the treatment of potentially life-threatening diseases. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major infectious cause of congenital malformations worldwide. The virus is also known to cause life-threatening disease in transplant patients and people with HIV/AIDS. The development of new treatments has been hampered as scientists have been unable to stably replicate HCMV outside the human body. Dr Richard Stanton from Cardiff University's School of Medicine who led the joint research, ...

Beyond the orbit of Neptune reside countless icy rocks known as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs). One of the biggest, Pluto, is classified as a dwarf planet. The region also supplies us with comets such as famous Comet Halley. Most TNOs are small and receive little sunlight, making them faint and difficult to spot. Now, astronomers using clever techniques to cull the data archives of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have added 14 new TNOs to the catalog. Their method promises to turn up hundreds more. "Trans-Neptunian objects interest us because they are building blocks ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Racism may be less of a factor in politics than other realms of life, according to a new University of Florida study, which found few white voters in Florida to be upset by the presidential candidacy of a black man, and many to be proud of it. To assess attitudes among white voters in a southern state about Barack Obama's historic election to the presidency, two UF political scientists analyzed results from four statewide telephone surveys -- each involving between 449 and 829 respondents – conducted in the fall of 2008 and spring of 2009. Their ...

Earthy or musty odors, along with visual evidence of blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, may serve as a warning that harmful cyanotoxins are present in lakes or reservoirs. In a newly published USGS study of cyanobacterial blooms in Midwest lakes, taste-and-odor compounds were found almost every time cyanotoxins were found, indicating odor may serve as a warning that harmful toxins are present. "It is commonly believed that there are no health risks associated with taste-and-odor compounds," said Dr. Jennifer Graham, USGS limnologist and lead scientist on this ...

Though it was once believed that all asteroids are giant pieces of solid rock, later hypotheses have it that some are actually a collection of small gravel-sized rocks, held together by gravity. If one of these "rubble piles" spins fast enough, it's speculated that pieces could separate from it through centrifugal force and form a second collection ― in effect, a second asteroid. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with an international group of scientists, have proved the existence of these theoretical "separated asteroid" pairs. Ph.D. student ...

EVANSTON, Ill. --- It seems the old nature versus nurture debate can't be won. But a new Northwestern University study of men in the Philippines makes a strong case for nurture's role in male to female differences -- suggesting that rapid weight gain in the first six months of life predicts earlier puberty for boys. Males who experienced rapid growth as babies -- an indication that they were not nutritionally stressed -- also were taller, had more muscle and were stronger, and had higher testosterone levels as young adults. They had sex for the first time at a younger ...