Antiretroviral therapy associated with increase in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa

In PLoS Medicine this week a study conducted in a multi-country HIV treatment program in sub-Saharan Africa has found that pregnancy rates increase in HIV-infected women after they start antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Nicotine replacement therapy is over-promoted since most ex-smokers quit unassisted

Will earlier springs throw nature out of step?

The recent trend towards earlier UK springs and summers has been accelerating, according to a study published today (9 February 2010) in the scientific journal Global Change Biology.

The collaborative study, involving scientists from 12 UK research institutions, universities and conservation organisations, is the most comprehensive and rigorous assessment so far of long-term changes in the seasonal timing (phenology) of biological events across marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments in the UK.

Depression: more gray than blue

People with anxiety and depression are most likely to use a shade of gray to represent their mental state. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medical Research Methodology describe the development of a color chart, The Manchester Color Wheel, which can be used to study people's preferred pigment in relation to their state of mind.

Because you'll believe anything - study outlines the dangers of third-hand smoke

Nicotine in third-hand smoke, the residue from tobacco smoke that clings to virtually all surfaces long after a cigarette has been extinguished, reacts with the common indoor air pollutant nitrous acid to produce dangerous carcinogens. This new potential health hazard was revealed in a multi-institutional study led by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

Neuroscientists discover brain area responsible for fear of losing money

PASADENA, Calif.—Neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have tied the human aversion to losing money to a specific structure in the brain–the amygdala.

Electronic media not related to teenage headaches, says study

Use of most electronic media is not associated with headaches, at least not in adolescents. A study of 1025 13-17 year olds, published in the open access journal BMC Neurology, found no association between the use of computer games, mobile phones or television and the occurrence of headaches or migraines. However, listening to one or two hours of music every day was associated with a pounding head.

Infection-fighting antibodies made in plants as effective as costlier conventional version

The first head-to-head comparison of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies produced from plants versus the same antibodies produced from mammalian cells has shown that plant-produced antibodies can fight infection equally well.

Scientists from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Arizona State University conducted the comparison as a test of the potential for treating disease in developing nations with the significantly less expensive plant-based production technique.

Mediterranean diet may lower risk of brain infarcts that cause thinking problems

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Mediterranean diet may help people avoid the small areas of brain damage that can lead to problems with thinking and memory, according to a study released today that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

The study found that people who ate a Mediterranean-like diet were less likely to have brain infarcts, or small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking problems.

Study examines course and treatment of unexplained chest pain

Fewer than half of individuals who have "non-specific" chest pain (not explained by a well-known condition) experience relief from symptoms following standard medical care, according to a report in the February 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, one-tenth of those with persistent chest pain undergo potentially unnecessary diagnostic testing.