Prisoners and detainees worldwide have higher burdens of HIV, viral hepatitis and tuberculosis than the communities from which they come, and the regular cycling of infected people in and out of incarceration is worsening the epidemics both inside and outside of prison, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health-led research suggests.
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An international team of scientists has sequenced the whole genomes and epigenomes of more than 1,000 Arabidopsis thaliana plants, sampled from geographically diverse locations. The collection of 1,001 genomes and 1,001 epigenomes not only illuminates new aspects of its evolutionary history, but also provides a comprehensive, species-wide picture of the interaction between genetic and epigenetic variation in this important model plant.
Where is the world's greatest concentration of unique species of mammals? A team of American and Filipino authors have concluded that it is Luzon Island, in the Philippines. Their 15-year project, summarized in a paper published in the scientific journal Frontiers of Biogeography, has shown that out of 56 species of non-flying mammal species that are now known to live on the island, 52 live nowhere else in the world. Of those 56 species, 28 were discovered during the course of the project.
Older women who sustain facial injuries have greater risk of facial fractures, especially those who are white or Asian, while older black women have decreased risk, according to an article published online by JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery.
Racial, sex and age differences related to osteoporosis fractures of the hip or other extremities are well known. Whether these findings apply to facial fractures is unknown.
Montreal, July 12, 2016 - Researchers from the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM) have identified cells that provide "safe houses" for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during antiretroviral therapy (ART).
"We have found cell markers to target HIV reservoirs. This discovery has opened new treatment perspectives to eliminate these reservoirs and perhaps one day cure people infected with the virus," said Nicolas Chomont, CRCHUM researcher and principal investigator of a study to be published July 14 in the journal PLOS Pathogens.
(Millbrook, NY) A team of scientists has developed a model that can predict bat species most likely to transmit Ebola and other filoviruses. Findings highlight new potential hosts and geographic hotspots worthy of surveillance. So reports a new paper in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
A new study has found for the first time that ocean warming is the primary cause of retreat of glaciers on the western Antarctic Peninsula. The Peninsula is one of the largest current contributors to sea-level rise and this new finding will enable researchers to make better predictions of ice loss from this region.
(TORONTO, Canada - July 14, 2016) - International stem cell scientists, co-led in Canada by Dr. John Dick and in the Netherlands by Dr. Gerald de Haan, have discovered the switch to harness the power of cord blood and potentially increase the supply of stem cells for cancer patients needing transplantation therapy to fight their disease.
Scientists at EPFL and in the US have developed a robust method for characterizing human embryonic stem cells and their potential for medical applications.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In a paper published in the July 14 inaugural issue of the journal Science Immunology, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers report a new quality-control checkpoint function in developing B cells, cells that produce antibodies to protect the body from pathogens.
The current Zika epidemic in Latin America is likely to burn itself out within three years, suggests new research.
The findings, from scientists at Imperial College London, also conclude that the epidemic cannot be contained with existing control measures. The team, who published their findings in the journal Science, predict the next large-scale epidemic is unlikely to emerge for at least another ten years - although there is a possibility of smaller outbreaks in this time.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (July 14, 2016) - Whitehead Institute scientists have created a checklist that defines the "naive" state of cultured human embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Such cells can mature into almost any cell type and more closely resemble the unique molecular features of pluripotent cells in the early human embryo than conventional ESCs in later stages of development. Although scientists have been very interested in working with naive stem cells, they have lacked a common definition of what makes a cell truly naive.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Scientists at Duke Health are part of a team that has discovered a type of cell surrounding blood vessels can also serve as a starting point for sarcoma, a form of cancer that occurs in bones and connective tissues.
The findings, made through studies of mice, offer insights that could aid in the development of potential new treatments for the rare but devastating cancer, which has 15,000 new diagnoses annually in the U.S.
Chicago, IL, July 14, 2016 - Diabetic patients who undergo heart bypass surgery are living longer and have much better long-term outcomes when cardiothoracic surgeons use arteries rather than veins for the bypasses, according to a new study published online today by The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
Amsterdam, July 14, 2016 - Newly discovered molecules can kill multidrug resistant cancer cells by blocking cells' defenses against cancer drugs, according to a new study published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. The lead author of the research, from the University of Navarra in Spain and Jagiellonian University Medical College in Poland, hopes the findings provide an initial step towards more effective treatments in the future against resistant cancers.