A partial dose of a commonly used vaccine against meningitis may be as effective as a full dose, according to new research published December 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Fractional dosing would enable large-scale vaccination campaigns during epidemics, especially at a time of global vaccine shortages.
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Cells shut down and stop dividing when their DNA is damaged, in a process known as cellular senescence, so as to prevent damaged DNA from leading to unregulated cell division and therefore cancer. However, a new study, published in this week's issue of PLoS Biology, has found that when these cells shut down they also spew proteins into their surrounding environment. This causes inflammation and sets up conditions that support the development of age-related diseases including, ironically, cancer.
Many studies of evolution focus on the benefits to the individual of competing successfully – those who survive produce the most offspring, in Darwin's classic 'survival of the fittest'. But how does this translate to the evolution of species? A new paper, published in this week's issue of PLoS Biology, studies an aspect of the natural world that, like survival of the fittest individual, is explained by natural selection: namely, mutualism – an interaction between species that has benefits for both.
Blacksburg, Va. -- Mosquitoes are like Typhoid Mary. They can spread viruses which cause West Nile fever, dengue fever, or yellow fever without themselves getting sick. Scientists long thought that the mosquito didn't care whether it had a virus hitchhiker, but have now discovered, "There is a war going on," said Zach Adelman, assistant professor of entomology at Virginia Tech.
The war is at the cellular level, between the host and invading RNA – the strands of code that produce different kinds of viral proteins.
Vitamin D deficiency—which is traditionally associated with bone and muscle weakness—may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). A growing body of evidence links low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels to common CVD risk factors such as hypertension, obesity and diabetes, as well as major cardiovascular events including stroke and congestive heart failure.
Michel Sadelain and colleagues, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, have developed a new approach to modulate the expression of genes for therapeutic purposes, and used this to mediate effective anticancer therapy in mice.
EDITOR'S PICK: Harnessing miRNA natural gene repressors for anticancer therapy
Michel Sadelain and colleagues, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, have developed a new approach to modulate the expression of genes for therapeutic purposes, and used this to mediate effective anticancer therapy in mice.
STANFORD, Calif. — The genome of a squirrel-sized, saucer-eyed lemur from Madagascar may help scientists understand how HIV-like viruses coevolved with primates, according to new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The discovery, to be published online on Dec. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could provide insight into why non-human primates don't get AIDS and lead to treatments for humans.
At the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, there are five strange looking "patches" cleared out of the surrounding forest. No, they're not crop circles carved by aliens.
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Disturbing evidence of higher mortality and lower surgery rates in women versus men with mitral valve prolapse and severe leakage may be related to the complexity of evaluating the condition's severity in women, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic study published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Exposure to folic acid antagonists during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of placenta-mediated adverse outcomes such as preeclampsia, placental abruption, fetal growth restriction or fetal death reports a retrospective cohort study published in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1263.pdf.
Fluoroquinolones are highly effective in treating community-acquired pneumonia compared with β-lactams and marolides and result in fewer adverse outcomes, found a meta-analysis conducted by a team of researchers from the Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Greece and Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1269.pdf. These antibiotics are also effective in treating severe forms of pneumonia that require hospitalization.
A special stroke supplement http://www.cmaj.ca/press/S1.pdf containing 27 best practice recommendations, including 4 new topics, such as emergency medical services care of stroke patients before hospital arrival, management of minor strokes, vascular cognitive impairment and others is featured in CMAJ with the full document available online. These best practices are part of the Canadian Stroke Strategy, an initiative of the Canadian Stroke Network and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
Chile has maintained a dual health care system in which citizens can opt for coverage with either the public National Health Insurance Fund or a private health insurance company. However, the two systems operate essentially separate from each other rather than collaborating on common health care goals.
There is a dearth of direct evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of statins and other drugs in children and youth, and caution and alternative management tools should be applied, write Drs. Michael Rieder, Noni MacDonald, Matthew Stanbrook and on behalf of the CMAJ editorial team http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg1239.pdf. Drugs that are safe in adults are often prescribed for children without data on how they affect children, who may react differently to the same drug.