Body | Page 3492 | Science Codex

Could engineered fatty particles help prevent AIDS?

Could engineered fatty particles help prevent AIDS?Liposomes block HIV infection in early tests; could be a cost-effective preventive for developing countries

HIV vaccines are in their infancy, and effective microbicides to prevent sexual transmission of HIV still don't exist. Protection is especially needed for women, who make up nearly half of all global cases. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston envision a new way for women to protect themselves before sex: an applicator filled with specially formulated fatty particles called liposomes.

Food and drugs: Administer together

A regulatory bias against taking oral anti-cancer medications with food places many patients at increased risk for an overdose and forces them to "flush costly medicines down the toilet," argues Mark Ratain, MD, an authority on cancer-drug dosing.

MRI technique appears feasible to help identify involvement of jawbone by oral cancer

CHICAGO – A preliminary study suggests that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique called SWIFT (sweep imaging with Fourier transform) appears feasible to help provide a three-dimensional assessment that may aid in detecting involvement of the jawbone by oral cancer, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Study finds that ultrasonic instrument may be helpful for rhinoplasty

CHICAGO – The ultrasonic bone aspirator, which uses sound waves to remove bone without damage to surrounding soft tissue or mucous membranes, may be a useful tool for surgeons performing cosmetic rhinoplasty (cosmetic surgery of the nose), according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Primitive birds shared dinosaurs' fate

A new study puts an end to the longstanding debate about how archaic birds went extinct, suggesting they were virtually wiped out by the same meteorite impact that put an end to dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

For decades, scientists have debated whether birds from the Cretaceous period — which are very different from today's modern bird species —died out slowly or were killed suddenly by the Chicxulub meteorite. The uncertainty was due in part to the fact that very few fossil birds from the end of this era have been discovered.

Penn researchers develop new technique for filling gaps in fossil record

PHILADELPHIA — University of Pennsylvania evolutionary biologists have resolved a long-standing paleontological problem by reconciling the fossil record of species diversity with modern DNA samples.

Not just skin deep -- CT study of early humans reveals evolutionary relationships

CT scans of fossil skull fragments may help researchers settle a long-standing debate about the evolution of Africa's Australopithecus, a key ancestor of modern humans that died out some 1.4 million years ago. The study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, explains how CT scans shed new light on a classic evolutionary puzzle by providing crucial information about the internal anatomy of the face.

How our liver kills 'killer cells'

Our livers can fight back against the immune system—reducing organ rejection but also making us more susceptible to liver disease.

Scientists at the Centenary Institute in Sydney have seen for the first time (in mice) how the liver goes independent, engulfing and destroying the body's defence troops—T-cells.

Hope for powerful new C diff. treatment

MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company which has licensed technology from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, is developing a powerful new antibiotic treatment for resistant infections including the deadly MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) bugs.

The Glasgow-based company is working on a new compound which has proved to be more effective in killing and preventing C diff. than vancomycin, currently one of the most widely used treatments against this bacterium.

NIH scientists find earliest known evidence of 1918 influenza pandemic

Examination of lung tissue and other autopsy material from 68 American soldiers who died of respiratory infections in 1918 has revealed that the influenza virus that eventually killed 50 million people worldwide was circulating in the United States at least four months before the 1918 influenza reached pandemic levels that fall.

Blocking inflammation could lead to tailored medical treatments

By using a mouse model of inflammation researchers at the University of Calgary have discovered a new class of molecules that can inhibit the recruitment of some white blood cells to sites of inflammation in the body. A provisional patent has been filed on these molecules by Innovates Calgary.

New thinking on regulation of sex chromosomes in fruit flies

Fruit flies have been indispensible to our understanding of genetics and biological processes in all animals, including humans. Yet, despite being one of the most studied of animals, scientists are still finding the fruit fly to be capable of surprises, as evidenced by new research at the University of Rochester.

Rise of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea needs urgent action

Gonorrhea is evolving into a scourge resistant to most antibiotics, and urgent action is needed to combat this public health threat, states an editorial in CMAJ.

Mast cells reduce toxicity of Gila monster and scorpion venom

Gila monsters are large venomous lizards. Although envenomation by the Gila monster is not often fatal to adult humans, it results in intense pain, swelling, weakness, and nausea. A team of researchers, led by Stephen Galli, at Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, has now uncovered a natural mechanism by which mice reduce the toxicity, and thereby the morbidity and mortality, of Gila monster venom — immune cells known as mast cells release the protein MCPT4, which degrades the Gila monster venom helodermin.

Researchers identify components that keep immune system in check

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Within the immune system, a subtle balance exists between the cells that destroy alien pathogens and those that preserve the body's own tissues. When the balance gets out of whack, the cells that normally target viruses or bacteria can go astray, attacking innocent cells and causing autoimmune and inflammatory disease.