Body

Rosemont, Ill. – Should you be the victim of a snakebite, the best thing you can do is get to a hospital as quickly as possible, according to a new review article from the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS). Current medical treatments, including new medications and surgery, if necessary, are far more effective for snakebites than anything you can do on your own.

Parents are often amazed at how fast their child grows and develops. New research at the University of Missouri has determined that the ability to quantify – even things that are hard to quantify, such as liquid – may develop much sooner than most parents realize.

Plant and animal extinctions are detrimental to your health.

That's the conclusion of a paper published in this week's issue of the journal Nature by scientists who studied the link between biodiversity and infectious diseases.

Species loss in ecosystems such as forests and fields results in increases in pathogens, or disease-causing organisms, the researchers found.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)-National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ecology of Infectious Diseases (EID) Program.

Loss of species large and small threatens human health

The loss of biodiversity—from beneficial bacteria to charismatic mammals—threatens human health. That's the conclusion of a study published this week in the journal Nature by scientists who study biodiversity and infectious diseases.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a protein known to regulate cellular metabolism is also necessary for normal cell division in blood-forming stem cells. Loss of the protein results in an abnormal number of chromosomes and a high rate of cell death.

Rainforest conservation needs a new direction to address climate change

Conservation and international aid groups may be on the wrong course to address the havoc wreaked by climate change on tropical rainforests, according to a commentary appearing in the journal Nature on 2 December 2010.

New findings detail how virus prepares to infect cells

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have learned the atomic-scale arrangement of proteins in a structure that enables a virus to invade and fuse with host cells, showing precisely how the structure morphs with changing acidity to initiate infection.

On November 30, 2010, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (IOM) in the US released new recommendations on daily reference intakes for vitamin D and calcium across all ages. The report is based on available evidence in the literature, with higher quality studies, supporting the role of these nutrients on bone health. Vitamin D deficiency is an important health issue to address as it has been linked to the pathogenesis of osteoporosis and hip fractures as well as other skeletal and non-skeletal disorders.

(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified a mechanism by which specific viruses acting as oncolytic agents can enter and kill cancer cells. This finding, which is currently featured in an online edition of the Journal of Virology, could help lead to the development of more targeted treatments against many types of cancer.

The study was conducted by Ewan F. Dunn, a postdoctoral fellow, under the direction of John H. Connor, an assistant professor of microbiology at BUSM.

HOUSTON -- (Dec. 1, 2010) – High levels of a protein called thioredoxin-like 2 helps protect cancer cells from the oxidative stress that they generate as they grow and invade tissues throughout the body, said a consortium of researchers led by those at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in a report in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (http://www.jci.org).

DALLAS – Dec. 1, 2010 – UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a gene responsible for a rare disease that results in severe joint stiffness, muscle loss, anemia and panniculitis-induced lipodystrophy, or JMP syndrome.

The process of metastasis requires that cancer cells traveling from a primary tumor find a hospitable environment in which to implant themselves and grow. A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center researchers finds that circulating tumor cells prepare this environment by bringing along from their original site noncancerous cells that support tumor growth. The report has been published online in PNAS Early Edition.

Scientists and clinicians in Nottingham are to work more closely with industry to develop new ways of diagnosing and treating lung disease.

Nottingham has been chosen as one of just nine centres across the UK to host a Government-spearheaded 'Therapeutic Capability Cluster', which aims to forge closer links between academia, the NHS and the life sciences industry to speed up the process of getting new drugs from lab bench to bedside.