The team observed viruses as they evolved over hundreds of generations to infect bacteria. They found that when the bacteria could evolve defences, the viruses evolved at a quicker rate and generated greater diversity, compared to situations where the bacteria were unable to adapt to the viral infection.
Body
A study by researchers in Australia and the United Kingdom suggests that autoantibodies to fat binding proteins significantly increase in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with active disease. This increase in anti-apolipoprotein (anti-Apo A-I), anti-high-density lipoprotein (anti-HDL), and anti-C-reactive protein (anti-CRP) may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis in SLE patients, placing them at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Researchers from the Toronto Western Research Institute noted a higher prevalence of arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitations (AAL) in the U.S. versus the Canadian population. The authors attribute the higher prevalence of arthritis and AAL to a greater level of obesity and physical inactivity in Americans, particularly women. Full findings of this study are published in the March issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.
A new study found that fluoxetine (Prozac®) and citalopram (Celexa®) treatment significantly inhibited disease progression of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. Research led by Sandra Sacre, Ph.D. from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS) in the UK studied the anti-arthritic potential of these drugs, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), most commonly used to treat depression. Both SSRIs exhibited anti-inflammatory effects and may provide drug development opportunities for arthritic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
HIV/AIDS remains one of the world's most significant public health challenges, particularly in developing countries. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1), the variant responsible for the pandemic, has the ability to infect different cell types such as T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells (DC). These latter cells are crucial in the defense against infectious agents and play a major role in viral pathogenesis.
Wider adoption of the practice of recycling medical equipment — including laparoscopic ports and durable cutting tools typically tossed out after a single use — could save hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars annually and curb trash at medical centers, the second-largest waste producers in the United States after the food industry.
The recommendation, made in an analysis by Johns Hopkins researchers in the March issue of the journal Academic Medicine, noted that with proper sterilization, recalibration and testing, reuse of equipment is safe.
Cancer researchers studying the immune system have identified a previously unrecognized set of targets and biomarkers to battle solid tumors.
Post-menopausal women who reported consuming the most daily dietary fat had a 40 percent higher incidence of clot-caused strokes compared to women who ate the least amount, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010.
The incidence of ischemic stroke also increased by 30 percent in the quartile of women consuming the highest daily amount of trans fat (average intake 7 grams per day) compared to those who consumed the least (average 1 gram/day). Two common sources of trans fat are processed foods and fried foods.
NARRAGANSETT, R.I. – February 24, 2010 – Scientists at the University of Rhode Island are gaining new insight into the mechanisms that generate huge, steep underwater waves that occur between layers of warm and cold water in coastal regions of the world's oceans.
New Haven, Conn. — More frequent tropical cyclones in Earth's ancient past contributed to persistent El Niño-like conditions, according to a team of climate scientists led by Yale University. Their findings, which appear in the Feb. 25 issue of the journal Nature, could have implications for the planet's future as global temperatures continue to rise due to climate change.
Single or unhappily married men may have an elevated risk of fatal stroke in the coming decades, according to a large study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010.
The findings are based on earlier work in which researchers examined 10,059 civil servants and municipal workers (average age 49) who participated in the Israeli Ischemic Heart Disease Study in 1963. Using the national death registry and other records, researchers tracked the fate of the men through 1997, the last year for which underlying causes of death had been coded.
In ongoing work to identify how genes interact with social environments to impact human health, UCLA researchers have discovered what they describe as a biochemical link between misery and death. In addition, they found a specific genetic variation in some individuals that seems to disconnect that link, rendering them more biologically resilient in the face of adversity.
A Chilean hospital's early use of antiviral treatment in influenza patients and other aggressive measures helped reduce the number of severe H1N1 cases and related deaths. Those are the findings of a new study, now available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/650750), published in the March 15, 2010 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
HOUSTON, Feb. 24, 2010 – Thanks to a pair of University of Houston researchers who found a possible new solution to a 163-year-old puzzle, ecological factors can now be added to physiology to explain why animals grow bigger in the cold.
OTTAWA, FEBRUARY 24, 2010 — Integrating real-time Internet-based infectious disease surveillance with knowledge of worldwide air traffic patterns could help in confronting infectious disease threats at mass gatherings, such as the Olympics and other large scale events, suggests an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/doi/10.1503/cmaj.100093.