RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 2, 2009) – Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified the role of a gene in regulating molecular signals involved with ovarian follicle development, which may one day help shed light on some of the causes of fertility issues in humans.
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Millions of African families could be saved from destitution thanks to a much-needed vaccine that is being mass-produced in a drive to protect cattle against a deadly parasite.
East Coast fever is a tick-transmitted disease that kills one cow every 30 seconds – with one million a year dying of the disease.
Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have demonstrated that a protein called NEDD9 may be required for some of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer to grow. Their findings, based on the study of a mouse model of breast cancer, are presented in a recent issue of Cancer Research, available on-line now.
Results: Researchers from MIT and their collaborators have done the most detailed analysis ever of a layer of sediments deposited during and immediately after the asteroid impact 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and 80 percent of Earth's marine life. They found that at least some forms of microscopic marine life — the so-called "primary producers," or photosynthetic organisms such as algae and cyanobacteria in the ocean — had recovered within about a century after the mass extinction.
Human activities have meant invasive species have been able to populate parts of the world to which they are not native and alter biodiversity there over thousands of years. Now, an international team of scientists has studied the impact of the black rat on bird populations on Mediterranean islands. Despite the rat's environmental impact, only the tiny European storm petrel has been affected over time by its enforced cohabitation with the rat.
The study
Over a period of two years, 30 scientist lead by Associate Professor Peter Krustrup, University of Copenhagen, have investigated physiological, sociological and psychological aspects of women's soccer in comparison to running. 100 untrained adult premenopausal women have participated in the study.
Scientists working at Queen Mary, University of London, have developed micrometer-sized capsules to safely deliver drugs inside living cells.
In the future, this technique could allow full courses of prescription drugs to be effectively 'shrink-wrapped' and buried under the skin or inside the body.
These "micro shuttles" can be loaded with a specific dose of medication and be opened remotely, releasing their contents.
Biopesticides containing a fungus that is pathogenic to mosquitoes may be an effective means of reducing malaria transmission, particularly if used in combination with insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs), according to a modelling study conducted by Dr. Penelope Hancock from Imperial College London. Results of the study show that incorporating this novel vector control technique into existing vector management programmes may substantially reduce malaria transmission rates and help manage insecticide resistance.
DURHAM, N.C., -- An international team of scientists has discovered a new way to classify stomach cancers, and researchers say it may be an important step toward designing more effective treatments and improving long-term survival.
Stomach (gastric) cancer is particularly prevalent in Asia and represents the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
Strong links have been uncovered between stress and ischemic strokes. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Medicine have carried out the first study into the correlation between self-reported feelings of prolonged psychological stress and different stroke subtypes.
A daily supplement of vitamin D at a dose of 700-1000 IU reduces the risk of falling among older people by 19% according to a study published on bmj.com today. But a dose of less than 700 IU per day has no effect.
IU is an international unit of measurement for vitamins and other biologically active substances.
Each year, one in three people aged 65 and older experience at least one fall, with around 6% resulting in a fracture. Fall prevention has therefore become a public health goal especially as the older segment of the population grows.
The drugs used to treat individuals infected with HIV-1 keep the virus under control and dramatically improve prognosis, but they do not eliminate the virus from the body completely, some remains hidden in immune cells known as resting CD4+ T cells. There are currently no clinically acceptable strategies for eliminating this reservoir of HIV-1.
One of the most common reasons for needing a liver transplant is liver failure or liver cancer caused by liver cell infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, in nearly all patients the new liver becomes infected with HCV almost immediately. But now, Hideki Ohdan, Kazuaki Chayama, and colleagues, at Hiroshima University, Japan, have developed an approach that transiently keeps HCV levels down in most treated HCV-infected patients receiving a new liver.
October 1, 2009 (Oakland, Calif.) – A program that bundled two generic, low-cost drugs – a cholesterol-lowering statin and a blood pressure-lowering drug – and gave daily doses to 68,560 people with diabetes or heart disease for two years is estimated to have prevented 1,271 heart attacks and strokes in the first year following the study period, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the American Journal of Managed Care.
For men with type 2 diabetes, a cell type linked to allergic inflammation is closely linked to a key indicator of diabetic kidney disease (nephropathy), suggests a study in the November Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). "Allergy is a common disease that is increasing worldwide, so our findings may have important implications for diabetic nephropathy," comments Michiaki Fukui, MD (Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan).