Body

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Research completed through a collaboration with University of Missouri engineers, biologists, and chemists could transform how scientists study molecules and cells at sub-microscopic (nanoscale) levels. Shubra Gangopadhyay, an electrical and computer engineer and her team at MU recently published studies outlining a new, relatively inexpensive imaging platform that enables single molecule imaging. This patented method highlights Gangopadhyay's more than 30 years of nanoscale research that has proven invaluable in biological research and battling diseases.

CANCER RESEARCH UK has tripled its investment in pancreatic cancer, one of the hardest cancers to treat, since launching its research strategy in 2014 according to new figures published today (Wednesday).

The charity increased spending on pancreatic cancer research -- including improving diagnosis and treatment - to £18million in the 2015/16 financial year, tripling the £6million investment in 2013/14.

One of the charity's aims is to help tackle the rising rates of pancreatic cancer, in particular in women, as well improving poor survival from the disease.

Alcohol is widespread in nature, existing in fermented nectars, saps and fruits. It is therefore a natural part of many primate diets, and it follows that primates have evolved to digest alcohol quickly to minimize toxic effects. But given that alcohol is also a source of calories, it is plausible that alcohol is attractive to some primates, including, hypothetically, our human ancestors.

Both before and after they leave the nest, baby birds face a host of challenges. A new study in The Condor: Ornithological Applications examining songbird survival in the nestling and fledgling stages finds that even in the same habitat, different species face different risks and survive at different rates.

The last phase of ANRS IPERGAY has confirmed that "on-demand" pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective method of reducing the risk of HIV infection in men who have sex with men and who report high-risk behavior. These results will be presented at AIDS 2016 in Durban, South Africa (18 to 22 July). From late 2016, a vast research program, ANRS PREVENIR, will assess PrEP on a large scale in Paris and its suburbs (France).

Results from ANRS 12249 TasP show that there is good take-up of the offer of repeated HIV screening at home in a rural South African population strongly affected by HIV infection. Immediate implementation of antiretroviral treatment of people managed in the healthcare system, following discovery of seropositivity, controls the infection. However, entry into the healthcare system of people diagnosed as HIV seropositive is too infrequent and slow to reduce HIV transmission in the population.

DURBAN, South Africa and DURHAM, N.C. - Investigators from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) today announced key results from the HPTN 073 Study at the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) in Durban, South Africa. The study, which assessed uptake and adherence of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of HIV infection among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in the U.S., demonstrated consistency between self-report and biological markers of adherence.

A group of South American ants has farmed fungi since shortly after the dinosaurs died out, according to an international research team including Smithsonian scientists. The genes of the ant farmers and their fungal crops reveal a surprisingly ancient history of mutual adaptations. This evolutionary give-and-take has led to some species--the leafcutter ants--developing industrial-scale farming that surpasses human agriculture in its efficiency.

TAMPA, Fla. (July 20, 2016) - University of South Florida researchers investigating the aftermath of a September, 2014 sewer line break in St. Petersburg, Florida, have found dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the untreated wastewater that gushed into neighborhoods and into Boca Ciega Bay at a rate of 250 to 500 gallons per minute.

SAN DIEGO: A safety team at a Canadian hospital determined there was too much traffic in and out of the operating room (OR) during total joint replacement procedures. So they implemented several strategies to reduce traffic, which may have contributed to a decrease in orthopedic surgical site infections (SSIs), according to study results presented today at the 2016 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®) Conference.

NEW YORK, NY, July 18, 2016--Intranasal flu vaccines may be able to provide long-lasting protection against pandemic flu strains, according to a new study from immunologists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

The researchers found that, in mice, the intranasal flu vaccine FluMistTM (Medimmune) led to the production of T cells in the lungs that provided long-term protection against multiple flu strains, including those that were not present in the vaccines. Mice given the traditional injectable vaccine, such as FluzoneTM (Sanofi Pasteur), did not produce these cells.

(PHILADELPHIA) - Over 90 percent of prostate cancers are detected at a curable stage, with men more likely to die of other diseases than from this cancer. Although patients with localized, low-risk prostate cancer have treatment options: active surveillance, also called watchful waiting, in which the cancer is monitored periodically to detect any changes, or active treatment with surgery and radiation. This choice is challenging, because medical science cannot reliably identify those men who are at risk for developing aggressive disease and may benefit from active treatment.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published in PLOS ONE shows that symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, a complex and disabling multisystem disorder, can be provoked by imposing a mild to moderate strain to the muscles and nerves.

It is common knowledge that the modern turtle shell is largely used for protection. No other living vertebrate has so drastically altered its body to form such an impenetrable protective structure as the turtle.

However a new study by an international group of scientists, including those from the Evolutionary Science Institute at Wits University, on the earliest partially shelled fossil turtles suggests the broad ribbed proto shell was initially an adaptation, not for protection, but rather for burrowing underground.

OAK BROOK, Ill. - Radiologists who graduated from medical school after 1940 do not face an increased risk of dying from radiation-related causes like cancer, according to a new study appearing online in the journal Radiology. Researchers said the findings point to the success of efforts to reduce occupational radiation doses over the past several decades.