Body

NEW YORK (June 13, 2016) - Infection prevention bundles, a package of evidence-based guidelines implemented in unison, are effective for reducing central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSI) in critical care newborn infants, according to a new study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. The bundle helped reduce the number of lines placed, the duration of time used and the number of infections.

The microbiome is like a fingerprint: every person's community of microbes is complex and unique. But the underlying dynamics, the interactions between the microbes that shape these microbial ecosystems, may have something in common. To investigate, researchers from the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, led by Amir Bashan, PhD, and Yang-Yu Liu, PhD, analyzed data from large metagenomic datasets (e.g. the Human Microbiome Project and Student Microbiome Project) to look at the dynamics of the gut, mouth and skin microbiomes of healthy subjects.

Monrovia, CA (June 12, 2016) - Researchers are edging ever closer to discovering the perfect combination of drugs and drug delivery system that will stop the sexual transmission of HIV. Findings published last week in the journal PLOS ONE confirm that researchers from the Oak Crest Institute of Science, located in Monrovia, CA, have demonstrated for the first time that two powerful antiretroviral (AVR) drugs can provide complete protection against HIV when delivered topically by a sustained release intravaginal ring (IVR) device.

Low birth weight or stress during pregnancy can lead to long-term health problems in women, according to a study published today in The Journal of Physiology.

The study found that stress during pregnancy leads to long-term health issues in mothers, affecting adrenal, metabolic and cardio-renal health after pregnancy.

Jean Ni Cheong, from The University of Melbourne, and the PhD student leading the study, said it was known that being born of low birth weight or experiencing stress during pregnancy increased the risks of pregnancy complications.

A model that predicts outbreaks of zoonotic diseases -- those originating in livestock or wildlife such as Ebola and Zika -- based on changes in climate, population growth and land use has been developed by a UCL-led team of researchers.

An international team of scientists at EPFL and the US have discovered a material that can clear out radioactive waste from nuclear plants more efficiently, cheaply, and safely than current methods.

Although clinical trials have shown that lung cancer screening using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can detect lung cancers early and reduce lung cancer mortality, less than half of family physicians in a recent survey agreed that screening reduces lung cancer-related deaths. Most were also unaware of current recommendations on lung cancer screening in high risk patients. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings indicate that there are gaps physicians' knowledge about appropriate lung cancer screening.

For many, there's nothing like sitting down for a family meal at a table filled with hot, ready-to-serve food. Many caregivers enjoy providing diverse, nutritious meals to their families to be perceived as a good provider, and in some cultures, preparing excessive quantities of food is common. Think this is crazy? How many times have you had leftovers after Thanksgiving dinner?

People with type 2 diabetes who intensively controlled their blood sugar level during the landmark Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) Trial Eye Study were found to have cut their risk of diabetic retinopathy in half in a follow-up analysis conducted four years after stopping intensive therapy. Investigators who led the ACCORD Follow-on Eye Study (ACCORDION) announced the results today in New Orleans at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Eye Institute (NEI).

In a randomized Phase III study of the drug inotuzumab ozogamicin, a statistically significant percentage of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) whose disease had relapsed following standard therapies, qualified for stem cell transplants.

Inotuzumab ozogamicin, also known as CMC-544, links an antibody that targets CD22, a protein found on the surface of more than 90 percent of ALL cells. Once the drug connects to CD22, the ALL cell draws it inside and dies.

The research article - Targeting the PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway in Prostate Cancer Development and Progression: Insight to Therapy, by Dr Claudio Festuccia (University of L'Aquila, Italy) and published in Clinical Cancer Drugs, volume 3, issue 1 - discusses experimental and clinical data on the pharmacological inhibition of the Akt/mTOR pathways. These pathways play a key role in the modulation of cellular proliferation, tumor growth and survival through phosphorylation of different downstream molecules.

DENVER - The old adage "you are what you eat," may be better phrased as "your sleep relates to what you eat." An individual's body composition and caloric intake can influence time spent in specific sleep stages, according to results of a new study (abstract 0088) from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented at SLEEP 2016, the 30th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

Northwestern Medicine and University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) scientists have identified a gene that causes severe glaucoma in children. The finding, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, validates a similar discovery made by the scientists in mice two years ago and suggests a target for future therapies to treat the devastating eye disease that currently has no cure.

DARIEN, IL - A new study sheds light on the prevalence of insomnia symptoms among female veterans.

Results demonstrate that more than 47 percent of female veterans reported symptoms of insomnia that resulted in functional impairment. Of this sample group, less than one percent had a diagnosis of a sleep disorder based on medical records.

A team of physicists that visualized the internal nanostructure of an intact butterfly wing has discovered two physical attributes that make those structures so bright and colorful.