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ATLANTA--A protein designed by researchers at Georgia State University can effectively target a cell surface receptor linked to a number of diseases, showing potential as a therapeutic treatment for an array of illnesses, including cancer, according to the research team.

May 31, 2016 - Many patients undergoing hip or knee replacement are still taking prescription opioid pain medications up to six months after surgery, reports a study in PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain® (IASP). The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

RIVERSIDE, Calif.

Mantis shrimp are available in the lab and can be photographed or videoed.

A video that media are free to use is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8K3bx42jVM

-- The next generation of airplanes, body armor and football helmets crawled out from under a rock--literally.

It's no secret that over time, elevated levels of blood glucose (hyperglycemia) can induce the death of the pancreatic beta cells. The death of these cells, which are responsible for the production of insulin, underlies much of the pathology of diabetes.

New research presented at Euroanaesthesia 2016 (London 27-30 May) shows that patients undergoing breast cancer surgery need less painkilling medication post-surgery if they have anaesthesia that is free of opioid drugs. The study is by Dr Sarah Saxena, Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium, and colleagues,

Among the many important processes that happen during a woman's last few weeks of pregnancy is the transfer of calcium to the growing foetus to boost bone development. But what happens if this transfer is interrupted when a baby is born prematurely?

The answer, it seems, is lower peak bone mass as an adult, compared to adults who were born full term. Adults who were born full term but were small for their gestational age also had lower bone mass. These findings are important since peak bone mass is a major determinant of future osteoporosis.

1. Investment in 90-90-90 initiative would yield "extraordinary returns" in the fight against HIV in South Africa

Abstract: http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M16-0799

URL goes live when the embargo lifts

A new study finds that implementing the United Nations targets for HIV testing and treatment would be an expensive but ultimately very cost-effective way to increase survival, reduce the number of children orphaned by HIV, and contain the global AIDS epidemic. That is the conclusion of researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the University of Cape Town and the Yale School of Public Health, who estimated the likely impact of the so-called "90-90-90" program.

Researchers at the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research have discovered that the ends of heart muscle cell chromosomes rapidly erode after birth, limiting the cells' ability to proliferate and replace damaged heart tissue. The study, "Postnatal telomere dysfunction induces cardiomyocyte cell-cycle arrest through p21 activation," which will be published online May 30, 2016 in The Journal of Cell Biology, suggests potential new interventions to boost the heart's capacity to repair itself after a heart attack.

Researchers have helped solve one of the enduring mysteries of the ancient world: why the inhabitants of Madagascar speak Malagasy, a language otherwise unique to Southeast Asia and the Pacific - a region located at least 6,000 km away. An international research team has identified that ancient crop remains excavated from sites in Madagascar consist of Asian species like rice and mung beans. This is thought to be the first archaeological evidence that settlers from South Asia are likely to have colonised the island over a thousand years ago.

While the latter half of the 20th century showed a widening gap between the more and less educated with respect to marriage and fertility, this trend has not significantly altered the genetic makeup of subsequent generations, a team of researchers has found.

The study, headed by NYU sociologist Dalton Conley, appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The use of next-generation gene sequencing in newborns in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) may improve the diagnosis of rare diseases and deliver results more quickly to anxious families, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Scientists at the University of Birmingham are a step closer to understanding the role of the gene BRCA1. Changes in this gene are associated with a high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

The research, published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, explains how the gene encourages the attachment of the protein, ubiquitin, to other proteins and plays a vital role in DNA repair.

TAMPA, Fla. (May 30, 2016) - Researchers from the University of South Florida (USF) and a colleague at the Institute of Zoology in Beijing, China have found that outbreaks of three emerging diseases and parasites - West Nile virus, Lyme disease and amphibian chytridiomycosis - are driven by different ecological processes at different spatial scales. Their data also suggests that focusing on a single spatial scale can lead to inaccurate estimations of the impact humans are having on biodiversity, disease emergence, and the environment.

Tiny, vibrating hairs may explain how bumblebees sense and interpret the signals transmitted by flowers, according to a study by researchers at the University of Bristol.

Although it's known that flowers communicate with pollinators by sending out electric signals, just how bees detects these fields has been a mystery - until now.

Using a laser to measure vibrations, researchers found that both the bees' antenna and hairs deflect in response to an electric field, but the hairs move more rapidly and with overall greater displacements.