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CEOs alter their strategic decision making after experiencing the death of a social peer, new research suggests.

Investigators found that CEOs of large, public US firms pursued fewer acquisitions, especially large acquisitions, in the period after an independent director of their firm had died. The analysis included acquisitions following 296 cases of independent directors' deaths between 2002 and 2012.

Cardiovascular disease from atherosclerosis is one of the most common causes of death worldwide. Inflammation plays a crucial role in atherosclerosis and cholesterol crystals are considered to be early triggers in the development of the disease.

An international team has now found that cyclodextrin dissolves cholesterol crystals and reduces atherosclerotic plaques. This is a promising therapeutic approach for treating atherosclerosis. Their find was published in Science Translational Medicine.

Coeliac disease is a chronic, immunological disease that is manifested as intolerance to gluten proteins present in wheat, rye and barley. This intolerance leads to an inflammatory reaction in the small intestine that hampers the absorption of nutrients. The only treatment is a strict, life-long, gluten-free diet.

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Agencies that serve people with HIV in the U.S. are at the forefront of delivering medical care, shelter, psycho-social counseling and other services to their vulnerable clients. These services are offered through a mix of different types of agencies, including local health departments, state government agencies, non-profits and faith-based organizations. Collaboration among these various entities is essential for holistically serving the needs of their clients.

A group of scientists at Nagoya University has succeeded in discovering AMOR, a sugar chain molecule that increases the fertilization efficiency in plants. AMOR was found to be responsible for activating pollen tubes to lead to fertilization. Moreover, through the collaboration between biologists and chemists, the group has synthesized a disaccharide, i.e. a double sugar, which exhibits the same properties as AMOR. This discovery is expected to lead to advances in research to improve plant fertilization efficiency as well as carbohydrate chemistry for plants.

An international team of scientists have developed a way to help locate fossils of long-extinct animals.

Using the estimated ages and spatial distribution of Australian megafauna fossils, the team from University of Adelaide in Australia and Kiel University in Germany built a series of mathematical models to determine the areas in the country most likely to contain fossils.

Published in PLOS ONE, the models were developed for Australia but the researchers provide guidelines on how to apply their approach to assist fossil hunting in other continents.

Blue on, yellow off: using different-coloured light, researchers are able to switch signalling pathways in the brain on and off.

Researchers in Bochum have utilised light-sensitive proteins from nerve cells of the eye - so-called melanopsins - to switch on specific signalling pathways in brain cells with high temporal precision. Depending on what kind of melanopsin the researchers used, signalling pathways were switched on either transiently or sustained. In mammals, the protein typically regulates the circadian rhythm.

Transplantation of genetically modified cells carrying a transgene has a greater stimulating effect on the regeneration of post-traumatic central nervous system.

During spinal cord injury, the extensive area adjacent to the epicenter of the injury gets involved in the pathological process. As such, in order to achieve complete therapeutic action, the therapeutic gene must be delivered not only to the epicenter of traumatic injury but also to the surrounding areas distant from the epicenter of injury.

The drug crizotinib (trade name: Xalkori) has been available since 2012 for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (bronchial carcinoma) who have a high activity of the enzyme anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) and have already received another treatment. In November 2015, the approval was extended to first-line treatment.

The prevailing hypothesis has suggested that the the functions of DNA, such as the way the DNA is organized, largely depend on its interactions with protein molecules. However, a new study, affiliated with UNIST finds that DNA molecules directly interact with one another in a way that's dependent on the sequence of the DNA and epigenetic factors.

A team of researchers led by Professor Pauline Chiu from Department of Chemistry, the University of Hong Kong, has successfully achieved a formal total synthesis of cortistatin A, a molecule which could help mitigate the growth of cancer tumours. The findings were published in Chemistry-A European Journal recently. This novel strategy of synthesizing the molecule was deemed to be "highly important" by the refereeing panel, and usually less than 10% of manuscripts receive such a positive review.

A scientific paper released today in the Journal of Drug Design, Development and Therapy show the effectiveness of Zolav®, a new antibiotic, in treating acne.

The work involved Australian company Boulos & Cooper Pharmaceuticals and consulting company AXD Pty Ltd. Chief Executive Officer of Boulos and Cooper Pharmaceuticals, Dr Ramiz Boulos said that "Zolav® has shown to have low toxicity to cells and antioxidant properties".

DALLAS - April 7, 2016 - Prostate cancer patients and their doctors may want to think twice about the best timing for chemotherapy or radiation therapy in conjunction with a common nonsurgical treatment, based on international research findings led by UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators.

The babies of obese women who develop gestational diabetes are five times as likely to be excessively large by six months of pregnancy, according to new research led by the University of Cambridge. The study, which shows that excessive fetal growth begins weeks before at-risk women are screened for gestational diabetes, suggests that current screening programmes may take place too late during pregnancy to prevent lasting health impacts on the offspring.

Proposals by the UK government to charge non-EEA residents for access to the NHS fail to abide by the government's principles for the NHS, are ideologically driven and unlikely to result in substantial savings. These are the conclusions of an essay published today by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, written by public health experts from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.