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Use of positron emission tomography (PET) showed no association with two-year survival in lung and esophageal cancer patients and may possibly be overused in the hopes of detecting cancer recurrence, according to a study published February 22 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Researchers studying marine fishery species grouped by similar depth and temperature distribution have found that those groups have similar responses to the effects of climate change. Interactions between individual species in those groups, however, may be affected by the amount of available habitat, predator-prey relationships, and competition for food resulting from shifts in range and distribution.

If you pull an all-nighter or stay up late to binge watch Game of Thrones, you will probably be grumpy the next day. But if you don't get enough sleep for weeks or months on end, you may develop depression or other lasting mood problems, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have now discovered a possible reason why.

Updated definitions and clinical criteria for sepsis should facilitate earlier recognition and more timely management of patients with or at risk of developing sepsis. The report, which appears in the February 23 issue of JAMA, is being released to coincide with its presentation at the Society of Critical Care Medicine's 45th Critical Care Congress.

For the first time researchers have uncovered a unique ability in bats which allows them to carry but remain unaffected by lethal diseases.

Unlike humans, bats keep their immune systems switched on 24/7 and scientists believe this could hold the key to protecting people from deadly diseases like Ebola.

Bats are a natural host for more than 100 viruses, some of which are lethal to people, including Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Ebola and Hendra virus, however, interestingly bats do not get sick or show signs of disease from these viruses.

BOSTON, February 22, 2016 -A vaginal ring containing an antiretroviral (ARV) drug called dapivirine that women use for a month at a time was safe and helped protect against HIV in a large-scale clinical trial involving more than 2,600 women in Africa, researchers who conducted the trial, known as ASPIRE, reported today.

BOSTON (Feb. 22, 2016) -- In an important scientific achievement for women's health, two large Phase III clinical trials -- The Ring Study and ASPIRE -- have shown that a monthly vaginal ring containing the antiretroviral drug (ARV) dapivirine can safely help prevent HIV-1 infection in women. Developed by the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), the monthly ring is the first long-acting HIV prevention method designed for women, who bear the greatest burden of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. IPM plans to apply for regulatory approval to license the product.

The University of Delaware's Pamela Green is part of an international consortium of researchers from 35 laboratories that have published the genome of the seagrass Zostera marina. It is believed to be the first marine angiosperm to be fully sequenced.

The study, titled "The Genome of the Seagrass Zostera marina Reveals Angiosperm Adaptation to the Sea," was published in the scientific journal Nature and is featured on the cover of the print edition.

A ring that continuously releases an experimental antiretroviral drug in the vagina safely provided a modest level of protection against HIV infection in women, a large clinical trial in four sub-Saharan African countries has found. The ring reduced the risk of HIV infection by 27 percent in the study population overall and by 61 percent among women ages 25 years and older, who used the ring most consistently.

Stating that "the evidence is insufficient," the United States Preventive Services Task Force declined to recommend or discourage early screening for autism in all children, although experts believe it remains an essential technique for diagnosing and treating children during their developmental years.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Images of disease and suffering should move smokers to kick the habit - at least, that's the thinking behind graphic warning labels used on cigarette packages in much of the world, and maybe someday in the U.S.

According to a University of Illinois study, however, "the good intentions of this tobacco control measure may be for naught."

The reason: Those graphic images are perceived by many as a threat to their freedom, choice or autonomy, and they respond accordingly.

A non-destructive technique which can measure the concentration and consumption of oxygen in 3D models of biological cells has been developed by Plymouth University in partnership with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) oximetry, scientists assessed the gradient of oxygen concentration within spheroids, 3D cell cultures typically used for testing the chemical toxicity within liver and tumour models.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The types of beneficial fungi that associate with tree roots can alter the fate of a patch of tropical forest, boosting plant diversity or, conversely, giving one tree species a distinct advantage over many others, researchers report.

Their study, reported in the journal Ecology Letters, sought to explain a baffling phenomenon in some tropical forests: Small patches of "monodominant forest," where one species makes up more than 60 percent of the trees, form islands of low diversity in the otherwise highly diverse tropical forest growing all around them.

NEW ORLEANS - Waves crashing on the equatorial seafloor generate centimeter-scale turbulence that is crucial for driving ocean circulation on a global scale, Stanford scientists say.

The findings, presented this week at the annual American Geophysical Union Ocean Sciences conference and recently published online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, could eventually be incorporated into global climate simulations to improve future climate forecasts.

DALLAS (Feb. 22, 2016) - A 90-million-year-old fossil fish, which has been on display at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, turns out to be a new species. Research conducted by Kenshu Shimada, Ph.D., professor at DePaul University in Chicago and research associate of the Sternberg Museum in Kansas, reveals the 5.5-foot-long fossil fish to possess a tuna-like body with a unique 'hook-shaped sail' on its back.