Body

CLEVELAND, Ohio (December 21, 2015)--The number of prescriptions for mostly unregulated compounded hormone therapy for women at menopause has reached an estimated 26 to 33 million a year. That approaches the 36 million prescriptions per year for well-regulated and tested FDA-approved hormone therapy, shows an analysis of the market compounded hormone therapy market, published online this month in Menopause, the journal of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

Washington, DC - December 18, 2015 - Intestinal nematodes and roundworms infect more than one billion people worldwide. These parasites lead to malnutrition and developmental problems, especially in children. Unfortunately, resistance to the existing drug treatment is increasing. Now a team of researchers has successfully inserted the gene for a naturally-occurring, insecticidal protein called Bt into a harmless bacterium. This could then be incorporated into dairy products, or used as a probiotic to deliver the protein to the intestines of people afflicted with roundworms.

With the holiday season at a fever pitch and charitable giving on people's minds, new research from the University of Delaware suggests that for organizations interested in increasing the number of givers and the amount of donations, the solution might be as easy as a simple change in how charitable gifts are made.

For the past three years, as part of their course requirements, 190 of Kent Messer's undergraduate students have attended a guest lecture presented by Kate Hackett, executive director of Delaware Wild Lands (DWL).

Two types of bacteria found in the soil have enabled scientists at Texas A&M AgriLife Research to get the dirt on how resistance to antibiotics develops along with a separate survival strategy.

The study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics this month, identifies an atypical antibiotic molecule and the way in which the resistance to that molecule arises, including the identity of the genes that are responsible, according to Dr. Paul Straight, AgriLife Research biochemist.

Microelectromechanical systems -- or MEMS -- were a $12 billion business in 2014. But that market is dominated by just a handful of devices, such as the accelerometers that reorient the screens of most smartphones.

That's because manufacturing MEMS has traditionally required sophisticated semiconductor fabrication facilities, which cost tens of millions of dollars to build. Potentially useful MEMS have languished in development because they don't have markets large enough to justify the initial capital investment in production.

Singapore/Lugano - Data collected in Japanese and Korean patients included in the global PALOMA3 trial provides evidence that combining palbociclib with fulvestrant is an effective strategy to overcome endocrine resistance in women with hormone receptor positive (HR+), HER2 negative (HER2-) advanced breast cancer. The analysis of efficacy and safety of the combined therapy in an Asian population was presented (1) at the first ESMO Asia 2015 Congress in Singapore, and results are in line with those reported in all patients (both Asian and non-Asian) earlier this year.

A well-known 'superbug' which was thought to have been a static or non-motile organism has been observed showing signs of active motility by scientists at The Universities of Nottingham and Sheffield.

Follow-up times of abnormal screening exams were shorter for breast cancer than they were for colorectal and cervical cancers, according to a recent study involving more than one million individuals who underwent these screenings.

Rice University researchers developing temporary implants for facial reconstruction are incorporating a unique way to deliver time-released antibiotics to ward off infection while a patient heals.

The Rice laboratory of bioengineer Antonios Mikos develops materials to help repair severe craniofacial injuries from trauma or pathological defects like tumor removal. The lab's specialized plastic space maintainers are designed to keep a pocket for new bone open while the overlying soft tissue heals. In later surgery, the implant is removed to make way for reconstruction of the bone.

Most solid materials are of polycrystalline nature. In which way the individual grains are oriented in the material can be relevant for its functional properties. In order to determine the corresponding orientation distributions on large specimen areas, generally, a scanning electron microscope is employed. The specimen surface needs to be prepared, before it can be probed under vacuum by an electron beam and analyzed using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD).

Overqualification -- the condition of employees who believe that their qualifications exceed the requirements of their jobs -- has been widely considered harmful for organizations, which is why most companies tend to screen out such job applicants.

SEDE BOQER, Israel - Dec. 18, 2015 - Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have found that radioactive matter migrates more quickly in carbonate bedrock formations once it has leaked from a tank from near surface waste sites and geological repositories.

Corroded stored waste containers can lead to radionuclide (radioactive) leakage, which may reach groundwater.

Different immune cells use phagocytosis for microbial killing, but in dendritic cells (DCs) it mainly serves the processing and presentation of specific molecules (antigens) that are able to alert the immune system and to initiate immune responses. Researchers at VIB and UGent, in close collaboration with a research team of the Institute Curie in France, describe now a mechanism of how the fusion between phagosomes and lysosomes influences the presentation of antigens on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I molecules to cytotoxic T cells, a process called cross-presentation.

Follow-up times of abnormal screening exams were shorter for breast cancer than they were for colorectal and cervical cancers, according to a recent study involving more than one million individuals who underwent these screenings.

A study by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) shows that every Australian city and town has species that are officially listed as threatened.

Sydney has the most, Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia has the most distinct collection of animals found in an urban area, and Kempsey in NSW has the most unique plants.