The best method for preventing HIV patients from developing drug resistance is a careful, dedicated adherence to their prescribed drug regimen, according to a long-term, large-scale study presented today in New York City at the American Medical Association Media Briefing, HIV/AIDS, The Drug Resistance Epidemic. Other key predictors of resistance include measures of how much virus was present in a person’s bloodstream at the start of therapy and how much their immune status was compromised
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered the molecular sequence of events in mice that turn a juvenile heart into an adult heart capable of responding to increased workloads.
Published as the cover story in the January 14, 2005 issue of the journal Cell, the study identifies a protein called ASF/SF2 as a regulator of a calcium enzyme responsible for heart contraction and tissue growth. Mice born with mutated or absent ASF/SF2
A research team has discovered clusters of aluminum atoms that have chemical properties similar to single atoms of metallic and nonmetallic elements when they react with iodine. The discovery opens the door to using ’superatom chemistry’ based on a new periodic table of cluster elements to create unique compounds with distinctive properties never seen before. The results of the research, headed jointly by Shiv N. Khanna, professor of physics at Virginia Commonwealth University and A. Welford Ca
Finding someday may help treat hearing loss, neurodegenerative disorders
Selectively turning off a protein that controls the growth and division of cells could allow regeneration of the inner ear’s hair cells, which convert sound vibrations into nerve impulses. The discovery by a research team based at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) runs counter to current beliefs about these cells and could eventually lead to ways of preventing or treating hearing loss. The report wil
Findings could lead to new vaccines and antibacterial strategies
A previously unknown network of immune cells has been discovered in the mammalian gastrointestinal system by a research group based in the Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The finding, reported in the January 14 issue of Science, could lead to better understanding of how the immune system recognizes and responds to dangerous bacteria and viruses and to new
B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is the most common leukemia in adults and is characterized by the progressive accumulation of mature B lymphocytes in the blood, bone marrow, and lymphatic tissues. It is believed that in the early stages of disease, B-CLL is the result of an undefined defect in the programmed signals that trigger normal B cell death (apoptosis). Livio Trentin and colleagues from Padua University School of Medicine now demonstrate that high levels of expression and alter
Cornell University researchers have created a video simulation of the deadly Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami that shows in graphic detail how the massive wave system spread outward from the epicenter of an undersea earthquake northwest of Sumatra, Indonesia.
The simulation makes it clear how the tsunami struck the coastlines of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India with such devastating force, then continued as far as East Africa.
The video, about 7 MB, can be seen o
Results from experiments at CERN and the Jyväskylä Accelerator Laboratory in Finland, reported in Nature today, cast new light on the primary reaction that creates carbon in stars. All the carbon in the Universe, including that needed for carbon-based life forms such as ourselves, has been made in the hearts of stars through what is known as the “triple alpha reaction”. The new findings modify the rate at which the reaction occurs and have broad implications for astrophysics, from the formation
On Tuesday 21th of December 2004 a European team involved in Epica (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) reached the drilling depth of 3270.2, which is five meters above the bedrock at Dome C, on the central plateau of the east Antarctic ice sheet. The ice is melting at the bedrock and it has been decided to stop at this depth to avoid any danger of direct contamination of the basal water. The drilling operation has therefore been terminated.
The drilling has been very successfu
Major Observing Programme Leads to New Theory of Galaxy Formation
Most present-day large galaxies are spirals, presenting a disc surrounding a central bulge. Famous examples are our own Milky Way or the Andromeda Galaxy. When and how did these spiral galaxies form? Why do a great majority of them present a massive central bulge?
An international team of astronomers [1] presents new convincing answers to these fundamental questions. For this, they rely on an extensive data
Scientists have discovered a new group of microbes thriving in extreme conditions deep in the Mediterranean Sea. Their existence in such hostile environments hints at the possibility of life on other planets.
The European consortium carrying out the three-year Biodeep project, which includes researchers from the University of Essex, now plans to test how the microbes tolerate these unique conditions. The group hopes their adaptations could be exploited in medicine, agricultu
Feasibility Study Shows Access Could Be Given Without Delay
EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, will make access to its satellite that covers the Indian Ocean available to the international community for use in constructing a tsunami warning system in the region.
EUMETSAT operates the Meteosat-5 satellite at 63°East as part of its Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC) Service.
In a special meeting this week, EUMETS
Astronomers using the Gemini South 8-meter telescope in Chile have observed new details in the dusty disk surrounding the nearby star Beta Pictoris which show that a large collision between planetary-sized bodies may have occurred there as recently as the past few decades.
The mid-infrared observations provide the best evidence yet for the occurrence of energetic encounters between planetesimals (small bodies formed of rock or ice) during the process of planetary formation. Amaz
An innovative scheme is underway in the West of Scotland to combat depression. The new project, lead by a University of Glasgow researcher, adds structure to NHS care by integrating GP, patient and secondary care in the treatment of depression, and employs a novel electronic referral system that speeds up patient assessment.
Although the New Year is typically a time full of joy and optimistic hopes the future, many people experience seasonal ‘blues’. However, an ambitious projec
Smoking marijuana is associated with increased risk of many of the same symptoms as smoking cigarettes–chronic bronchitis, coughing on most days, phlegm production, shortness of breath, and wheezing, according to a Yale study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
In addition, marijuana smoking may increase risk of respiratory exposure by infectious organisms, such as fungi and molds, since cannabis plants are contaminated with a range of fungal spores, said Brent M
University of Michigan researchers are part of a team that has developed a new tool to assess the quality of home health care, with the goal of improving care and providing meaningful feedback about the care.
In the current issue of The Gerontologist, the team reports on home care quality indicators based on 22 measures. Home care agencies, governments and consumers can use the results of these 22 measures to evaluate the quality of home care. The assessment is a project of int
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