To prevent possible pandemic, new methods of prevention needed

In 1918, nearly 40 million people died in a flu pandemic. Three such pandemics have occurred during the last 100 years.

When a new strain of flu infects people, the infection can spread around the world quickly. This is what could potentially happen with some new human flu viruses that come from bird flu viruses.

“Recently, some strains of bird flu viruses have infected people in Asia,” said Rob

When medics are treating trauma patients, every second counts. Yet bruises, burns, and other physical conditions often make it difficult to locate veins and administer lifesaving drugs or solutions.

A team of Georgia Tech researchers, including research engineer Francois Guillot in the School of Mechanical Engineering, is developing an inexpensive, handheld device that uses Doppler ultrasound technology to find veins quickly.

In response, a team of Georgia Institute of T

Numbers high among older women, women who have had several babies and women who have major depression

It’s a topic that is discussed so infrequently – for reasons that are easy to understand – that it may seem it isn’t much of a problem. But new research shows that fecal incontinence is prevalent among U.S. women, especially those in older age groups, those who have had numerous babies, women whose deliveries were assisted by forceps or vacuum devices, and those who ha

For the first time DNA analysis can identify paper-degrading microorganisms. This is made possible by a molecular process developed for fungal infected documents at the University of Vienna with support from the Austrian Science Fund FWF. Fungal species can now be clearly identified by means of a DNA region known as ITS1, making it easier to choose effective countermeasures for conserving historic documents.

It is generally easy enough to say how the ravages of time take their

The colouring agents traditionally used to stain organic tissues are no longer sufficient to meet today’s needs. The study of cell metabolism can only advance with better tools than those currently available. It has become necessary to observe smaller things at lower concentrations and one of these things is the degree of intracellular acidity or pH. Any organism works at pH levels close to those of ordinary water, but there are certain biological processes that take place in unusually acidic

A perfect model to study GPCR activation and dimerization

We have aspired at understanding and further dissecting the molecular mechanism of activation of the Glycoprotein hormone receptors (GpHr), members of the G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily.

First, we have focused on a network of polar interactions among highly conserved residues within the transmembrane (TM) region. Combination of site-directed mutagenesis and molecular dynamics simulations applied to

Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have identified a protein fragment in some human breast cancers that may help predict a patient’s chances of survival.

The presence of the fragment, called p95HER-2, in breast cancer tissue correlates closely with lymph node metastasis and earlier recurrence of the disease, suggesting that p95HER-2 is a marker and perhaps even involved in metastasis.

“By studying this marker we have a better chance

Scientists generally agree that all cloned animals are biologically flawed. But they don’t agree about what that means for stem cells derived from cloned embryos, the basis for therapeutic cloning.

Also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, therapeutic cloning is a promising approach to create individually customized cellular therapies for treating certain disorders. Demonstrated in mice but not in humans, it begins with stem cells derived from a cloned embryo. But if clo

Tired of resigning yourself to wearing uncomfortable footwear or hunting for hours in search of the right shoes, but think a made-to-order pair will be prohibitively expensive? Think again. A European project has come up with a solution.

Around 300 people across Europe are currently wearing footwear that better fits their feet thanks to trials carried out by the ERGOSHOE project last year. Many more are likely to do the same as the European Commission-funded initiative brings it

Dental decay is one of the most common preventable health problems in children living in socially deprived areas of the UK. Children living in low-socioeconomic neighbourhoods tend to start brushing their teeth at a later age and use fluoride containing toothpaste less often and, therefore, experience higher levels of dental decay overall. As a result, rates of tooth decay in five-year-olds have not improved in the last 10 years.

A study conducted by scientists from the Oral Health Resear

Rutgers researchers have found that the curry spice turmeric holds real potential for the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer, particularly when combined with certain vegetables.

The scientists tested turmeric, also known as curcumin, along with phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a naturally occurring substance particularly abundant in a group of vegetables that includes watercress, cabbage, winter cress, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, kohlrabi and turnips.

Regular exercise is associated with a delay in the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a Group Health Cooperative/University of Washington study that will appear in the January 17 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The study–the most definitive investigation of exercise and dementia to date–also found that the more frail a person is, the more he or she may benefit from exercise.

“Even those elderly people who did modest amounts of gentle exercise, suc

Scientists have developed a successful strategy for interfering with Ebola virus infection that protected 75 percent of nonhuman primates exposed to the lethal disease. This is the first successful antiviral intervention against filoviruses like Ebola in nonhuman primates. The findings could serve as the basis for a new approach to quickly develop virus-specific therapies for known, emerging, and genetically engineered pathogens.

In today’s online issue of the journal

Researchers for the first time have created a three-dimensional image of apolipoprotein E, a protein long associated with cardiovascular disease and more recently with Alzheimer’s disease, as it appears when it is bound to fat-like substances known as lipids.

Using the technique known as x-ray crystallography, scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) have created the highest-resolution x-ray structure of a lipoprotein particle to date.

Scientists have gotten their first detailed look at the molecular structure of an enzyme that Nature has been using for eons to help silence unwanted genetic messages. A team of researchers with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley used x-ray crystallography at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS) to determine the crystal structure of Dicer, an enzyme that plays a critical role in the process known as RNA interference. The Dic

A collaboration, led by Sydney scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and University of New South Wales, has discovered the first risk gene specifically for bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness. This means that people who have a particular form of this gene are twice as likely to develop the disease.

Dr Ian Blair, lead author of the research paper published in Molecular Psychiatry, says: “We are the first group in the world to take a multi-