How does the West Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes, survive the cold mosquito-free months of winter? In New York City, West Nile’s initial beachhead in North America, researchers found that the virus persisted in a kind of suspended animation in mosquitoes hibernating in sewers. But in much of the South, mosquitoes do not truly hibernate during winter — they just reduce their activity rate during cold periods, revving back up whenever the weather warms.

Understanding h

Treatment to lower systolic high blood pressure in older persons is associated with substantial reduction of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, Yale researchers report in the September 1 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
The Yale team critically reviewed medical literature on systolic blood pressure (SBP) in older persons between 1966 and 2004. They found strong clinical evidence to support the treatment of persons with systolic blood pressure of at least 160 mm Hg.

To defeat an enemy, you must first understand it, or so the saying goes. And for nearly every teenager and young adult, acne is a formidable foe, causing damage to their skin and their self-image that can leave long-lasting physical and emotional scars.

But University of Michigan researchers are working to defeat acne by understanding it better on a molecular level, and testing new ideas about how to treat it. They’ve enlisted armies of volunteers in their efforts to explore acne’s

Analyzing the expression levels of the gene CDK9 (cyclin dependent kinase) and its attached molecule CYCLIN T1 in lymphoid cells in a sample of blood can accurately pinpoint lymphoma, according to researchers at Temple University’s Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine and the Department of Human Pathology and Oncology at the University of Siena in Italy.

Their study, “CDK9/CYCLIN T1 expression during normal lymphoid differentiation and malignant transformation

Scientists have churned out genome sequences for everything from fungi to dogs to chimps, and they won’t be letting up any time soon. However, because a genome sequence is little more than a static list of chemicals–like, say, a parts list for a 747 airplane–scientists are increasingly turning their attention to figuring out how living organisms put their genes to work. Using yeast as a testing ground, researchers at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have for the first time reveal

Researchers attempting to understand the stunningly complex machinery by which genes give rise to the brain often find invaluable clues in genetic disorders that affect brain structure and function.

Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg and his colleagues have gained just such clues by studying the brain function of sufferers of Williams syndrome (WS). This rare disorder, caused by the deletion of a specific chromosome segment, can cause mental retardation, physical abnormalities, and perso

A mini-antibody bearing a payload of tumor-busting radiation thwarts the growth of human breast cancer in laboratory animals, according to research published in the September 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.

The research shows that a diabody, an antibody surrogate just one third the size of native antibodies, can be used effectively as a targeting vehicle for radioimmunotherapy, said Gregory Adams, Ph.D., associate member of the Medical Science Division, Fox Chase Cancer

Using brain imaging, neuroscientists at the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have pinpointed the site of a defect in a brain circuit associated with a specific thinking deficit. Their study demonstrates how a rare genetic disorder, Williams Syndrome, can offer clues as to how genetic flaws may translate into cognitive symptoms in more common and complex major mental disorders. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, M.D., Karen Berman, M.D., and colleagues, traced the thinking deficit to a circ

An international team of researchers has identified a family of proteins that are involved in HIV-1 budding from host cells, and are therefore likely to be essential for the spread of the virus. Targeting these proteins and the proteins they interact with could lead to potential new therapies for HIV-1 as well as other viruses that use the same budding mechanism .

The research appears as the “Paper of the Week” in the August 20 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, an America

An antioxidant, a type of compound that prevents certain types of damage to living cells, appears to allow some kinds of plants to thrive on metal-enriched soils that typically kill other plants, says a Purdue University scientist.

This finding, published in the current issue of The Plant Cell, provides an important new insight for the development of plants that could be used to help clean polluted sites. The work also answers a fundamental question for researchers studying how

Omega-3 fatty acid may prevent Alzheimer’s disease and slow its progression

UCLA neuroscientists have shown for the first time that a diet high in the omega-3 fatty acid DHA helps protect the brain against the memory loss and cell damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The new research suggests that a DHA-rich diet may lower one’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease and may help slow progression of the disorder in its later stages. The journal Neuron reported the findings

Implantable contact lens (ICL) to correct myopia, are safe, effective and have predictable results for correcting moderate to high myopia or nearsightedness. These are the conclusions discussed in an article published in the September issue of Ophthalmology, the clinical journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The article provided an update to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s long-term, follow-up multi-center STAAR Myopic Implantable Contact Lens (ICL) clinical i

Though many issues need to be addressed

A future trends report published today in the American Gastroenterological Association’s journal Gastroenterology, concludes that CT colonography (often referred to as “virtual colonoscopy”) has significant promise. However, the technology is still evolving and the results of CT colonography for screening are variable.

Guidelines of multiple agencies and professional societies underscore the importance of screening for all individ

A lack of correlation between quantitative sonography and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in detecting osteoporosis makes quantitative sonography impractical for routine diagnostic use, despite it being able to evaluate bone fracture risk without the use of ionizing radiation, say researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria.

Both quantitative sonography and DXA are imaging methods used to measure bone density and quality, with the former using sound waves and the latter X-r

Dental experts have developed a new sedation procedure which could relieve pressure on hospitals and allow patients to avoid potentially risky general anaesthetics. Clinical trials on more than 600 children with extreme dental problems who would usually attend hospital for a general anaesthetic (GA) for dental treatment, found the new procedure was completely successful in 93 per cent of cases.

Researchers at the UK’s University of Newcastle upon Tyne carried out the Government-fun

Though picking up a Salmonella infection abroad could ruin your holiday, reporting it to your doctor could help detect emerging infections in tourist destinations, according to an article published today in BMC Medicine. A comprehensive database containing details of the infections that travellers pick up could help inform countries that have limited surveillance systems about possible disease outbreaks.

In Sweden, all reported cases of Salmonella infection must be entered into th