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Public Release: 12-Oct-2009
JAMA
Most H1N1 patients with respiratory failure treated with oxygenating system survive illness
Despite the severity of disease and the intensity of treatment, most patients in Australia and New Zealand who experienced respiratory failure as a result of 2009 influenza A(H1N1) and were treated with a system that adds oxygen to the patient's blood survived the disease, according to a study to appear in the Nov. 4 issue of JAMA. This study is being published early online because of its public health importance.
Contact: Andrew R. Davies
a.davies@alfred.org.au
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 12-Oct-2009
Archives of Neurology
Investment in Parkinson's disease data bank yields potential therapy
Individuals with Parkinson's disease who have higher levels of a metabolite called urate in their blood and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have a slower rate of disease progression, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. A clinical trial is under way to examine the safety and potential benefits of supplemental urate elevation for recently diagnosed Parkinson's patients who have low urate levels.
National Institutes of Health, Michael J. Fox Foundation
Contact: Daniel Stimson
nindspressteam@ninds.nih.gov
301-496-5751
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Sick American dogs get first shot at cancer drugs
01:00 13 October 2009
Pet dogs that develop cancer can now receive experimental anti-cancer drugs before they become available for humans
13 October 2009 10:14 UK
Remote controlled bugs buzz off
By Patrick Jackson BBC News
A Pentagon-sponsored project to control flying insects remotely has sent ripples of excitement across the scientific pond.
12 October 2009 00:26 UK
Mother can pass on cancer in womb
Scientists have proved that it is possible for a mother's cancer cells to be passed to her unborn child.
Really?
The Claim: Always Wash Your Hands With Hot Water, Not Cold.
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Is warm or hot water really more effective than cold in preventing the spread of infections?
Is a Virus the Cause of Fatigue Syndrome?
By DENISE GRADY
In a new study, many patients with the debilitating disorder were infected with a recently discovered virus.
* Health Guide: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
* Comment Q. and A.: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Public Release: 13-Oct-2009
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
Don't block folic acid in early pregnancy
Using medication that reduces or blocks the actions of folic acid during the first trimester of pregnancy, increases the risk that the growing baby will develop abnormalities. This conclusion was reached by a team of epidemiologists, pediatricians, clinical pharmacologists, obstetricians and gynecologists who examined birth and abortion data collected in Israel between 1998 and 2007.
Contact: Jennifer Beal
medicalnews@wiley.com
44-124-377-0633
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 13-Oct-2009
British Medical Journal
Study finds rise in rate of undesirable events at start of academic year
The rate of undesirable events in teaching hospitals increases at the beginning of the academic year, regardless of trainees' level of clinical experience, concludes new research from Australia published on bmj.com today.
Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmj.com
44-207-383-6529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Public Release: 13-Oct-2009
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
New type of flying reptile discovered
Discovered by scientists at the University of Leicester and the Geological Institute, Beijing, Darwin's pterodactyl preyed on flying dinosaurs and shows how a controversial type of evolution may have powered the origin of major new groups.
Contact: Dave Unwin
dmu1@le.ac.uk
44-116-252-3947
University of Leicester
Public Release: 13-Oct-2009
Biological Conservation
Conservation targets too small to stop extinction
Conservation biologists are setting their minimum population size targets too low to prevent extinction, according to a new study led by University of Adelaide, Australia.
Contact: Dr Lochran Traill, Environment Institute, Univ of Adelaide
lochran.traill@adelaide.edu.au
61-883-036-070
University of Adelaide
Public Release: 13-Oct-2009
Report documents the risks of giant invasive snakes in the US
Five giant non-native snake species would pose high risks to the health of ecosystems in the United States should they become established here, according to a US Geological Survey report released today.
US Geological Survey
Contact: Catherine Puckett
cpuckett@usgs.gov
352-264-3532
United States Geological Survey
Make 'em sweat: resin keeps insect pests at bay
15:41 13 October 2009
Scientists have found a cheap, durable and eco-friendly way to stop cockroaches clambering over slippery surfaces
Penn archaeologist recreates ancient brews
Philadelphia Inquirer
Mike the Mad Biologist
Here's a Technology That WILL Revolutionize Publishing
October 13, 2009
The Frontal Cortex
Information Craving
October 13, 2009
The Wild Side
A Long, Melancholy Roar
By OLIVIA JUDSON
Humans have learned to fear attacks from certain quarters -- lions, crocodiles, and so forth -- but not from others that are both less obvious and more deadly.
Public Release: 14-Oct-2009
Nature
What drives our genes? Salk researchers map the first complete human epigenome
Although the human genome sequence faithfully lists (almost) every single DNA base of the roughly 3 billion bases that make up a human genome, it doesn't tell biologists much about how its function is regulated. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute provide the first detailed map of the human epigenome, the layer of genetic control beyond the regulation inherent in the sequence of the genes themselves.
Contact: Gina Kirchweger
kirchweger@salk.edu
858-453-410-01685
Salk Institute
Public Release: 14-Oct-2009
Science Translational Medicine
BCM scientists find 'molecular trigger' for sudden death in epilepsy
The most common gene for long QT syndrome triggers epileptic seizures and could explain sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the current issue of Science Translational Medicine.
Dana Foundation, National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, Blue Bird Circle Foundation of Houston
Contact: Dipali Pathak
pathak@bcm.edu
713-798-4712
Baylor College of Medicine
Public Release: 14-Oct-2009
PLoS ONE
Gene blamed for immunological disorders shown to protect against breast cancer development
Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center are voicing alarm that drugs to treat a wide variety of allergies, asthma and autoimmune diseases now in human clinical trials may errantly spur development of breast tumors.
National Institutes of Health, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fellowship
Contact: Karen Mallet
km463@georgetown.edu
215-514-9751
Georgetown University Medical Center
Public Release: 14-Oct-2009
BMC Medicine
Popular antidepressant associated with a dramatic increase in suicidal thoughts amongst men
Nortriptyline has been found to cause a tenfold increase in suicidal thoughts in men when compared to its competitor escitalopram. These findings are published in the open-access journal BMC Medicine.
Contact: Charlotte Webber
charlotte.webber@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2129
BioMed Central
Virtual workforce found in Kenyan refugee camp
FEATURE:  14:23 14 October 2009
Crowd-sourcing may help bring the hard labour of the digital economy to those in desperate need of money
Public Release: 14-Oct-2009
Transplantation
Affordable anti-rejection drug as effective as higher cost option
A newer, less expensive drug used to suppress the immune system and prevent organ rejection in kidney and pancreas transplant patients works just as well as its much more expensive counterpart, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Contact: Jessica Guenzel
jguenzel@wfubmc.edu
336-716-3487
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Public Release: 14-Oct-2009
Journal of Natural Products
Fabled 'vegetable lamb' plant contains potential treatment for osteoporosis
The "vegetable lamb" plant -- once believed to bear fruit that ripened into a living baby sheep -- produces substances that show promise in laboratory experiments as new treatments for osteoporosis, the bone-thinning disease. That's the conclusion of a new study in ACS' monthly Journal of Natural Products.
Contact: Michael Woods
m_woods@acs.org
202-872-6293
American Chemical Society
'Magnetricity' observed for first time
21:28 14 October 2009
Just as the flow of electrons produces electrical current, streaming magnetic 'charges' generate magnetic current – nano-scale computer memory could be on the horizon
Public Release: 15-Oct-2009
Cell
In shaping our immune systems, some 'friendly' bacteria may play inordinate role
Out of the trillions of "friendly" bacteria -- representing hundreds of species -- that make our intestines their home, new evidence in mice suggests that it may be a very select few that shape our immune responses. The findings are detailed in two Oct. 16 reports appearing in the journals Cell and Immunity, both Cell Press publications.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
It's official: Your bullying boss really is an idiot
14:28 15 October 2009
Psychologists show that people turn nasty when influence and incompetence collide
Public Release: 15-Oct-2009
Geological Society of America's 2009 Annual Meeting & Exposition
Giant impact near India -- not Mexico -- may have doomed dinosaurs
A mysterious basin off the coast of India could be the largest, multi-ringed impact crater the world has ever seen. And if a new study is right, it may have been responsible for killing the dinosaurs off 65 million years ago.
Contact: Christa Stratton
cstratton@geosociety.org
303-357-1093
Geological Society of America
Public Release: 15-Oct-2009
Retrovirology
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus may not be associated with human prostate cancer
The xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus which has previously been linked to prostate cancer has been found to have a dramatically lower prevalence among German prostate cancer patients, if any. Contrary to some reports, which have found XMRV in 40 percent of cases in patients in the US with familial prostate cancer, research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Retrovirology has found no link between the two conditions in a large study of German prostate cancer patients.
Contact: Charlotte Webber
charlotte.webber@biomedcentral.com
44-020-319-22129
BioMed Central
Sea anemone stings make a 'hypodermic' skin cream
15:03 15 October 2009
Stinging cells can be used as tiny needles to inject drugs into the skin – sea anemone face creams should be available to buy next year
Solving the crystal maze: The secrets of structure
FEATURE:  12:10 16 October 2009
Crystal structures explain the behaviour of everything from bone to gemstones – but why do they take the shapes they do? We might have cracked it at last
Public Release: 16-Oct-2009
World Journal of Gastroenterology
Promising novel treatment for human cancer -- Chrysanthemum indicum extract
A research team from China investigated the effects of Chrysanthemum indicum extract (CIE) on inhibition of proliferation and on apoptosis, and the underlying mechanisms, in a human hepatocellular carcinoma MHCC97H cell line. They found CIE exerted a significant apoptotic effect through a mitochondrial pathway and arrested the cell cycle by regulation of cell cycle-related proteins in MHCC97H cells without an effect on normal cells.
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Science and Technology Developing Foundation
Contact: Ye-Ru Wang
wjg@wjgnet.com
0086-105-908-0039
World Journal of Gastroenterology
Public Release: 16-Oct-2009
Deutsches Ärzteblatt International
Be overweight and live longer
Contrary to what was previously assumed, overweight is not increasing the overall death rate in the German population. Matthias Lenz of the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Natural Sciences of the University of Hamburg and his co-authors present these and other results in the current issue of Deutsches Artzeblatt International.
Contact: Elke Bartholomaeus
49-223-470-11133
Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
Public Release: 16-Oct-2009
Genome Research
TraDIS technique tackles typhoid
For the first time, researchers have looked at the need for every gene in a bacterial cell in just one experiment. They showed that Salmonella Typhi -- which every year infects 22 million people and causes 220,000 deaths -- needs only 356 genes for survival: 4162 genes are not essential. The method, which harnesses next-generation sequencing technologies, will aid the search for weaknesses in bacterial armories, allowing researchers to seek treatments to target those genes.Contact: Don Powell
press.officer@sanger.ac.uk
44-012-234-96928
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Placebo effect caught in the act in spinal nerves
14:41 16 October 2009
People were given a fake painkiller but didn't feel pain – and for the first time, an fMRI scanner saw their pain-related nerves stay quiet
Officials See a Shortage in Vaccine for Swine Flu
By DENISE GRADY
The swine flu is in 41 states, and flulike illnesses account for 6.1 percent of doctor visits, health officials said.
* Mandatory Vaccines for Health Workers Halted
* Three Pigs May Be the First in the U.S. With Swine Flu
15 October 2009 18:03 UK
Swedes divided over bunny biofuel
By Helena Merriman BBC News
Residents in Stockholm are divided over reports that rabbits are being used to make biofuel.