Astronomers have located the most massive stellar black hole ever found. The black hole is part of a binary system in M33, a nearby galaxy about 3 million light years from Earth. This new finding offers intriguing implications for the evolution and ultimate fate of massive stars. Read more…
Scientists have identified a gene crucial to the final step of the formation of a functional sperm cell. That final step -- called spermiogenesis -- entails the compaction of DNA into a tight ball within the head of the sperm so it can successfully penetrate an egg. Mice engineered to lack the crucial gene, Jhdm2a, that triggers this process did not produce many mature sperm, and those they did produce had abnormally shaped heads and immotile tails. Read more…
Twenty years after its discovery in the forested mountains of Vietnam, local authorities here have agreed to establish new nature reserves to protect a critically endangered wild ox. Found only in the Annamite Mountains of Vietnam and Laos, the saola was discovered in 1992 by a team of scientists from the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and WWF; the first large mammal to be discovered anywhere in the world since 1936. Read more…
Primary and metastatic tumors of the spleen are described as unusual, excluding involvement by lymphoma. Indeed, isolated splenic metastasis from colorectal carcinoma is not a common occurrence. Its rareness has been hypothetically explained by several characteristics of the spleen, such as anatomical, histological and immunological features. Read more…
Researchers have shown how tiny 'nanorods' of gold can be triggered by a laser beam to blast holes in the membranes of tumor cells, setting in motion a complex biochemical mechanism that leads to a tumor cell's self-destruction. Read more…
Reef fish and other marine species can breathe easier with the introduction of a fishing ban around Apo Reef, the largest coral reef in the Philippines and the second largest contiguous reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. Under the ban, all extractive activities, such as fishing, and coral collection and harvesting, will be completely forbidden. Read more…
Scientists have shown how developing brain tumors can turn an encounter with a signaling molecule from a fatal experience for the tumor cells into a cue for their own growth and multiplication. The transformation relies on two molecules that can be modified with existing drugs, opening the possibility of using them to treat brain tumors. Read more…
The US and Russia have ratified a bilateral agreement for the long-term conservation of shared polar bear populations in Alaska, the US and Chukotka, Russia. The treaty unifies US and Russian management programmes that affect this shared population of bears. Notably, the treaty calls for the active involvement of native people and their organizations in future management programmes. Read more…
A research group in China has found that the prevalence of H pylori infection and peptic ulcer in HIV-positive patients was lower than that of the general population. Helicobacter pylori has been extensively studied and shown to be the main cause of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer in the HIV-negative population. Patients with chronic active gastritis have evidence of H pylori infection in over 90% of cases and in 70-100% of those with peptic ulcer disease. Read more…
Mammography continues to be the method of choice for the early detection of breast cancer. However, because this technique is not as selective or specific as one would wish, and does not deliver reliable results for every level of tissue density, alternatives are being sought. Near-infrared fluorescence mammography, which works with rays of near-infrared light instead of X-rays, is a highly promising technique?although effective contrast agents have thus far been lacking. Read more…
If the care received by vulnerable older people concurrently enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid was evaluated on a grading scale, it would squeak by with a barely passing mark, a new study has found. Researchers found that vulnerable elderly patients received only 65 percent of the tests and other diagnostic evaluations and treatments recommended for a variety of illnesses and conditions, including diabetes and heart disease. Read more…
The most important clinical problem for people with cystic fibrosis is inflammation of their lungs. The inflammation then plays a role in further damaging the tissues. Consequently, people have wondered whether giving non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to patients with CF will reduce lung inflammation. Long-term high-dose ibuprofen may slow the rate of decline in lung function in children with cystic fibrosis when treatment is started under the age of 13. Read more…
Twenty years after its discovery in the forested mountains of Vietnam, local authorities here have agreed to establish new nature reserves to protect a critically endangered wild ox. Found only in the Annamite Mountains of Vietnam and Laos, the saola was discovered in 1992 by a team of scientists from the Vietnamese Ministry of Forestry and WWF; the first large mammal to be discovered anywhere in the world since 1936. Read more…
Scientists have identified the gene Meis1 as a critical player in the establishment of leukemia stem cells, and the development of MLL leukemia. Read more…
New studies reveal substantial costs and underreporting of dengue fever. Dengue fever, known as "breakbone fever" because of the excruciating back and joint pain that accompanies this infectious disease, is a growing public health threat for people living in tropical countries, as well as travelers to destinations such as Thailand, Brazil and Puerto Rico. Read more…
A study led by members of the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Health Policy has found that institutional academic-industry relationships -- financial relationships companies have with medical schools or teaching hospitals rather than with individual physicians or scientists -- are as common and pervasive as individual relationships. Read more…
For amateur genealogists and Americans searching for their roots, the prospect of tracking one's DNA to a specific country, region or tribe with a take-home kit is highly alluring. But while the popularity of genetic ancestral testing is rising -- particularly among African-Americans -- the technology is flawed and could spawn unwelcome societal consequences, according to researchers. Read more…
Mussels are well known for sticking to virtually all inorganic and organic surfaces and doing so with amazing tenacity. A material that mimics the strength of the bonds has already been created. Now scientists have produced a versatile coating method that mimics the mussels' ability to attach to a wide variety of objects. A broad variety of materials can be coated and functionalized through the application of a surface layer of polydopamine. Read more…
Random drug and alcohol testing does not reliably keep student-athletes from using controlled or illegal substances. In fact, the mere presence of drug testing increases some risk factors for future substance use researchers report. Read more…
Elephants are remarkably perceptive when it comes to recognizing specific ethnic groups of people that vary in the degree of danger they are likely to pose. Elephants in Kenya reacted with greater fear when they detected the scent of garments previously worn by Maasai warriors than by Kamba men, the researchers reported. Read more…
The reason some people don't get post-traumatic stress disorder or depression from chronic stress, while others do, may lie in specific molecular differences in the brain. This study mapped them out in mice responding to stressful situations, in mechanisms also found in human brain. It turns out that the ability to withstand stress isn't just the absence of brain mechanisms that underlie the tendency to buckle under; a different, adaptive molecular engine gets fired up to drive resilience. Read more…
Bats are the most vocal mammals other than humans, and understanding how they communicate during their nocturnal outings could lead to better treatments for human speech disorders. Thousands of bats native to Central Texas fly overhead each night singing songs of complex syllables -- but at frequencies too high for humans to hear. Read more…
Sugars made by plants are rapidly used by microbes living in their roots creating a short cut in the carbon cycle that is vital to life on earth. The green leaves of plants use the energy of sunlight to make sugar by combining water with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This sugar fuels the plant?s growth, but scientists discovered that some of it goes straight to the roots to feed a surprising variety of microbes. Read more…
Mayo Clinic has clarified the methods of diagnosis and optimal management of a rare and little-understood blood vessel disease of the brain and spinal cord that often leads to stroke or death. Primary central nervous system vasculitis can best be identified through a combination of diagnostic techniques consisting of angiography, brain biopsy and other laboratory studies, according to the new study. Read more…
While several drugs and psychotherapies are used to treat PTSD, many of the studies concerning their effectiveness have problems; as a result, they do not provide a clear picture of what works and what doesn't, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Read more…