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The standard approach to re-treating tuberculosis (TB) in low and middle income settings is failing, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust. In a study published today in the open access journal PLoS Medicine, researchers call for improved access to rapid diagnostics for drug resistant TB, second-line TB treatment and antiretroviral HIV therapy.

Its head looks like a turkey, its body resembles a chicken – now scientists can explain why one of the poultry world's most curious specimens has developed such a distinctive look in next week's issue of the online, open access journal PLoS Biology.. The Transylvanian naked neck chicken – once dubbed a Churkey or a Turken because of its hybrid appearance – has developed its defining feature because of a complex genetic mutation.

Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions, such as laundry detergent digesting protein stains, which are otherwise very difficult to remove. A research team led by Professor Kam-bo Wong of the Centre for Protein Science and Crystallography, School of Life Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong demonstrated a fundamental principle in changing the activity of enzymes by means of protein engineering.

Its head looks like a turkey's, its body resembles a chicken's – now scientists can explain why one of the poultry world's most curious specimens has developed such a distinctive look.

The Transylvanian naked neck chicken – once dubbed a Churkey or a Turken because of its hybrid appearance – has developed its defining feature because of a complex genetic mutation.

Researchers at The Roslin Institute at The University of Edinburgh found that a vitamin A-derived substance produced around the bird's neck enhanced the effects of the genetic mutation.

Johns Hopkins researchers believe they have uncovered the molecular switch for the secretion of insulin — the hormone that regulates blood sugar — providing for the first time an explanation of this process. In a report published online March 1 in Cell Metabolism, the researchers say the work solves a longtime mystery and may lead to better treatments for type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease.

CHICAGO – From 1965 to 2007, the population prevalence of persons who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day declined significantly, and there was also a decrease in the prevalence of smoking 10 or more cigarettes a day, with these declines greater in California than in the rest of the U.S., according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA.

CHICAGO – Modifying a patient's dosage of the antiplatelet drug clopidogrel for 6 months depending on the patient's level of platelet reactivity did not result in combined lower rates of nonfatal heart attack, stent thrombosis (clot) and cardiovascular death in patients who had a procedure such as balloon angioplasty and received a drug-releasing coronary stent, according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA.

CHICAGO – An examination of data for more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries finds that hospital regions that have a greater frequency of diagnoses have a lower case-fatality rate for chronic conditions such as coronary artery disease and kidney failure, according to a study in the March 16 issue of JAMA.

CHICAGO – Even though clinical practice guidelines for patients with chronic kidney disease recommend specific treatment target levels for serum phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, and calcium to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, an analysis of data from previous studies did not find a strong association between these biomarkers and the risk of death and cardiovascular events, except for higher serum phosphorus levels, according to an article in the March 16 issue of JAMA.

BOSTON--Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists report they have shrunk or slowed the growth of notoriously resistant pancreatic tumors in mice, using a drug routinely prescribed for malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.

Misfold an origami swan and the worst that happens is you wind up with an ugly paper duckling. Misfold one of the vital proteins in your body – each of which must be folded in a particular way to perform its function – and the result can be a debilitating neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's or Huntington's.

A new laser technique has demonstrated that it can measure the interactions between proteins tangled in a cell's membrane and a variety of other biological molecules. These extremely difficult measurements can aid the process of drug discovery.

Scientists estimate that about 30 percent of the 7,000 proteins in a human cell reside in the cell's membrane and that these membrane proteins initiate 60 to 70 percent of the signals that control the operation of the cell's molecular machinery. As a result, about half of the drugs currently on the market target membrane proteins.

Researchers have solved the three-dimensional structure of a key biological receptor. The finding has the potential to speed drug discovery in many areas, from arthritis to respiratory disorders to wound healing, because it enables chemists to better examine and design molecules for use in experimental drugs.

The researchers are from the National Institutes of Health, collaborating with labs at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego. The finding is published in the March 10 edition of Science Express.

New Rochelle, NY, March 15, 2011—Since the first laparoscopic procedure was performed to remove a diseased kidney 20 years ago at Washington University in St. Louis, this breakthrough minimally invasive technique has become the standard of care for surgical nephrectomy. This remarkable achievement is celebrated with a series of cutting-edge articles in Journal of Endourology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com).

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grass breeder has rediscovered a forage grass that seems just right for today's intensive rotational grazing.

A farmer's report of an unusual forage grass led Michael Casler, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) geneticist at the agency's U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Madison, Wis., to identify the grass as meadow fescue. Meadow fescue has been long forgotten, although it was popular after being introduced about 50 to 60 years before tall fescue.