Body

Providing clues into why the severity of a common parasitic infection can vary greatly from person to person, a new Johns Hopkins study shows that each one of three strains of the cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma gondii sets off a unique reaction in the nerve cells it invades.

Past research suggests that the parasite, estimated to infect 25 percent of people worldwide, can trigger or exacerbate psychotic symptoms and schizophrenia in genetically predisposed people.

New research by Chongsuk Ryou, researcher at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics in the UK College of Medicine, may shed light on possible treatments for prion diseases.

New Rochelle, NY, March 14, 2011–Adolescents and young adults are neither children nor adults and those affected by cancer require targeted care that crosses the boundaries between pediatric and adult oncology, according to several pioneers in this still-developing field of adolescent and young adult oncology. An illuminating roundtable discussion by these experts will be published in the premier issue of Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

A variety of plant seedlings suffer most from competition when planted with close relatives, and grow best when planted alongside distant relatives in field soils, researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of California, Davis, have found.

And, when seeds of the same species are buried among relatives in the field, the seeds germinate at a higher rate and grow better early in life in close relatives' habitats than distant relatives' habitats.

The work will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences March 14.

According to classical ecology, when two species compete for the same resource, eventually the more successful species will win out while the other will go extinct. But that rule cannot explain systems such as the Amazon, where thousands of tree species occupy similar ecological niches.

Mark Twain called it "the most delicious fruit known to man." But the cherimoya, or custard apple, and its close relations the sugar apple and soursop, also have lots of big, awkward seeds. Now new research by plant scientists in the United States and Spain could show how to make this and other fruits seedless.

Going seedless could be a big step for the fruit, said Charles Gasser, professor of plant biology at UC Davis.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study in Honduras suggests that climate-related weather disasters may sometimes actually provide opportunities for the rural poor to improve their lives.

Researchers found that that the poorest inhabitants of a small village in northeastern Honduras increased their land wealth and their share of earnings relative to more wealthy residents after Hurricane Mitch devastated their village in October 1998.

The findings offer a glimmer of hope from widespread concerns that the world's poor will suffer the most from shocks created by global climate change.

A new study involving the University of Colorado Boulder shows clear evidence of the continuous control of fire by Neanderthals in Europe dating back roughly 400,000 years, yet another indication that they weren't dimwitted brutes as often portrayed.

Calling it the "new periodic table for flies," researchers at North Carolina State University and collaborators across the globe have mapped the evolutionary history of flies, providing a framework for further comparative studies on the insects that comprise more than 10 percent of all life on Earth.

TORONTO, Ont., March 14, 2011 -- Some physicians are prescribing opioids such as OxyContin 55 times as often as others, according to a new study led by St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The study found most opioid-related deaths occur among patients treated by physicians who frequently prescribe opioids, suggesting doctors who prescribe a lot of opioids may not be doing so safely.

Study results appear online today (March 14) in Angewandte Chemie. The research will be highlighted on the back cover of an upcoming print issue.

In the lab, Yin and his graduate students Yongxing Hu and Le He initially coated the magnetic iron oxide molecules with a thin layer of silica. Then they applied a magnetic field to assemble the particles into chains. Next, they coated the chains with an additional layer of silica to allow for a silica shell to form around and stabilize the chain structure.

HOUSTON - Researchers discovered a new, key component in the spread of lung cancer as well as a likely way to block it with drugs now in clinical trial. The study was published today (Monday, March 14) in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

A team led by scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found a way to identify metastasis-prone lung cancer cells and then uncovered a mechanism that shifts primary tumor cells into a more deadly type of cell with the capacity to move elsewhere in the body.

DENVER – Those working for healthier humans around the globe are making headway in fighting communicable diseases such as AIDS, malaria and diarrheal illness, according to research from the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures in the University of Denver's (DU) Josef Korbel School of International Studies.

Elevated levels of p21, a protein best known as a cancer fighter, may be involved in the ability of a few individuals to control HIV infection with their immune system alone.

New Rochelle, NY, March 14, 2011—The first human studies of an oral drug regimen to prevent HIV infection in high-risk individuals yielded a promising near 50% reduction in HIV incidence, but a number of issues require additional research before oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be implemented on a large scale, according to an article in AIDS Patient Care and STDs, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com).