Body

Certain pathogens make themselves at home in the human body by invading cells and living off the plentiful amenities on offer there. However, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, together with colleagues at Harvard University, have discovered a contrary strategy to ensure infection success: some pathogens can actually delay their entry into cells to ensure their survival. Upon contact with a cell, these bacteria engage signalling molecules in the cell and trigger a local strengthening of the cellular skeleton that resists pathogen entry.

• Circadian clock genes are key to regulating physiological and behavioral activities.
• Animal studies have shown that chronic drinking can disrupt expression in these genes.
• A human study has found an association between dysregulation of circadian clock genes and chronic drinking.

Patients with coronary artery disease undergoing angioplasty do not benefit from having their circulation artificially supported with a balloon pump as a preventative measure during angioplasty, according to the first randomised trial studying the practice and published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

An analysis of data from Denmark finds no associated increased risk of major birth defects for mothers who were exposed during the first trimester of pregnancy to the antiviral drugs acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir, often used to treat herpes simplex and herpes zoster infections, according to a study in the August 25 issue of JAMA.

High-risk patients undergoing a coronary procedure such as placement of a stent who electively received an intra-aortic balloon pump (a device that can help improve blood flow) prior to the procedure did not experience a significantly lower overall rate of events such as heart attack, revascularization or death, according to a study in the August 25 issue of JAMA.

Women and men with a 10-year cardiovascular disease risk of 5 percent or more and normal cholesterol levels but high levels of hsCRP, a protein associated with inflammation, could reduce their risk substantially with statin therapy, according to new research.

In contrast to previous reports, the risks of the composite endpoint of heart attack, heart failure, both, or death were the same – about 4 percent – for patients taking the diabetes drugs rosiglitazone or pioglitazone, according to a study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

gery to correct the most common type of genetic heart disease yields similar short-term and potentially greater long-term survival rates as transplant surgery for other heart diseases, according to research reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

Although immunity to mumps is high in the United States, mumps vaccine coverage must be maintained and improved to prevent future outbreaks, according to a new study, now available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/655394), in the September 1, 2010 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

PHILADELPHIA - Male infertility is a common medical problem, affecting millions of men in the United States annually. Its causes include an inability to make productive sperm. Now, using yeast as a model organism, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are beginning to identify the molecular signals that could in part underlie that problem.

A new study of the High Arctic climate roughly 50 million years ago led by the University of Colorado at Boulder helps to explain how ancient alligators and giant tortoises were able to thrive on Ellesmere Island well above the Arctic Circle, even as they endured six months of darkness each year.

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Why is it that some people lose weight and body fat when they exercise and eat less and others don't? German researchers say MRI and magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy can provide the answer — and help predict who will benefit from lifestyle changes. Results of the study are published online and will appear in the November issue of the journal Radiology.

Scientists at the University of Oregon have determined the fine-scale genetic structure of the first animal to show an evolutionary response to rapid climate change.

They used a high-throughput sequencing technique called Restriction-site Associated DNA (RAD) tagging to make the discovery.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Solid-state lighting pioneers long have held that replacing the inefficient Edison light bulb with more efficient solid-state light-emitting devices (LEDs) would lower electrical usage worldwide, not only "greenly" decreasing the need for new power plants but even permitting some to be decommissioned.

But, in a paper published Thursday in the Journal of Physics D, leading LED researchers from Sandia National Laboratories argue for a shift in that view.

What happens when the products you love become labeled as "trendy" or"hipster"? Consumers who identify with these products find creative ways to remain loyal and elude derision, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.