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HIV prevention strategy key to curbing epidemic and cutting long-term treatment costs

Increasing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) treatment for people with HIV/AIDS will provide significant cost savings over a relatively short period of time, according to a formal economic analysis led by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) at Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia (UBC).

New 3-D imaging techniques for improved lung cancer drug development

WASHINGTON, July 7—Advanced imaging technologies that promise to improve the development of effective drugs to treat lung cancer are the focus of the current special issue of Optics Express (http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe), an open-access journal published by the Optical Society (OSA).

Rice program takes on protein puzzle

All proteins self-assemble in a fraction of the blink of an eye, but it can take a long time to mimic the process. And there has been no guarantee of success, even with the most powerful computers – until now.

Rice University researchers have come up with a computer program to accurately simulate protein folding dramatically faster than previous methods. It will allow scientists to peer deeper into the roots of diseases caused by proteins that fold incorrectly.

Researchers demystifying complex cellular communications hubs found in sensory neurons

BETHESDA, Md., July 6, 2010 – It's safe to say that cilia, the hairlike appendages jutting out from the smooth surfaces of most mammalian cells, have long been misunderstood – underestimated, even.

Study sheds light on triglyceride metabolism

New findings reported in the July issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, are offering new leads as to why some people might suffer from high levels of triglycerides. High triglycerides are a risk factor for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. They can also lead to inflammation of the pancreas, the researchers said.

Thousands of undiscovered plant species face extinction

DURHAM, N.C. -- Faced with threats such as habitat loss and climate change, thousands of rare flowering plant species worldwide may become extinct before scientists can even discover them, according to a paper published today by a trio of American and British researchers in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Pinpoint precision: Delivering a biochemical payload to 1 cell

Imagine being able to drop a toothpick on the head of one particular person standing among 100,000 people in a stadium. It sounds impossible, yet this degree of precision at the cellular level has been demonstrated by researchers affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University Institute for NanoBioTechnology. Their study was published online in June in Nature Nanotechnology.

ARS study eyes egg quality and composition

There's no substantial quality difference between organically and conventionally produced eggs. That's one of a number of findings in an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study examining various aspects of egg quality.

ARS food technologist Deana Jones and her team in the Egg Safety and Quality Research Unit in Athens, Ga., found that, on average, there was no substantial quality difference between types of eggs. So, no matter which specialty egg is chosen, it will be nearly the same quality as any other egg.

Genetically reprogrammed HSV given systemically shrinks distant sarcomas

CINCINNATI – Scientists have used a genetically reprogrammed herpes virus and an anti-vascular drug to shrink spreading distant sarcomas designed to model metastatic disease in mice – still an elusive goal when treating humans with cancer, according to a study in the July 8 Gene Therapy.

Use of local anesthetics in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease of the gastrointestinal tract, mainly the intestines that may occur in the people who have genetic potential with a contribution of environmental factors. There has been no definitive medical treatment and drugs usually help the symptoms just to relieve.

A risk factor of gallstone formation after radical gastrectomy

The cause of higher incidence of gallstone after radical gastrectomy still remains unknown. Almost all previous studies have attributed gallstone formation to gallbladder motility disorder after gastrectomy, But this theory cannot completely explain it. Is there any other risk factor of gallstone formation after gastrectomy?

Intrahepatic clear cell cholangiocarcinoma

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a cancer of the bile duct in the liver. The clear cell subtype of ICC is a rare cancer; until now, only 8 cases have been reported. The number of reports is so small that a detail description of clear cell ICC is valuable.

Hospital study suggests that early transfusion increases acute upper GI re-bleeding risk

Doctors have called for an urgent review of transfusion policies after a UK-wide study of over 200 hospitals found that patients admitted with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (AUGIB) are more than twice as likely to suffer further bleeding if they receive a red blood cell transfusion within 12 hours.

The study, in the July issue of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, also found that death rates were more than a quarter higher in patients who had received transfusions within that timescale.

High blood levels of vitamin E reduces risk of Alzheimer's

High levels of several vitamin E components in the blood are associated with a decreased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in advanced age, suggesting that vitamin E may help prevent cognitive deterioration in elderly people. This is the conclusion reached in a Swedish study published in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

Carbon emissions threaten fish populations

Humanity's rising CO2 emissions could have a significant impact on the world's fish populations according to groundbreaking new research carried out in Australia.

Baby fish may become easy meat for predators as the world's oceans become more acidic due to CO2 fallout from human activity, an international team of researchers has discovered.