Body

The rise of multidrug resistance in gonorrhoea-causing bacteria is threatening to make this sexually-transmitted infection extremely difficult to treat. Professor Catherine Ison, speaking at the Society for General Microbiology's spring meeting in Edinburgh, highlighted the very real possibility that strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae resistant to all current treatment options could emerge in the near future.

Short bursts of physical activity can ease fibromyalgia symptoms. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Arthritis Research & Therapy have shown that encouraging patients to undertake 'Lifestyle Physical Activity' (LPA) can markedly increase the average number of steps taken per day and produce clinically relevant reductions in perceived disability and pain.

Walking through urine drives crayfish into an aggressive sexual frenzy. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology suggest that a urine-mediated combination of aggressive and reproductive behaviour ensures that only the strongest males get to mate.

Acupuncture can calm highly anxious dental patients and ensure that they can be given the treatment they need, suggests a small study published in Acupuncture in Medicine.

A visit to the dentist provokes extreme fear and anxiety in an estimated one in 20 people, and can put them off going altogether, a condition termed odontophobia. And up to a third of patients report moderate anxiety at the prospect of dental treatment, studies show.

The authors base their findings on 16 women and four men from eight dental practice lists.

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 29 2010 -- Microorganisms can indeed live in extreme environments, but the ones that do are highly adapted to survive and little else, according to a collaboration that includes Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Joint Genome Institute (JGI) and the University of Oklahoma.

SEATTLE – University of Washington (UW) researchers have gathered evidence that dangerous plaques in blood vessels can rupture by overproducing protein-digesting enzymes. Plaques are fat-laden rough spots in the otherwise smooth walls of arteries. When a plaque ruptures, blood accumulates inside of it, a process known as plaque hemorrhage. The plaque enlarges and artery-blocking clots can form. If the flow of oxygen-rich blood is restricted, a heart attack, stroke, or damage to other organs can occur.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An important gene that normally protects the body against cancer can itself cause a variety of cancers depending on the specific mutation that damages it, according to a new study by investigators at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James).

Expression of inflammatory-related genes in breast tissue of women who have previously given birth may explain the aggressiveness and frequency of pregnancy-associated breast cancer, according to new research at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While radiation therapy is common after breast conserving surgery, it's much less frequent after mastectomy, even among women for whom it would have clear life-saving benefit. This is according to a new study from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Organisms are structured at the molecular level in ways similar to social hierarchies. In some, master genetic regulators call most of the shots, and in others most of life's activities are carried out by more egalitarian collaborations.

SALT LAKE CITY – A team of scientists including University of Utah researchers has discovered that binding of a potent inhibitor of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) to the genetic material of the virus causes a major conformational change that may adversely affect the ability of the virus to replicate. This discovery, published in the March 29 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides a potential new target for structure-based design of new hepatitis C treatments.

A Brazilian scorpion has provided researchers at North Carolina State University and East Carolina University insight into venom's effects on the ability of certain cells to release critical components. The findings may prove useful in understanding diseases like pancreatitis or in targeted drug delivery.

A new clinical prediction index has been developed to determine the risk of death in patients with end-stage kidney disease considering transplantation, states a Research article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091661.pdf.

(Washington, DC) – An Australian-American team of investigators has made novel discoveries about the human ability to predict what other people are about to say. Their findings could have significant applications for educators, speech therapists, entrepreneurs, and many others interested in communication and comprehension.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in pregnant patients is more likely to occur on the left side, and in particular in the left leg, write the authors of a Review article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091692.pdf.