Body

Six-thousand year old bones excavated in Jericho may help a joint Israeli-Palestinian-German research group combat tuberculosis.

According to Prof. Mark Spigelman of the Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who is leading the Israeli team, the bones, which were all excavated by Dr. Kathleen Kenyon between fifty and seventy years ago, will be tested for tuberculosis, leprosy, leishmania and malaria. However, the primary focus will be tuberculosis.

A report published in the July 8 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is the first to describe the principles behind the stability and electronic properties of tiny nanoclusters of metallic gold. The study, which confirms the "divide and protect" bonding structure, resulted from the work of researchers at four universities on two continents.

Optimism is good for heart health, at least among men, a new study shows.

University of Rochester Medical Center researcher Robert Gramling, M.D., D.Sc., found that men who believed they were at lower-than-average risk for cardiovascular disease actually experienced a three times lower incidence of death from heart attacks and strokes.

A less invasive test commonly used to diagnose coronary disease also may be used to detect one of the leading causes of heart failure, say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.

By using a nuclear stress test to look at how fast blood flows into the heart's pumping chamber – the left ventricle – they can determine if a patient's left ventricle is having trouble.

In an Australian first, scientists at Sydney's Centenary Institute have mapped the anatomy of a membrane protein. This exciting discovery has the potential to turn the way we discover new drugs on its head and reduce the development time for new treatments.

"These membrane proteins are the target for 70% of all therapeutic drugs so an increasedunderstanding of them is vital for future drug discoveries," said Centenary Institute ExecutiveDirector, Professor Mathew Vadas.

Nine out of ten regular food items aimed specifically at children have a poor nutritional content – because of high levels of sugar, fat or sodium - according to a detailed study of 367 products published in the July issue of the UK-based journal Obesity Reviews.

Scientists of the Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) in Heidelberg have simulated on the computer how cells decide whether or not to migrate. Using their results, the researchers were able to predict the molecular targets within a cell that have to be hit so that its behavior changes in a particular direction. This method may help to develop new treatments against cancer metastasis. The scientists have published their results in the latest issue of Molecular Systems Biology.

Berkeley -- Disease-causing microbes like the food-borne bacterium Listeria monocytogenes specialize in invading and replicating inside their animal hosts' own cells, making them particularly tricky to defeat. Now, a new study led by biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, has identified a molecular alarm system in which the intracellular pathogen sends out signals that kick the immune response into gear.

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. - In the past 10 years, researchers in genome stability have observed that many kinds of cancers are associated with areas where human chromosomes break. More recently, scientists have discovered that slow or altered replication causes chromosomal breaking. But why does DNA replication stall?

In a Tufts University study published in the July 14 issue of "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America," a team of biologists have found a relationship between peculiar DNA sequences named palindromes and replication delays.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Cymbals don't clash of their own accord – in our world, anyway.

But the quantum world is bizarrely different. Two metal plates, placed almost infinitesimally close together, spontaneously attract each other.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Fourteen-year old Cristian Avina knows all too well the devastating injuries all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) can cause. Four months ago, Cristian and his sister, Rociel, hopped on an ATV for a little innocent fun in the desert near their home. Cristian was riding tandem with his sister when a bird flew into them causing him to lose control. The ATV crashed, sending Cristian and Rociel flying—neither was wearing a helmet. Cristian suffered serious head injuries, including an amputated ear.

Although farm chores are likely to keep young boys in shape and out of trouble, University of Cincinnati (UC) environmental health experts caution that it could be harmful to overall bone health if done too often at a young age.

A UC research team recently reported data suggesting that excessive weight-bearing activities—such as squatting, kneeling or lifting—can affect the mechanical properties of developing bone. They say this could leave junior farmers more susceptible to degenerative skeletal disorders later in life.

MADISON, WI, JULY 14, 2008– Land application of biosolids (treated municipal sewage sludge) is a common practice because biosolids are a rich source of plant nutrients and organic matter. However, the presence of detectable levels of dioxins in biosolids led to concerns that farmland application may result in accumulation of dioxins in soil and their subsequent translocation through the human food chain because several congeners of dioxins have extremely high bioaccumulation potential.

In a cruel irony, testis cells carrying the mutation that causes Apert's syndrome are fitter than normal cells, even though children born from sperm derived from those cells are weakened by fused fingers, toes and skulls, a new study has found.

The research, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition during the week of July 14-18, can explain why the syndrome is unexpectedly common, and why sperm from older men carry the mutation more frequently than expected.