Body

A University of Central Florida chemist has come up with a unique way to kill certain cancer cells – give them acid reflux.

Chemistry professor Kevin Belfield used a special salt to make cancer cells more acidic – similar to the way greasy foods cause acid reflux in some people. He used a light-activated, acid-generating molecule to make the cells more acidic when exposed to specific wavelengths of light, which in turn kills the bad cells. The surrounding healthy cells stay intact.

What do cancer cells, weeds, and pathogens have in common? They all evolve resistance to the treatments that are supposed to eliminate them. However, researchers developing the next generation of antibiotics, herbicides, and anti-cancer therapeutics rarely come together to explore the common evolutionary principles at work across their different biological systems. The new American Academy of Microbiology report "Moving Targets: Fighting Resistance in Infections, Pests, and Cancer" concludes that scientists working on different kinds of treatments have much to learn from each other.

Climate change could lead to dozens of species of lizards becoming extinct within the next 50 years, according to new research published today.

Globally it has been observed that lizards with viviparous reproduction (retention of embryos within the mother's body) are being threatened by changing weather patterns. A new study suggests that the evolution of this mode of reproduction, which is thought to be a key successful adaptation, could, in fact, be the species' downfall under global warming.

Scientists are reporting an advance in re-engineering photosynthesis to transform plants into bio-factories that manufacture high-value ingredients for medicines, fabrics, fuels and other products. They report on the research in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology.

Poul Erik Jensen and colleagues explain that photosynthesis does more than transform carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen and generate energy.

A new study based on in-depth interviews of rural Latino men in western Oregon finds that these men need sexual health services designed for their needs, including more male health providers, more convenient clinic hours, and Spanish-speaking doctors.

Researchers at Oregon State University conducted interviews with young Latino men from rural backgrounds and asked them questions related to sexual health and use of sexual health services. The results are published in the March issue of the American Journal of Men's Health.

New research from the Universities of Cambridge and Exeter reveals for the first time that, contrary to current models used to explain the movement of flocks, the differences between bird species and social relationships between individuals play a critical role in determining the dynamics of mixed-species flocks.

Overweight couch potatoes live a dangerous life: Epidemiologists estimate that about 80 percent of the most common diseases are linked to severe overweight and obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. Obese people are at an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, vascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes and cancer. This lowers their life expectancy. Weight loss and physical activity help to counteract this. Women who lose weight lower their breast cancer risk. Regular physical activity lowers the risk of developing breast, colorectal and cervical cancers.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a new report, Making Health Care Safer II, which identifies the top 10, evidence-based patient safety strategies available to clinicians.

Principal investigators of the new work are Robert M. Wachter, MD, professor and associate chairman of the UCSF Department of Medicine and chief, UCSF Division of Hospital Medicine; Paul Shekelle of RAND; and Peter Pronovost, MD, of Johns Hopkins University.

Do mothers invest more care in their sons if they believe their child is destined to be a king, president or a high-powered leader?

The answer is definitively yes – as long as those mothers and their sons happen to have hooves.

New research from BYU reports that, just like the classic tale of Bambi, females from the deer family are more likely to invest more in the survival and health of their male offspring if there is a good chance those sons will become a "Great Prince of the Forest."

A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the National University of Singapore (NUS), revealed in a new study, for the first time, the presence of the pathogenic chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in amphibians sampled in Singapore. And the American bullfrog may be a central player in the spread of the disease.

The study appears in the current issue of the journal EcoHealth, and is the first to consider the role that Southeast Asia's commercial trade plays in the spread of amphibian pathogens.

According to his theory, bacteria that are non-resistant to antibiotics acquire said resistance accidentally because they take up the DNA of others that are resistant, due to the stress to which they are subjected.

Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2013 – Support is needed in child care centers to help meet existing water policies and new water requirements included in the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, according to a study published by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. The study, published in the March/April 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, is the first to document availability and accessibility of water in compliance with state and federal policy and accreditation standards in child care centers.

In a huge study of half a million men and women, research in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine demonstrates an association between processed meat and cardiovascular disease and cancer.

This means that 320 million people - 40% of Europe's population - who could benefit from treatment with disease modifying drugs (DMARDs) would struggle to get access to them, say the researchers.

DMARDs are extremely effective for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) recommends the use of synthetic DMARDs immediately after diagnosis to halt progress of the disease. But they are expensive.

Subtle changes in messaging can have a profound impact on the effectiveness of charitable messages such as calls for blood donations, according to research published March 6 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Eileen Chou from the University of Virginia and co-author Keith Murnighan at Northwestern University.