Body

New Rochelle, NY, August 22, 2012–Mosquito-borne West Nile virus (WNV) caused 26 deaths already this year, and nearly 700 cases had been reported by mid-August according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). WNV had become "old news" among the public and the media. Furthermore, funding to support research, training and education, and surveillance and vector control had waned. Now there is an urgent imperative to redouble our efforts to understand and control this dangerous virus.

Nowadays, an increasing number of rivers and lakes are being invaded by exotic snails, which come from remote regions, and even other continents. Such species represent a threat to native species, as they compete for food or space with them.

Health risks posed to people who work with tiny fibres used in manufacturing industries could be reduced, thanks to new research.

Research into the health risks posed by nanofibres – used to strengthen objects from tennis rackets to airplane wings – has pinpointed the lengths at which these fibres are harmful to the lungs.

Nanofibres, which can be made from a range of materials including carbon, are about 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair and can reach the lung cavity when inhaled.

Australian scientists studying the impact obesity has on pregnancy, are urging men to get 'match fit' before conceiving to assist with fetal development.

Reproductive experts from the University of Melbourne's Department of Zoology have discovered that a father's obesity negatively impacts sperm, resulting in smaller fetuses, poor pregnancy success and reduced placental development.

While the health risks surrounding obesity and pregnancy have largely been centred on overweight mothers, scientists from the University of Melbourne are putting the onus on men to shape up.

Researchers at the University of Cantabria have used computer models to analyse the best way to evacuate the Spanish High Speed Train, AVE, in the case of fire. The involvement of the crew in organising the fast transfer of passengers, completing the process before the train comes to a halt and collective collaboration to assist those with reduced mobility are just some of the strategies to be followed.

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 22, 2012 — Scientists today reported identification of the first substance in smokeless tobacco that is a strong oral carcinogen ― a health risk for the 9 million users of chewing tobacco, snuff and related products in the U.S. ― and called upon the federal government to regulate or ban the substance.

A compound found in green tea could be a weapon in treatments for tackling cancer, according to newly-published research at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.

The extract, known as epigallocatechin gallate, has been known to have preventative anti-cancer properties but fails to reach tumours when delivered by conventional intravenous administration.

ILW makes up more than three quarters of the volume of material destined for geological disposal in the UK. (1)

Currently the UK's preferred method is to encapsulate ILW in specially formulated cement. The waste is mixed with cement and sealed in steel drums, in preparation for disposal deep underground.

Invasive species – plants, animals, and microbes introduced to regions beyond their native range – carry a global price tag of $1.4 trillion dollars. They are responsible for the loss of natural resources and biodiversity, damages to infrastructure, and an uptick in infectious diseases.

UCSF researchers found that poor HIV-infected individuals living in San Francisco are significantly more likely to visit emergency rooms and to have hospital stays if they lack access to food of sufficient quality and quantity for a healthy life.

SYRACUSE, N.Y., August 21, 2012 – In forested regions of the nation, natural regeneration may help cities achieve tree cover goals at the expense of maintaining the desired tree species.

Medicines for Malaria Venture has developed a framework to evaluate the risk of resistance for the antimalarial compounds in its portfolio. A paper based on this work: A framework for assessing the risk of resistance for antimalarials in development has been published in the Malaria Journal today.

The menopause evolved, in part, to prevent competition between a mother and her new daughter-in-law, according to research published today (23 August 2012) in the journal Ecology Letters.

The study – by researchers from the University of Turku (Finland), University of Exeter (UK), University of Sheffield (UK) and Stanford University (US) – explains for the first time why the relationship women had with their daughter-in-laws could have played a key role.

An internationally recognized melanoma researcher at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues at the University of Kiel in Germany, including Axel Hauschild, M.D. and Katharina C. Kähler, M.D., have published an article in the current issue of The Journal of Clinical Oncology that describes immune-related adverse events for patients receiving either tremelimumab or ipilimumab, the latter a drug approved last year by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating metastatic melanoma and other cancers.

Professor Gerard Hastings from the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling argues that marketing by multinational corporations "threatens our mental wellbeing, exacerbates inequalities, and encourages unsustainable consumption."

Professor Tim Lang and Dr Geof Rayner, from the Centre for Food Policy at City University in London, add that ecological public health – which integrates the material, biological, social and cultural aspects of public health – is the way forward for the 21st century.