Body

The heart holds its own pool of immune cells capable of helping it heal after injury, according to new research in mice at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is a vaccine widely used in low and middle-income countries to protect against childhood tuberculosis. Besides its specific anti-tuberculosis effects, BCG can also function as a general immune-booster, and in this capacity is used in the treatment of certain bladder cancers. A study published on October 30th in PLOS Pathogens now reports that autophagy (the removal and degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional components within cells) plays a central role in mediating the non-specific immune effects of BCG.

The previously unknown fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans was discovered last year by researchers investigating a huge crash in the population of fire salamanders in the Netherlands.

Now the same team have screened over 5,000 amphibians from four continents to ascertain the threat the new disease presents to other species.

The results, published today in the journal Science, show that B. salamandrivorans is very dangerous to salamanders and newts, but not to frogs, toads and snake-like amphibians called caecilians.

A deadly disease that is wiping out salamanders in parts of Europe will inevitably reach the U.S. through the international wildlife trade unless steps are taken to halt its spread, says University of Maryland amphibian expert Karen Lips.

A newly developed mouse model suggests that genetic factors are behind the mild-to-deadly range of reactions to the Ebola virus.

People exposed to Ebola vary in how the virus affects them. Some completely resist the disease, others suffer moderate to severe illness and recover, while those who are most susceptible succumb to bleeding, organ failure and shock.

LA JOLLA, CA—October 30, 2014—Biologists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have described the atomic-level workings of "microRNA" molecules, which control the expression of genes in all animals and plants.

The findings add greatly to the understanding of a fundamental system of regulation in biology, and should accelerate the development of therapies that harness its power.

Persimmons are among the small club of plants with separate sexes --individual trees are either male or female. Now scientists at theUniversity of California, Davis, and Kyoto University in Japan havediscovered how sex is determined in a species of persimmon,potentially opening up new possibilities in plant breeding. The workis published Oct. 31 in the journal Science.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Hygienic funeral practices, case isolation, contact tracing with quarantines, and better protection for health care workers are the keys to stopping the Ebola epidemic that continues to expand in West Africa, researchers said today in a new report in the journal Science.

Continuing the status quo of intervention efforts that were in place as of Sept. 19 would allow continued expansion of the epidemic by about 224 new cases daily in Liberia by Dec. 1, and 348 new daily cases by Dec. 30, the scientists reported in their analysis.

New research has shown that despite moving house frequently, bats choose to roost with the same social groups of 'friends'.

The study, published today in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, found that different social groups roost in separate, though adjacent, parts of woodland. The findings have important implications for conservation as bats may not be able to move to another area if a section of woodland is felled. The research was carried out by scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the University of Exeter and the University of Oxford.

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 30, 2014 – Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a way to use sound to create cellular scaffolding for tissue engineering, a unique approach that could help overcome one of regenerative medicine's significant obstacles. The researchers will present their technique at the 168th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), held October 27-31, 2014, at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel.

Lab-grown tissues could one day provide new treatments for injuries and damage to the joints, including articular cartilage, tendons and ligaments.

Cartilage, for example, is a hard material that caps the ends of bones and allows joints to work smoothly. UC Davis biomedical engineers, exploring ways to toughen up engineered cartilage and keep natural tissues strong outside the body, report new developments this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Washington, DC—The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for the diagnosis and treatment of acromegaly, a rare condition caused by excess growth hormone in the blood.

The CPG, entitled "Acromegaly: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline," appeared in the November 2014 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of the Endocrine Society.

Chicago, October 30, 2014—Analysis of data from an institutional patient registry on stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) indicates excellent long-term, local control, 79 percent of tumors, for medically inoperable, early stage lung cancer patients treated with SBRT from 2003 to 2012, according to research presented today at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – You have to be at least 2 years old to be covered by U.S. dietary guidelines. For younger babies, no official U.S. guidance exists other than the general recommendation by national and international organizations that mothers exclusively breastfeed for at least the first six months.

So what do American babies eat?

The lemur, Javan rhino and Santa Cruz kangaroo rat are all lonesome animals. As endemic species, they live in habitats restricted to a particular area due to climate change, urban development or other occurrences.

Endemic species are often endangered, and a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, study finds that saving them is more important to biodiversity than previously thought.