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The findings are part of a review into the global HIV epidemic published in The Lancet, co-authored by Monash University Professor Sharon Lewin.

The review shows that because of advancements in treatment, people with the virus are living longer. Overall, new infections have decreased from 3.3 million in 2002 to 2.3 million in 2012. Global AIDS-related deaths peaked at 2.3 million in 2005, decreasing to 1.6 million by 2012.

Findings from a new study (i) published in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases show that the fatty acids in nuts have the potential to help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in people with type 2 diabetes.

Smartphones are everywhere, and they may be smarter than you think. Our cell phones actually reflect the personal microbial world of their owners, with potential implications for their use as bacterial and environmental sensors, according to new research. New research focused on the personal microbiome – the collection of microorganisms on items regularly worn or carried by a person - demonstrates the significant microbiological connection we share with our phones.

Stem cells have the unique ability to become any type of cell in the body. Given this, the possibility that they can be cultured and engineered in the laboratory makes them an attractive option for regenerative medicine. However, some conditions that are commonly used for culturing human stem cells have the potential to introduce contaminants, thus rendering the cells unusable for clinical use. These conditions cannot be avoided, however, as they help maintain the pluripotency of the stem cells.

Computer analysis of photographs could help doctors diagnose which condition a child with a rare genetic disorder has, say Oxford University researchers.

The researchers, funded in part by the Medical Research Council (MRC), have come up with a computer programme that recognises facial features in photographs; looks for similarities with facial structures for various conditions, such as Down's syndrome, Angelman syndrome, or Progeria; and returns possible matches ranked by likelihood.

Supermarkets in the UK could be hindering efforts to reduce harmful drinking by not fully passing tax increases onto the price of the cheapest beers and spirits, according to health and business researchers.

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows that calcium and vitamin D supplementation improves the metabolic profile of pregnant women with gestational diabetes. The research is by Dr Ahmad Esmaillzadeh, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran, and colleagues.

Writing about the weird soft-bodied fossils found in the Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies, paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould noted that of 25 initial body plans exhibited by the fossils, all but four were quickly eliminated. If we rewound the tape, he asked, and cast the dice once more, would the same four body plans be selected? He thought it unlikely.

An invading species of shrew first discovered in Ireland in the pellets of barn owls and kestrels in 2007 is spreading across the landscape at a rate of more than five kilometres a year, according to findings published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

WASHINGTON — Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) screening for emergency patients at an institution with a large number of ethnic minority, underinsured and uninsured people reveals few are HIV positive, but of those who are, nearly one-quarter are in the acute phase and more than one-quarter have infections that have already advanced to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Bottom Line: A web-based program for teen drivers appears to improve driving performance and quality supervised practice time before teens are licensed.

Author: Jessica H. Mirman, Ph.D., of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues.

Biologists have long wondered if mammals share the elegant system used by insects, bacteria and other invertebrates to defend against viral infection. Two back-to-back studies in the journal Science last year said the answer is yes, but a study just published in Cell Reports by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found the opposite.

A new report from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) calls for completing the legacy of Wilderness lands on the Flathead National Forest in Montana. The report identifies important, secure habitats and landscape connections for five species—bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout, grizzly bears, wolverines, and mountain goats. These iconic species are vulnerable to loss of secure habitat from industrial land uses and/or climate change.

Measurements taken at the molecular scale have for the first time confirmed a key property that could improve our knowledge of how the heart and lungs function.

University of Washington researchers have shown that a favorable electrical property is present in a type of protein found in organs that repeatedly stretch and retract, such as the lungs, heart and arteries. These findings are the first that clearly track this phenomenon, called ferroelectricity, occurring at the molecular level in biological tissues.

Antiviral Therapy Can Prevent Liver Cancer in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

Bethesda, MD (June 23, 2014) — One of the most severe complications of hepatitis B is the development of liver cancer, which is responsible for approximately 745,000 deaths worldwide each year. Two new studies appearing in the June issue of Gastroenterology provide strong evidence that antiviral therapy can reduce the risk of liver cancer in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. Gastroenterology is the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.