Body

DALLAS – Sept. 10, 2008 – A bacterial molecule that initially signals to animals that they have been invaded must be wiped out by a special enzyme before an infected animal can regain full health, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

Researchers studying a critical stage of pregnancy – implantation of the embryo in the uterus – have found a protein that is vital to the growth of new blood vessels that sustain the embryo. Without this protein, which is produced in higher quantities in the presence of estrogen, the embryo is unlikely to survive.

This is the first study to detail the mechanism by which the steroid hormone estrogen spurs cell differentiation and blood-vessel growth in the uterus during pregnancy, the researchers report.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Florida State University researcher who uses high-powered computers to map the workings of proteins has uncovered a mechanism that gives scientists a better understanding of how evolution occurs at the molecular level.

Such an understanding eventually could lead to the development of new and more effective antiparasitic drugs.

Women employed in casual and contract jobs are up to ten times more likely to experience unwanted sexual advances than those in permanent full time positions, a University of Melbourne study has found.

The research by Associate Professor Anthony LaMontagne of the McCaughey Centre, VicHealth Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health and Community Wellbeing will be presented at the From Margins to Mainstream Conference: 5th World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and the Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders.

WASHINGTON, DC – An international collaboration of scientists today sent the first beam of protons zooming at nearly the speed of light around the world's most powerful particle accelerator—the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)—located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) invested a total $531 million in the construction of the accelerator and its detectors, which scientists believe could help unlock extraordinary discoveries about the nature of the physical universe.

Emerging cryopreservation techniques are increasing hope of restoring fertility for women after diseases such as ovarian cancer that lead to destruction of reproductive tissue. The same techniques can also be used to maintain stocks of farm animals, and protect against extinction of endangered animal species by maintaining banks of ovarian tissue or even nascent embryos that can used to produce offspring at some point in the future.

Troubled children hurt their classmates' math and reading scores and worsen their behavior, according to new research by economists at the University of California, Davis, and University of Pittsburgh.

The study, "Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids," was published in August by the National Bureau of Economic Research and is available online at http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14246.

Researchers from the University of Newcastle are investigating a new way to help schizophrenia patients develop their communication and social skills.

PhD student Kathryn McCabe is studying the eye movements of people with schizophrenia to understand better how they view other people's faces.

Ms McCabe said the ability to recognise facial expressions and social clues was impaired in people with schizophrenia.

Berkeley -- Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, are continuing their march toward creating a synthetic, gecko-like adhesive, one sticky step at a time. Their latest milestone is the first adhesive that cleans itself after each use without the need for water or chemicals, much like the remarkable hairs found on the gecko lizard's toes.

People who survived the Indian Ocean tsunami or lost loved ones in the disaster went through a complex process of trauma and grief, according to research published in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.

In-depth interviews carried out over the course of a year by nurse researchers found that a number of common themes emerged when they talked to people about their emotions and attitudes to life following the tragedy.

They hope that these will provide useful guidance to help nurses and other healthcare professionals to deal with traumatic events in the future.

Retail medical clinics located in pharmacies and other stores typically attract insured and uninsured patients who are seeking help for a small group of easy-to-treat illnesses or preventive care and do not otherwise have a regular health care provider, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Some studies have demonstrated H. pylori stimulates the release of interleukin-8 (IL-8) from gastric epithelia, which initiates inflammatory damage to gastric mucosa and plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of H. pylori infections. H. pylori lipopolysaccharide (H. pylori-LPS) is the major initiator in H. pylori-induced IL-8 production via activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) pathway in gastric epithelia. Considering the novel finding that H.

Eukaryotic cells employ multiple strategies of checkpoint signaling and DNA repair mechanisms to monitor and repair damaged DNA. There are two branches in the checkpoint response pathway—ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) and ATM-Rad3-related (ATR). Many viruses are now known to interact with DNA damage sensing and repair machinery. These viruses have evolved tactics to eliminate, circumvent, or exploit various aspects of the DNA damage response of the host cell.

It is widely accepted that urgent endoscopy for UGIB should be performed within 24 hour from the admission. However, within this period of time, it is still unclear whether it should be performed either very early – i.e. within 2 hour – or in a more delayed interval, such as after 6, 12 or 24 hour. Therefore, optimal timing for urgent endoscopy in UGIB patients has not been yet established.

Serology and C14-UBT are the most commonly used non-invasive tests of H. pylori infection. The diagnostic characteristics of the tests depend also on the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the population tested. The diagnostic characteristics of the tests depend also on the prevalence of H. pylori infection in the population tested. Higher prevalences would imply higher sensitivity and lower specificity. There are reports suggesting that there is an association between the level of H.