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Persons with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness have a lower risk of all-cause death and coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease compared to persons with lower levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, according to an analysis of previous studies appearing in the May 20 issue of JAMA.

UCLA scientists have discovered a variant of a gene called CACNA1G that may increase a child's risk of developing autism, particularly in boys. The journal Molecular Psychiatry publishes the findings in its May 19 advance online edition.

Classic autism strikes boys four times more often than girls. When including the entire spectrum of autism disorders, such as the milder Asperger syndrome, boys are diagnosed 10 times more often than girls.

NEW YORK (May 19, 2009) -- Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College have published results showing that a new contraceptive device may also effectively block the transmission of the HIV virus. Findings show that the device prevents infection by the HIV virus in laboratory testing. The promising results are published in the most recent issue of the journal AIDS.

The new device is a vaginal ring that releases multiple types of non-hormonal agents and microbicides, which would prevent conception as well as sexually transmitted HIV infection.

Troy, N.Y. — What happens if the next big influenza mutation proves resistant to the available anti-viral drugs? This question is presenting itself right now to scientists and health officials this week at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, as they continue to do battle with H1N1, the so-called swine flu, and prepare for the next iteration of the ever-changing flu virus.

A team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators has cracked one of clinical medicine's enduring mysteries – what happened to the tuberculosis vaccine. The once-effective vaccine no longer prevents the bacterial lung infection that kills more than 1.7 million people worldwide each year.

Their solution, reported in the journal PLoS ONE, could lead to an improved TB vaccine and also may offer a novel platform for vaccines against other pathogens.

San Diego, Calif., May 19, 2009 – Data from two presentations highlighting the use of Perforomist® (formoterol fumarate) Inhalation Solution in moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients were featured today at the International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego. In one analysis, use of Perforomist Inhalation Solution, when added to maintenance tiotropium, resulted in improved pulmonary function, dyspnea (shortness of breath) and rescue medication use versus treatment with tiotropium alone.

A research team has pinpointed a new class of gene mutations, which identify cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that have a high risk of relapse and death. The finding suggests specific drugs that could treat this high-risk leukemia subtype in children, particularly because such drugs are already in clinical trials for similar blood diseases in adults.

While the cure rate in pediatric ALL has reached about 85 percent, the remaining high-risk cases have proven especially intractable because they arise from different, unidentified genetic mutations.

Troy, N.Y. — What happens if the next big influenza mutation proves resistant to the available anti-viral drugs? This question is presenting itself right now to scientists and health officials this week at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, as they continue to do battle with H1N1, the so-called swine flu, and prepare for the next iteration of the ever-changing flu virus.

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers have uncovered a gene signature that may help predict clinical outcomes in certain types of breast cancer.

In the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Harold (Hal) Moses, M.D., and colleagues report that this gene signature – which is associated with the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway – correlates with reduced relapse-free survival in patients with breast cancer, especially in those with estrogen receptor (ER) positive tumors.

Toronto – Standardized tests are a common choice for organizations looking for an objective way of fairly evaluating who is the best person for the job.

But new research looking at the use of promotional exams with Ontario police officers shows that these tests may discourage candidates from applying and create anxiety that could hurt a candidate's performance. If this happens, the whole organization could be hurt, rather than helped by the promotions process. This groundbreaking research is forthcoming in the journal Personnel Psychology.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO— Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles may provide a means to improve drug delivery and increase patient compliance, thus reducing the severity of individual illnesses, the spread of epidemics, and possibly even retarding antibiotic resistance.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO— Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy and their early childhood years may be predisposed to take up smoking as teens and young adults, compounding the physical damage they sustained from the smoke exposure.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO— Chronic exposure to tobacco smoke in childhood may contribute to early emphysema later in life, according to new research. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is known to be associated with a variety of serious health problems, but it had not previously been associated with the development of emphysema over the life course. The data will be presented on Tuesday, May 19, at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

ATS 2009, SAN DIEGO— Babies born to obese mothers may have an increased risk of asthma, according to data from a new study to be presented on May 19 at the 105th International Conference of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego.

The risk of developing breast cancer due to taking hormone replacement therapy appears to be the same for women with a family history of the disease and without a family history, a University of Rochester Medical Center study concluded.