AFPMon, 05 Mar 2007 00:56 UTC
Hong Kong - Researchers in the United States believe they have found an easily-produced vaccine for the killer H5N1 bird flu that could halt a feared pandemic, a media report said Monday.
Dr David Ho of the Aaron Diamond Aids Research Centre in New York says the vaccine would be "easy to produce, fast to produce and as broadly protective as possible", according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper.
Obesity is generally discussed in terms of caloric intake (how much a person eats) and energy output (how much a person exercises). However, according to a University of Missouri-Columbia scientist, environmental chemicals found in everyday plastics and pesticides also may influence obesity. Frederick vom Saal, professor of biological sciences in MU's College of Arts and Science, has found that when fetuses are exposed to these chemicals, the way their genes function may be altered to make them more prone to obesity and disease.
Common viruses may play a bigger role in cancer than anyone thought.
It is well known that certain viruses can trigger specific cancers. Human papillomavirus, for example, causes around 93 per cent of cancers of the cervix. Now Dominik Duelli and Yuri Lazebnik at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York and colleagues have found evidence for how they might do it.
During tumour development, the chromosomes of affected cells often become wildly rearranged, but no one knew why. Duelli and Lazebnik suspected that cell fusion - when two or more cells unite by merging membranes - might be to blame. Several common viruses can initiate this process.
Emergency workers attending the scene of a "dirty" bomb or nuclear blast could soon have a drug to help protect them.
People exposed to radioactive material often die weeks later of acute radiation syndrome, as blood cells vital to clotting and fighting infection die off, and bone marrow cells killed by radiation cannot replace them. There is currently no preventive treatment.
Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, California, now reports that 5-androstenediol (AED), an adrenal gland hormone that stimulates marrow-cell growth, cuts the death rate among monkeys exposed to 6 grays of radiation - usually enough to kill 32 per cent of them - to 12 per cent, mainly by boosting blood platelets (International Immunopharmacology, vol 7, p 500).
People are more likely to go for a walk in areas with four-way intersections and a large number of shops and businesses as possible destinations, a large new study finds.
The study examined pedestrian trips in 10 major U.S. cities to determine to what extent urban design guidelines increase walking.
Only two of four smart growth criteria investigated held up as reasons for walking the presence of four-way intersections and a diverse business environment.
The other two housing density and the length of a city block did not appear to have any impact on the probability of walking, the study found.
While weapons made with depleted uranium can penetrate any substance known to man, the issues surrounding the use of this radioactive, heavy metal are having a much harder time sinking in.
Here in Hawai'i, Linda Faye Kroll is a retired nurse who has dedicated her life to educating the public about the dangers of military toxics. When Representative Josh Green introduced H.B. 1452 this legislative session, he created a forum for Kroll and others to voice their concerns.
Comment: Our planet is small. DU is very likely everywhere at this point - those who run the most powerful military on the planet do so with tons of poison that will affect life on this planet for hundreds and thousands of years to come. When a pathocracy is the sole superpower on a planet, there is nowhere to go but down.
On July 1, the city of Moscow will introduce a voluntary system of food labels indicating that a product does not contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients.
Europe has recently been engaged in a battle with the World Trade Organization (WTO), which, taking its cue from the United States, Canada and Argentina, considers the European Union's moratorium on GM products illegal. Meanwhile, Europeans have been collecting signatures and protesting against GM foods. In the United States, a lawsuit was filed against the Department of Agriculture after it legalized the commercial production of genetically modified alfalfa sprouts. The court found the agency's actions illegal. All these events, which involve environmental, agricultural, social and political issues, unfolded during the month of February, highlighting the high profile taken on by the GM controversy. Nevertheless, it would be naive to expect the world to adopt a unified stance on the issue.
The Food and Drug Administration reports that its inspectors have found salmonella samples at ConAgra's Georgia plant and, as the investigation of salmonella-tainted peanut butter widens, the recall has spread to ice cream manufacturers and a wholesale retailer of a peanut butter dessert topping.
Austin - The maker of an anti-cancer vaccine that Gov. Rick Perry mandated for Texas schoolgirls contributed $50,000 to a GOP fundraiser chaired by the governor, but a spokesman for the organization said Tuesday that the donation had nothing to do with Perry's controversial order.
Merck & Co. has contributed $50,000 a year for at least the past six years, said Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association.
A man infected with an especially virulent strain of tuberculosis has spent eight months in a hospital jail ward under a court order and may be held until he dies.
Robert Daniels has not been charged with a crime, but the 27-year-old violated the rules of a voluntary quarantine, exposing others to a potentially deadly illness. Maricopa County public health officials got a court order to keep him locked up.
The TB strain Daniels has is so dangerous that he has never met his appointed lawyer, Robert Blecher, who describes the situation as "extremely unusual."
Comment: Our planet is small. DU is very likely everywhere at this point - those who run the most powerful military on the planet do so with tons of poison that will affect life on this planet for hundreds and thousands of years to come. When a pathocracy is the sole superpower on a planet, there is nowhere to go but down.