Arizona State University researchers presented evidence at the most recent annual meeting of the American Chemical Society that several types of clay exhibit powerful action against disease-causing bacteria.
After two years of research, the ASU team found that of 30 types of clay tested, three displayed a surprisingly strong effect against such deadly bacteria as E. coli, Salmonella, and even the anti-biotic resistant superbug MRSA. The clay killed all or most of these strains and others in vitro. Special emphasis was put on the volcanic soil known as bentonite
clay.
LONDON - Governments need to stockpile different sorts of flu drugs -- not just Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu -- to counter the danger of resistance in a pandemic triggered by bird flu, British experts said on Wednesday.
The warning could boost demand for GlaxoSmithKline Plc's inhaled medicine Relenza, which has been largely overlooked in favor of Roche's more convenient pill.
|
| ©REUTERS/Dadang Tri
|
| An Indonesian pharmacy worker conducts research to produce Oseltamivir capsules, a local version of Tamiflu, at the country's Kimia Farma laboratory in Bandung, west Java, February 17, 2006.
|
Scientists analyzing the structure of a key flu virus protein found that both H5N1 and seasonal flu could develop resistance to Tamiflu, while still remaining highly susceptible to Relenza.
Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) neuroscientists at The University of Queensland have discovered a fundamental component of the process that regulates memory formation.
QBI Director Professor Perry Bartlett said the discovery explains, for the first time, how new nerve cells form in an area of the brain associated with learning and memory -- which is known to deteriorate in people with stroke and dementia.
"The hippocampus is the region of the brain involved in important brain functions such as learning and memory and loss of neuronal production in the hippocampus is associated with a range of neurodegenerative conditions, and is particularly evident in ageing dementia." Professor Bartlett said.
New research appearing in the May issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that being put in a low-power role may impair a person's basic cognitive functioning and thus, their ability to get ahead.
In their article, Pamela Smith of Radboud University Nijmegen, and colleagues Nils B. Jostmann of VU University Amsterdam, Adam Galinsky of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and Wilco W. van Dijk of VU University Amsterdam, focus on a set of cognitive processes called executive functions. Executive functions help people maintain and pursue their goals in difficult, distracting situations. The researchers found that lacking power impaired people's ability to keep track of ever-changing information, to parse out irrelevant information, and to successfully plan ahead to achieve their goals.
Teenage girls of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds still experience sexism and sexual harassment - but cultural factors may control whether they perceive sexism as an environmental problem or as evidence of their own shortcomings.
A study of 600 girls between the ages of 12 and 18, from California and Georgia, included young women who identified as Latina (49 percent), White (23 percent ), African-American (9 percent), Asian American (7.5 percent) and multi-ethnic or other (7.5 percent) was conducted by researchers Christia Brown, assistant professor, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, and Campbell Leaper, professor, Department of Psychology, University of California Santa Cruz. Participants were asked about experiences with sexual harassment and any discouraging comments they received in traditionally male-dominated areas such as math, science, computers and sports.
Canadian researchers have shown that an electric shock ranging from 120 to 52,000 volts can cause neurologic and neuropsychological symptoms in humans.
Following an electrical injury, some patients may show various emotional and behavioral aftereffects, such as memory loss and symptoms of depression.
The study, supported by a grant from Hydro-Québec and conducted by clinicians from the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine and Sainte-Justine Hospital, is published in the May edition of the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
ER pediatrician and toxicologist Dr. Benoit Bailey, in collaboration with pediatricians Pierre Gaudreault and Robert Thivierge, assessed the prevalence of short-term neurologic and neuropsychological symptoms as well as one year after an electric shock severe enough to require 24-hour cardiac monitoring. Their goal was to explore whether any symptoms were associated with risk factors such as transthoracic current, neuromuscular spasms (tetany), loss of consciousness or shock of 1000 volts or more.
Although children as young as 5 can be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), few research studies have looked at treatments specifically geared toward young children with this disorder. Now, a new study from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center provides some of the first evidence-based data on a successful intervention for early childhood OCD.
According to the study's findings, published in the May issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children with OCD between the ages of 5 and 8 may benefit from a form of psychotherapy, known as family-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), that is uniquely tailored to the child's developmental needs and family context. The overall focus of family-based CBT is to provide both child and parents with a set of tools to help them understand, manage and reduce OCD symptoms.
"If left untreated, early childhood OCD can severely disrupt and impair a child's development and functioning and can extend into adulthood. Despite this risk, clinicians do not have a proven treatment model for these young children," says lead author Jennifer B. Freeman, Ph.D., of the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and an assistant professor of psychiatry/human behavior (research) at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
News that scientists have for the first time genetically altered a human embryo is drawing fire from some watchdog groups that say it's a step toward creating "designer babies."
But an author of the study says the work was focused on stem cells. He notes that the researchers used an abnormal embryo that could never have developed into a baby anyway.
"None of us wants to make designer babies," said Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Peasant farmer Jose Lopez-Gregorio, 32, left his wife and five children behind in Guatemala with two bags of corn, barely enough food for one month, when he decided to find work in the United States. Detained crossing the Mexican border and held in an Arizona immigration center, he felt guilty, he told guards, eating three meals a day. Lopez had been inside one month and eight days when he strangled himself with a bedsheet. Five days earlier, the staff had placed him on suicide watch, only to be overruled within hours by the center's psychologist.
IRINThu, 15 May 2008 11:47 UTC
Kabul - Confirmed cases of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) - also known as "camel belly" or 'charmak' disease - in Gulran District of Herat Province, western Afghanistan, have surpassed 190, and 17 people have died so far, provincial health officials said.
