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Majority of women feel expectations on careers, appearances and healthy lifestyles are more magnified than ever

Today's women juggle many roles from the elusive work-life balance, to aspiring careers to even the 'yummy mummy' phenomenon. In fact, according to a new international women's poll conducted by Environics Research - commissioned by Multibionta(TM) - women across the globe agree career pressures, expectations for maintaining appearances and a healthy lifestyle are more magnified today versus 20 years ago.

29 Apr 2010

Air pollution can damage heart and lead to increased risk of heart disease: Study

A post-mortem study of the hearts of 21 young people in Mexico City has found that the heart begins to show the adverse effects of air pollution at a young age and that tiny bits of inactivated bacteria that hitch a ride on pollutants may make the problem worse.

29 Apr 2010

Higher the blood cholesterol level, greater the risk of atherosclerosis: Study

In addition to crystallized cholesterol, atherosclerotic plaques always contain large quantities of immune cells but, surprisingly, no bacteria or viruses. It was previously unclear just how the body's own defence forces are called into action. Even animals that are kept in an absolutely sterile environment can suffer from "clogging" or "furring" of the arteries when their food contains high levels of cholesterol.

29 Apr 2010

NIDCR awards Selenium $912,943 grant for development of antimicrobial dental devices and water lines

The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has issued a two-year $912,943 grant to biopharmaceutical company Selenium, Ltd. to support the development of antimicrobial dental devices and water lines. In the two-part grant the NIH has approved $492,972 for year one and $419,971 for year two dependent on achieving year one objectives.

29 Apr 2010

Multicenter NIH trial finds combination antibiotics effective against Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis

Combination antibiotics effectively treat Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis - a major step toward management, and possibly cure, of this disease, a federal multicenter clinical trial led by the University of South Florida College of Medicine found.

29 Apr 2010

Combination of antibiotics can cure Chlamydia-induced ReA: Study

Researchers from University of South Florida College of Medicine found a combination of antibiotics to be an effective treatment for Chlamydia-induced reactive arthritis, a major step forward in the management, and possibly cure, of this disease. Results of this study are published in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology.

29 Apr 2010

Fever in kids underestimated by Doctors: new study

In a new study researchers have found that some physicians may be missing the seriousness of an infection in a child presenting with fever. The study published in the British Medical Journal involved 16,000 children from 2004 to 2006 with fever and found that doctors could not diagnose up to one third of the potentially life-threatening illnesses in these children.

27 Apr 2010

Caltech biologists offer new insight into causes of IBD and colon cancer

We are not alone-even in our own bodies. The human gut is home to 100 trillion bacteria, which, for millions of years, have co-evolved along with our digestive and immune systems. Most people view bacteria as harmful pathogens that cause infections and disease. Other, more agreeable, microbes (known as symbionts) have taken a different evolutionary path, and have established beneficial relationships with their hosts.

26 Apr 2010

SQI Diagnostics signs development agreement with Silliker

SQI Diagnostics Inc., a medical systems automation company focused on evolving laboratory-based biomarker testing, today announced that it has entered into a development agreement with Silliker, Inc., a leading internationally accredited company dedicated to improving nutrition, food safety and quality, for the commercialization of a botulism toxin panel that will run on SQI's SQiDman analytical system.

26 Apr 2010

Enhancing residence time improves drug effectivity: Study

Studies led by Stony Brook University professor of chemistry Peter J. Tonge indicate that modifications that enhance the time a drug remains bound to its target, or residence time, may lead to better diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

26 Apr 2010

Driving evolution of antibiotic resistance backwards

The use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections causes a continual and vicious cycle in which antibiotic treatment leads to the emergence and spread of resistant strains, forcing the use of additional drugs leading to further multi-drug resistance.

26 Apr 2010

New method helps study interactions needed for formation of lipopolysaccharides

Scientists have combined chemistry and biology research techniques to explain how certain bacteria grow structures on their surfaces that allow them to simultaneously cause illness and protect themselves from the body's defenses.

26 Apr 2010

GBS serotype III more commonly associated with urinary tract infections

Research suggests pathogenic strains of Group B Streptococcus (GBS) are an under-recognised cause of urinary tract infections.

24 Apr 2010

Researchers discover and characterize general mechanism controlling transcription elongation in bacteria

Researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center have discovered and characterized a general mechanism that controls transcription elongation in bacteria. The mechanism, described in the April 23 issue of Science, relies on physical cooperation between a moving ribosome and RNA polymerase (RNAP) that allows for a precise adjustment of the transcriptional yield in response to translational needs. The study could lead to the development of new ways to interfere with bacterial gene expression and serve as a new target for antimicrobial therapy.

23 Apr 2010

Crystal structures of key fluorescent proteins to "light up" molecules in cells

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have determined the crystal structures of two key fluorescent proteins - one blue, one red - used to "light up" molecules in cells.

23 Apr 2010

BUSM professor receives Individual Biomedical Research Award

Richard Goldstein, PhD, a professor of pediatrics, division of pediatric infectious diseases, at Boston University School of Medicine, has been awarded an Individual Biomedical Research Award by The Hartwell Foundation and will receive $300,000 over three years as a Hartwell Investigator for his project titled, "A Vaccine Against Streptococcus Pneumoniae Based on Bacterial Surface Proteins Phylogenically Certified as Highly Conserved."

23 Apr 2010

Study uses new BL-DMAC method to measure PAC levels in cranberry products

Natural compounds in cranberries are linked to the prevention of urinary tract infections (UTIs) but inconsistencies in methods currently used commercially to measure levels can result in the over- or under-estimation of potency levels, leaving product manufacturers and consumers without good data. A study published today in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture outlines a new, commercially viable method of measuring these compounds.

22 Apr 2010

Human lymphocytes produce hepcidin that regulate iron levels in the body: Study

For some years now a small group of scientists have been pioneering a revolutionary idea - that the vertebrate immune system could have a role in the regulation of iron in the body. And now, a work soon to be published in the journal Immunology, shows that human lymphocytes (white blood cells) actually produce hepcidin, the most important protein in the regulation of iron levels in the body.

22 Apr 2010

MRSA infections on the rise in hospitals and health care settings: AHRQ report

Despite activities to identify and reduce the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other health care-associated infections in hospitals and health care settings nationwide, new reports released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality show that MRSA is on the rise and continues to pose an alarming threat.

22 Apr 2010

Resonant activation can be a strategy against bacterial persistence: Virginia Tech biologist

A Virginia Tech biologist proposes to use a physics strategy called resonant activation to nudge dormant bacteria cells into a stage where they will be sensitive to antibiotics.

22 Apr 2010