Tag: "concern" at biology news

Scientists discover a new disease-causing bacterium in an immune-compromised patient

...des and demonstrated its pathogenesis. "Our first concern was to determine whether this organism was truly associated with his clinical syndrome," the team wrote. Despite ineffective neutrophil immune cells, the patient's immune system still tagged the bacterium as an invader. Researchers also exposed ...

Climate change drives widespread amphibian extinctions

... new. The study results come at a time of growing concern about the future of amphibians. The Global Amphibian Assessment, published in 2004, found that nearly one-third of the world's 6,000 or so species of frogs, toads and salamanders face extinction--a figure far greater than that for any other group of ...

Escapee farmed salmon infiltrate fitter wild populations

There is growing concern about the threats that farmed Atlantic salmon escapees constitute to wild salmon populations. Consumers and environmentalists are concerned about farmed salmon yet heritable changes that have accumulated in farmed strains at the genetic level are la...

Supersized 'island' of resistance genes discovered in an infectious bacterium

...tant A. baumannii has become a major public health concern worldwide. Recently, a high incidence of resistant A. baumannii was reported in US Army service members injured in Afghanistan and Iraq. In France, the resistant strain is widespread in 54 healthcare facilities, where 26% of infected patients die. ...

Scientists develop a way to make the deadliest toxin known even more toxic

...ded, the use of BoNT is also of substantial global concern as a potential bioterrorist weapon. One of the main drawbacks associated with BoNT as a therapeutic is that repeated use can lead to the development of a significant immune response. Tolerance to it develops most rapidly when patients receive frequ...

Gene-specific Ebola therapies protect non-human primates from lethal disease

...ood and bodily fluids of infected patients), is of concern both as a global health threat and a potential agent of biological warfare or terrorism. Currently there are no available vaccines or therapies. "One advantage of this strategy is that it directly targets the virus," said the paper's first author,...

Extinctions linked to climate change

...ission and climate change should give us cause for concern about human health in a warmer world," said Andrew Blaustein, a professor of zoology at OSU, in the Nature article. "As global change is occurring at an unprecedented pace, we should expect many other host taxa, from ants to zebras, to be confronted ...

Avian influenza virus in mammals spreads beyond the site of infection to other organ systems

... commentary. Avian influenza (H5N1) is of great concern because of the current outbreaks in Asia and the potential for pandemic spread. This virus is highly contagious in birds and spreads easily due to the agricultural and migratory nature of the bird species infected, including poultry, water fowl, and...

Breast implants not associated with cancer risk, study reports

...ymphoma, sarcoma, or multiple myeloma," cancers of concern because of earlier suggestive observations. ...

Study: Competition for sex is a 'jungle out there'

...man, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh. "The concern is that we are losing habitat really rapidly globally, especially in tropical areas, and losing pollinators there as well," Knight said. "We show that these areas are sensitive to pollen limitation just because they are diverse. Any perturbation in...

Fertility drugs given 'all-clear' in new study

...erited malformations. This study led to widespread concern about the use of letrozole, a drug which has been widely used in the treatment of infertility in recent years. "There were several methodological problems with the earlier study," says Dr. Tulandi. "For one thing, it compared the incidence of birth ...

Researchers use dirt to stay one step ahead of antibiotic resistance

... resistance has become an increasing public health concern because the organisms that cause infections in humans and animals are becoming less receptive to the healing aspect of antibiotic drugs. The team led by professor Gerry Wright, chair of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences of the Michael G. DeGroote...

Invasive species harms native hardwoods by killing soil fungus

... number one threat to biodiversity, there is great concern over the impact of accidental and intentional dispersal of alien invasive species across the globe," says Kristina A. Stinson, a plant population biologist at the Harvard Forest, Harvard's ecology and conservation center in Petersham, Mass. "In North...

H5N1 avian flu virus vaccine induces immune responses in healthy adults

...ggs. H5N1 avian influenza viruses are of enormous concern to public health officials worldwide. The potential for a human avian flu pandemic looms large, say experts, as daily reports indicate an increasing spread of infection in bird populations in Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Accord...

MRSA use amoeba to spread, new research shows

...MRSA in the hospital environment". "Adding to the concern is that amoebal cysts have been shown to trap pathogens and could potentially be dispersed widely by air currents, especially when they are dry. "Replication of MRSA in amoeba and other protozoa raises several important concerns for hospital hygiene...

Human trial proves ricin vaccine safe, induces neutralizing antibodies; further tests planned

...s of the National Academy of Sciences. "Our major concern in this trial was safety," said Dr. Ellen Vitetta, director of the Cancer Immunobiology Center at UT Southwestern and lead author of the study. "We have taken a very deadly toxin and genetically engineered it to be safe and to induce protective immun...

Tropical Atlantic cooling and African deforestation correlate to drought, report scientists

... December issue of the journal Geology, underlines concern about the effects of global climate change. Tropical ocean temperatures and land vegetation have an important effect on African monsoon systems, explains first author Syee Weldeab, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Earth Science at the Un...

Serious adverse reactions to smallpox vaccine appear to be limited

...t smallpox had been eradicated worldwide, there is concern that smallpox virus may exist outside the World Health Organization−designated repository laboratories and may be used as a bioweapon. Detection of a smallpox case could represent an intentional bioterrorism event requiring an immediate, coord...

Health of coral reefs detected from orbit

...s (CSIRO) Wealth from Oceans Flagship program."The concern is that coral reefs might pass a critical bleaching threshold beyond which they are unable to regenerate." Aerial or boat-based observation is the current method of detecting bleaching, but many reefs are either inaccessible or simply too large (th...

Polio vaccination strategies assessed as eradication nears

...te, or "shed," virus in their stool. There is some concern over the use of OPV, however, because vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) can occasionally cause another form of polio. Furthermore, in rare cases, immunodeficient persons have shown prolonged shedding of VDPV, which may be transmitted to contacts, t...

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