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Man Feared Having Foot Amputated After Bite from False Widow Spider

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A father of-three feared having his foot amputated after being bitten by Britain's most venomous spider. 41-year-old Jason Butler, was pottering around in his garden shed when he was assailed by five deadly false widow spiders. One nipped Mr. Butler on the ankle and within hours the poison began to take effect and his leg swelled up to three times its normal size. Mr. Butler went to his local GP who prescribed a course of antihistamines. ...

Hitchhiking Robot Takes a Tour Across Canada

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A social experiment to see if robots can trust humans is following a talking robot assembled from household odds and ends that is hitchhiking thousands of kilometers across Canada. Society is "usually concerned with whether we can trust robots," Frauke Zeller, co-creator of the "hitchBot," told AFP. Hollywood movies like "The Terminator" and "The Matrix" often depict machines as enemies of mankind, according to the assistant professor at Toronto's Ryerson ...

Neuronal 'Sweet Spot' Provides Clues to Curbing Obesity

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A new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers reveals that preventing weight gain, obesity, and ultimately diabetes could be as simple as keeping a nuclear receptor from being activated in a small part of the brain. Published in the Aug. 1 issue of iThe Journal of Clinical Investigation/i (iJCI/i), the study showed that when the researchers blocked the effects of the nuclear receptor PPARgamma in a small number of brain cells in mice, the animals ate ...

Bonus Offered by Chinese Officials to Name Kids After Mother's Last Name

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A new report has highlighted an unusual attempt to address the traditional preference for sons in China after it emerged that Chinese parents are being offered cash rewards to give their newborn children the mother's last name. Women who marry in China keep their own surnames, but their children almost invariably take the father's name and ensure its continuation into the next generation. Now officials in Changfeng county in the eastern province of ...

Reason Brain Tumors are More Common in Men Revealed

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The reason why brain tumors occur more often in males and frequently are more harmful than similar tumors in females has been explained in new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. For example, glioblastomas, the most common malignant brain tumors, are diagnosed twice as often in males, who suffer greater cognitive impairments than females and do not survive as long. The researchers found that retinoblastoma protein (RB), ...

Efforts to Find a Vaccine Hastened by Ebola Outbreak

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Experts say the fast-growing Ebola outbreak in West Africa is speeding efforts to test a vaccine. The first attempts to develop a vaccine for the hemorrhagic fever began shortly after it first emerged in 1976, but lack of funding from the pharmaceutical industry has long stalled these efforts, according to scientists. Next month, the US government's National Institutes of Health plan to start an early, phase I study in humans of a vaccine candidate that ...

Million Muslim Visitors to Visit Japan by 2020

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A specialist travel firm has said that Muslim visitors to Japan are expected to reach one million a year by 2020, triple the 2013 level. Singapore-based CrescentRating, which promotes "halal" or Islam-compliant travel, said Southeast Asia would be a key source for Muslim tourists after Tokyo eased visa requirements. Muslim visitor arrivals in Japan grew at an average of 7.2 percent from 2004-2013 and this pace is likely to accelerate to an average 18.7 ...

Two Americans Sick With Ebola Being Evacuated by the US

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The State Department has confirmed that two US citizens suffering from Ebola in West Africa will be evacuated back to the United States to be cared for in strict isolation. "The safety and security of US citizens is our paramount concern," deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said, confirming the State Department was facilitating the medical evacuation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Every precaution is being taken to move the patients ...

Wine Bar Planned by French Hospital to Cheer Patients in Their Last Days

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The health benefits of a glass of wine have been perpetuated by the French. Now, one French hospital plans to take things a step further by opening a wine bar aimed at improving the quality of life of terminally-ill patients. The bar at Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital in central France will open in September. It will be housed in the hospital's palliative care centre and patients will be able to invite friends and family to share a drink ...

Study Reveals How Pepper is Good for Your Gut

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Pepper cuts the risk of colorectal cancers, finds study. According to the study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the active ingredient in chili peppers - produces chronic activation of a receptor on cells lining the intestines of mice, triggering a reaction that ultimately reduces the risk of colorectal tumors. The receptor or ion channel, called TRPV1, was originally discovered in sensory neurons, where ...

Body of Man Who Died in Liberia Quarantined by Nigeria Over Ebola Fears

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Authorities in southeast Nigeria have quarantined the body of man who died in Liberia as a precaution amid growing concern over Ebola. The man's relatives repatriated his remains over the weekend for burial in the Oyi area of Anambra state. There was no immediate evidence that Ebola caused his death, but panic broke out in Oyi when locals learned that he had died in Liberia, one of three countries ravaged by the deadliest known outbreak of the virus, ...

Effectiveness of Common Anti-Malarial Drug in Controlling Asthma Highlighted in NUS Study

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A new pharmacological discovery by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) means that asthmatic patients may soon have a more effective way to control the condition. The team, led by Associate Professor Fred Wong from the Department of Pharmacology at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, together with Dr Eugene Ho Wanxing, a recent PhD graduate from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at NUS, discovered that artesunate, a common herbal-based ...

Libya Hospitals Will be on the Brink If Asian Staff Go Home

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There may be a "total collapse" of Libya's health care system if many of the Filipino and Indian staff on whom its hospitals depend go home, authorities have warned. Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli over the past three weeks and bloody clashes between Islamists and army special forces in the eastern city of Benghazi have prompted several countries to evacuate their nationals and diplomatic staff. Now, 3,000 health workers from the Philippines, ...

Person's Origin Revealed by Traces of Lead in Teeth

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Trace amounts of lead in modern and historical human teeth can give clues about where they came from, says a new study. According to the study led by University of Florida geology researcher George D. Kamenov, if an unidentified decomposed body is found, testing the lead in the teeth could immediately help focus the investigation on a certain geographic area, which would help law enforcement to avoid wasting resources checking for missing persons in the wrong places. ...

Management of Anticoagulant-Associated Intracerebral Hemorrhage Highlighted

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A supplement to the August issue entitled "Race Against the Clock: Overcoming Challenges in the Management of Anticoagulant-Associated Intracerebral Hemorrhage" has been published in the iJournal of Neurosurgery/i. Authored by Peter Le Roux, MD, Charles V. Pollack, Jr., MA, MD, Melissa Milan, MD, and Alisa Schaefer, PhD, the 20-page supplement covers the current knowledge of anticoagulant-associated intracerebral hemorrhage (AAICH) and methods in use for management ...

Game Rangers in South Africa Face Multiple Threats

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At South Africa's famed Kruger national park, the game ranger follows a bush trail alert to the slightest sound or movement with a rifle slung across his shoulders. He faces threats not only from lions and elephants but from humans as well -- heavily-armed poachers who stalk the park's wilderness day and night. Rhino are their usual prey -- they have killed 380 this year -- but in an ominous sign of more trouble ahead the park announced Thursday that ...

Health Outcomes in Dialysis Patients Influenced by Depressive Symptoms and Pain

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New research suggests that depressive symptoms and pain in patients on dialysis may have serious negative consequences and increase the need for costly medical services. The study appears in an upcoming issue of the emClinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology/em (emCJASN/em). The findings indicate that studies should evaluate the potential of anti-depressant and analgesic therapies to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. Depressive ...

Research Sheds Light on Effect of Microenvironment Modulation on Stem Cell Therapy for Spinal Cord Injury Pain

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Official data indicates that spinal cord injury (SCI) is second to mental retardation among neurological disorders in terms of cost to society. Pain is a debilitating consequence of SCI related to the nature of the lesion, neurological structures damaged, and secondary pathophysiological changes of surviving tissues1. Approximately two-thirds of persons who have sustained SCI experience clinically significant pain after injury, of whom one-third have severe pain2, ...

New Mums Still Excessively Sleepy After 4 Months: Study

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When to return to work after having a baby is one of the difficult decisions every new mums faces. Contrary to popular principle, four months isn't enough time for new mums to recover from the exhaustion of having a kid, a new study by QUT reports. The study found that one in two mums were still excessively sleepy four months after giving birth. Dr Ashleigh Filtness, from QUT's Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety - Queensland ...

Researchers Discover Developmental Regulation of Important Plant Phloem Components

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Previous research has shown that sieve elements play an important role in phloem, the conductive tissue through which plants transport carbohydrates and a wide range of signalling molecules. Elongated cylindrical cells are capped at one end by a sieve plate and arranged end-to-end to form sieve tubes which in turn form a network throughout a plant's body. "Sieve elements are very special cells which play an important role in carbon sequestration, ...

Researchers Identify Molecular Gate That Could Keep Cancer Cells Locked Up

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The mechanisms involved in the enzyme that governs DNA duplication during cell division have been revealed in a study published in iGenes (and) Development/i. The study was conducted by Dr Christian Speck from the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre's DNA Replication group, in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), New York. By developing a sophisticated system using synthetic, chemical and structural biology approaches, the study reveals how a key enzyme ...

Long-Term Follow-Up Highlights Sustained Efficacy, Immunogenicity, and Safety for GlaxoSmithKline's HPV Vaccine

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The sustained efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of GlaxoSmithKline's human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine Cervarix has been highlighted in a long-term follow-up study. Women vaccinated with the HPV-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine were followed for more than nine years, and vaccine efficacy (VE) against incident infection was 100%. This is the longest follow-up report for a licensed HPV vaccine. Visit www.landesbioscience.com/journals/vaccines/article/29532//a for ...

Protective Factor for Heart Disease Uncovered by Innovative 'Genotype First' Approach

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Scores of mutations that destroy gene function and are found at unusually high frequencies have been unearthed via extensive sequencing of DNA from thousands of individuals in Finland. Among these are two mutations in a gene called LPA that may reduce a person's risk of heart disease. These findings are an exciting proof-of-concept for a new "genotype first" approach to identifying rare genetic variants associated with, or protecting from, disease followed by extensive ...

Quiz on Ebola

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Why is the deadly Ebola virus outbreak making the health experts hit the panic button? Find out from this quiz.

Expressive Writing may Help Breast Cancer Survivors, Says Study

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A new study finds writing down fears, emotions and the benefits of a cancer diagnosis may improve health outcomes for Asian-American breast cancer survivors. "The key to developing an expressive writing intervention is the writing instruction. Otherwise, writing is just like a journal recording facts and events. Writing a journal can be therapeutic, but oftentimes we don't get the empirical evidence to determine whether it's effective or not," said Qian Lu, ...

Scientists Discover Drug Target for Common Childhood Blood Cancer

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NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have discovered a possible new drug target for treating childhood cancer. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is one of the most common and aggressive childhood blood cancers. An estimated quarter of the 500 adolescents and young adults diagnosed with the cancer each year in the U.S. fail to achieve remission with standard chemotherapy drugs. In a cover-story report set to appear in the journal iCell/i online ...