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Gecko feet hold clues to creating bandages that stick when wet
Molecule against HIV – small change yields major effect
Scientists Show That Skin-Aging Radicals Also Age Naturally Formed Particles in the Air
Are There Gender Differences in Anti-HIV Drug Efficacy?
Source of conflict: Study finds factors that can shape divorced mothers' co-parenting experiences
The making and unmaking of stem-like, aggressive breast cancer cells
Study shows efficacy of new rheumatoid arthritis drug
Scientists Show Two-Drug Combination Has Potential to Fight Cocaine Addiction
New Kenyan fossils shed light on the evolution of the genus Homo

Gecko feet hold clues to creating bandages that stick when wet

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 01:36 PM PDT

Scientists already know that the tiny hairs on geckos’ toe pads enable them to cling, like Velcro, to vertical surfaces. Now, University of Akron researchers are unfolding clues to the reptiles’ gripping power in wet conditions in order to create a synthetic adhesive that sticks when moist or on wet surfaces.

Molecule against HIV – small change yields major effect

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 01:23 PM PDT

Researchers from Munich and Naples have shown that minimal modification of a synthetic peptide with anti-HIV activity results in a new compound with more than two orders of magnitude higher binding affinity to the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and greatly improved anti-HIV activity. This could be a step toward the design of new, more effective drugs against AIDS, inflammatory diseases, and some forms of cancer.

Scientists Show That Skin-Aging Radicals Also Age Naturally Formed Particles in the Air

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 01:15 PM PDT

Pine trees are one of the biggest contributors to air pollution. They give off gases that react with airborne chemicals — many of which are produced by human activity — creating tiny, invisible particles that muddy the air. New research from a team led by Carnegie Mellon University's Neil Donahue shows that the biogenic particles formed from pine tree emissions are much more chemically interesting and dynamic than previously thought.

Are There Gender Differences in Anti-HIV Drug Efficacy?

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:25 AM PDT

Women comprise nearly half of the HIV-infected population worldwide, but these 15.5 million women tend to be under-represented in clinical trials of anti-HIV drug therapies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has created a database from 40 clinical studies to assess gender differences in the efficacy of antiretroviral treatments. The results of this study are presented in an article in AIDS Patient Care and STDs, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the AIDS Patient Care and STDs website.

Source of conflict: Study finds factors that can shape divorced mothers' co-parenting experiences

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:21 AM PDT

The type of relationship a woman has with her ex-partner is a factor in how the couple shares custody of children, according to a Kansas State University expert on postdivorce and co-parenting relationships.

The making and unmaking of stem-like, aggressive breast cancer cells

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 10:18 AM PDT

Breast cancers that depend on the hormones estrogen and progesterone are susceptible to treatments targeting these hormones. Take away this dependence and you lose a valuable treatment option.

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published as a featured article in the journal Oncogene shows how progesterone does just this – by suppressing a key microRNA, progestins return breast cancer cells to a stem-cell-like state in which they haven’t yet differentiated, and are thus more resistant to chemotherapies and more likely to carry a poor prognosis.

Study shows efficacy of new rheumatoid arthritis drug

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 09:01 AM PDT

A new study involving researchers from Karolinska Institutet demonstrates the efficacy of Tofacitinib, a new drug for rheumatoid arthritis. According to the study, which is published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the drug is just as effective as biological medicines, but unlike them can be taken in tablet form.

Scientists Show Two-Drug Combination Has Potential to Fight Cocaine Addiction

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 08:54 AM PDT

A fine-tuned combination of two existing pharmaceutical drugs has shown promise as a potential new therapy for people addicted to cocaine—a therapy that would reduce their craving for the drug and blunt their symptoms of withdrawal.

In laboratory experiments at The Scripps Research Institute, the potential therapy, which combines low doses of the drug naltrexone with the drug buprenorphine, made laboratory rats less likely to take cocaine compulsively—a standard preclinical test that generally comes before human trials.

New Kenyan fossils shed light on the evolution of the genus Homo

Posted: 09 Aug 2012 08:51 AM PDT

Exciting new fossils discovered east of Lake Turkana confirm that there were two additional species of our genus – Homo – living alongside our direct human ancestral species, Homo erectus, almost two million years ago. The finds, announced in the prestigious scientific journal Nature on August 9th, include a face, a remarkably complete lower jaw, and part of a second lower jaw. They were uncovered between 2007 and 2009 by the Koobi Fora Research Project (KFRP), led by Meave and Louise Leakey.