http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. By studying the intricate mechanisms at work in protein production, a Princeton-led team has discovered why certain kinds of antibiotics are so effective. In doing so, they also have discovered how one protein protects against cell death, shedding light on a natural cancer-fighting process. http://www.physorg.com/news169989177.html Biology Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:13:30 EST news169989177 From 1995 to 2006 the rate of antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory tract infections decreased significantly, attributable in part to a decline in ambulatory visits for ear infections in young children, according to a study in the August 19 issue of JAMA. But prescription rates for broad spectrum antibiotics, namely azithromycin and quinolones, increased substantially during the study period. http://www.physorg.com/news169832126.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:00:01 EST news169832126 University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine researchers have discovered how some recently approved drugs act against cancer cells. The finding may lead to a more effectively targeted anti-cancer strategy. http://www.physorg.com/news169282711.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:58:56 EST news169282711 (AP) -- A blockade around a remote northwest Chinese town where deadly pneumonic plague killed three people and sickened nine was lifted after no new infections were reported, an official said Sunday. http://www.physorg.com/news169012325.html Medicine & Health Sun, 09 Aug 2009 05:20:02 EST news169012325 In an advance that could help ease the antibiotic drought, scientists in Massachusetts are describing successful use of a test that enlists pinhead-sized worms in efforts to discover badly needed new antibiotics. Their study appeared in ACS Chemical Biology, a monthly journal. http://www.physorg.com/news168689336.html Chemistry Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:20:02 EST news168689336 Kefir, one of the world's oldest "health" drinks, did little to prevent diarrhea in young children being treated with antibiotics, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC), who tested the drink in a unique and rigorous double-blind clinical trial. http://www.physorg.com/news168538310.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:12:56 EST news168538310 Scientists studying Staphylococcus bacteria, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), have discovered a potent staph toxin responsible for disease severity. They also found the gene for the toxin traveling with a genetic component of Staphylococcus that controls resistance to antibiotics. The study, now online in PLoS Pathogens, shows for the first time that genetic factors that affect Staphylococcus virulence and drug resistance can be transferred from one strain to another in one exchange event. http://www.physorg.com/news168266826.html Medicine & Health Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:48:19 EST news168266826 Numerous pathogens contain an 'internal time bomb', a deadly mechanism that can be used against them. After years of work, VIB researchers at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) were able to determine the structure and operating mechanism of the proteins involved. This clears the road for finding ways to set the clock on this internal time bomb and, hopefully, in the process developing a new class of antibiotics. The research was accepted for publication by top journal Molecular Cell, with congratulations from the editorial board. http://www.physorg.com/news168179642.html Biology Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:50:11 EST news168179642 The evolution of multiple antibiotic resistances is a global and difficult problem to eradicate. Isabel Gordo, a group leader at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), Portugal, reports in the paper published in the latest issue of PLoS Genetics, that the deleterious effect associated with the acquisition of resistance by a bacteria can be suppressed by the acquisition of a new resistance to another antibiotic. These findings have direct implications for the approaches taken to tackle the problem of multi-resistance to antibiotics and in the choice of antibiotics to be administrated to patients. http://www.physorg.com/news167633283.html Medicine & Health Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:50:02 EST news167633283 New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted. http://www.physorg.com/news167311201.html Biology Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:20:45 EST news167311201 More and more strains of bacteria are developing resistance to previously life-saving antibiotics. Researchers at TUM, the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, have shed light on a metabolic step that appears in many aggressive microorganisms -- such as tuberculosis and malaria pathogens -- and that may provide a promising target for a new class of antibiotics. The researchers present their results in the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie. http://www.physorg.com/news166785878.html Chemistry Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:50:03 EST news166785878 Scientists are to study a group of proteins that are highly effective at killing bacteria and which could hold the key to developing new types of antibiotics. http://www.physorg.com/news165750695.html Biology Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:52:13 EST news165750695 Helicobacter pylori survives in the body by manipulating important immune system cells. This is shown in a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The discovery may lead to new treatments against the common peptic ulcer bacterium. http://www.physorg.com/news165494291.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:38:39 EST news165494291 Doctors may get a new arsenal for meningitis treatment and the war on drug-resistant bacteria and fungal infections with novel peptide nanoparticles developed by scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of Singapore and reported in Nature Nanotechnology. http://www.physorg.com/news165419576.html Nanotechnology Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:54:00 EST news165419576 Antibiotic prescribing for respiratory illnesses should be standardised across Europe to help reduce inappropriate prescribing and resistance, say experts in a study published on bmj.com today. http://www.physorg.com/news165005678.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:00:02 EST news165005678 It's common knowledge that a protective navy of bacteria normally floats in our intestinal tracts. Antibiotics at least temporarily disturb the normal balance. But it's unclear which antibiotics are the most disruptive, and if the full array of "good bacteria" return promptly or remain altered for some time. http://www.physorg.com/news164594689.html Medicine & Health Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:20:04 EST news164594689 Money spiders infected with Rickettsia bacteria are less likely to 'balloon' - that is, to use their silk as sails to catch gusts of wind and travel long distances. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology suggest that it may be in the bacteria's interests to ground the spiders and that this reduction in dispersal could reduce gene flow and impact on reproductive isolation within the meta-population. http://www.physorg.com/news164594544.html Biology Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:00:03 EST news164594544 The resistance pattern for antibiotics in gulls is the same as in humans, and a new study by Uppsala University researchers shows that nearly half of Mediterranean gulls in southern France have some form of resistance to antibiotics. The study is being published today in the journal PLoS One. http://www.physorg.com/news164536757.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:40:02 EST news164536757 Surgical gloves that develop holes or leaks during a procedure appear to increase the risk of infection at the surgical site among patients who are not given antibiotics beforehand, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. http://www.physorg.com/news164302399.html Medicine & Health Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:10:01 EST news164302399 Some disease-causing bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics because they have peculiar sex lives, say researchers publishing new results today in the journal Science. The new study helps scientists understand how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics, which is a major challenge for those treating infectious diseases, say the authors from Imperial College London. http://www.physorg.com/news163949749.html Medicine & Health Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:36:14 EST news163949749 Antibiotics, antimicrobials and antifungals are seeping into the waterways of North America, Europe and East Asia, according to an investigation published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). Authored by Université de Montréal and Environment Canada researchers, the review found that consumption of anti-infectives for human and agriculture use contributes to their release into the environment and even into drinking water. http://www.physorg.com/news163768252.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:11:33 EST news163768252 A close relative of the microorganism that causes tuberculosis in humans has been found to form spores. This is a sensational finding because researchers have long been convinced that these kinds of bacteria-the mycobacteria-were incapable of forming spores. Leif Kirsebom's research group at Uppsala University now has photographic proof, obtained while working with the bacteria that causes tuberculosis in fish, to challenge this long-held belief. Their discovery, which has attracted much attention from other scientists, might constitute a new turn in the fight against human tuberculosis. http://www.physorg.com/news163700683.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:25:07 EST news163700683 A national public health campaign in France was associated with a marked reduction of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions, particularly in children, says new research published in this week's open-access journal PLoS Medicine. The campaign, "Antibiotiques c'est pas automatique" (Antibiotics are not automatic), ran from 2002 to 2007 during the winter months when viral respiratory infections mainly occur. The campaign included an educational campaign for healthcare workers, the promotion of rapid tests for diagnosis of streptococcal infections, and a public information campaign about viral respiratory infections and about antibiotic resistance. http://www.physorg.com/news163143366.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:36:28 EST news163143366 A mineral found at health food stores could be the key to developing a new line of antibiotics for bacteria that commonly cause diarrhea, tooth decay and, in some severe cases, death. http://www.physorg.com/news163075640.html Chemistry Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:47:53 EST news163075640 Improving communications skills and the use of a simple blood test could help cut the growing number of inappropriate prescriptions of antibiotics, a joint Cardiff University trial has discovered. http://www.physorg.com/news162133161.html Medicine & Health Thu, 21 May 2009 13:59:59 EST news162133161 Aerosol delivery of antibiotics via nanoparticles may provide a means to improve drug delivery and increase patient compliance, thus reducing the severity of individual illnesses, the spread of epidemics, and possibly even retarding antibiotic resistance. http://www.physorg.com/news161955592.html Nanotechnology Tue, 19 May 2009 12:40:18 EST news161955592 (PhysOrg.com) -- For bacteria in wastewater treatment plants, the stars align perfectly to create a hedonistic mating ground for antibiotic-resistant superbugs eventually discharged into streams and lakes. http://www.physorg.com/news161277933.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 May 2009 16:26:04 EST news161277933 A consequence of the different cancers of the hepatobiliary system is blocked bile ducts. However, artificial catheters known as "stents" can remediate this problem. Stents are medical implants which reopen narrowed bile ducts to allow the outflow of bile. However, bacteria colonize these catheters forming dense communities, so-called biofilms. Inside these biofilms, bacteria are not only protected from the immune response initiated by the host but also from antibiotics. http://www.physorg.com/news161257134.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 10:42:06 EST news161257134 Inhibiting the "drug efflux pumps" in bacteria, which function as their defence mechanisms against antibiotics, can mask the effect of mutations that have led to resistance in the form of low-affinity drug binding to target molecules in the cell. This is shown by researchers at Uppsala University in a new study that can provide clues to how the development of resistance to antibiotics in bacteria can be delayed. http://www.physorg.com/news160752967.html Medicine & Health Tue, 05 May 2009 14:36:31 EST news160752967 Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have combined their revolutionary new drug-delivery system with a powerful antimicrobial agent to treat potentially deadly drug-resistant staph infections in mice. The study is published this month in the online version of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. http://www.physorg.com/news160330557.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:16:19 EST news160330557