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People with psoriasis perceive they have less social support, have difficulty expressing their feelings and have more trouble with social relationships than others, a new study shows. The study says these life stresses may make them more prone to outbreaks of their psoriasis.

A molecule consisting of two “cages” of metallic atoms bound to carbon has shown great promise in preliminary tests of becoming a new weapon in the anti-HIV arsenal, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center report. The molecule — called metallacarborane — and its variants appear to fight HIV protease, an enzyme critical in the virus’ life cycle. Protease inhibitors are some of the key drugs used to fight HIV/AIDS, but they have side effects, and viruses can develop resistance to them.

A team of Perth scientists have used a keepsake baby tooth to help a Queensland couple solve the mystery of their 7-year-old daughter’s death – 14 years after she died. Staff from the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR), the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (TICHR) and the Neurogenetics and Forensic laboratories within PathWest, combined to establish that the little girl had died from the devastating neurological disorder, Rett Syndrome.

Evidence of methane-producing organisms can be found in inhospitable soil environments much like those found on the surface of Mars, according to experiments undertaken by scientists and students from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and the University of Arkansas and published online in the journal Icarus. These results, they say, provide ample impetus for similar “biodetection experiments” to be considered for future missions to Mars.

A bacterial mimic under study as a cancer vaccine because it signals the immune system to attack may also help some tumors hide, researchers have found. Inside the body, the reagent — CpG oligodeoxynucleotides or CpG-ODNs — alerts the body’s natural warning system to an invader, says Dr. Andrew L. Mellor, immunologist and director of the Medical College of Georgia Immunotherapy Center.

Hunger in American households has risen by 43 percent over the last five years, according to an analysis of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data released today. The analysis, completed by the Center on Hunger and Poverty at Brandeis University, shows that more than 7 million people have joined the ranks of the hungry since 1999.

Research with female monkeys at the Tulane National Primate Research Center has for the first time shown that three different anti-viral agents in a vaginal gel protect the animals against an HIV-like virus. The research suggests that a microbicide using compounds that inhibit the processes by which HIV attaches to and enters target cells could potentially provide a safe, effective and practical way to prevent HIV transmission in women, according to study investigators.

I was personally saddened to learn of the death of the Richard E. Smalley of Rice University, the man who found and named buckyballs, at the age of 62. I interviewed Dr. Smalley in the summer of 1995, a year before he won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, for my 1997 book To the Young Scientist.

Doctors might be better off washing their hands with yoghurt instead of relying on antiseptic soap-scrubbing, according to a new discussion paper by a UCL (University College London) researcher. Scientists should investigate whether saturating the skin with ‘good’ bacteria would offer better protection against deadly germs, says the paper. Professor Mark Spigelman, of the UCL Centre for Infectious Diseases and International Health, is calling for a study to be set up in hospital units in which antibiotics would be banned, to explore alternative health protection measures against MRSA.

MIT announced today that Luk Van Parijs, an associate professor in biology, has been terminated for research misconduct. The university launched an investigation in August of 2004 when members of his research group brought allegations of research misconduct by Van Parijs to the attention of the MIT administration. During the course of the investigation, Van Parijs admitted to fabricating and falsifying research data in a paper and several manuscripts and grant applications. The investigation found no evidence that his co-authors or the members of his research group were involved in the misconduct or were aware of it when it occurred.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated that morphine withdrawal complicates hepatitis C by suppressing IFN-alpha-mediated immunity and enhancing virus replication. The paper by Wang et al., “Morphine withdrawal enhances hepatitis C virus (HCV) replicon expression,” appears in the November issue of The American Journal of Pathology and is accompanied by a commentary.

At its annual meeting today, the House of Delegates of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) approved the final report of ASA’s Task Force on Intraoperative Awareness. The report, “Practice Advisory for Intraoperative Awareness and Brain Function Monitoring,” represents the most thorough document to date to assist anesthesiologists and hospitals in minimizing the risks of awareness under general anesthesia.

The spacecraft door has just clanged shut behind you, locking you and your fellow astronauts into the small cabin that will be your home for the next half-year’s journey through interplanetary space–at the end of which you personally will be the first human to set foot on Mars.

Researchers trying to crack one of medicine’s most perplexing unsolved mysteries can now keep abreast of late-breaking developments via the Schizophrenia Research Forum, a website launched this month with funding from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Sponsored by NARSAD, The Mental Health Research Association, the site bills itself as a “virtual community” where researchers can link-up with colleagues and potential collaborators, learn about new findings, meetings and funding opportunities, and critique each other’s articles and ideas.

New research shows that repeated treatments of botulinum toxin type A (BoNTA) over one year after a stroke can improve muscle tone and reduce pain in the arms and hands, making it easier for patients to dress themselves and perform personal hygiene.

From glaciers to caribou, rivers to roads, Arctic climate change is having a broad effect on almost every aspect of life in the North. That’s the conclusion University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers and others outline in a paper to be published in the October 2005 issue of the journal “Climatic Change.”

The brain is a “time machine,” assert Duke neuroscientists Catalin Buhusi and Warren Meck. And understanding how the brain tracks time is essential to understanding all its functions. The brain’s internal clocks coordinate a vast array of activities from communicating, to orchestrating movement, to getting food, they said.

With misinformation about evolution and the nature of science at issue in proposed Kansas science education standards, the American Association for the Advancement of Science strongly supports two national science organizations that announced today they are unable to allow use of their copyrighted material in the standards. AAAS also said it would be more than willing, through its Project 2061 science-literacy initiative, to help the Kansas State Board of Education improve the pending standards.

According to the National Retail Foundation, the most popular Halloween costume last year was Spiderman. Next was “a princess,” followed by witches and vampires, SpongeBob, Barbie and Harry Potter. Sounds about right. But if you read the complete list of top costumes, you’ll notice something missing: astronomers. There are no Sagans, no Galileos, not even a Hubble. And that’s funny, because Halloween is an astronomical holiday.

In response to the emerging threat of pandemic (Avian) influenza, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced the formation of a Rapid Response Team to ensure that antiviral drugs are available to the American people, in the event they are needed. While there is no current flu pandemic, the team will help ensure an adequate supply of treatments, such as oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu) and other anti-influenza drugs, for stockpiling in the event there is an outbreak in the United States.