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Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 2008 - After a destructive hurricane season that reminded us of the importance of being ready for disasters, the American Public health Association (APHA) wants to ensure that you and your loved ones are prepared for winter storms and any other potential emergencies you may face.

A recent survey of members of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) revealed that the values and goals of the association leadership - the Executive Board - are shared by AVMA members.

The NPA's stand at the 2008 Pharmacy Show (12-13 October) was hosted by representatives from each of the NPA's departments who encouraged attendees to "Ask the NPA". The NPA also held a debate on whether 'Scripts or Services' were the future for pharmacy.

Tomislav Domazet-Lošo and Diethard Tautz from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, have systematically analysed the time of emergence for a large number of genes - genes which can also initiate diseases. Their studies show for the first time that the majority of these genes were already in existence at the origin of the first cells.

For about 15 years, scientists have known that certain "junk" DNA -- repetitive DNA segments previously thought to have no function -- could evolve into exons, which are the building blocks for protein-coding genes in higher organisms like animals and plants.

We used electronic circular dichroism (CD) and UV resonance Raman (UVRR) spectroscopy at 204 nm excitation to examine the temperature dependence of conformational changes in cyclic and linear elastin peptides. We utilize CD spectroscopy to study global conformation changes in elastin peptides, while UVRR is utilized to probe the local conformation and hydrogen bonding of Val and Pro peptide bonds. Our results indicate that at 20 °C cyclic elastin predominantly populates distorted [beta]-strand, [beta]-type II and [beta]-type III turn conformations. At 60 °C, the [beta]-type II turn population increases while the distorted [beta]-strand population decreases. Linear elastin predominantly adopts distorted [beta]-strand and [beta]-type III turn conformations with some [beta]-type II turn population at 20 [ring]C. Increasing temperature to 60 [ring]C, results in a small increase in the turn population. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers, 2008 (Source: Biopolymers) MedWorm Sponsored

CHICAGO (AP) -- In Washington state, Reza and Arzu Forough pay more than $1,000 a week for behavior therapy for their 12-year-old autistic son....

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The routine was the same as always - the exact way I have grown accustomed to dealing with the hours before a big race. But on that November morning last year, everything else was different....

After several notable failures in the hunt for a vaccine, researchers are refocusing on basic science and attempting to harness treatments for use as prevention.

Investigators hope that identifying those most at risk for this common side effect will allow more personalized prescribing.