Washington, May 22 : Scientists have engineered nanoparticles derived from grapefruit lipids that could be used to deliver anti-cancer and other drugs to tumour cells, says a study.

Grapefruit has long been known for its health benefits, and the subtropical fruit may revolutionise how medical therapies like anti-cancer drugs are delivered to specific tumour cells, say researchers.

The University of Louisville researchers have uncovered how to create nanoparticles using natural lipids derived from grapefruit, and have discovered how to use them as drug delivery vehicles, reports Science Daily.

Washington, March 8 : Malaria could be eliminated if three-fourths of the population used insecticide-treated bed nets, a new study has suggested.

The study from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), which uses a mathematical model, found that use of insecticide-treated bed nets or ITNs positively affected the infection''s reproduction number, or R, which is the primary epidemiological number used to determine the degree which a disease can spread through a population.

The model concluded that if 75 percent of the population were to use ITNs, malaria could be eliminated.

Washington, March 8 : A first-in-human study has shown that gastric artery chemical embolization is safe and effective for obesity treatment.

The procedure that suppresses a hunger-stimulating hormone led to significant weight loss for at least six months in a small preliminary study.

Excess weight increases the risk for other conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

Washington, Mar 8 : Cholesterol levels seem to fluctuate significantly with the change of seasons, which may leave some people with borderline high cholesterol at greater cardiovascular risk during the winter months, a study has revealed.

While prior studies have shown that heart attacks and heart-related deaths increase during the winter months, researchers in Brazil were interested in finding out whether the prevalence of high cholesterol-a well-known cardiovascular risk factor-might follow a similar pattern.

Washington, Mar 8 : Scientists have developed a wonder pill harnessing the health-boosting power of red wine which can protect against a host of chronic killer diseases.

A new study demonstrates what researchers consider conclusive evidence that the red wine compound resveratrol directly activates a protein that promotes health and longevity in animal models.

What's more, the researchers have uncovered the molecular mechanism for this interaction, and show that a class of more potent drugs currently in clinical trials act in a similar fashion.

Washington, March 6 : An extremely rare Y chromosome found in an African American pushes back the time of the most recent common ancestor for the Y chromosome lineage tree to 300,000 years ago.

The new divergent lineage, which was found in an individual who submitted his DNA to Family Tree DNA, a company specializing in DNA analysis to trace family roots, branched from the Y chromosome tree before the first appearance of anatomically modern humans in the fossil record.

Washington, March 6 : Substances that give some foods their bitter flavors can also act to reverse the contraction of airway cells, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have found.

This reversal, known as bronchodilation, is needed to treat airway obstructive diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The new findings could have significant implications for such treatments.

New York, March 4 : Disco is being used in Brooklyn to help Holocaust victims get over their anxiety and grief.

Trippy lighting and funky music creates a soothing sensory experience at Minnie's Place in Canarsie, helping survivors of the greatest atrocity of the 20th century get over their nightmarish memories, the New York Post reported.

With black lights, a projector beaming psychedelic images on a wall, a "shower curtain" of multi-colored fiber-optic strands and an aromatherapy diffuser, people would feel like a trip to The Body Shop.

Washington, Mar. 4 : Botulinum toxin could have an enormous potential in treatment of inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema, researchers have claimed.

Erin Gilbert, MD, PhD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, New York, explained that a quandary in dermatology is the widespread use of steroids in treating inflammatory skin diseases.

Washington, Mar 2 : A man from Louisiana is suing a fertility clinic and his former girlfriend after the sperm bank handed over two vials of his sperm in a "paper lunch sack" to the woman who then conceived a child without his permission.

Lawyer Cade Bernsen accuses Toby Devall of having "bluffed her way into getting the sperm" and created a baby without ex-boyfriend Layne Hardin's consent "purposefully out of vindictiveness and to punish him for breaking up with her," ABC News reported.

Washington, Mar 2 : Early childhood exposure to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) can elevate risk for asthma in young children, a new study has revealed.

Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health are the first to report the association.

BPA is a component of some plastics and is found in food can liners and store receipts.

Washington, Mar 2 : A new study has confirmed what many women have long suspected - pregnancy permanently changes the size and shape of the mum to be's feet.

Flat feet are a common problem for pregnant women. The arch of the foot flattens out, possibly due to the extra weight and increased looseness (laxity) of the joints associated with pregnancy.

The study by the University of Iowa suggests that this loss of arch height is permanent.

Washington, March 2 : Postmenopausal women who smoke are at a greater risk of losing their teeth as compared to their peers who have never taken up the habit.

The study involved 1,106 women who participated in the Buffalo OsteoPerio Study, an offshoot of the Women's Health Initiative, (WHI), the largest clinical trial and observational study ever undertaken in the U. S., involving more than 162,000 women across the nation, including nearly 4,000 in Buffalo.

Smoking has long been associated with tooth loss, but postmenopausal women, in particular, experience more tooth loss than their male counterparts.

New York, Mar 1 - Efforts are on at the UN to integrate humanitarian assistance into the international military campaign against opponents of Somalia's government that will further threaten the safe delivery of impartial aid to Somalis, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said.

The UN Security Council is currently deliberating the future structure of the UN's mission in Somalia.

Under discussion is the possible inclusion of humanitarian assistance within the broader political and military agenda for Somalia.

Washington, February 28 : Drawing inspiration from a chemical that fungi secrete to defend their territory, MIT chemists have synthesized and tested several dozen compounds that may hold promise as potential cancer drugs.

A few years ago, MIT researchers led by associate professor of chemistry Mohammad Movassaghi became the first to chemically synthesize 11,11''-dideoxyverticillin, a highly complex fungal compound that has shown anti-cancer activity in previous studies.

This and related compounds naturally occur in such small amounts that it has been difficult to do a comprehensive study of the relationship between the compound''s structure and its activity - research that could aid drug development, Movassaghi siad.