London, Feb 18 : A new study suggests that vaccines, which specifically target HIV in the initial stages of infection before it becomes a rapidly replicating, system-wide infection, may be a successful approach in limiting the spread of the disease.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University''s Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute used a vaccination method that involves creating and maintaining resistance by programming a portion of the body''s immune system - effector memory T-cells - to look out for HIV at the site of infection.

Washington, Feb 18 : Researchers have advised asthma patients to continue their medication for long-term benefits even if they have fewer symptoms.

The study led by researchers in Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP) has shown that although patients had fewer symptoms five years after stopping the daily medication, they are primed to an attack if they got a bad cold or during weather change.

During the study, more than 1,000 children age 5-12 were treated for mild to moderate asthma over more than four years and followed up for nearly five years after the end of the trial.

Washington, Feb 18 : Two new studies have brought scientists one step closer to the development of a pill that could stave off noise-induced and perhaps even age-related hearing loss in humans.

In the studies, scientists found that vitamin supplements prevented hearing loss in laboratory animals.

The supplements used in the studies are composed of antioxidants - beta carotene and vitamins C and E - and the mineral magnesium.

When administered prior to exposure to loud noise, the supplements prevented both temporary and permanent hearing loss in test animals.

Washington, February 18 : Scientists have identified new gene variants associated with an increased risk for heart attack.

The international team of researchers behind this work say that the identified genes and their underlying mechanisms provide new starting points for understanding genetic patterns in heart attack, and for developing new treatment options.

One of their findings is that the heart attack risk is more than twice as great in individuals who carry not only one but several of the genetic markers.

Washington, February 18 : An apple a day, along with other fruits and vegetables, may keep breast cancer at bay, according to scientists.

Rui Hai Liu, Cornell associate professor of food science and a member of Cornell''s Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology, has found that fresh apple extracts significantly inhibited the size of mammary tumours in rats.

The researcher said that the more extracts the subjects were given, the greater the inhibition.

Washington, Feb 17 : Paving the way for new ways to fight viral infections and new gene therapies, Rice University scientists have unravelled the structure of a virus'' protective coat.

After three years of work, the researchers have created an image of the structure, showing five million atoms-each in precisely the right place.

The image reveals the structure of a type of protein coat shared by hundreds of known viruses containing double-stranded RNA genomes.