A collaboration between chemists and biologists has made it possible to identify the effects of a new class of molecules, polyoxometalates, primarily composed of metals and oxygen.

Polyoxometalates are anionic inorganic metal oxide structures that have valuable catalytic properties. These molecules are very powerful inhibitors of a specific protein kinase, CK2, an enzyme that is overactive in a number of cancers. The enzyme's instrumental role in controlling cell proliferation and survival makes it an important target in the search for new medications.

Individuals affected by celiac disease (gluten intolerance) often present an altered calcium (Ca2+) metabolism that can cause osteopenia, a bone mass decrease due to the impaired adsorption of this mineral, which can lead to osteoporosis (in 35-85% of the cases).

This phenomenon is particularly frequent among late-diagnosed celiac patients, as in the case of adult people, but can be present in children too.

With the aim of recognizing calcium metabolism alterations and impaired bone mineralization, laboratory and radiology exams, such as dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), are often performed. These exams – that provide information on the health status of the bones before the onset of a specific therapy (namely the gluten-free diet) and help to monitor the progression of the bone disease once the diet is started - are nowadays indicated in children too. But are they really necessary in the celiac child?

Stories stating that soy products lower sperm count do not tell the whole story, according to a statement released by the Soyfoods Association of North America is a non-profit trade association that has been promoting consumption of soyfoods in the diet since 1978.

They say the small scale, preliminary study that Dr. Jorge Chavarro published in Human Reproduction is based on recollected intake of soyfoods and not on specific diets containing soyfoods.

“This study is confounded by many issues, thus I feel the results should be viewed with a great deal of caution,” said Dr. Tammy Hedlund, a researcher in prostate cancer prevention from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Department of Pathology. Dr. Chavarro found that “soyfood and soy isoflavone intakes were unrelated to total sperm count, ejaculate volume, sperm motility, or sperm morphology” which are the important measures of sperm quality and male fertility.

Exposure to ultraviolet light can contribute to skin cancer and, despite increased education about sunscreens, farmers, construction workers and others who spend long hours exposed to sunlight are among those most at risk. Plus, sunscreens are not alway effective for these high-risk people because they have to be re-applied frequently.

Professor Chandradhar Dwivedi, head of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Department in the College of Pharmacy at South Dakota State University, says their group is working with new types of molecules that will not only boost sunscreen protection but even reverse sun damage. Dwivedi said the work could be commercialized within 10 years.

Here’s a look at SDSU’s research of skin product components:

Proposals to reign in gasoline prices by curbing speculation in oil markets would likely increase costs at the pump instead of trimming them, a University of Illinois economist says.

Scott Irwin argues congressional efforts to curb trading by speculators is a "misguided witch hunt" that ignores the root of America's energy problem – a finite global oil supply that has been stretched thin by surging demand in China, India and other developing countries.

"There's a tendency to look for a scapegoat, and speculators are the convenient scapegoat," he said. "But, really, it's a supply and demand issue."

A team of European scientists working with COROT have discovered an exoplanet orbiting a star slightly more massive than the Sun. After just 555 days in orbit, the mission has now observed more than 50 000 stars and is adding significantly to our knowledge of the fundamental workings of stars.

The latest discovery, COROT-exo-4b is an exoplanet of about the same size as Jupiter. It takes 9.2 days to orbit its star, the longest period for any transiting exoplanet ever found.