Driving a car is a key factor in independent living and life satisfaction for older adults. In the U.S., driving is considered an important aspect of personal freedom and gives people a sense of control over their lives. Most adults continue to drive as they age--in fact, 81 percent of people aged 65 and older hold a driver's license in this country. However, age-related declines in physical and cognitive functions make driving more difficult for older adults, and many people eventually reduce or stop driving altogether.

Two years ago, Ellen Martinsen, was collecting mosquitoes at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, looking for malaria that might infect birds--when she discovered something strange: a DNA profile, from parasites in the mosquitoes, that she couldn't identify.

By chance, she had discovered a malaria parasite, Plasmodium odocoilei--that infects white-tailed deer. It's the first-ever malaria parasite known to live in a deer species and the only native malaria parasite found in any mammal in North or South America. Though white-tailed deer diseases have been heavily studied--scientist hadn't noticed that many have malaria parasites.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Underrepresented students' first-semester GPA may be a better predictor of whether they'll graduate college than their ACT score or their family's socioeconomic status, a new study found.

Researchers at the University of Illinois tracked the academic achievement and degree status of more than 1,900 U. of I. freshmen across a six-year period, beginning when the students first enrolled at the university in 2005 or 2006. The sample was selected to focus on students who were low-income, attended underresourced high schools and/or were historically underrepresented based on race or geography, and who could have completed an undergraduate program within six years.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a molecular regulator that allows salmonella bacteria to switch from actively causing disease to lurking in a chronic but asymptomatic state called a biofilm.

Their findings are published in the online journal, eLife.

• Conversely, nations that produce most greenhouse gases less vulnerable

After evaluating content on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on almost 200 websites, researchers found that the information on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
(IPF) from these sites was often incomplete, inaccurate and outdated. 

Doctors recommend several days of rest after a person suffers a concussion, but that is often good advice for many things. It works, but why? New data from animal models explains why.  

Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists say rest allows the brain to reset neural networks and repair any short-term injury. The new study in mice also shows that repeated mild concussions with only a day to recover between injuries leads to mounting damage and brain inflammation that remains evident a year after injury.

Why people lose their locks in old age may be related to the aging of hair follicle stem cells, two new studies suggest. Though it is known that mammals that live for longer lifespans lose their hair, the mechanisms underlying this fate have been a mystery. Hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs), which generate the sacs or follicles that produce hair, keep hair growth going repeatedly over time. Surprisingly, they have even been shown, in mice experiments, to resist aging. To better understand the role HFSCs might play in aging-associated hair loss, Hiroyuki Matsumura and colleagues studied hair follicles in a mouse model of accelerated hair loss.

A new analysis of one of the most widespread honeybee viruses, deformed wing virus, or DWV, shows that the virus has gone from an endemic to a global epidemic because of greater movement of a major vector, the Varroa mite. The mite has spread in large part due to human trade of the bee colonies it infests. The study contributes greatly to scientists' understanding of the globally pressing issue of pollinator health by describing the worldwide transmission routes and dynamics of DWV based on analysis of a new and large molecular data set. Previous evidence indicates that the presence of the mite Varroa increases the spread of DWV across honeybee populations, not only by acting as a vector but also by increasing the virulence of the virus.

The incidence and severity of both traditional and emerging cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors as well as the response to treatment may differ between genders. In this narrative review, several emerging CVD risk factors (i.e. inflammatory and haemostatic markers, endothelial dysfunction, homocysteine, lipid disorders, microalbuminuria/proteinuria, coronary artery calcium score, arterial stiffness, periodontitis, inflammatory bowel syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea, impaired glucose metabolism, metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) are discussed in the context of gender differences.