Over 10 percent of patients using aspirin therapy for primary cardiovascular disease prevention shouldn't be doing so, according to a recent paper. 

They were likely either inappropriately prescribed it or do it over the counter, according to a new study that examined practice variations in aspirin therapy by accessing data from the National Cardiovascular Disease Registry Practice Innovation and Clinical Excellence (PINNACLE) Registry. The authors examined a nationwide sample of 68,808 patients receiving aspirin for primary cardiovascular disease prevention and evaluating aspirin guidelines by the American Heart Association, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, and other organizations.

Researchers at the Montreal Heart Institute announced today results showing that patients with cardiovascular disease and the appropriate genetic background benefit greatly from the new medication dalcetrapib, with a reduction of 39% in combined clinical outcomes including heart attacks, strokes, unstable angina, coronary revascularizations and cardiovascular deaths. These patients also benefit from a reduction in the amount of atherosclerosis (thickened walls) in their vessels. The detailed results are published in the prestigious Journal Circulation Cardiovascular Genetics. This discovery may also pave the way for a new era in cardiovascular medicine, with personalized or precision drugs.

They're suspected al-Shabaab militants – but probably not ivory traders. UN, CC BY-NC-SA

By Diogo Veríssimo, Georgia State University

It is often said that if something is repeated often enough, it becomes accepted as true. This has certainly been the case for the link between terrorism and the poaching of elephants for the ivory trade.

Engineers in Austria have given us a blessing and a curse - they have created a giant laser system that sends beams in different directions, which makes them visible from many different angles. 

The angular resolution is so fine that the left eye is presented a different picture than the right one, creating a 3D effect.

Scientists have developed a new biosensor that allows them to see, in real time, what happens when a plant’s defenxe system swings into action.

When plants come under attack internal alarms signal and their defense mechanisms swing into action. For the first time, plant scientists have imaged, in real time, what happens when plants beat off the bugs and respond to disease and damage.

Malcolm Bennett, Professor in Plant Science at The University of Nottingham and Director of the Centre for Plant Integrative Biology, said, “Understanding how plants respond to mechanical damage, such as insect attack, is important for developing crops which cope better under stress.”

Land-based plants respond to hormones in order to survive and it was once assumed that such hormone signaling machinery only existed in these relatively complex plants but new research shows that some types of freshwater algae can also detect ethylene gas - the same stress hormone found in land plants - and might use these signals to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

A new study identifies the BCL11A gene is especially active in aggressive subtypes of breast cancer. The research suggests that an overactive BCL11A gene drives triple-negative breast cancer development and progression. The research, which was done in human cells and in mice, provides new routes to explore targeted treatments for this aggressive tumor type.

There are many types of breast cancers that respond differently to treatments and have different prognoses. Approximately one in five patients is affected by triple-negative breast cancer; these cancers lack three receptor proteins that respond to hormone therapies used for other subtypes of breast cancer. In recent years it has become apparent that the majority of triple-negative tumors are of the basal-like subtype.

This morning I woke up at 6AM, had a shower and breakfast, dressed up, and rushed out in the cold of the fading night to catch a train to Mestre, where my car was parked. From there I drove due north for two hours, to a place in the mountains called Pieve di Cadore. A comfortable ride in normal weather, but this morning the weather was horrible, with an insisting water bombing from above which slowly turned to heavy sleet as I gained altitude. The drive was very unnerving as my car is old and not well equipped for these winter conditions - hydroplaning was frequent. But I made it.