More than a billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water. Diseases caused by unsafe drinking water are among the world's most serious public health threats.

The Global Health and Education Foundation provided funding to the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences to develop "Safe Drinking Water Is Essential" ( http://www.drinking-water.org), a resource devoted to providing international decision makers with peer-reviewed scientific information about enhancing the safety of drinking water supplies.

More than 125 academies worldwide are disseminating information about the Web resource, which is available in five languages.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are reporting in the September issue of the American Heart Journal that women with a family history of heart disease are less likely than men to change habits such as smoking and infrequent physical activity.

They also are more likely to engage in lifestyle choices that increase their risk of heart disease than are women who did not report a history of heart disease.

“A family history of heart disease is as important an indicator of future cardiovascular health in women as it is in men – perhaps more important,” said Dr. Amit Khera, assistant professor of internal medicine and senior author of the study.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today called on Gilead Sciences and Merck to immediately register and distribute the three-in-one, once daily lifesaving HIV treatment, Atripla, in developing countries.

When Atripla first received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July of 2006, advocates like AHF applauded the production of a single, once-a-day drug as a landmark step in treating HIV. However, since its approval, little progress has been made in expanding the availability of the treatment in the developing world, where only 28% of those in need of treatment were able to access it as of December 2006.

"This treatment is a standard therapy in the United States.

Ding dong - one of my bells emailed me today. Someone was at the gate of the BioChemFoo area on Nature Island in Second Life and wanted assistance with setting up a poster. When I logged on I found Lali Ewry (a researcher) and Bronwen Pizzicato (from Nature Protocols) still waiting there.

Melbourne, Florida -- Symetrics Industries, LLC announced today an award from the U.S. Army for approximately 300 Improved Data Modems (IDM) for installation on Army aircraft. The contract value will be between US$7 and US$8 million, once final negotiations are completed. The IDM-304 is the Army version of the Improved Data Modems that Symetrics has been delivering to the U.S. Air Force for over 14 years.

Symetrics President and CEO, Mitch Garner stated, "We are absolutely thrilled with this order because it demonstrates the Army's confidence in our ability to execute a long-term, high volume production effort. The IDM-304 is the cornerstone of the Army's airborne element of the Tactical Internet, and Symetrics is proud to be able to provide this critical equipment."

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have developed a mouse model for schizophrenia in which a mutated gene linked to schizophrenia can be turned on or off at will.

The researchers developed the transgenic mouse by inserting the gene for mutant Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia-1 (DISC-1) into a normal mouse, along with a promoter that enables the gene to be switched on or off. Mutant DISC-1 was previously identified in a Scottish family with a strong history of schizophrenia and related mental disorders.

The study was performed in the laboratory of Mikhail Pletnikov, M.D., Ph.D., in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts in everything from single-celled organisms to humans. They promote chemical reactions in cells and are used widely in industry for everything from making beer and cheese to producing paper and biofuel.

They are also important for making 'natural' drugs, therapeutic agents based on the blueprints of chemicals produced in nature by plants and microorganisms. Such natural sugar-bearing chemicals are the basis for some of medicine's most potent antibiotics and anticancer drugs as exemplified by the antibiotic erythromycin and the anticancer drug doxorubicin.

Important chemical features of such drugs are natural sugars, molecules that often determine a chemical compound's biological effects.

For the past six weeks, parents have been able to keep a watchful eye over what they are feeding their children at mealtimes. However, with the back-to-school season fast approaching, most parents will once again face the constant dilemma of choosing which healthy, exciting, tasty and nutritious products they should give their children. Parents face the difficult choice of what to buy for their children as packaging can be misleading.

This report focuses on a selection of popular fruit juice drinks and fruit based desserts which can be found in a typical child's lunchbox.

FRUIT JUICE DRINKS

Fruit Juice Content

Autism spectrum disorders cover a wide span of conditions and symptoms, from severe mental retardation to mild social impairment. In general, people with autism have problems with social interactions, such as maintaining eye contact or reading body language. They may also exhibit stereotypical behavior, such as being obsessed with lining up objects. In the movie “Rain Man,” the title character was unable to form social bonds and became distressed when his normal routine was disrupted, yet he could perform exceptional mental mathematics.

About 1.5 million people in the United States have autism spectrum disorders, with boys affected more often than girls.