Girls in minority groups and low-income families, who are claimed to be most at risk for cervical cancer, are less likely to get the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. 

Scholars from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children's Hospital Colorado interviewed 41 low-income parents of girls ages 12-15 to determine why they didn't get the vaccine or finish the course. The survey interviewed both English and Spanish speakers.

Result: English-speaking parents expressed concerns over the need and safety of the vaccine, while Spanish-speaking parents said health care providers failed to explain that they needed three shots to be fully immunized. They also feared the vaccine would encourage sexual activity.

Researchers have isolated and characterized the progenitor cells that eventually give rise to malignant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors – the most common form of liver cancer. The researchers found ways to identify and isolate the HCC progenitor cells (HcPC) long before actual tumors were apparent.

Principal investigator Michael Karin, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Pathology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues report that HcPC take form within dysplastic or abnormal lesions often found in damaged or cirrhotic livers. The liver damage can be due to viral infections like hepatitis or from chronic alcohol abuse. 

Polymers are found in countless commercial, medical, and industrial products and the porous kind are known as foam polymers.

Foam polymers are useful because they combine light weight with rigid mechanical properties and a group has developed a process to grow highly customizable coatings of foam-like polymers.  Foam polymers are used in a variety of ways, including the delivery of drugs in the body, as a framework for body tissues and implants, and as layers in laser targets for fusion research.

'Natural' health products are all the rage among the segment of the population that doesn't trust science or medicine. But applying the ethical standards of the medical community to people operating outside the medical community can be a big mistake - the majority of herbal products on the market contain ingredients not listed on the label, with most companies substituting cheaper alternatives and using fillers, according to new research.

One product labeled as St. John's wort contained Senna alexandrina, a plant with laxative properties. It's not intended for prolonged use, as it can cause chronic diarrhea and liver damage and negatively interacts with immune cells in the colon.

Tiny crystals of zircon, a mineral found in the igneous rock rhyolites, from the Snake River Plain in the Yellowstone hotspot has solidified evidence for a new way of looking at the life cycle of super-volcanic eruptions.

The pattern emerging from new and previous research completed in the last five years is that another super-eruption from the still-alive Yellowstone volcanic field is less likely for the next few million years than previously thought. The last eruption 640,000 years ago created the Yellowstone Caldera and the Lava Creek Tuff in what is now Yellowstone National Park.

Chemists recently achieved a breakthrough in efforts to develop an economical means of harnessing artificial photosynthesis by narrowing the voltage gap between the two crucial processes of oxidation and reduction, according to a new paper.

The team reports it has come within two-tenths of the photovoltage required to mimic oxidation and reduction respectively using unique photoanodes and photocathodes the team developed using novel nanowire components and coatings. Narrowing the gap using economical chemical components, the group moves researchers closer to using the man-made reaction for unique applications such as solar energy harvesting and storage.

Normally muscles contract in order to support the body, but in a rare condition known as cataplexy the body's muscles "fall asleep" and become involuntarily paralyzed. Cataplexy is incapacitating because it leaves the affected individual awake, but either fully or partially paralyzed. It is one of the bizarre symptoms of the sleep disorder called narcolepsy.