Washington, Sep 18: Scientists have shed more light on the use of statins, by discovering how a statin drug used against heart disease helps to unclog blood vessels from an excess of cholesterol and fats.

Canadian researchers say that the results help explain how the drug works and may provide ways to improve similar drugs in the future.

London, Sept 18: Particles found in smoke plumes produced by cargo ships has a surprising cooling effect on the Earth's atmosphere, a new study by a team of German researchers from the University of Bremen, has revealed.

Shipping fuel is less refined than aeroplane fuel and contains more sulphur. As a result, tiny particles of sulphur dioxide contained in ship exhaust fumes create cloud tracks – similar to plane contrails – in the sky above a travelling vessel.

Washington, Sept 18: A new study has revealed that abstinence-plus programs (to use condoms) are better than abstinence-only programs when it comes to reducing HIV risk among teenagers.

New Delhi, Sept. 18: The Ministry of Agriculture in China has confirmed a bird flu outbreak in South China's Guangzhou, which began with the mass deaths of ducks on September 5.

The National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory, according to the ministry, confirmed the outbreak as a sub-type of H5N1 bird flu.

It said 36,130 ducks had been culled as of September 17, after farmers in Sixian Village and Xinzao Township in the Panyu district of Guangzhou reported the deaths of their ducks on September 5.

Washington September 18: Scientists have found that women and men respond differently to manipulation of serotonin levels, a biochemical whose reduced transmission has been implicated in major depressive disorder (MDD), a common mental disorder.  

The study published in Biological Psychiatry involved a technique called acute tryptophan depletion to decrease serotonin levels in the brains of healthy participants.