(NEW YORK June 27, 2016) The 2009 swine H1N1 flu pandemic -- responsible for more than 17,000 deaths worldwide -- originated in pigs from a very small region in central Mexico, a research team headed by investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is reporting.

The scientists say their findings, published in the journal eLife, represent the first time that the origin of an influenza pandemic virus has been determined in such detail.

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University researchers have developed a new software tool that will improve scientists' ability to identify and understand bacterial strains and accelerate vaccine development.

RepeatAnalyzer is able to track, manage, analyze and catalogue the short, repeating sequences of bacterial DNA.

The researchers used the software to characterize Anaplasma marginale, a tick-borne bacteria that affects cattle, and published their work in the journal BMC Genomics. The research team includes computer science student Helen Catanese; Kelly Brayton, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology; and Assefaw Gebremedhin, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Since June 23, 2016 over two dozen people have been reported killed and hundreds of homes have been destroyed by flooding in West Virginia. Using satellite data, NASA calculated the heavy rainfall that occurred over the state.

The governor of West Virginia declared a federal disaster after the worst flooding in a century. The prevalence of rough terrain in West Virginia has amplified the effects of flooding rainfall. The National Weather Service predicted that thunderstorms were going to fall in the area again today. More flash flooding with streams again coming out of their banks has been predicted.

COLUMBUS, OH - In the northern hemisphere, peak ultraviolet radiation exposure is predicted to occur between 2010 and 2020. Decreases in ozone lead to increased exposure to wavelengths in the ultraviolet range, and ultraviolet radiation in turn affects plants' ability to effectively use photosynthesis for growth and development. Scientists say large land areas could be affected by UV-B exposure on turfgrasses that are typically cut high, such as those grasses used for residential lawns, so identifying grasses that can grow in evaluated UV-B conditions is crucial.

If asked to list problems that bad gut bacteria can cause, most would likely name digestive issues: constipation, excessive gas, or diarrhea.

Researchers are now saying bad gut bacteria - or an insufficient amount of good bacteria - may have a direct link to multiple sclerosis as well.

"Every human carries trillions of bacteria in their gut (gut microbiome) and recent advances in research indicate that these tiny passengers play an important role in our overall health maintenance," says Ashutosh Mangalam, PhD, assistant professor of pathology at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

INDIANAPOLIS - Many testicular cancer survivors experience hearing loss after cisplatin-based chemotherapy, according to researchers at Indiana University.

The researchers, led by Lois B. Travis, M.D., Sc.D., the Lawrence D. Einhorn Professor of Cancer Research at the IU School of Medicine and a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, studied for the first time the cumulative effects of cisplatin-based chemotherapy on hearing levels in testicular cancer survivors through comprehensive audiometry measurements. They found that increasing doses of cisplatin were associated with increased hearing loss at most of the tested frequencies, involving 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 kHz.