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JAPAN – Study notes widening disease transmission by monkeys.

MALAYSIA – Drug-resistant malaria threatens control programs.

SINGAPORE – Novel gene predicts both breast cancer relapse and response to chemotherapy.

SINGAPORE – New drug formulations to boost fight against respiratory illnesses and antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

SINGAPORE – Zebrafish genes linked to human respiratory diseases.

SINGAPORE – Singapore researchers discover a gene that increases incidence of acute myelogenous leukemia.

SINGAPORE – Scientists develop green tea-based ‘missiles’ to kill cancer cells more effectively.

UNITED STATES – Large study reveals new genetic variants that raise risk for prostate cancer.

UNITED STATES – Math model designed to replace invasive kidney biopsy for lupus patients.

UNITED STATES – Mayo Clinic researchers reveal pathway that contributes to Alzheimer's disease.

UNITED STATES – Immunotherapy combination demonstrates superior anti-cancer activity.

China’s Healthcare Reforms: Who Will Survive?

Neovia Enrolls First Patient in Cancer Trial for Immunotherapy Enhancing Drug.

$5M Foundation Gift to Help Support US-China Energy Center at Berkeley Lab.

Scientists Make Breakthrough in 21st Century Killers Research.

Chinese Scientist Participates in Human Gene Editing Committee.

Monkeys Master a Key Sign of Self-awareness: Recognizing Their Reflections.

Poisonous Gas May Have Driven Prehistoric Mass Extinction.

Chinese Scientists in Rice Breakthrough.

In order to investigate the search performance and strategies of nonhuman primates, two macaque monkeys were trained to search for a target template among differently oriented distractors in both free-gaze and fixed-gaze viewing conditions (overt and covert search). In free-gaze search, reaction times (RT) and eye movements revealed the theoretically predicted characteristics of exhaustive and self-terminating serial search, with certain exceptions that are also observed in humans. RT was linearly related to the number of fixations but not necessarily to the number of items on display. Animals scanned the scenes in a nonrandom manner spending notably more time on targets and items inspected last (just before reaction). The characteristics of free-gaze search were then compared with search performance under fixed gaze (covert search) and with the performance of four human subjects tested in similar experiments. By and large the performance characteristics of both groups were similar; monkeys were slightly faster, and humans more accurate. Both species produced shorter RT in fixed-gaze than in free-gaze search. But while RT slopes of the human subjects still showed the theoretically predicted difference between hits and rejections, slopes of the two monkeys appeared to collapse. Despite considerable priming and short-term learning when similar tests were continuously repeated, no substantial long-term training effects were seen when test conditions and set sizes were frequently varied. Altogether, the data reveal many similarities between human and monkey search behavior but indicate that search is not necessarily restricted to exclusively serial processes.