Researchers said Monday a new computerized model of part of a rat's cortex predicts connections between neurons, which could help explain how the brains of mammals -- including humans -- works.

"This is a major breakthrough because it would otherwise take decades, if not centuries, to map the location of each synapse in the brain," said Henry Markram, head of the Blue Brain Project at Switzerland's Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.

Lab-dish tests have raised hopes that a soil bacterium identified nearly 60 years ago could be a "very selective killer" of the germ that causes tuberculosis, a European journal reported on Monday.

Pyridomycin, a natural antibiotic exuded by the bacterium Streptomyces pyridomyceticus, shows promise as a candidate to fight a drug-resistant strain of TB, researchers in Switzerland said.

The U.S. states of Alabama and South Carolina discriminate against HIV-positive prisoners by separating them from others and excluding them from early release programs, singer Elton John said Monday.

Infected inmates also face hurdles accessing treatment they need to manage their disease and stop it from progressing, the British celebrity alleged in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post.

A fertility technique that uses DNA from three parents to create an embryo could become legal in Britain after a public consultation on its ethical implications was launched on Monday.

The results of the consultation will help inform a decision by the government on whether to legalise the technique as early as next year -- potentially making Britain the first country in the world to hold human trials into the treatment, the Daily Telegraph reported.

American children eat as much salt as adults — about 1,000 milligrams too much, or the same amount as in just one Big Mac. Extra salt is linked with higher blood pressure, even in kids, but government research says those who are overweight and obese may be most vulnerable to its effects.

The new findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

The Namibia Press Agency reports that some 40 babies and fetuses are dumped and flushed down toilets every month in Windhoek, Namibia's capital of just 350,000 people.

It quotes Women in Action Development chief Veronica De Klerk as blaming violence against women and parents' failures.

More than 100 years after it was first caught in the act of decaying a patient's brain, Alzheimer's remains one of medicine's greatest challenges as it robs ever more people of their memory and independence.

Researchers make halting progress, reporting small steps forward along with many frustrating setbacks.

Scientists in Japan have created a microscopically thin film that can coat individual teeth to prevent decay or to make them appear whiter, the chief researcher said.

The "tooth patch" is a hard-wearing and ultra-flexible material made from hydroxyapatite, the main mineral in tooth enamel, that could also mean an end to sensitive teeth.

The Czech health minister has placed a total ban on the sale of liquor with over 20 percent alcohol, following 19 deaths attributed to methanol poisoning from bootleg spirits.

Friday's measure tightens up a ban on spirits with over 30 percent alcohol being sold by street vendors and market stalls, which was introduced on Wednesday.

Canada dropped Friday its longtime opposition to global restrictions on asbestos, dealing a blow to the country's dying mining industry of the fire-resistant substance.

Canada has long led efforts against listing chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous material under the United Nations Rotterdam Convention, which requires exporters to warn importing countries of any dangers and allows them to ban its import.