How the worm turns

Scientists show how a monoamine neurotransmitter acts to coordinate a compound movement through two different receptors in C. elegans

2013-04-03

(Press-News.org) ### About the University of Massachusetts Medical School

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, one of the fastest growing academic health centers in the country, has built a reputation as a world-class research institution, consistently producing noteworthy advances in clinical and basic research. The Medical School attracts more than $250 million in research funding annually, 80 percent of which comes from federal funding sources. The mission of the Medical School is to advance the health and well-being of the people of the commonwealth and the world through pioneering education, research, public service and health care delivery with its clinical partner, UMass Memorial Health Care. For more information, visit http://www.umassmed.edu.

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Tiny grazers play key role in marine ecosystem health

2013-04-03

LAFAYETTE - Tiny sea creatures no bigger than a thumbtack are being credited for playing a key role in helping provide healthy habitats for many kinds of seafood, according to a new study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and U.S. Geological Survey. The little crustacean "grazers," some resembling tiny shrimp, are critical in protecting seagrasses from overgrowth by algae, helping keep these aquatic havens healthy for native and economically important species. Crustaceans are tiny to very large shelled animals that include crab, shrimp, and lobster. The ...

Mineral analysis of lunar crater deposit prompts a second look at the impact cratering process

2013-04-03

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Despite the unimaginable energy produced during large impacts on the Moon, those impacts may not wipe the mineralogical slate clean, according to new research led by Brown University geoscientists. The researchers have discovered a rock body with a distinct mineralogy snaking for 18 miles across the floor of Copernicus crater, a 60-mile-wide hole on the Moon's near side. The sinuous feature appears to bear the mineralogical signature of rocks that were present before the impact that made the crater. The deposit is interesting because ...

Sensitive sites: UC Research examines preservation of Southwest archaeology in time of tight budgets

2013-04-03

When surveying in the Upper Basin of the Grand Canyon National Park in April 2011, University of Cincinnati faculty and students discovered a previously unknown 17-room subterranean pueblo that likely dates back to the 12th century. For UC anthropology graduate student Ryan Washam, that find – in which he took part – helped spark his current research in how federal agencies are conducting archaeological and environmental protection and preservation efforts in a time of tight budgets. Washam, 23, of Florence, Ky., will present a case study of protection and preservation ...

Review: Few effective, evidence-based interventions to prevent posttraumatic stress disorder

2013-04-03

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Millions of adults are exposed to traumatic events each year. Shortly after exposure many experience symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) such as flashbacks, emotional numbing and difficulty sleeping. Despite this high rate of exposure, little is known about the effectiveness of treatments aimed at preventing and relieving posttraumatic stress symptoms that adults may experience after such events, according to researchers at the RTI-UNC Evidence-based Practice Center. The article, published online today by the American Journal ...

Puzzle of how spiral galaxies set their arms comes into focus

2013-04-03

MADISON — As the shapes of galaxies go, the spiral disk — with its characteristic pinwheel profile — is by far the most pedestrian. Our own Milky Way, astronomers believe, is a spiral. Our solar system and Earth reside somewhere near one of its filamentous, swept-back arms. And nearly 70 percent of the galaxies closest to the Milky Way are spirals, suggesting they have taken the most ordinary of galactic forms in a universe with billions of galaxies. But despite their common morphology, how galaxies like ours get and maintain their characteristic arms has proved to ...

Epileptic seizures can propagate using functional brain networks

2013-04-03

New Rochelle, NY, April 2, 2013—The seizures that affect people with temporal-lobe epilepsy usually start in a region of the brain called the hippocampus. But they are often able to involve other areas outside the temporal lobe, propagating via anatomically and functionally connected networks in the brain. New research findings that link decreased brain cell concentration to altered functional connectivity in temporal-lobe epilepsy are reported in an article in Brain Connectivity, a bimonthly peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article ...

Negative emotions in response to daily stress take a toll on long-term mental health

2013-04-03

Our emotional responses to the stresses of daily life may predict our long-term mental health, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Psychological scientist Susan Charles of the University of California, Irvine and colleagues conducted the study in order to answer a long-standing question: Do daily emotional experiences add up to make the straw that breaks the camel's back, or do these experiences make us stronger and provide an inoculation against later distress? Using data from two national ...

Access to mental health care lacking for children, teens across the US

2013-04-03

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Everyday, news reports detail the impact of the deficiencies in the nation's mental health care services. Even more startling, a survey from the University of Michigan reveals that many adults across the U.S. believe children and teens have extremely limited or no access to appropriate mental health care services. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation commissioned the National Voices Project to facilitate a five year study to gauge opportunities available for children and teens at the local level in communities across the U.S. Officials at the National Voices ...

Total buzz kill: Metals in flowers may play role in bumblebee decline

2013-04-03

PITTSBURGH—Beekeepers and researchers nationally are reporting growing evidence that a powerful new class of pesticides may be killing off bumblebees. Now, research at the University of Pittsburgh points toward another potential cause: metal pollution from aluminum and nickel. Published in the journal Environmental Pollution, the Pitt study finds that bumblebees are at risk of ingesting toxic amounts of metals like aluminum and nickel found in flowers growing in soil that has been contaminated by exhaust from vehicles, industrial machinery, and farming equipment. The ...

UC research examines ancient Puebloans and the myth of maize

2013-04-03

Research from the University of Cincinnati shows that perhaps the ancient Puebloans weren't as into the maize craze as once thought. Nikki Berkebile, a graduate student in anthropology in UC's McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, has been studying the subsistence habits of Puebloans, or Anasazi, who lived on the southern rim of the Grand Canyon in the late 11th century. Traditional ethnographic literature indicates these ancient American Indians were heavily dependent on maize as a food source, but Berkebile isn't so sure about that. "I'm trying to assess sustainable ...

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Increased avoidance learning in chronic opioid users

RODIN project, funded by the European Research Council through a Synergy grant (ERC-Syn), will invest 10 M€ to explore cells as the architects of future biomaterials