WASHINGTON, D.C. - Southern Californians and writers love to blame the hot, dry Santa Ana winds for tense, ugly moods, and the winds have long been associated with destructive wildfires. Now, a new study finds that on occasion, the winds have an accomplice with respect to fires, at least: Natural atmospheric events known as stratospheric intrusions, which bring extremely dry air from the upper atmosphere down to the surface, adding to the fire danger effects of the Santa Anas, and exacerbating some air pollution episodes. The findings suggest that forecast models with ...

AROUND half of all breast cancer patients could one day benefit from having the cheap and widely-available female hormone progesterone added to their treatment, according to Cancer Research UK funded research published in Nature today (Thursday)*. Tumours fuelled by the female hormone oestrogen are treated with drugs like tamoxifen to block oestrogen receptors, which cause cancer cells to grow. Women whose tumours have progesterone receptors as well are known to have a better outlook. But for decades scientists have been unable to pinpoint why. Scientists at Cancer ...

From a Glacier's Perspective Big Four glacier & ice caves, WA: a short future? Early summer melting led to the collapse of Washington ice caves, the death of one person, and the injury of five others. Mauri Pelto asks questions about the future of Washington's Big Four glacier on his blog From a Glacier's Perspective. Eos.org Learning geoscience by doing geoscience A pilot project helps teachers bring scientific practice into the classroom. New research papers Response of the Amazon carbon balance to the 2010 drought derived with CarbonTracker South America, ...

Researchers have developed a new approach for better integrating medical devices with biological systems. The researchers, led by Bozhi Tian, assistant professor in chemistry at the University of Chicago, have developed the first skeleton-like silicon spicules ever prepared via chemical processes. "Using bone formation as a guide, the Tian group has developed a synthetic material from silicon that shows potential for improving interaction between soft tissue and hard materials," said Joe Akkara, a program director in the National Science Foundation materials research ...

Tropical Depression 4E formed in the Eastern Pacific and crossed the 140 West longitude line as of the 0300 UTC time, which brought it into the Central Pacific Ocean. NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an infrared image of the depression at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT) on July 8 that showed the large storm in the Central Pacific. At 8 p.m. PDT/11 p.m. EDT on July 7, (0300 UTC on July 8), the center of newly formed Tropical Depression Four-E was located near latitude 15.4 North, longitude 140.2 West. The depression was moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph (28 kph) and ...

Rice University researchers have built a simulation to show how cancerous tumors manipulate blood-vessel growth for their own benefit. Like all cells, those in tumors need access to the body's fine network of blood vessels to bring them oxygen and carry away waste. Tumors have learned to game the process called angiogenesis in which new vessels sprout from existing ones, like branches from a tree. But some details have been hidden until now. The ability to stop tumors through anti-angiogenesis is one goal of cancer therapy. The new work by scientists at Rice's Center ...

July 8, 2015 - A recent CDC report calls into question the widely reported belief that Black fathers are more absent in their children's lives than White fathers - showing that while more Black fathers live apart from their children, they are just as involved with their children as members of other racial groups in the same living situations. So why is it that messages about Black absentee fathers, such as Obama's 2008 Father's Day address, are so pervasive in society? A new paper, published today in Social Psychological and Personality Science, suggests that such messages ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass--When you spill a bit of water onto a tabletop, the puddle spreads -- and then stops, leaving a well-defined area of water with a sharp boundary. There's just one problem: The formulas scientists use to describe such a fluid flow say that the water should just keep spreading endlessly. Everyone knows that's not the case -- but why? This mystery has now been solved by researchers at MIT -- and while this phenomenon might seem trivial, the finding's ramifications could be significant: Understanding such flowing fluids is essential for processes from the ...

CHICAGO (July 8, 2015): Work hour restrictions for resident physicians, revised nationally four years ago largely to protect patients against physician trainees' fatigue-related errors, have not had the desired effect of lowering postoperative complication rates in several common surgical specialties, according to new study results. The study was published as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website in advance of print publication later this year. There was no significant difference in measured surgical patient outcomes between ...

Natural killer cells of the immune system can fend off malignant lymphoma cells and thus are considered a promising therapeutic approach. However, in the direct vicinity of the tumor they lose their effect. Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München have now elucidated which mechanisms block the natural killer cells and how this blockade could be lifted. The results were recently published in the European Journal of Immunology. Natural killer cells (NK cells) are part of the immune system and provide an innate immunity against exogenous and altered endogenous structures. ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The number of women across the globe filing patents with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office over the past 40 years has risen fastest within academia compared to all other sectors of the innovation economy, according to a new study from Indiana University. The analysis, which examined 4.6 million utility patents issued from 1976 to 2013, was led by Cassidy R. Sugimoto, an associate professor of informatics at the School of Informatics and Computing at IU Bloomington. The results of "The Academic Advantage: Gender Disparities in Patenting" are reported ...

This news release is available in French. At population level, vaccines contribute to reducing mortality associated with infectious diseases such as measles, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B or bacterial meningitis. The community general physician, at the centre of this preventive strategy, remains the main source of information for families. In an article published in the journal Ebiomedecine, Pierre Verger (Inserm Unit 912, "Economics and Social Sciences Applied to Health and Analysis of Medical Information - SESSTIM") and his collaborators present and analyse the ...

This news release is available in German. The oldest known Old World monkey, Victoriapithecus, first made headlines in 1997 when its fossilized skull was discovered on an island in Kenya's Lake Victoria, where it lived 15 million years ago. An international team led by Fred Spoor of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and University College London (UCL), UK, has now visualized this monkey's brain for the first time: The creature's tiny but remarkably wrinkled brain supports the idea that brain complexity can evolve before ...

A new study by the University of Leicester has revealed that men are more receptive to goals in the workplace than women. Using a timed addition task, research from the University's Department of Economics examined the effect of non-binding goals - where no monetary rewards or punishments are associated with success or failure - on effort, and found: Men are more motivated by achieving goals than women Goal-setting can generate the same effects on success as monetary incentives Having a goal leads to better focus and increased speed to complete a task One hundred ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- It's a mysterious condition often linked to childbirth that causes distress and discomfort and requires surgery for more than 200,000 women a year - but there's no good way to study it. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed the first-ever 3D complete computer model to help study treatment for pelvic organ prolapse, a weakening of muscles and ligaments that causes organs like the bladder to drop from their normal place. For many women, the condition causes urinary problems, painful intercourse and uncomfortable pressure. The ...

CLEVELAND - July 8, 2015 - A technology whose roots date to the 1800s has the potential to offer an extraordinary new advantage to modern-day medicine. In findings published this month in Nature Communications, Case Western Reserve scientists detail how stereomicroscopy can provide physicians an invaluable diagnostic tool in assessing issues within the gastrointestinal tract. Originally used by 19th-century photographers to create the illusion of depth in their pictures, stereomicroscopy since has evolved to become a staple of the film and videogame industries. Only ...

MANHATTAN -- A new study involving a Kansas State University entomologist reveals that the genes of a fruit fly that has plagued American apple producers for more than 150 years is the result of an extremely rapid evolutionary change. Greg Ragland, assistant professor of entomology, is co-lead author on a study involving biologists at Rice University, the University of Notre Dame and several other universities. The study looked at the processes that cause a new species to emerge, which may threaten existing, economically important crops. Scientists think that strong ...

Infectious colonies of bacteria called biofilms that develop on chronic wounds and medical devices can cause serious health problems and are tough to treat. But now scientists have found a way to package antimicrobial compounds from peppermint and cinnamon in tiny capsules that can both kill biofilms and actively promote healing. The researchers say the new material, reported in the journal ACS Nano, could be used as a topical antibacterial treatment and disinfectant. Many bacteria clump together in sticky plaques in a way that makes them difficult to eliminate with ...

The decline of honey bees has been a major concern globally for the past decade. One of the factors that could be contributing to the decline is the use of insecticides -- specifically neonicotinoids -- that persist in rivers and streams. Researchers now report in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters that although sunlight plays an important role in degrading pollutants, its effects on neonicotinoids can diminish dramatically even in shallow water. Neonicotinoids protect crops from pests, such as whiteflies, beetles and termites. They are a popular ...

Today Nicotine & Tobacco Research publishes the third in a series of studies on the cost of smoking in California, one of the first US states to implement a comprehensive tobacco control program. Researchers estimated expenditures for smoking-attributable costs (healthcare, lost productivity from illness, and lost productivity from premature mortality) for the year 2009. The total cost came to $18.1 billion, amounting to $487 per California resident and $4,603 per smoker. In two previous studies, conducted in 1989 and 1999, the annual financial impact of smoking on California's ...

Some of the world's most popular foods and seasonings can also be the smelliest -- think garlic, onions, certain cheeses and the notoriously stinky Asian durian fruit. No amount of plastic wrap seems to contain their stench, but now scientists have developed a new film that could finally neutralize the odors of even the most pungent fare. They report their progress in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. The fetid smell of some foods makes it difficult to take them anywhere without offending others such as fellow train or bus riders. But tastes are growing ...

A microbiome code breaker. A carbon dioxide (CO2) wrangler. A bug battler. These aren't members of a new group of super heroes, but a sampling of "The Talented 12" young scientists and entrepreneurs that Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) magazine is highlighting in a special feature in the latest edition. C&EN is the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. "The Talented 12" includes profiles of a dozen of the best and brightest young researchers who are using chemistry to solve global problems. Among other ...

This news release is available in German. Turbulent processes take place close to supermassive black holes, which lurk in the centres of nearly all galaxies. They swallow up matter flowing in from the outside while at the same time producing so-called gas jets which shoot out into space in two opposite directions. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich and the University of Geneva have now succeeded in localizing the origin of the high-energy gamma radiation in such a jet: it apparently originates very close to the black hole. This discovery ...

New findings about the mechanisms involved - or not involved - in the effects of the most common form of bariatric surgery suggest that combining surgery with a specific type of medication could augment the benefits of the procedure. In a report that has been published online in the journal Endocrinology, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators report that the effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) do not utilize neurologic pathways controlled by the serotonin 2C receptor. Since that receptor is a proven target for the FDA-approved anti-obesity drug lorcaserin, ...

SPOKANE, Wash.--Washington State University researchers have found that people can manage chronic pain and reduce their reliance on opioids through an Internet-based program that teaches non-medical alternatives like increased physical activity, thinking more positively and dealing with emotions. Marian Wilson, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing, tracked 43 people with chronic non-cancer pain as they went through an eight-week course of online tools to manage psychological, social and health issues associated with chronic pain. Compared to a similar-sized ...