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Why it's hard to make a bunny mad: Examining prion disease resistance in rabbits

2015-08-06
Rabbits have long been considered immune to prion disease, but recently scientists have shown that they can--under certain circumstances--get transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (or TSE, the scientific term for the fatal brain disease caused by prions). Two studies published on August 6th in PLOS Pathogens address what makes rabbits hard to infect with prions and how their resistance can be overcome. Prions are misfolded versions of a protein that, in its normal form (called PrPC, encoded by the PRNP gene), is found mainly in nerve cells of all mammals. The misfolded ...

Wealthy countries may feel flooding effects more in the future

Wealthy countries may feel flooding effects more in the future
2015-08-06
This news release is available in Japanese. Today, many wealthy countries are able to mitigate, to some degree, their risk of delta flooding through vulnerability-reducing investments, but a new model suggests that this mitigation may not be sustainable in the long-term. Ultimately, wealthy countries could be feeling the strain of floods to a similar degree as developing countries. To calculate a given delta population's risk of flooding, Zachary Tessler and colleagues accounted for the population's probability of a damage-producing event, how the population's exposure ...

Data from Nepal reveals the nature of megathurst earthquakes

2015-08-06
This news release is available in Japanese. As a devastating earthquake ruptured Nepal on April 25, 2015, nearby GPS networks continuously recorded measurements at very close distances. In a new study, these data provide the scientific community with unique insights into megathrust earthquakes, which occur when two tectonic plates converge and one plate is forced underneath the other, and may help hazard assessment teams improve earthquake hazard models. To better understand the sudden and intense changes megathrust earthquakes entail, John Galetzka et al. analyzed ...

Vaccine protects against Ebola when administered 7 days ahead

2015-08-06
This news release is available in Japanese. In the face of the recent Ebola outbreak, some good news emerges: a preclinical study testing the efficacy of the Ebola vaccine VSV-EBOV against the newly emerged West African Ebola strain shows complete protection when administered seven days before infection in nonhuman primates, and partial protection when administered three days before infection. The positive results of this study further reveal the mechanisms by which an effective immune response is mounted against the Ebola virus, aspects of which have been unclear. ...

Artificially evolved robots that efficiently self-organize tasks

2015-08-06
Darwinian selection can be used to evolve robot controllers able to efficiently self-organize their tasks. Taking inspiration from the way in which ants organise their work and divide up tasks, Eliseo Ferrante and colleagues evolved complex robot behaviors using artificial evolution and detailed robotics simulations. Just like social insects such as ants, bees or termites teams of robots display a self-organized division of labor in which the different robots automatically specialized into carrying out different subtasks in the group, says new research publishing in PLOS ...

New algorithm aimed at combating science's reproducibility problem

2015-08-06
Big data sets are important tools of modern science. Mining for correlations between millions of pieces of information can reveal vital relationships or predict future outcomes, such as risk factors for a disease or structures of new chemical compounds. These mining operations are not without risk, however. Researchers can have a tough time telling when they have unearthed a nugget of truth, or what amounts to fool's gold: a correlation that seems to have predictive value but actually does not, as it results just from random chance. A research team that bridges academia ...

Scientists report explanation for protein clumps in brain cells of patients with ALS

2015-08-06
Autopsies of nearly every patient with the lethal neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and many with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), show pathologists telltale clumps of a protein called TDP-43. Now, working with mouse and human cells, Johns Hopkins researchers report they have discovered the normal role of TDP-43 in cells and why its abnormal accumulation may cause disease. In an article published Aug. 7 in Science, the researchers say TDP-43 is normally responsible for keeping unwanted stretches of the genetic material RNA, called cryptic ...

Caltech-led team looks in detail at the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal

Caltech-led team looks in detail at the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal
2015-08-06
For more than 20 years, Caltech geologist Jean-Philippe Avouac has collaborated with the Department of Mines and Geology of Nepal to study the Himalayas--the most active, above-water mountain range on Earth--to learn more about the processes that build mountains and trigger earthquakes. Over that period, he and his colleagues have installed a network of GPS stations in Nepal that allows them to monitor the way Earth's crust moves during and in between earthquakes. So when he heard on April 25 that a magnitude 7.8 earthquake had struck near Gorkha, Nepal, not far from Kathmandu, ...

High blood sugar of diabetes can cause immune system malfunction, triggering infection

2015-08-06
Case Western Reserve scientists may have uncovered a molecular mechanism that sets into motion dangerous infection in the feet and hands often occurring with uncontrolled diabetes. It appears that high blood sugar unleashes destructive molecules that interfere with the body's natural infection-control defenses. The harmful molecules -- dicarbonyls -- are breakdown products of glucose that interfere with infection-controlling antimicrobial peptides known as beta-defensins. The Case Western Reserve team discovered how two dicarbonyls -- methylglyoxal (MGO) and glyoxal (GO) ...

Some radiation okay for expectant mother and fetus

2015-08-06
ROSEMONT, Ill.--According to a new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), imaging studies necessary to diagnose traumatic injuries sustained by pregnant women are safe when used properly. During pregnancy, approximately 5 to 8 percent of women sustain traumatic injuries, including fractures and muscle tears. To help evaluate and manage these injuries, orthopaedic surgeons often recommend radiographs and other imaging studies. "While care should be taken to protect the fetus from exposure, most diagnostic studies are generally safe, ...

Study: Women hurt more by breakups but recover more fully

2015-08-06
Women experience more emotional pain following a breakup, but they also more fully recover, according to new research from Binghamton University. Researchers from Binghamton University and University College London asked 5,705 participants in 96 countries to rate the emotional and physical pain of a breakup on a scale of one (none) to 10 (unbearable). They found that women tend to be more negatively affected by breakups, reporting higher levels of both physical and emotional pain. Women averaged 6.84 in terms of emotional anguish versus 6.58 in men. In terms of physical ...

Patient-funded trials may do more harm than good, ethicists warn

2015-08-06
PITTSBURGH-- In the era of launching Kickstarter campaigns to pay for just about anything, Carnegie Mellon University ethicists warn that the trend of patients funding their own clinical trials may do more harm than good. CMU's Danielle Wenner and Alex John London and McGill University's Jonathan Kimmelman co-wrote a column in Cell Stem Cell outlining how patient-funded trials may seem like a beneficial new way to involve more patients in research and establish new funding opportunities, but instead they threaten scientific rigor, relevance, efficiency and fairness. "Patient-funded ...

Flexible dielectric polymer can stand the heat

Flexible dielectric polymer can stand the heat
2015-08-06
Easily manufactured, low cost, lightweight, flexible dielectric polymers that can operate at high temperatures may be the solution to energy storage and power conversion in electric vehicles and other high temperature applications, according to a team of Penn State engineers. "Ceramics are usually the choice for energy storage dielectrics for high temperature applications, but they are heavy, weight is a consideration and they are often also brittle," said Qing Wang, professor of materials science and engineering, Penn State. "Polymers have a low working temperature and ...

Mutant cells that can't copy DNA keep dividing when they shouldn't

2015-08-06
Researchers at USC have developed a yeast model to study a gene mutation that disrupts the duplication of DNA, causing massive damage to a cell's chromosomes, while somehow allowing the cell to continue dividing. The result is a mess: Zombie cells that by all rights shouldn't be able to survive, let alone divide, with their chromosomes shattered and strung out between tiny micronuclei. Sometimes they're connected to each other by ultrafine DNA bridges. (Imagine tearing apart a hot pizza - these DNA bridges are like strings of cheese still draping between the separated ...

Domestic violence coalitions can reduce intimate partner violence

2015-08-06
WASHINGTON - The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) announces the publication of a Health Education & Behavior theme section devoted to the latest research on domestic violence prevention and the effectiveness of community coalitions in 19 states to prevent and reduce intimate partner violence. The theme section "DELTA PREP" (Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances and Preparing and Raising Expectations for Prevention) presents findings from a multi-site project supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ...

Abusive men put female partners at greater sexual risk, study finds

2015-08-06
Abusive men put female partners at greater sexual risk, study finds Abusive and controlling men are more likely to put their female partners at sexual risk, and the level of that risk escalates along with the abusive behavior, a UW study found. Published in the Journal of Sex Research in July, the study looked at patterns of risky sexual behavior among heterosexual men aged 18 to 25, including some who self-reported using abusive and/or controlling behaviors in their relationships and others who didn't. The research found that men who were physically and sexually ...

Rapid aging of the thymus linked to decline in free radical defenses

2015-08-06
A critical immune organ called the thymus shrinks rapidly with age, putting older individuals at greater risk for life-threatening infections. A study published August 6 in Cell Reports reveals that thymus atrophy may stem from a decline in its ability to protect against DNA damage from free radicals. The damage accelerates metabolic dysfunction in the organ, progressively reducing its production of pathogen-fighting T cells. The findings suggest that common dietary antioxidants may slow thymus atrophy and could represent a promising treatment strategy for protecting ...

New research tool tracks real-time DNA-protein binding in cells

2015-08-06
CINCINNATI - Researchers have developed a new technology that precisely marks where groups of regulatory proteins called transcription factors bind DNA in the nuclei of live cells. Reporting their data Aug. 6 in the journal Molecular Cell, scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center say the new technology - called SpDamID - could allow scientists to answer basic questions about tissue development and disease that existing technology cannot address. "With further development this technology has the potential to give investigators glimpses into biological ...

Genders differ dramatically in evolved mate preferences

2015-08-06
AUSTIN, Texas -- Men's and women's ideas of the perfect mate differ significantly due to evolutionary pressures, according to a cross-cultural study on multiple mate preferences by psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin. The study of 4,764 men and 5,389 women in 33 countries and 37 cultures showed that sex differences in mate preferences are much larger than previously appreciated and stable across cultures. "Many want to believe that women and men are identical in their underlying psychology, but the genders differ strikingly in their evolved mate preferences ...

Paleo diet: Big brains needed carbs

2015-08-06
Understanding how and why we evolved such large brains is one of the most puzzling issues in the study of human evolution. It is widely accepted that brain size increase is partly linked to changes in diet over the last 3 million years, and increases in meat consumption and the development of cooking have received particular attention from the scientific community. In a new study published in The Quarterly Review of Biology, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/682587, Dr. Karen Hardy and her team bring together archaeological, anthropological, genetic, physiological and ...

Fly model of motor neuron degeneration provides new avenues for exploration in humans

Fly model of motor neuron degeneration provides new avenues for exploration in humans
2015-08-06
Researchers at the Babraham Institute and University of Massachusetts Medical School in the United States have developed a new model to study motor neuron degeneration and have used this to identify three genes involved in the neurodegeneration process. These findings could have relevance for understanding the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other forms of motor neuron disease (MND). ALS is the most common form of adult-onset motor neuron disease and kills over 1,200 people a year in the UK. The researchers developed a new model to study neurodegeneration ...

Increased use of renewables results in growing GHG emission savings in the EU

2015-08-06
Greenhouse gasses (GHG) emission savings due to final renewable energy consumption in electricity, cooling/heating and transport sectors rose at a compound annual growth rate of 8.8% from 2009 to 2012, confirming the renewables' great potential in climate change mitigation, according to a new JRC report. Nearly two thirds of the total savings came thanks to renewable energy development in Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and Spain. The report assesses data on the use of renewable energy, submitted by EU Member States every two years, as required by EU legislation on renewable ...

Falling off the wagon with Facebook

2015-08-06
TORONTO -- Despite the growing use of online support groups such as those on Facebook to help curb substance abuse, attending traditional face-to-face meetings may continue to be more effective for people trying to maintain sobriety, according to research presented at the American Psychological Association's 123rd Annual Convention. "One of the most hotly debated media issues today is whether our rapidly increasing use of social networking might be supplanting face-to-face-interactions and, if so, what the social consequences might prove for us as a culture," said Donald ...

Hypofractionation vs. Conventional fractionation in breast cancer radiotherapy

2015-08-06
JAMA Oncology will publish two studies, a commentary and an author audio interview examining outcomes in women with breast cancer who had breast-conserving surgery and were treated with hypofractionated radiation therapy (shorter courses of radiation treatment administered in larger daily fraction sizes) compared with longer courses of conventionally fractionated radiation therapy. In the first article, Benjamin D. Smith, M.D., of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston1, and coauthors conducted a randomized clinical trial of 287 women to assess the ...

Study finds association between blood levels of trace metals and risk of glaucoma

2015-08-06
In an analysis that included a representative sample of the South Korean population, a lower blood manganese level and higher blood mercury level were associated with greater odds of a glaucoma diagnosis, according to a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and a growing public health concern because of an aging global population. Abnormal body levels of essential elements and exposure to toxic trace metals have been postulated to contribute to the pathogenesis of diseases affecting many organ ...
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