Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability (ID), as well as the most frequent monogenic cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). FXS is caused by the absence or incorrect production of the protein FMRP (Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein). Scientists at VIB and KU Leuven (Belgium), in collaboration with Tor Vergata University (Italy) and VU University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) have pinpointed a novel role that FMRP plays during the embryonic development of the brain cortex. The study reveals that the absence of FMRP leads ...

Researchers from the University of Southampton have developed a new technique to help produce more reliable and robust next generation photonic chips. Photonic chips made from silicon will play a major role in future optical networks for worldwide data traffic. The high refractive index of silicon makes optical structures the size of a fraction of the diameter of a human hair possible. Squeezing more and more optical structures for light distribution, modulation, detection and routing into smaller chip areas allows for higher data rates at lower fabrication costs. As ...

WASHINGTON, DC--Maritime traffic on the world's oceans has increased four-fold over the past 20 years, likely causing more water, air and noise pollution on the open seas, according to a new study quantifying global ship traffic. The research used satellite data to estimate the number of vessels on the ocean every year between 1992 and 2012. The number of ships traversing the oceans grew by 60 percent between 1992 and 2002. Shipping traffic grew even faster during the second decade of the study, peaking at rate of increase of 10 percent per year in 2011. Traffic went ...

We're entering the era of big neuroscience. In a little over a year, the United States, Europe, Japan and Israel have launched brain research projects with big budgets and bold ambitions. Several other countries are expected to follow suit. But what has propelled neuroscience to the vanguard, and what impact will these initiatives have on the field? Leaders from three of these projects--the U.S. BRAIN Initiative, Europe's Human Brain Project and Japan's Brain/MINDS--discussed these and other questions ahead of this week's special session on global brain initiatives at ...

KNOXVILLE, TN -- In the nursery and landscape industries, flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa), and their hybrids are the most popular and economically significant members of the genus Cornus. The deciduous trees are highly valued for their spring display of pink, red, or white bracts, brilliant red fall foliage, and exfoliating bark. In the United States alone, retail and wholesale sales of dogwoods account for more than $30 million dollars annually. In the past, flowering dogwoods were severely affected by dogwood anthracnose and powdery ...

Cambridge, Mass. - November 17, 2014 - A vast majority of scientists believe that the Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate and that human activity is almost certainly the dominant cause. But on the topics of response and mitigation, there is far less consensus. One of the most controversial propositions for slowing the increase in temperatures here on Earth is to manipulate the atmosphere above. Specifically, some scientists believe it should be possible to offset the warming effect of greenhouses gases by reflecting more of the sun's energy back into space. The ...

This news release is available in German. The Malt1 protein carries out a variety of tasks in immune cells, known as lymphocytes. Among other things, it acts as an enzyme - specifically, a protease - that breaks down messenger substances and thus controls their quantity. Until now it was not known what role the specific protease function plays in the development of immune cells. Several years ago Prof. Jürgen Ruland and his team at TUM's Klinikum rechts der Isar turned their attention to this question. Blockade as a therapeutic approach The scientists were ...

COLUMBIA, MO -- Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) is native to much of the eastern United States and is highly valued for its nuts and timber. Black walnut fruit generally reach most of their size by mid-August and mature by late September or early October. The fruit are then harvested, hulled, and dried in-shell before cracking for commercial markets. Walnut growers use the term "ambers" to describe poorly filled, shriveled eastern black walnut kernels. These "ambered kernels" are not marketable, resulting in economic loss to commercial growers. Although researchers have ...

University of Adelaide research has for the first time shown how much of a critical role the natural antioxidant selenium plays at the earliest stages of a woman's fertility. The discovery has been made in joint research involving the University's School of Chemistry and Physics and the Robinson Research Institute. For her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Adelaide, Melanie Ceko investigated the role and location of selenium in the ovary, and a specific protein that includes selenium. The results of her study show how important selenium is to the development of ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Good news for savvy businesses: Customers who walk through your doors unhappy with another firm's service can be won back with simple gestures of goodwill. Consider a dissatisfied airline passenger. A hotel can score loyalty points by providing the traveler a room upgrade or perhaps even a simple apology for the airline's failure, said Clay Voorhees, associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University. In a study published online in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Voorhees and fellow researchers refute past findings ...

For nearly three decades, researchers have pondered the Hispanic Mortality Paradox -- why Hispanics in the U.S. tend to outlive non-Hispanic whites by several years, despite having, in general, lower income and educational attainment levels that are associated with shorter lives. New research suggests that the Hispanic Mortality Paradox may be related to illness survival and recovery advantages. A study by researchers from the University of North Texas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center found that Hispanics were hospitalized significantly fewer total ...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - An international team of researchers including Jon Klein, M.D., Ph.D., and Michael Merchant, Ph.D., of the University of Louisville has identified a protein that turns a person's immune system against itself in a form of kidney disease called membranous nephropathy (MN). The findings are published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is the second protein associated with MN and the development of an autoimmune response. Through the identification of this second protein, a new blood test can be developed to diagnose this common form of ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Most parents agree that all children in daycare centers should be vaccinated, and that daycare providers should be checking vaccine records every year, according to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. All states require vaccines for children who attend daycare, but those requirements may not include every vaccine from birth to age 5 years. As a result, some children still don't receive all recommended vaccines--leaving daycare providers and parents to decide how to handle the situation of a child ...

Minneapolis, MN - November 16, 2014 - Researchers from Allina Health and the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation have presented on the results and implications of The Heart of New Ulm Project on heart disease risk factors at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Chicago, Ill. The Heart of New Ulm is a 10-year community intervention aimed at reducing the rate of modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors in a rural community through interventions delivered through clinical, worksite, and broader community settings with goals of improving lifestyle ...

A study by Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) researchers finds that body mass index (BMI) plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients' ability to achieve a sustained remission. Looking at patients who had received an RA diagnosis within the past 12 months, investigators found that those who were significantly underweight or overweight/obese were the least likely to remain in remission. The study, titled, "Very Low or High Body Mass Index Negatively Affects Patients' Ability to Achieve Sustained Remission in Early RA in a Multicenter Canadian Cohort," was presented ...

When you think of hip replacement surgery, you generally envision an older adult with painful osteoarthritis. But the procedure is also used for younger patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) whose joints have been severely damaged by the disease. A new study by Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) researchers finds that total hip replacement (THR) is an excellent option for patients under age 35 when conservative treatments fail to provide relief. The study, presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting on November 16, found that hip replacement ...

Physicists have engineered a spiral laser beam and used it to create a whirlpool of hybrid light-matter particles called polaritons. "Creating circulating currents of polaritons - vortices - and controlling them has been a long-standing challenge," said leader of the team, theoretician Dr Elena Ostrovskaya, from the Research School of Physics and Engineering at The Australian National University (ANU). "We can now create a circulating flow of these hybrid particles and sustain it for hours." Polaritons are hybrid particles that have properties of both matter and light. ...

CHICAGO and BOSTON - Nov. 16, 2014 - The Harvard Clinical Research Institute (HCRI) announced today results of the DAPT Study, a major international study that investigated the duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT, the combination of aspirin and a thienopyridine/antiplatelet medication to reduce the risk of blood clots) following coronary stent implantation. The continuation of dual antiplatelet therapy beyond one year resulted in significant benefits compared with aspirin alone, including reducing the rare but serious problem of stent thrombosis and preventing heart ...

Leading coral reef scientists in Australia and the USA say there needs to be a new approach to protecting the future of marine ecosystems, with a shift away from the current focus on extinction threat. "Extinction is the final endpoint, but coral reefs are in deep trouble long before we get to that point. We need to take action much earlier," says Professor David Bellwood from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University. "The goal should be to maintain reefs that can support corals, fish and humans" Professor Bellwood says. In ...

VIDEO: The neurons in this video contain a dye that fluoresces when it encounters calcium ions. When the neuron is excited, calcium floods into the cell and the neuron fluoresces. The... Click here for more information. Synapse, the name for the signal-receiving site on a neuron, comes from the Greek word for contact. Neuroscientists used to maintain that neurons form one-to-one relationship to contact one another. Yet more researchers are finding evidence that shows how neurons ...

VIDEO: The movement of bone marrow B cells was limited in the absence of VCAM-1, as shown in this time-lapse video. B cells (green) were tracked before (left) and after (right)... Click here for more information. Newly formed B cells take the easy way out when it comes to exiting the bone marrow, according to a study published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. For infection-fighting T and B cells to defend the body, they must first leave their birthplace--the thymus for ...

This news release is available in German. Infections due to the sexually transmitted bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis often remain unnoticed. The pathogen is not only a common cause of female infertility; it is also suspected of increasing the risk of abdominal cancer. A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin has now observed the breakdown of an important endogenous protective factor in the course of chlamydial infection. By activating the destruction of p53 protein, the bacterium blocks a key protective mechanism of infected cells, ...

Doctors tell us that the frenzied pace of the modern 24-hour lifestyle -- in which we struggle to juggle work commitments with the demands of family and daily life -- is damaging to our health. But while life in the slow lane may be better, will it be any longer? It will if you're a reptile. A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers finds that reduced reproductive rates and a plant-rich diet increases the lifespan of reptiles. The research, published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography, was led by Prof. Shai Meiri, Dr. Inon Scharf, and doctoral student ...

If you want to see into the future, you have to understand the past. An international consortium of researchers under the auspices of the University of Bonn has drilled deposits on the bed of Lake Van (Eastern Turkey) which provide unique insights into the last 600,000 years. The samples reveal that the climate has done its fair share of mischief-making in the past. Furthermore, there have been numerous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The results of the drilling project also provide a basis for assessing the risk of how dangerous natural hazards are for today's population. ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Two or more serious hits to the head within days of each other can interfere with the brain's ability to use sugar - its primary energy source - to repair cells damaged by the injuries, new research suggests. The brain's ability to use energy is critical after an injury. In animal studies, Ohio State University scientists have shown that brain cells ramp up their energy use six days after a concussion to recover from the damage. If a second injury occurs before that surge of energy use starts, the brain loses its best chance to recover. In mice, ...