$5 million in USDA food-safety grants to target bacteria
2015-04-14
UC Davis scientists are leading three new research projects, recently funded with more than $5 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
These grants are part of USDA's $19 million effort to ensure the availability of a safe, nutritious and economically competitive food supply.
Preventing cross-contamination in produce processing:
One project will focus on preventing foodborne illnesses by developing and eventually commercializing new fresh-produce processing technologies and methods. The new systems will ...
Children of Holocaust survivors more anxious about Iranian nuclear threat than their peers
2015-04-14
As preparations are made to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day (Thursday, April 16), a new Bar-Ilan University study reveals that the adult children of Holocaust survivors are more preoccupied with the threat of a nuclear Iran than their peers whose parents are not Holocaust survivors.
The study, entitled "Transmitting the Sum of All Fears: Iranian Nuclear Threat Salience Among Offspring of Holocaust Survivors" was published in a recent issue of Psychological Trauma, an American Psychological Association journal dedicated to the study of trauma and its aftermath.
Study ...
New design makes treadmill more like running outdoors
2015-04-14
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Exercise researchers have developed a new treadmill that automatically changes speed to match the pace of the runner.
The automated treadmill uses sonar to tell exactly where the runner is on the treadmill. If the runner picks up pace and moves toward the front of the running belt, the speed automatically increases. If the runner slows down and moves toward the back, the speed decreases.
The result is a treadmill experience that is much closer to walking or running outdoors, said Steven T. Devor, associate professor of kinesiology at The Ohio State ...
After lung transplantation: Go back to work and feel better
2015-04-14
Returning to everyday life and resuming work in one's regular occupation are common goals of transplant patients, yet not all who undergo lung transplantation can go back to work. In an original article in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2015; 112: 213-9), Hendrik Suhling and coauthors report the findings of the first study ever performed in Germany on the percentage of lung-transplant patients who resume employment after transplantation and the reasons that keep the others from going back to work.
In a cross-sectional study, these researchers ...
Recruiting the entire immune system to attack cancer
2015-04-14
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The human immune system is poised to spring into action at the first sign of a foreign invader, but it often fails to eliminate tumors that arise from the body's own cells. Cancer biologists hope to harness that untapped power using an approach known as cancer immunotherapy.
Orchestrating a successful immune attack against tumors has proven difficult so far, but a new study from MIT suggests that such therapies could be improved by simultaneously activating both arms of the immune system. Until now, most researchers have focused on one of two strategies: ...
Forsyth study details how gum disease treatment can prevent heart disease
2015-04-14
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 14 - A new study from the Forsyth Institute is helping to shed more light on the important connection between the mouth and heart. According to research recently published online by the American Heart Association, scientists at Forsyth and Boston University have demonstrated that using an oral topical remedy to reduce inflammation associated with periodontitis, more commonly known as gum disease, also results in the prevention of vascular inflammation and can lower the risk of heart attack.
This study is the first time researchers anywhere have ...
Brain imaging changes in individuals with Down's may help advance Alzheimer's trials
2015-04-14
Phoenix, AZ (April 14, 2015) - Researchers have characterized three different brain imaging changes in individuals with Down syndrome, who are at very high risk for development of Alzheimer's disease, even before the onset of progressive memory and thinking problems. Their findings could help set the stage to evaluate promising treatments to slow down or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms in these individuals, according to a study published in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
The scientists at Banner Sun Health Research Institute (BSHRI) and Banner Alzheimer's Institute ...
Taking aircraft manufacturing out of the oven
2015-04-14
Composite materials used in aircraft wings and fuselages are typically manufactured in large, industrial-sized ovens: Multiple polymer layers are blasted with temperatures up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, and solidified to form a solid, resilient material. Using this approach, considerable energy is required first to heat the oven, then the gas around it, and finally the actual composite.
Aerospace engineers at MIT have now developed a carbon nanotube (CNT) film that can heat and solidify a composite without the need for massive ovens. When connected to an electrical power ...
Genetically engineered Salmonella promising as anti-cancer therapy
2015-04-14
WASHINGTON, DC - April 14, 2015 - A new study has demonstrated that genetically modified Salmonella can be used to kill cancer cells. The study is published in this week's issue of mBio, an American Society for Microbiology online-only, open access journal.
"There has long been interest in using genetically engineered microbes to target and destroy cells within solid tumors. I think this study goes a significant way in developing some strategies that will help in the overall means of using Salmonella as part of a cancer therapy," said Roy Curtiss, III, PhD, who was involved ...
Stem cell injection may soon reverse vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration
2015-04-14
LOS ANGELES (EMBARGOED UNTIL 7 A.M. EDT on APRIL 14, 2015) - An injection of stem cells into the eye may soon slow or reverse the effects of early-stage age-related macular degeneration, according to new research from scientists at Cedars-Sinai. Currently, there is no treatment that slows the progression of the disease, which is the leading cause of vision loss in people over 65.
"This is the first study to show preservation of vision after a single injection of adult-derived human cells into a rat model with age-related macular degeneration," said Shaomei Wang, MD, ...
Stronger muscles make for healthier bone development
2015-04-14
Scientists at the University of Southampton have shown that higher muscle mass is strongly linked with healthier bone development in children.
Researchers also found no relationship between fat mass and bone development, indicating it is not an important factor in childhood skeletal strength.
A new study, published in the journal Bone, by researchers from the University's Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit shows a link between the amount of lean muscle and healthy bone development, indicated by the size, shape and density of limb bones, in children ...
New source of methane discovered in the Arctic Ocean
2015-04-14
Methane, a highly effective greenhouse gas, is usually produced by decomposition of organic material, a complex process involving bacteria and microbes.
But there is another type of methane that can appear under specific circumstances: Abiotic methane is formed by chemical reactions in the oceanic crust beneath the seafloor.
New findings show that deep water gas hydrates, icy substances in the sediments that trap huge amounts of the methane, can be a reservoir for abiotic methane. One such reservoir was recently discovered on the ultraslow spreading Knipovich ridge, ...
New biomarker for uterine cancer discovered
2015-04-14
Researchers at Uppsala University have, together with researchers from Turku and Bergen, discovered a new biomarker which makes it possible to identify women with uterine cancer who have a high risk of recurrence. The findings were recently published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology.
Endometrial cancer of the uterus is the most common form of gynecologic cancer in Europe and North America. The treatment primarily consists of removing the uterus and in some cases offering chemotherapy if the risk of recurrence is deemed high.
The current study looks at the amount ...
European study provides new insight into public interest in medicines research
2015-04-14
Researchers at the University of Manchester and Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have published data for the first time about public knowledge of and interest in the process of medicines research and development.
The study, which is part of the wider European Patients' Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI) project, is believed to be the largest peer-reviewed survey of its kind and was published today in the BMJ Open.
Medicines R&D describes the entire process of bringing a new medicine to patients - from laboratory studies to clinical ...
Seeing the unseen: PET/CT scans reveal worms' hidden life
2015-04-14
The seabed is inhabited by vast numbers of small animals with hidden lives in the sandy sediments. Here they play an important role in keeping the oceans healthy. But how these animals behave and interact with each other is unclear, as it is not possible to see them without disturbing the sediment.
Researchers like Ph.D. Matthieu Delefosse would enjoy putting on a pair of X-ray glasses and study the sediment living animals without disturbing them.
"We know bits and pieces of what these animals do through different measurements/experiments, but we do not have an integrated ...
Researchers discover an inactive tumor suppressor gene in lung cancer
2015-04-14
Researchers at Genes and Cancer group at Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), led by Montse Sanchez-Cespedes, have identified the PARD3 gene as a tumor suppressor that is inactivated in lung cancer squamous type. The results of the study have been published in Cancer Research.
Correct polarization (orientation in space) of bronchial epithelial cells is essential for the maintenance and proper development of this tissue under normal conditions.
PARD3 gene encodes a protein that regulates cell polarization and cell junctions. When the gene is inactivated, ...
Bury nuclear waste down a very deep hole, say UK scientists
2015-04-14
Scientists at the University of Sheffield calculate that all of the UK's high level nuclear waste from spent fuel reprocessing could be disposed of in just six boreholes 5km deep, fitting within a site no larger than a football pitch.
The concept - called deep borehole disposal - has been developed primarily in the UK but is likely to see its first field trials in the USA next year. If the trials are successful, the USA hopes to dispose of its 'hottest' and most radioactive waste - left over from plutonium production and currently stored at Hanford in Washington State ...
Protecting nature on the fly
2015-04-14
Simply declaring a region as a nature protection area is not enough, regular monitoring of its ecological condition is also necessary. Since Nature protection areas already cover almost one fifth of the surface of the European Union, it is impossible to inspect such a vast area in the traditional way on foot. Therefore, new methods are being developed to monitor Europe's nature protection areas from the air. Short laser pulses are sent to the ground, and information on the status of the habitat can be deduced from the reflected light signals using elaborate computer algorithms.
Laser ...
The cost and quality of cancer care in Health Affairs' April issue
2015-04-14
Cancer Mortality Reductions Were Greatest Among Countries Where Cancer Care Spending Rose The Most, 1995-2007.
Warren Stevens of Precision Health Economics, Dana P. Goldman of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California, and coauthors compared cancer care across sixteen countries over time, examining changes in cancer spending and two measures of cancer mortality (amenable and excess mortality). They found that, compared to low-spending health systems, high-spending systems had consistently lower cancer mortality in the ...
A new tool for understanding ALS: Patients' brain cells
2015-04-14
Fast Facts:
More than 30,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Johns Hopkins researchers have transformed skin cells donated by ALS patients into brain cells affected by the progressive, fatal disease.
The resulting cell library is being used by researchers worldwide in the quest for better ALS treatments.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have transformed skin cells from patients with Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), into brain cells affected by the progressive, ...
New WHO statement on public reporting of clinical trial results announced
2015-04-14
The World Health Organization (WHO) have announced a new statement on the public disclosure of clinical trial results which updates and expands a previous statement that noted the "the registration of all interventional trials is a scientific, ethical, and moral responsibility." The new statement includes timelines by which researchers are expected to report clinical trials results. In an Essay published in this week's PLOS Medicine Vasee Moorthy and colleagues from the WHO outline the rationale behind the new statement.
A new element in the WHO statement is the definition ...
Extreme geohazards: Reducing the disaster risk and increasing resilience
2015-04-14
Extreme hazards - rare, high-impact events - pose a serious and underestimated threat to humanity. The extremes of the broad ensemble of natural and anthropogenic hazards can lead to global disasters and catastrophes. Because they are rare and modern society lacks experience with them, they tend to be ignored in disaster risk management. While the probabilities of most natural hazards do not change much over time, the sensitivity of the built environment and the vulnerability of the embedded socio-economic fabric have increased rapidly. Exposure to geohazards has increased ...
New CU-Boulder technique could slash energy used to produce many plastics
2015-04-14
April 14, 2015 A new material developed at the University of Colorado Boulder could radically reduce the energy needed to produce a wide variety of plastic products, from grocery bags and cling wrap to replacement hips and bulletproof vests.
Approximately 80 million metric tons of polyethylene is produced globally each year, making it the most common plastic in the world. An essential building block for manufacturing polyethylene is ethylene, which must be separated from a nearly identical chemical, ethane, before it can be captured and used.
The similarities between ...
Quantization of 'surface Dirac states' could lead to exotic applications
2015-04-14
Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science in Japan have uncovered the first evidence of an unusual quantum phenomenon--the integer quantum Hall effect--in a new type of film, called a 3D topological insulator. In doing this, they demonstrated that "surface Dirac states"--a particular form of massless electrons--are quantized in these materials, meaning that they only take on certain discrete values. These discoveries could help move science forward toward the goal of dissipationless electronics--electronic devices that can operate without producing the ...
Unearthing new antivirals
2015-04-14
SAN DIEGO (April 14, 2015) -- A team of biologists from San Diego State University has developed a platform for identifying drugs that could prove to be effective against a variety of viral diseases. In a pair of recent articles in the Journal of Biomolecular Screening and the Journal of Visualized Experiments, the researchers describe how the methodology works, using dengue virus as an example, and they identify a novel drug which may someday be used to combat the disease.
Over the past several years, the researchers, led by SDSU biologist Roland Wolkowicz, have been ...
[1] ... [2591]
[2592]
[2593]
[2594]
[2595]
[2596]
[2597]
[2598]
2599
[2600]
[2601]
[2602]
[2603]
[2604]
[2605]
[2606]
[2607]
... [8380]
Press-News.org - Free Press Release Distribution service.