SEATTLE, WA, AUGUST 11, 2015 - A statistical model--now an easy-to-use software tool--local police can use to identify a series of related crimes and nab a suspect was unveiled today by Michael D. Porter during a presentation at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM 2015) in Seattle. Porter presented a talk titled "A Statistical Approach to Crime Linkage during a session focused on improving analysis of defense systems using statistical methods. He collaborated on the project with Brian J. Reich, associate professor of statistics at North Carolina State University. Crime ...

An international team of researchers found that the evolutionary loss of the "altruistic" worker caste in ants is not accompanied by a loss of genes. Social insects, such as ants, are typically characterized by two distinct female castes: workers and queens. Previous research has found that workers and queens each express different sets of genes leading scientists to speculate that there are worker specific or "altruistic" genes that promote sociality. Testing this "novel gene" hypothesis is difficult given that all ants are social. However, not all ants make workers. ...

Controlling feral pigs is the most cost-effective strategy to help save 148 endangered plant and animal species in the Lake Eyre Basin, and is just one of the significant findings of a three-year study led by QUT applied ecologist Associate Professor Jennifer Firn. Professor Firn, from QUT's Institute for Future Environments, worked with Dr Josie Carwardine and CSIRO's Conservation Decisions team and a research team from the University of Queensland including Dr Ramona Maggini, to identify and prioritise 23 strategies to protect endemic species in the world's largest ...

Until now only known for role in polyglutamine diseases, such as Huntington's. Scientists at VIB and KU Leuven have revealed that variable polyglutamine repeats in the DNA tune the function of the protein in which they reside. To date, these repeats were known only to cause severe neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's. These findings now show that polyglutamine repeats may be more than just harmful elements. The study was published in the leading molecular biology journal Molecular Cell and opens the door to further studies exploring new therapies for human ...

Widespread species are at just as high risk of being wiped out as rare ones after global mass extinction events, says new research by UK scientists. There have been five mass extinction events in the Earth's history, including climate change caused by volcanoes and an asteroid hit that wiped out the dinosaurs. In general, geographically widespread animals are less likely to become extinct than animals with smaller geographic ranges, offering insurance against regional environmental catastrophes. However, a study published in Nature Communications has found this insurance ...

A natural compound called limonene, which is found in oranges and lemons, could be indicative in early-stage diagnosis of liver disease, according to research published in the journal EBioMedicine by researchers in the Molecular Physics Group at the University of Birmingham. Limonene occurs in the greatest abundance in citrus fruits, but it is also found in a large variety of other fruit and vegetables. It can be ingested or inhaled as it is a common additive in commercial food and drinks, is used to give the fruit flavour to some sweets and is used in cosmetics, ...

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have shown that educating pet owners about canine body language may not be the answer to preventing dog bites as originally thought. Experts have argued that dog bites are preventable if owners are properly educated on how to read canine behaviour and identify high risk situations. Until now, however, the effectiveness of this theory has not been evaluated in any great depth. At a time when data suggests dog bite incidents are increasing, the team at Liverpool interviewed victims of dog attacks to gain further understanding ...

In 1884, a delegation of international representatives convened in Washington, D.C. to recommend that Earth's prime meridian (the north-south line marking zero degrees longitude) should pass through the Airy Transit Circle at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. (A transit circle is an instrument for measuring star positions, and could be used for determining local time; this one was named for its designer, British Astronomer Royal George Airy.) But modern navigators, mapmakers, surveyors and London tourists now find that zero longitude runs 334 feet east of ...

Using an innovative method, EPFL scientists show that the brain is not as compact as we have thought all along. To study the fine structure of the brain, including its connections between neurons, the synapses, scientists must use electron microscopes. However, the tissue must first be fixed to prepare it for this high magnification imaging method. This process causes the brain to shrink; as a result, microscope images can be distorted, e.g. showing neurons to be much closer than they actually are. EPFL scientists have now solved the problem by using a technique that ...

1. Clinical scoring system suggests possibility of more precise colon cancer screening Free abstract: http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M14-1720 Editorial: http://www.annals.org/article.aspx?doi=10.7326/M15-1677 URLs go live when embargo lifts A clinical scoring system for colon cancer risk could help physicians identify which average-risk patients could potentially skip a colonoscopy and instead be screened with a less-invasive method. The researchers suggest that this approach could increase the uptake and efficiency of colorectal cancer (CRC) ...

Hamilton, ON (Aug. 10, 2015) -McMaster University research, published online today by the Annals of Internal Medicine, has demonstrated the benefits of corticosteroid therapy for one of the most common serious medical conditions. "Our study should lead to an important change in treatment for pneumonia," said lead author, Dr. Reed Siemieniuk, a physician and a graduate student at McMaster University. "Corticosteroids are inexpensive and readily available around the world. Millions of patients will benefit from this new evidence." Lower respiratory infections are the ...

DALLAS, Aug. 10, 2015 -- If your dinner plate often includes fried chicken, gravy-smothered liver, buttered rolls and sweet tea -- your heart may not find it so tasty. Eating a Southern-style diet is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, according to research published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal. In a large-scale study that explored the relationship between dietary patterns and heart disease risk, researchers found that people who regularly ate traditional Southern fare -- which they characterized as fried foods, fatty foods, eggs, ...

DALLAS, Aug. 10, 2015 -- For the first time, experts urge early monitoring for heart and blood vessel disease among teens with major depression or bipolar disorder, according to an American Heart Association scientific statement. "Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder Predispose Youth to Accelerated Atherosclerosis and Early Cardiovascular Disease" is published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association. This statement makes recommendations to consider these mood disorders as independent, moderate risk factors for cardiovascular diseases ...

An international team of astronomers studying 200,000 galaxies has measured the energy generated within a large portion of space more precisely than ever before, discovering that it's only half what it was 2 billion years ago and fading - the Universe is slowly dying. Researchers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Western Australia used seven of the world's most powerful telescopes to observe galaxies at 21 different wavelengths from the far ultraviolet to the far infrared. Initial observations were conducted using the Anglo-Australian ...

An international team of astronomers studying more than 200 000 galaxies has measured the energy generated within a large portion of space more precisely than ever before. This represents the most comprehensive assessment of the energy output of the nearby Universe. They confirm that the energy produced in a section of the Universe today is only about half what it was two billion years ago and find that this fading is occurring across all wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared. The Universe is slowly dying. The study involves many of the world's most powerful ...

Through identification of increased toxin production by epidemic forms of group A streptococcus (the "flesh-eating" bacterium), for the first time scientists are able to pinpoint the molecular events that contribute to large intercontinental epidemics of disease. The study was based on sequencing almost 5,000 group A streptococcus genomes collected over decades. Researchers from Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston Methodist Hospital, institutions in Finland and Iceland, and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases report their discoveries ...

Fast Facts: Study reveals simple things hospitals can do to improve a patient's experience, including ongoing rounds by nurses and hospital leadership. Study findings outline the following core practices that high-ranking hospitals employ: a devotion to consistency, personal and focused interactions with patients, and a culture that demands involvement of all levels of caregivers and services. Based on responses to questionnaires and letters sent to CEOs and medical personnel from a nationwide sample of 53 hospitals, Johns Hopkins investigators have identified ...

Athens, Ga. - The time since the introduction of a non-native marine species best explains its global range, according to new research by an international team of scientists led by University of Georgia ecologist James E. Byers. The study, published in the open access journal Nature Scientific Reports, also contains a warning: The vast majority of marine invaders have not yet finished spreading. Invasion by non-native species is a worldwide problem that causes billions of dollars of damage annually--more than $120 billion in the U.S. alone, according to a 2005 study ...

Berkeley -- The effort to improve food safety by clearing wild vegetation surrounding crops is not helping, and in some cases may even backfire, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. The findings, to be reported Monday, Aug. 10, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, call into question the effectiveness of removing non-crop vegetation as a way to reduce field contamination of fresh produce by disease-causing pathogens. This practice led to extensive loss of habitat in a region that is globally ...

Human memory is the result of different mental processes, such as learning, remembering and forgetting. However, these distinct processes cannot be observed directly. Researchers at the University of Basel now succeeded at describing them using computational models. The scientists were thus for the first time able to identify gene sets responsible for steering specific memory processes. Their results have been published in the current issue of the journal PNAS. Thanks to our memory we are able to learn foreign languages, solve exams and remember beautiful moments from ...

Scientists have found that a newly identified and highly infectious tadpole disease is found in a diverse range of frog populations across the world. The discovery sheds new light on some of the threats facing fragile frog populations, which are in decline worldwide. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, led by the University of Exeter and the Natural History Museum, describes the molecular methods used to test frog tadpoles for a newly identified infectious agent. Tadpoles from six countries across three continents were ...

A new study led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego defines the core set of genes and functions that a bacterial cell needs to sustain life. The research, which answers the fundamental question of what minimum set of functions bacterial cells require to survive, could lead to new cell engineering approaches for E. coli and other microorganisms, the researchers said. The findings are published online in the early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of August 10, 2015. This core set of genes is "the smallest common ...

Astronomers at the 29th International Astronomical Union General Assembly will announce on August 14 the discovery of a new transiting "circumbinary" planet, bringing the number of such known planets into double digits. A circumbinary planet orbits two stars, and like the fictional planet "Tatooine" from Star Wars, this planet has two suns in its sky. The discovery marks an important milestone and comes only four years after the first Kepler circumbinary planet was detected. Once thought to be rare or even impossible, these ten discoveries confirm that such planets are ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Remarriages often combine two families into one stepfamily unit. When that stepfamily unit dissolves after a divorce, little is known about the relationships between former stepparents and stepchildren. Now, researchers in the University of Missouri College of Human Environmental Sciences found stepchildren's views of former stepparents depended on emotional reactions to the divorce, patterns of support or resource exchanges, and parental encouragement or discouragement to continue step-relationships. Whether stepchildren maintained relationships with their ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Researchers who have revealed a highly efficient way that bacteria use toxins to interrupt the immune response say that until now, the trickery of these toxins has been underappreciated in science. Bacteria harm the body by releasing toxins - proteins that are exceptionally effective poisons. Always targeting essential molecules, toxins typically go after molecules that are either scarce or whose role is to send important signals. In both cases, only a small number of toxins is required to cause damage. In contrast, some toxins appear to deviate from ...