Flies might be smarter than you think. According to research reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on May 28, fruit flies know what time of day it is. What's more, the insects can learn to connect different scents with the sweet reward of sugar, depending on the hour: menthol in the morning and mushrooms in the afternoon. Researchers say that the findings show the surprising mental abilities of animals, no matter how small. "If even the fly, with its miniature brain, has the sense of time, most animals may have it," says Martin Heisenberg of Rudolf Virchow ...

Controlling bacterial infections responsible for typhoid fever could dramatically reduce the risk of gallbladder cancer in India and Pakistan, according to a study published by Cell Press May 28th in Cell Host & Microbe. The findings establish for the first time the causal link between bacterial infection and gallbladder cancer, explaining why this type of cancer is rare in the West but common in India and Pakistan, where typhoid fever is endemic. Public policy changes inspired by this research could have an immediate impact on preventing a type of cancer that currently ...

The chemical rapamycin is used clinically as an immunosuppressant and as an anti-cancer agent that works by inactivating a protein named TOR (Target Of Rapamycin). This protein is essential for the growth of normal cells, but is hyperactive in tumor cells. To be able to carry out its various growth-related tasks, TOR needs to assemble into one of two larger protein complexes named TORC1 and TORC2. Curiously, whereas TORC1 is inhibited by rapamycin, TORC2 is unaffected by this drug. The team of Robbie Loewith, professor in biology at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke Medicine researchers have found that bladder cells have a highly effective way to combat E. coli bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs). In a study published online May 28, 2015, in the journal Cell, Duke researchers and their colleagues describe how bladder cells can physically eject the UTI-causing bacteria that manage to invade the host cell. This response is analogous to having indigestion and vomiting to rid the stomach of harmful substances. The finding suggests there may be a potential way to capitalize on this natural tendency ...

New research suggests that European and Asian (Eurasian) peoples originated when early Africans moved north - through the region that is now Egypt - to expand into the rest of the world. The findings, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, answer a long-standing question as to whether early humans emerged from Africa by a route via Egypt, or via Ethiopia. The extensive public catalogue of the genetic diversity in Ethiopian and Egyptian populations developed for the project also now provides a valuable, freely available, reference panel for future medical ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Some decisions arouse far more anxiety than others. Among the most anxiety-provoking are those that involve options with both positive and negative elements, such choosing to take a higher-paying job in a city far from family and friends, versus choosing to stay put with less pay. MIT researchers have now identified a neural circuit that appears to underlie decision-making in this type of situation, which is known as approach-avoidance conflict. The findings could help researchers to discover new ways to treat psychiatric disorders that feature impaired ...

La Jolla, Calif., May 28, 2015 - A new collaborative study led by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham), published today in Cell Reports, provides new insight into the molecular changes that lead to resistance to a commonly prescribed group of drugs called BRAF inhibitors. The findings suggest that targeting newly discovered pathways could be an effective approach to improving the clinical outcome of patients with BRAF inhibitor-resistant melanoma tumors. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, killing more than 8,000 people ...

This news release is available in French. One night of poor sleep significantly decreases performance on intelligence tests in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and also in neurotypical children (without ASD). This is the conclusion made by researchers at the Hôpital Rivière-des-Prairies, affiliated with the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal and Université de Montréal. For a paper published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology, the researchers observed the EEG measures of 13 autistic children ...

Ex-prisoners with a history of risky drug use, mental illness or poverty are more likely to end up back behind bars. Those who are obese, are chronically ill or have attempted suicide are more likely to remain in the community. These are some of the findings from an exploratory study into health-related factors that could be used to predict whether a person released from prison will end up in custody again. It was led by Emma Thomas of the University of Melbourne in Australia and is published in Springer's journal Health & Justice, an open access journal. In many countries, ...

A citizen science programme reveals the protection measures for the Montagu's harrier in the cereal crop season in France to be ineffective if nests are not protected to decrease predation after harvesting. A study has been published as a result of this voluntary fieldwork, with the participation of the Hunting Resources Research Institute, which proposes fencing off the nests as a way of mitigating the damage and optimising conservation efforts in different areas. Over the last decade there has been an explosion in the so-called citizen science programmes, in which people ...

EUGENE, Ore. -- (May 28, 2015) -- Men and women often enter relationships with different long-term goals. In the animal world, differences in approaches to reproductive success can lead to sexual conflict. Male fruit flies, for example, transfer proteins during mating that can alter the timing of a female's egg laying and her tendency to later mate with other males. Some of these male-derived proteins also migrate from the female's reproductive tract to her brain. Now, in a new study, scientists of the University of Oregon and Bowdoin College show that sexual conflicts ...

CHICAGO -- Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn's Perelman School of Medicine will present results from several clinical trials and other key studies during the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting from May 29 through June 2. Results of Phase II Trial Show Successful Antitumor Response Rate in Patients with Advanced BRCA-Related Ovarian Cancer Olaparib, an experimental twice-daily oral cancer drug, produces significant antitumor responses in more than a third of patients with BRCA-related ...

An app to test eyesight easily and affordably using a smartphone is as accurate as traditional charts, according to a study published today. Peek (the Portable Eye Examination Kit) is a unique smartphone-based system for comprehensive eye testing anywhere in the world which has been designed and developed by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the University of Strathclyde and the NHS Glasgow Centre for Ophthalmic Research. Globally, 285 million people are visually impaired and 80% have diseases which could be cured or prevented. However, most live in ...

Researchers from around the world have worked together to try to measure the global burden of cancer and they estimate there were 14.9 million new cases of cancer, 8.2 million deaths and 196.3 million years of a healthy life lost in 2013, according to a Special Communication published online by JAMA Oncology. The Global Burden of Disease study by the Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration group provides a comprehensive assessment of new cancer cases (incidence), and cancer-related death and disability. Researchers relied on cancer registries, vital records, verbal ...

Taking the medication metformin hydrochloride was associated with reduced risk of developing the sight-threatening disease open-angle glaucoma in people with diabetes, according to a study published online by JAMA Ophthalmology. Medications that mimic caloric restriction such as metformin can reduce the risk of some late age-onset disease. It is unknown whether these caloric mimetic drugs affect the risk of age-associated eye diseases such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataract or glaucoma. Researcher Julia E. Richards, Ph.D., of the University of ...

Hearing impairment was more prevalent among men and older individuals in a study of U.S. Hispanic/Latino adults, according to a report published online by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Hearing impairment is a common chronic condition that affects adults. Hearing impairment may lead to lower quality of life and is associated with an increased risk for dementia. Most hearing impairment is undiagnosed and untreated. Karen J. Cruickshanks, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and co-authors determined the prevalence of hearing impairment among Hispanic/Latino ...

This news release is available in Spanish. In the largest study to date of hearing loss among Hispanic/Latino adults in the United States, researchers have found that nearly 1 in 7 has hearing loss, a number similar to the general population prevalence. The analysis also looked at the differences between subgroups and found that Hispanics of Puerto Rican descent have the highest rate of hearing loss, while Mexican-Americans have the lowest. The study identified several potential risk factors for hearing loss, including age, gender, education level, income, noise exposure, ...

SEATTLE -- New cases of virtually all types of cancer are rising in countries globally - regardless of income - but the death rates from cancer are falling in many countries, according to a new analysis of 28 cancer groups in 188 countries. Thanks to prevention and treatment, progress has been made in fighting certain cancers, such as childhood leukemia. But researchers found that of all the cancers studied, there was just one - Hodgkin lymphoma - where the number of new cases dropped between 1990 and 2013. Over the same period, age-standardized death rates for all cancers ...

DAVIS, Calif. - Even though the walnut twig beetle (WTB) is likely native to Arizona, California, and New Mexico, it has become an invasive pest to economically and ecologically important walnut trees throughout much of the Western and into the Eastern United States. Through genetic testing, researchers from the Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) and partners from the University of California, Riverside and U.S. Forest Service Forest Health Protection have characterized the beetle's geographic distribution and range expansion. Results were recently published in the ...

CHICAGO --- An innocent mistake made by a graduate student in a Northwestern Medicine lab (she accidentally used male mice instead of female mice during an experiment) has led scientists to a novel discovery that offers new insight into why women are more likely than men to develop autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). The finding, detailed in a paper published in The Journal of Immunology, focuses on a type of white blood cell, the innate lymphoid cell, that exhibits different immune activities in males versus females. MS is a disease that affects the ...

If you're a musician, this sounds too good to be true: University of Chicago psychologists have been able to train some adults to develop the prized musical ability of absolute pitch, and the training's effects last for months. Absolute pitch, commonly known as "perfect pitch," is the ability to identify a note by hearing it. The ability is considered remarkably rare, estimated to be less than one in 10,000 individuals. It has always been a very desired ability among musicians, especially since several famous composers, including Mozart, reportedly had it. The assumption ...

AUSTIN, Texas -- A new study by anthropologists from The University of Texas at Austin shows for the first time that epigenetic marks on DNA can be detected in a large number of ancient human remains, which may lead to further understanding about the effects of famine and disease in the ancient world. The field of epigenetics looks at chemical modifications to DNA, known as epigenetic marks, that influence which genes are expressed -- or turned on or off. Some epigenetic marks stay in place throughout a person's life, but others may be added or removed in response to ...

Boulder, Colo., USA - The modern sedimentary environment contains a diversity of microbes that interact very closely with the sediments, sometimes to such an extent that they form "biosediments." But can such a phenomenon be fossilized? How far back in time can "biosedimentation" be traced? In this study for Geology, Frances Westall and colleagues examine some of the oldest rocks on Earth -- in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa (older than 3.3 billion years), to answer this question. Westall and colleagues use multi-scale methods to document the simultaneous ...

WASHINGTON - Holding cynical beliefs about others may have a negative effect on your income according to research published by the American Psychological Association. "While previous research has associated cynicism with detrimental outcomes across a wide range of spheres of life, including physical health, psychological well-being and marital adjustment, the present research has established an association between cynicism and individual economic success," says Olga Stavrova, PhD, a research associate at the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass--After years of research decoding the complex structure and production of spider silk, researchers have now succeeded in producing samples of this exceptionally strong and resilient material in the laboratory. The new development could lead to a variety of biomedical materials -- from sutures to scaffolding for organ replacements -- made from synthesized silk with properties specifically tuned for their intended uses. The findings are published this week in the journal Nature Communications by MIT professor of civil and environmental engineering (CEE) ...