Environmental scientists are being urged to broaden the advice they give on global climate change, say experts who are also frustrated that decision makers are not taking enough action. Writing in the journal Nature Climate Change, The University of Manchester researchers argue that scientists are expressing a strong desire to fix the problems highlighted by their studies into human-induced climate change The authors suggest there are problems with environmental scientists offering practical solutions that can help societies adapt to a fast-changing Earth - one where ...

A hormone that governs sleep and jet lag in humans may also drive the mass migration of plankton in the ocean, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found. The molecule in question, melatonin, is essential to maintain our daily rhythm, and the European scientists have now discovered that it governs the nightly migration of a plankton species from the surface to deeper waters. The findings, published online today in Cell, indicate that melatonin's role in controlling daily rhythms probably evolved early in the history ...

The researchers headed by Prof Dr Nicole Frankenberg-Dinkel have been the first ones to reveal similarities and differences in the assembly of the light-harvesting machinery of the cryptophyte Guillardia theta compared to cyanobacteria and red algae. The publication of their results in the current issue of "The Journal of Biological Chemistry" is among the two per cent of the publications that were selected as "Paper of the week". Cryptophytes: Matryoshka dolls of the waters Unlike traditional eukaryotic cells – i.e. all cells with a nucleus – cryptophyte cells resemble ...

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden and other institutions have worked out how the pigment of the skin manages to protect the body from the sun's dangerous UV rays. The skin pigment converts the UV radiation into heat through a rapid chemical reaction that shoots protons from the molecules of the pigment. In a new study, the team from Lund University, working with colleagues in France and Italy, have studied pigment in the skin and its building blocks. Pigment in both skin and hair comprises two different types of melanin: eumelanin and pheomelanin. Eumelanin makes ...

World leading Cystic Fibrosis experts, from Queen's University Belfast, have called for greater research to address the major concern of antibacterial resistance. Professor Stuart Elborn, an international authority on respiratory medicine, said that more funding and further research are required into antibiotic resistance in order to improve patient outcomes for people with Cystic Fibrosis. In his paper, Infections in chronic lung diseases 2, which was recently published in The Lancet, Professor Elborn reviews current research into infections in chronic lung diseases. ...

This news release is available in German. The scanning electron microscope is not only used for precisely surveying the surface topology of samples, but also for determining their chemical compositions. This is done by exciting the atoms to fluoresce under irradiation by an electron beam while scanning the sample. This secondary emission provides information about the location and type of element, insofar as the analysis is sufficiently precise. However, the lighter elements of the periodic table such as lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, and nitrogen emit secondary ...

Scientists from A*STAR's Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) have established a clearer relationship between two cells which serve our body's natural defence mechanisms against diseases and infections. Their findings, published in the prestigious journal CELL REPORTS, will help the medical community better understand autoimmunity and could pave the way for treatment of autoimmune diseases. Natural killer T (NKT) cells and B cells are two of many immune cell types that work in tandem to help the body fight against foreign infectious agents. NKT cells have very potent ...

Permafrost thaw drives forest loss in Canada, while drought has killed trees in Panama, southern India and Borneo. In the U.S., in Virginia, over-abundant deer eat trees before they reach maturity, while nitrogen pollution has changed soil chemistry in Canada and Panama. Continents apart, these changes have all been documented by the Smithsonian-led Center for Tropical Forest Science-Forest Global Earth Observatory, CTFS-ForestGEO, which released a new report revealing how forests are changing worldwide. "With 107 collaborators we've published a major overview of what ...

Neurons programmed to fire at specific faces—such as the famously reported "Jennifer Aniston neuron"—may be more in line with the conscious recognition of faces than the actual images seen. Subjects presented with a blended face, such as an amalgamation of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, had significantly more firing of such face-specific neurons when they recognized the blended or morphed face as one person or the other. Results of the study led by Christof Koch at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and carried out by neuroscientists Rodrigo Quian Quiroga at the University ...

A joint NOAA/NASA satellite is one of several satellites providing valuable information to aviators about volcanic hazards. An aviation "orange" alert was posted on August 18, 2014, for Bárðarbunga, a stratovolcano located under the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland, indicating the "volcano shows heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption." Much of the information leading to that alert came from satellites including Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on board the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/NASA ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Engineers at Oregon State University have developed and successfully demonstrated the value of a simple pulley mechanism to improve hand function after surgery. The device, tested in cadaver hands, is one of the first instruments ever created that could improve the transmission of mechanical forces and movement while implanted inside the body. After continued research, technology such as this may offer new options to people who have lost the use of their hands due to nerve trauma, and ultimately be expanded to improve function of a wide range of damaged ...

Research by UCLA biochemists may lead to a new treatment — or even a cure — for PH1, a rare and potentially deadly genetic kidney disease that afflicts children. Their findings also may provide important insights into treatments for Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative diseases. Led by Carla Koehler, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the UCLA College, the researchers identified a compound called dequalinium chloride, or DECA, that can prevent a metabolic enzyme from going to the wrong location within a cell. Ensuring that the enzyme ...

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA – A new special section on single-photon detection, generation, and applications in Optical Engineering highlights research on technologies with applications in areas as diverse as space exploration and quantum computing, furthering the field by providing more accurate measurement methods and new analysis techniques. The peer-reviewed journal is published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, in print and in the SPIE Digital Library. The section appears in the August issue, and include nine articles and an editorial outlining ...

A new scientific review from the University of California, Davis, reports that the performance and health of food-producing animals consuming genetically engineered feed, first introduced 18 years ago, has been comparable to that of animals consuming non-GE feed. The review study also found that scientific studies have detected no differences in the nutritional makeup of the meat, milk or other food products derived from animals that ate genetically engineered feed. The review, led by UC Davis animal scientist Alison Van Eenennaam, examined nearly 30 years of livestock-feeding ...

Empathy is typically seen as eliciting warmth and compassion—a generally positive state that makes people do good things to others. However, empathy may also motivate aggression on behalf of the vulnerable other. Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo, examined whether assessed or elicited empathy would lead to situation-specific aggression on behalf of another person, and to explore the potential role of two neurohormones in explaining a connection between empathy and aggression. The study is published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. ...

Access to potentially life-extending cancer drugs varies significantly in different regions of the world, two new studies show at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid, Spain. Researchers say the results demonstrate the need for better collaboration between doctors and health authorities on an international scale, to ensure patients have access to the best treatments. Coordinated action is needed at an international level to ensure new cancer-fighting drugs are approved in a timely manner, oncologists said at the Congress. Their call came after a survey revealed that patients ...

Imperial chemists have gained fresh insights into how a disease-causing enzyme makes changes to proteins and how it can be stopped. The scientists hope their findings will help them to design drugs that could target the enzyme, known as N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), and potentially lead to new treatments for cancer and inflammatory conditions. They have already identified a molecule that blocks NMT's activity, and have identified specific protein substrates where this molecule has a potent impact. NMT makes irreversible changes to proteins and is known to be involved ...

Across Europe, more than 70% of young cancer specialists are showing signs of burnout, the largest survey of its kind has revealed. The results, reported at the Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO 2014) in Madrid, have prompted calls for serious action to address the issue at all levels. "Oncology is an exceptionally rewarding career, but it can be demanding and stressful at times," said Dr Susana Banerjee, lead author of the study and a consultant medical oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Trust in London, UK. "Oncologists make complex decisions ...

A study by an international team of scientists coordinatedby Italy's MUSE - Science Museum updates knowledge on the faunal richness of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Kenya; presents the discovery of 27 new vertebrate species (of which 23 amphibians and reptiles); identifies the drivers of the area's exception biological importance and advocates for its candidature to the UNESCO's List of World Heritage Sites. A study documenting the latest research findings on the faunal richness of the tropical moist forests of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania ...

A bioactive compound found in turmeric promotes stem cell proliferation and differentiation in the brain, reveals new research published today in the open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. The findings suggest aromatic turmerone could be a future drug candidate for treating neurological disorders, such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease. The study looked at the effects of aromatic (ar-) turmerone on endogenous neutral stem cells (NSC), which are stem cells found within adult brains. NSC differentiate into neurons, and play an important role in self-repair and ...

While antidepressants are the most commonly used treatment for social anxiety disorder, new research suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is more effective and, unlike medication, can have lasting effects long after treatment has stopped. Social anxiety disorder is a psychiatric condition characterized by intense fear and avoidance of social situations and affects up to 13 percent of Americans and Europeans. Most people never receive treatment for the disorder. For those who do, medication is the more accessible treatment because there is a shortage of trained ...

As the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) moves forward with plans to launch health-related generic top-level domains (gTLD), such as .health and .doctor, a coalition of health policy academics and clinicians are raising concerns about a process they say "favor[s] business interests and the generation of profits over the future integrity of the Health Internet." In a commentary published in the open access journal Globalization and Health, the authors - led by Tim Mackey of the Global Health Policy Institute – call for a moratorium on use of ...

Washington, DC (September 25, 2014) — Kidney transplant recipients infected with BK virus are more likely to develop antibodies against their kidney transplants than uninfected patients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Future treatment strategies should focus on simultaneously clearing BK infections while protecting against risks of transplant rejection. Many people are infected with BK virus, and it rarely causes disease. However, for transplant recipients and others who take immunosuppressive ...

Hispanics are often grouped into a single category when it comes to alcohol use. Yet a new Michigan State University study indicates that the risk of alcohol abuse and dependence can vary significantly among different subgroups within the population. Using pre-existing national data which looked at the incident rate of alcohol use disorders, or AUDs, over a period of time, Carlos F. Ríos-Bedoya, an assistant professor in the College of Human Medicine, is the first to determine that the annual incidence rate isn't the same among all Hispanics and prevention efforts shouldn't ...

DALLAS – Sept. 25, 2014 – Gastric bypass surgery has better outcomes than gastric banding for long-term weight loss, controlling type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and lowering cholesterol levels, according to a new review by UT Southwestern Medical Center surgeons of nearly 30 long-term studies comparing the two types of bariatric procedures. The review, appearing in JAMA, found that those undergoing gastric bypass operations lost more weight — an average of 66 percent of their excess weight, compared to 45 percent average excess weight loss for those undergoing ...