A biomarker found in the blood of alcohol users is significantly higher in binge drinkers than in those who consume alcohol moderately, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The biomarker, called phosphatidylethanol (PEth), could be used to screen young adults for harmful or heavy drinking such as binge drinking. Having performed extensive research on alcohol and its effects on health throughout her career, Mariann Piano, professor and head of the department of biobehavioral health science in the UIC College of Nursing, knew PEth ...

With the flick of a tiny mechanical wrist, a team of engineers and doctors at Vanderbilt University's Medical Engineering and Discovery Laboratory hope to give needlescopic surgery a whole new degree of dexterity. Needlescopic surgery, which uses surgical instruments shrunk to the diameter of a sewing needle, is the ultimate form of minimally invasive surgery. The needle-sized incisions it requires are so small that they can be sealed with surgical tape and usually heal without leaving a scar. Although it's been around since the 1990s, the technique, which is also called ...

NEW YORK, NY (July 23, 2015)--Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have developed a computer algorithm that is helping scientists see how drugs produce pharmacological effects inside the body. The study, published in the journal Cell, could help researchers create drugs that are more efficient and less prone to side effects, suggest ways to regulate a drug's activity, and identify novel therapeutic uses for new and existing compounds. "For the first time we can perform a genome-wide search to identify the entire set of proteins that play a role in ...

SPOKANE, Wash. - Pharmaceutical sciences researchers at Washington State University have discovered a protein's previously unknown role in cell division. The well known protein ATF5, or Activating Transcription Factor 5, controls how often specific genes are expressed, or copied from DNA. ATF5 regulates genes that control cell survival. But the research team has identified a part this protein is playing that is not related to its transcription factor role. Within the part of the cell called the centrosome, ATF5 is also acting as a structural protein. Structural ...

Knee pain in older adults, often caused by osteoarthritis, usually means more visits to the doctor and also can be a harbinger of disability. A study led by Daniel White, assistant professor of physical therapy at the University of Delaware, found that an intensive regimen of regular exercise and a healthy diet might reduce the short-term onset of knee pain for overweight adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Published in Arthritis Care and Research, White's article "Can an Intensive Diet and Exercise Program Prevent Knee Pain Among Overweight Adults at High Risk'' ...

New research has revealed abrupt warming, that closely resembles the rapid man-made warming occurring today, has repeatedly played a key role in mass extinction events of large animals, the megafauna, in Earth's past. Using advances in analysing ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating and other geologic records an international team led by researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of New South Wales (Australia) have revealed that short, rapid warming events, known as interstadials, recorded during the last ice age or Pleistocene (60,000-12,000 years ago) ...

A multi-institutional team of researchers has identified an apparently successful treatment for a genetic immune disorder that causes a multitude of health problems - ranging from infections, diabetes, lung disease and the body's immune system attacking and damaging healthy tissues. Led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the researchers report in the July 24 edition of Science a promising therapy for a disorder called LRBA deficiency. They tested the drug abatacept - already FDA-approved ...

This news release is available in Japanese. The discovery of a four-legged fossil of a snake hints that this suborder may have evolved from burrowing, rather than marine, ancestors. The unique four-legged specimen, found in Brazil's Crato Formation, provides us with more insight into how these creatures transitioned into the sleek, slithering reptiles that we are familiar with - and often fearful of - today. By analyzing both the genetics and the morphological features of this species compared to other known snake species, and giving different weight to ...

This news release is available in Japanese. In the race to produce highly stretchable conductors, researchers have developed a new technique that aligns sheets of layered carbon nanotubes along stretched rubber cores, creating an extremely flexible conductive fiber. From pacemaker leads to flexible displays and batteries, there is a growing need for fibers that don't lose their conductivity upon repeated stretching, twisting or flexing. The challenge has been to create a conductive material that is highly elastic, but that maintains a high level of ...

Scientists have identified a critical function of what they believe to be schizophrenia's "Rosetta Stone" gene that could hold the key to decoding the function of all genes involved in the disease. The breakthrough has revealed a vulnerable period in the early stages of the brain's development that researchers hope can be targeted for future efforts in reversing schizophrenia. In a paper published today in the journal Science, neuroscientists from Cardiff University describe having uncovered the previously unknown influence of a gene in ensuring healthy brain development. The ...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Do you have gender "faultlines" in your organization? New research suggests that such fissures appear when gender differences solidify into cliques. And this tends to occur when members of one gender share other demographic traits and professional interests, such as age, job responsibilities and time served. For example, the men in one organization might be young techies, while the women might tend to be middle-aged marketers. Or vice versa. What's important is that several qualities align in addition to gender, creating a stronger sense of in-group ...

ANN ARBOR--A new University of Michigan study finds that teens using marijuana for medical reasons are 10 times more likely to say they are hooked on marijuana than youth who get marijuana illegally. The study is the first to report on a nationally representative sample of 4,394 high school seniors and their legal or illegal medical marijuana use as it relates to other drug use. In the study, 48 teens had medical marijuana cards, but 266 teens used medical marijuana without a card. Carol Boyd, the study's lead author and professor at the U-M School of Nursing, said ...

MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have developed a new approach to structuring the catalysts used in essential reactions in the chemical and energy fields. The advance offers a pathway for industries to wean themselves off of platinum, one of the scarcest metals in the earth's crust. In an effort to reduce the catalysis world's dependence on this highly reactive and versatile -- but also quite expensive -- metal, UW-Madison chemical engineering Professor Manos Mavrikakis and his collaborators have turned to the nanoscale structure of particles, ...

MADISON, Wis. -- If you have two working eyes, you are live streaming two images of the world into your brain. Your brain combines the two to produce a view of the world that appears as though you had a single eye -- like the Cyclops from Greek mythology. And that's a good thing, as the combination of the two images makes for a much more useful impression of the world. With one eye shut, catching a ball or parking a car become far more difficult. "If you're reaching out with your hand, you want to aim not at where things appear to be, but where they are," says Bas Rokers, ...

Everybody grieves the death of a loved one, and the process helps most mourners adjust to their loss. "Charlie Brown was right," said Christopher Layne, a psychologist and researcher at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. "There is good grief." But for some people, bereavement becomes a problem in itself, prolonging suffering and impairing functioning. For grieving children and adolescents persistent complex bereavement disorder can derail social and academic development at a time when children and adolescents need to master skills and form ...

PULLMAN, Wash.--Washington State University scientists have found that glyphosate, the main ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, does not accumulate in mother's breast milk. Michelle McGuire, an associate professor in the WSU School of Biological Sciences, is the lead researcher of the study, the first to have its results independently verified by an accredited, outside organization. Her findings, presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference on July 23 in Big Sky, Mont., show that glyphosate, the most used weed-killing chemical ...

Sometimes consumers might appreciate a pop-up ad that reflects the merchandise they were recently browsing online, and sometimes they just might decide to spike it and thereafter avoid the seller that placed the ad. Retailers can learn about this behavior in the September 2015 issue of the Journal of Retailing. In "The Importance of Trust for Personalized Online Advertising," Marketing Professors Alexander Bleier, of Boston College's Carroll School of Management, and Maik Eisenbeiss, of the University of Bremen, show how trust in a particular vendor affects the degree ...

When Tropical Depression 12W formed on the northeastern tip of the Philippines in the Luzon Region, NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared data on the newborn storm. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured infrared data on Tropical Depression 12W. AIRS data showed some cloud top temperatures were as cold as -63F/-53C on July 23 at 5:17 UTC (1:17 a.m. EDT). Cloud top temperatures that cold have been shown to generate heavy rainfall. Tropical Depression 12W (TD12W) formed at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT) on July 23 ...

Fairfax, Va., July 22, 2015 - The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is concerned about proposed additional payment cuts to radiation therapy detailed in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), released July 8, 2015, which will take effect on January 1, 2016. Freestanding centers estimate that the combined impact of the Medicare proposals would result in a five to seven percent reduction in payment for radiation oncology services at community-based centers, although the cuts will vary and could ...

Tropical Storm Felicia was born early on July 23 in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, over 400 miles southwest of Baja California's southern tip. NOAA's GOES-West satellite provided an infrared image of the newborn storm. Previously known as tropical low pressure area "System 99E," the storm finally developed after days of remaining unorganized. NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm Felicia on July 23, 2015 at 15:45 UTC (11:45 a.m. EDT). Satellite imagery shows that a curved band of thunderstorms are wrapping around the southern quadrant of the storm. The ...

Researchers in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have shown greatly improved outcomes in using stem cell transplantation to treat patients with a serious but very rare form of chronic blood cancer called juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) involves the transplantation of stem cells from a donor, which may be derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood or umbilical cord blood. The recipient's immune system is usually destroyed with radiation ...

Researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have accurately mapped out the movement of the devastating 7.8-magnitude Nepal earthquake that killed over 9,000 and injured over 23,000 people. Scientists have determined that the earthquake was a rupture consisting of three different stages. The study could help a rapidly growing region understand its future seismic risks. The Himalayan region is particularly prone to earthquakes and this study will serve as an important benchmark for understanding where future earthquakes may occur, especially ...

SEDE BOQER, Israel...July 23, 2015 - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and University of Western Australia researchers have developed a new process to develop few-layer graphene for use in energy storage and other material applications that is faster, potentially scalable and surmounts some of the current graphene production limitations. Graphene is a thin atomic layer of graphite (used in pencils) with numerous properties that could be valuable in a variety of applications, including medicine, electronics and energy. Discovered only 11 years ago, graphene is one ...

The physical symptoms of weakness and fatigue from multiple sclerosis (MS) can rock a person's confidence and ability to engage in what he or she feels is important, from being a good parent and friend to taking up a hobby, according to Matthew Plow, assistant professor from Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. To help people with MS maintain autonomy and independence, a team of researchers set out to determine what factors prevented individuals from undertaking and enjoying the activities they believe are most important to live fulfilling ...

Researchers at the University of Birmingham have made a breakthrough in understanding how mutated genes in leukaemia reprogram blood stem cells and send them spiralling out of control. The findings help to explain the early development of leukaemia, representing the essential first step to developing new treatments for patients based on these findings. A study, published in Cell Reports by Professors Peter Cockerill and Constanze Bonifer, investigated the role of one specific mutation in the FLT3 gene found in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). AML is diagnosed in ...