LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jul. 10, 2015) -- Macrophages are cellular sentinels in the body, assigned to identify "attacks" from viruses, bacteria, or fungi and sound the alarm when they are present. However, these cells are a "double edged sword" in spinal cord injury, providing both neural repair-promoting properties and pathological functions that destroy neuronal tissue "We know from previous research that macrophages are versatile, and signals at the injury site can stimulate repair or destruction--or confusingly, both," said John Gensel Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Physiology ...

This news release is available in Spanish. Scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the research company Starlab and the group BR::AC (Barcelona Research Art & Creation) of the University of Barcelona developed a device that produces sounds from brain signals. This highly interdisciplinary team is led by Mara Dierssen, head of the Cellular & Systems Neurobiology group at CRG. Its ultimate goal is to develop an alternative communication system for people with cerebral palsy to allow them to communicate--and more specifically in this pilot phase, ...

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) has a terrifying reputation. Shark attacks, though very rare, loom large in our imaginations, drawing intense media attention when they occur. Recent injuries in North Carolina are putting sharks in the limelight again. But going after sharks à la Jaws is not the best way to protect people in the water, said shark researchers. California scientists found that the risk of white shark attack for individual ocean users in California has fallen strikingly, by over 91 percent, since 1950, in a study to be published online ...

Many areas of fundamental research are interested in graphene owing to its exceptional characteristics. It is made of one layer of carbon atoms, which makes it light and sturdy, and it is an excellent thermal and electrical conductor. Its unique features make it potentially suitable for applications in a number of areas . Scientists at EPFL's Bionanophotonic Systems Laboratory (BIOS) together with researchers from ICFO- The Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, have now harnessed graphene's unique optical and electronic properties to develop a reconfigurable highly ...

Men may feel threatened by female supervisors and act more assertively toward them than male bosses, which could disrupt the workplace with struggles over power dynamics, according to new research published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. "The concept of masculinity is becoming more elusive in society as gender roles blur, with more women taking management positions and becoming the major breadwinners for their families," said lead researcher Ekaterina Netchaeva, an assistant professor of management and technology at Bocconi University in Milan, ...

Heidelberg, 10 July 2015 - Researchers at EMBL Heidelberg have produced detailed images of the intricate protein-coats that surround trafficking vesicles - the "transport pods" that move material around within biological cells. The study, published today in Science, provides a new understanding of the complex machines that make up the cells' logistics network. Vesicles are responsible for transporting molecules between the different compartments within a cell and also for bringing material into cells from outside. There are several types of vesicle: each has a specific ...

University of Warwick researchers have discovered a cell structure which could help scientists understand why some cancers develop. For the first time a structure called 'the mesh' has been identified which helps to hold together cells. This discovery, which has been published in the online journal eLife, changes our understanding of the cell's internal scaffolding. This also has implications for researchers' understanding of cancer cells as the mesh is partly made of a protein which is found to change in certain cancers, such as those of the breast and bladder. The ...

Treating obese pregnant women with a diabetes drug does not stop their babies from being born overweight, a study has found. Doctors had hoped that the treatment would help to reduce obesity rates and lower the number of difficult births. Heavier babies are more likely to grow into overweight adults. They also have a higher risk of illnesses later in life, such as diabetes and heart disease. It is thought that the additional weight gain in the womb is caused by exposure to excess blood sugar. Researchers tested whether treating overweight mothers-to-be with the ...

A research team comprising scientists from Tohoku University, RIKEN, the University of Tokyo, Chiba University and University College London have discovered a new chemical reaction pathway on titanium dioxide (TiO2), an important photocatalytic material. The reaction mechanism, reported in ACS Nano, involves the application of an electric field that narrows the width of the reaction barrier, thereby allowing hydrogen atoms to tunnel away from the surface. This opens the way for the manipulation of the atomic-scale transport channels of hydrogen, which could be important ...

(BOSTON) - Traditional robots are made of components and rigid materials like you might see on an automotive assembly line - metal and hydraulic parts, harshly rigid, and extremely strong. But away from the assembly line, for robots to harmoniously assist humans in close-range tasks scientists are designing new classes of soft-bodied robots. Yet one of the challenges is integrating soft materials with requisite rigid components that power and control the robot's body. At the interface of these materials, stresses concentrate and structural integrity can be compromised, ...

The middle classes from developing countries are more susceptible than western Caucasians to obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in today's changing environment. New research published today in Cell Metabolism from the University of Sydney in Australia, the National Centre for Cell Science and the DYP Medical College in Pune, India reveals this may be a result of the nutrition endured by their ancestors. The findings in the paper titled Multigenerational Undernutrition and Diabetes could explain projections that more than 70 per cent of the global burden ...

ORLANDO, FL - While multidirectional instability of the shoulder (MDI) has been traditionally treated without surgery, research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, shows surgery is also effective for this type of dislocation. "We examined 41 athletes who received arthroscopic surgery for MDI, and noted 73% returned to play at equal or only slightly lower level than before the injury," commented M. Brett Raynor, MD, lead author from Steadman Philippon Research Institute Program. "Our study group ...

ORLANDO, FL - Athletes who suffer a shoulder instability injury may return to play more successfully after being treated arthroscopically compared to nonoperative treatment, say researchers presenting their work today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting. "Our research highlights that collegiate collision athletes with in-season shoulder instability injuries are more likely to return to sport successfully the following season, if they undergo arthroscopic stabilization compared to nonoperative treatment," said lead author Jon ...

ORLANDO, FL - While athletes undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery often have an additional meniscus injury, treating these tears at the same time may not be necessary. Research presented today by the MOON Knee Group at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Orlando shows positive results for meniscal tears that were deemed stable and left alone at the time of ACL reconstruction. "We examined 194 patients with meniscus tears who did not receive treatment at the time of ACL surgery," noted lead author Kyle R. Duchman, ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of most common causes of death in the world today - active smoking accounting for approx. 85% of all cases. Yet ground-breaking research from the University of Copenhagen indicates that accelerated decline of lung function is not a prerequisite for COPD. It has been generally assumed that all people suffering COPD experience an accelerated decline of lung function, which is why so many large studies have focused on reducing this decline. However, this new study reveals that this is the case for only approx. 50% of patients ...

CANCER RESEARCH UK scientists have found that 'jumping genes' may add to the genetic chaos behind more than three-quarters of oesophageal cancer cases, according to research* published in BMC Genomics today (Friday). The scientists, from the University of Cambridge, used cutting-edge technology that can read DNA to study the genes of 43 oesophageal tumour and blood samples to discover how much these mobile genetic sequences travel. 'Jumping genes', called L1 elements, can uproot themselves and move to new areas in the DNA, sometimes accidentally moving into genes that ...

CHILDREN with a rare type of cancer called Wilms' tumour who are at low risk of relapsing can now be given less intensive treatment, avoiding a type of chemotherapy that can cause irreversible heart problems in later life. The move follows the results of a Cancer Research UK trial, published in the Lancet* today (Thursday), showing that the drug doxorubicin can be safely omitted from treatment without affecting patients' chances of survival. Wilms' tumour is a type of kidney cancer that affects around 80 children a year in the UK, most under the age of seven. Until now, ...

Strong relationships with other family members can help raise self-esteem and reduce anxiety for some young people who grow up in homes affected by parental domestic violence. This is the finding of a study by Doctoral student Catherine Naughton and colleagues from the University of Limerick that will be presented today, Friday 10 July 2015, at the British Psychological Society's Psychology of Women Section's annual conference being held in Windsor. Catherine Naughton said: "Research has previously shown that strong social bonds can act as a beneficial psychological ...

A diet and exercise regime for high-risk obese pregnant women, whilst effective in promoting a healthy lifestyle, does not prevent gestational diabetes, finds a study led by King's College London. The findings, published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, suggest that programmes promoting healthy behaviours are unlikely to be effective in preventing diabetes in obese women; instead, resources should be directed towards better screening and treatment, including the use of a more stringent threshold for diagnosis. Obesity rates are highest in developed countries, ...

Highlight Certain electrocardiogram measures helped investigators identify a subgroup of individuals with chronic kidney disease who had substantially elevated risks of dying from heart disease. An estimated 26 million people in the United States have chronic kidney disease, and heart disease is the leading cause of death in these patients. Washington, DC (July 9, 2015) -- Several common measures obtained from electrocardiograms (ECGs) may help clinicians determine a kidney disease patient's risk of dying from heart disease. The findings, which are published in a study ...

DALLAS, July 9, 2015 -- Uric acid - a chemical at high levels can lead to serious illness - may lessen women's disability after stroke, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke. High levels of uric acid can lead to kidney stones or the inflammatory arthritic condition known as gout and is linked with heart and vascular problems and diabetes. However, in a new study, 42 percent of women treated with uric acid therapy following a stroke had little to no disability after 90 days compared to 29 percent of women treated with a placebo. Women ...

When past temperatures were similar to or slightly higher than the present global average, sea levels rose at least 20 feet, suggesting a similar outcome could be in store if current climate trends continue. Findings published in the journal Science showed that the seas rose in response to melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, said lead author Andrea Dutton, a University of Florida geochemist. "This evidence leads us to conclude that the polar ice sheets are out of equilibrium with the present climate," she said. Dutton and an international team of scientists ...

Philadelphia, PA, July 9, 2015 - Researchers at Virginia Tech have developed a new scoring method for assessing beverage intake, the Healthy Beverage Index (HBI). In a report published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics they describe how this tool can be used to more accurately evaluate dietary consumption of all types of fluids. They found that higher HBI scores were associated with more favorable lipid profiles, decreased risk of hypertension; and, among men, better C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Water consumption is associated with numerous ...

Natural environments are known to promote physical, mental, and spiritual healing. People can attain health benefits by spending time outside, often in remote places to "get away from it all." Now research conducted by a University of Minnesota graduate student with a team in Vancouver, B.C., shows that green and "blue" spaces (environments with running or still water) are especially beneficial for healthy aging in seniors. Published in the journal Health and Place, the study -Therapeutic landscapes and wellbeing in later life: Impacts of blue and green spaces for older ...

Two of NASA's heliophysics missions can now claim planetary science on their list of scientific findings. A group of scientists used the Venus transit - a very rare event where a planet passes between Earth and the sun, appearing to us as a dark dot steadily making its way across the sun's bright face - to make measurements of how the Venusian atmosphere absorbs different kinds of light. This, in turn, gives scientists clues to exactly what elements are layered above Venus's surface. Gathering such information not only teaches us more about this planet so close to our own, ...