SAN FRANCISCO--The Pacific and North America plate boundary off the coast of British Columbia and southeastern Alaska is a complex system of faults capable of producing very large earthquakes. The recent 2012 Mw 7.8 Haida Gwaii and 2013 Mw 7.5 Craig earthquakes released strain built up over years, but did not release strain along the Queen Charlotte Fault, which remains the likely source of a future large earthquake, according to reports published in a special issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA). "The study of these two quakes revealed ...

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators have identified an inflammatory molecule that appears to play an essential role in the autoimmune disorder systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly known as lupus. In their report being published online in Nature Immunology, the researchers describe finding that a protein that regulates certain cells in the innate immune system - the body's first line of defense against infection - activates a molecular pathway known to be associated with lupus and that the protein's activity is required for the development of lupus symptoms ...

MIT researchers have developed a new, ultrasensitive magnetic-field detector that is 1,000 times more energy-efficient than its predecessors. It could lead to miniaturized, battery-powered devices for medical and materials imaging, contraband detection, and even geological exploration. Magnetic-field detectors, or magnetometers, are already used for all those applications. But existing technologies have drawbacks: Some rely on gas-filled chambers; others work only in narrow frequency bands, limiting their utility. Synthetic diamonds with nitrogen vacancies (NVs) -- ...

Dividing cells--whether they're in an embryo or an adult--rely on the right processes happening at the right time to turn out healthy. Now, researchers at the University of Iowa have identified a mechanism that dividing cells in worms use to ensure their proper development, and they believe the same process could be going on in humans. The mechanism, unknown until now, describes one part of the cell, called the centrosome, as an "internal timekeeper"--like a train conductor. A crucial protein in charge of gene expression, beta-catenin, is described as a "hitchhiker"--it ...

Physical activity that makes you puff and sweat is key to avoiding an early death, a large Australian study of middle-aged and older adults has found. The researchers followed 204,542 people for more than six years, and compared those who engaged in only moderate activity (such as gentle swimming, social tennis, or household chores) with those who included at least some vigorous activity (such as jogging, aerobics or competitive tennis). They found that the risk of mortality for those who included some vigorous activity was 9 to 13 per cent lower, compared with those ...

Leading coral reef scientists say Australia could restore the Great Barrier Reef to its former glory through better policies that focus on science, protection and conservation. In a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the authors argue that all the stressors on the Reef need to be reduced for it to recover. An Australian Government report into the state of the Great Barrier Reef found that its condition in 2014 was "poor and expected to further deteriorate in the future". In the past 40 years, the Reef has lost more than half of its coral cover and ...

Many nursing home residents who underwent lower extremity revascularization died, did not walk or had functional decline following the procedure, which is commonly used to treat leg pain caused by peripheral arterial disease, wounds that will not heal or worsening gangrene, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. Lower extremity revascularization is often performed so patients with peripheral arterial disease can maintain the ability to walk, which is a key component of functional independence. But outcomes among patients with high levels of ...

Quality of life was good and cognitive function was similar in patients with cardiac arrest who received targeted body-temperature management as a neuroprotective measure in intensive care units in Europe and Australia, according to an article published online by JAMA Neurology. Brain injury is the primary cause of death for patients treated in intensive care units after suffering cardiac arrest (CA) outside of a hospital. Targeted temperature management (TTM) has been implemented as a neuroprotective treatment for comatose CA survivors because of reports of improved ...

Application of pediatric guidelines for lipid levels for persons 17 to 21 years of age who have elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels would result in statin treatment for more than 400,000 additional young people than the adult guidelines, according to an article published online by JAMA Pediatrics. Adolescence is a common time for the emergence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including abnormal cholesterol levels. The 2011 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in ...

Only a few U.S. nursing home residents who undergo lower extremity revascularization procedures are alive and ambulatory a year after surgery, according to UCSF researchers, and most patients still alive gained little, if any, function. The study appears in the April 6 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. "Our findings can inform conversations among physicians, patients and families about the risks and expected outcomes of surgery and whether the surgery is likely to allow patients to achieve their treatment goals," said senior author Emily Finlayson, MD, MS, associate ...

Seventy per cent of glacier ice in British Columbia and Alberta could disappear by the end of the 21st century, creating major problems for local ecosystems, power supplies, and water quality, according to a new study by University of British Columbia researchers. The study found that while warming temperatures are threatening glaciers in Western Canada, not all glaciers are retreating at the same rate. The Rocky Mountains, in the drier interior, could lose up to 90 per cent of its glaciers. The wetter coastal mountains in northwestern B.C. are only expected to lose about ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke researchers have developed a new method to precisely control when genes are turned on and active. The new technology allows researchers to turn on specific gene promoters and enhancers -- pieces of the genome that control gene activity -- by chemically manipulating proteins that package DNA. This web of biomolecules that supports and controls gene activity is known as the epigenome. The researchers say having the ability to steer the epigenome will help them explore the roles that particular promoters and enhancers play in cell fate or the risk ...

Stanford University scientists have invented the first high-performance aluminum battery that's fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive. Researchers say the new technology offers a safe alternative to many commercial batteries in wide use today. "We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames," said Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford. "Our new battery won't catch fire, even if you ...

Most of today's anticancer drugs target the DNA or proteins in tumor cells, but a new discovery by University of California, Berkeley, scientists unveils a whole new set of potential targets: the RNA intermediaries between DNA and proteins. This RNA, called messenger RNA, is a blueprint for making proteins. Messenger RNA is created in the nucleus and shuttled out into the cell cytoplasm to hook up with protein-making machinery, the ribosome. Most scientists have assumed that these mRNA molecules are, aside from their unique sequences, generic, with few distinguishing ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - After analyzing stroke treatment records, researchers at Rhode Island Hospital in collaboration with researchers from the University of Cincinnati learned that women and men have different reasons for being excluded from receiving the common clot-dissolving drug, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA). Importantly, more women had very high blood pressures, which reduced their eligibility to be treated with the highly effective drug. The study was recently published in the American Heart Association's (AHA) journal, Stroke. "Although men and ...

Women who believe smoking helps them manage their weight are less likely to try quitting in response to anti-smoking policies than other female smokers in the U.S. The study, published online in the journal Tobacco Control, is the first to find that smokers who are concerned about their weight are less swayed by anti-smoking policies - such as bumps in cigarette prices, smoke-free laws or anti-tobacco messaging -- than other smokers are. "We found that concerns about weight are a significant barrier to quitting," says lead author Ce Shang of the University of Illinois ...

NEW YORK--A sad TV drama comes to conclusion, fading to black as music swells, and leaving the audience emotionally torn about the future of the main characters. Suddenly, the TV cuts to a peppy commercial and viewers are faced with the relentless cheer of an insurance spokesperson pitching their latest money saving product. This is a common occurrence in today's prime time-driven entertainment culture, but new research from Columbia Business School shows that this juxtaposition of emotions can leave TV viewers puzzled at the swing in content and emotion, so much so that ...

AURORA, Colo. (April 6, 2015) - Brain activity affects the way the developing brain connects neurons and a study by researchers at the School of Medicine on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Children's Hospital Colorado suggests a new model for understanding that process. In a study of zebrafish, scientists tested how brain activity affected the development of insulating sheaths on selected axons, which are slender nerve fibers that conduct electrical impulses between neurons. They found that, while the wrapping of axons was indiscriminate, the molecular ...

Political parties find that their fortunes improve when they put more women on the ballot, according to a study co-authored by an MIT economist. The study analyzes changes to municipal election laws in Spain, which a decade ago began requiring political parties to have women fill at least 40 percent of the slots on their electoral lists. With other factors being equal, the research found, parties that increased their share of female candidates by 10 percentage points more than their opponents enjoyed a 4.2 percentage-point gain at the ballot box, or an outright switch ...

Philadelphia ? Today in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's (CHOP) PolicyLab published the largest study to date documenting the significant risks to children's health associated with prescription antipsychotics, a powerful a class of medications used to treat mental and behavioral health disorders. The results suggest that initiating antipsychotics may elevate a child's risk not only for significant weight gain, but also for Type II diabetes by nearly 50 percent; moreover, among children who are also receiving antidepressants, the ...

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of North Texas have made what they believe is the first metal-free bifunctional electrocatalyst that performs as well or better than most metal and metal oxide electrodes in zinc-air batteries. Zinc-air batteries are expected to be safer, lighter, cheaper and more powerful and durable than lithium-ion batteries common in mobile phones and laptops and increasingly used in hybrid and electric cars. This carbon-based catalyst works efficiently in both the oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution ...

DURHAM, NH - Cover crops provide many benefits to agricultural production systems, including soil and nutrient retention, resources and habitat for beneficial organisms, and weed suppression. In regions where short growing seasons can hinder the establishment of productive cover crops between cash crop growing periods, living mulch systems may provide vegetable crop growers with opportunities to establish cover crops earlier in the growing season, thereby increasing the duration of cover crop growth. Living mulch (LM) systems are a form of intercropping that involves ...

ALCALDE, NM - Fruit and vegetable production in high-elevation areas can be a difficult enterprise. Variable weather and soil conditions typical of these regions, such as the southwestern United States, present multiple challenges for growers. "High frequency and intensity of late spring frosts in semiarid climates have made fruit production challenging," explained Shengrui Yao, corresponding author of a study in the February 2015 issue of HortScience. "Growers may only harvest five to six apple crops during a 10-year period, and, as a result, many are forced to abandon ...

Multiple sclerosis patients could one day benefit from treatments that boost their brain function, a study suggests. Increasing the activity of neurons could be beneficial in people with the disease, researchers say. It could stimulate the production of a substance that protects nerve fibres. The finding could pave the way for new treatments, researchers say. Multiple sclerosis affects the brain and spinal cord and can cause problems with balance, movement and vision. Information in the brain is transmitted along nerve fibres known as axons. A material - called ...

Alexandria, VA - In a small lake along the Japanese coast, scientists have found evidence of turbulent waters centuries ago. These telltale signs of severe weather in the geologic record support the legend of the two kamikaze typhoons that protected Japan from Mongol invasion. EARTH Magazine follows University of Amherst geoscientist Kinuyo Kanamaru and his research team as the dig up history in search of signs of the storms. Read more in a new story from EARTH Magazine: http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/kamikaze-typhoons-spared-japan-kublai-khan. EARTH Magazine brings ...