CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- MIT physicists have developed a new tabletop particle detector that is able to identify single electrons in a radioactive gas. As the gas decays and gives off electrons, the detector uses a magnet to trap them in a magnetic bottle. A radio antenna then picks up very weak signals emitted by the electrons, which can be used to map the electrons' precise activity over several milliseconds. The team worked with researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the University of Washington, the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), and ...

DURHAM, N.C. - A new study based on 1,000 years of temperature records suggests global warming is not progressing as fast as it would under the most severe emissions scenarios outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "Based on our analysis, a middle-of-the-road warming scenario is more likely, at least for now," said Patrick T. Brown, a doctoral student in climatology at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. "But this could change." The Duke-led study shows that natural variability in surface temperatures -- caused by interactions ...

The study conducted at Sant Pau and Bellvitge hospitals, published in the American journal Molecular Psychiatry and conducted with the use of neuroimaging techniques, demonstrates for the first time that cannabis consumers have a less active hippocampus, a key structure related to the storage of memories. Consumers of cannabis show distortions in their memories and can even come to imagine situations which differ from reality. The study compared the memories of consumers to that of non-consumers to find differences in the retention of situations and experiences. The ...

New research led by NYU Langone Medical Center examines what happens when a patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) who is clinically stable stops taking their medication. The international, multi-site study found almost 40 percent of patients had some disease activity return when they stopped taking their meds. The findings were presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting held April 18-25, in Washington, D.C. "Despite long periods of disease stability while taking medication, we found a large minority of patients who stopped experienced relapses or disability ...

PHILADELPHIA - RNA is both the bridge between DNA and the production of proteins that carry out the functions of life and what guides which and how much protein gets made. As messenger RNA (mRNA) is transcribed from DNA to carry genetic information out of the nucleus, segments that don't code for actual proteins need to be removed from the RNA strand and the remaining pieces spliced together. Different pieces of the expressed gene (exons) are cut out, and these sections are joined together to form the final mRNA strand. Cells gain their ability to produce proteins with ...

Over the past 25 years, the construct of situation awareness (SA), or the perception and interpretation of what is happening around you, has been a catalyst for new advances in the human factors/ergonomics field, particularly in the areas of information display, automation, and training. But recent advances also raise new questions, such as these: To what extent is SA about "awareness in the head" versus "awareness of where to look around you"? How is the process of maintaining SA affected by workload? Is it possible to have high-level SA about, for example, the progress ...

Men with prostate cancer benefit from treatment with the pioneering drug olaparib - the first cancer drug to target inherited mutations - according to the results of a major trial presented today (Tuesday). Olaparib was licensed in December for women with ovarian cancer and inherited BRCA mutations, but the new research suggests it could also benefit men with genomic faults within their tumours. Researchers told the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) conference in Philadelphia that up to 30 per cent of men with advanced prostate cancer had tumours with defects ...

Human activity has removed more than one-tenth of trees and plants from the Amazon rainforest since the 1960s, a study shows. Widespread removal of trees has contributed to a rise in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, increasing the potential impact of climate change, researchers say. Deforestation of the Amazon accounted for 1.5 per cent of the increase in carbon dioxide levels seen since the mid-nineteenth century, the team says. However, this increased the total amount of carbon found in the atmosphere only very slightly compared with fossil fuel ...

New research shows that fishing is having a significant impact on the make-up of fish populations of the Great Barrier Reef. It's long been known that environmental impacts such as climate change and pollution are amongst the drivers of change on the Great Barrier Reef. Now researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University have found that removing predatory fish such as coral trout and snapper, through fishing, causes significant changes to the make-up of the reef's fish populations. "A stable and healthy reef ...

Nerve cells come in very different shapes. Researchers at the Bernstein Center Berlin now reveal why, in insects, the cell body is usually located at the end of a separate extension. Using mathematical models, they show that this increases the strength of electrical signal transmission at no additional energetic cost. Nerve cells follow a functional design: They receive input signals over more or less ramified cell branches (dendrites), which they forward to other nerve cells along an elongated, thin cell process (axon). The cell body contains the nucleus with genetic ...

A new study has found that internet discussion forums have positive links to well-being and are even associated with increased community engagement offline, contrary to a common perception of them being outdated and prone to trolling. Research just published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior found that online forums have benefits for both individuals and wider society and are of greater importance than previously realised. Although seemingly eclipsed in the past decade by social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, forums are still regularly used ...

The U.S. Congress successfully hears the "supermajority" consensus on the reality and causes of climate change, according to scientists from Texas A&M University, Idaho State University, and University of Oklahoma. In a paper published in Climatic Change, the scientists suggest looking at business interests, partisan predispositions and political ideology for the hurdles to policy action. "Different perceptions and claims among lawmakers are a major hurdle to agreeing on action to address global warming and these were thought to simply reflect scientific uncertainty," ...

A number of research studies have shown that coffee helps to protect against breast cancer. A new study led by Lund University, has confirmed that coffee inhibits the growth of tumours and reduces the risk of recurrence in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with the drug tamoxifen. The study, which is a follow-up of the results the researchers obtained two years ago, was carried out at Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, in collaboration with researchers in the UK. "Now, unlike in the previous study, we have combined information ...

Dietary recommendations support the consumption of dairy products as part of a healthy diet. However, after a Spanish study involving more than 4,000 people analysed the relationship between the regular intake of yogurt and health-related quality of life, it declared that there was no link with the improvement of the physical and mental parameters analysed. For years various researchers have stated the benefits of eating yogurt on a regular basis although its effectiveness has never been proven. In fact, until now, few studies have specifically examined the effect of ...

BOSTON - Boston Medical Center (BMC) pathologists have developed a set of protocols for processing and preserving forensic evidence, such as shrapnel, bullets and other projectiles, in surgical specimens (i.e. amputated limbs, injured organs, etc.) after a terrorist attack based on lessons learned from the Boston Marathon bombing. Their findings are published online in advance of print in the Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. As a result of the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, three people were killed and 264 others were injured - some suffering from injuries ...

PHILADELPHIA -- While genetics play a substantial role in development of neuroblastoma, scientists say that something else is in play that elevates the risk: stress. Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center have shown in mice genetically predisposed to develop neuroblastoma that maternal stress can push onset of the cancer. Their study will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2015. "To our knowledge, this is the first evidence of the role of prenatal stress in development of neuroblastoma," says Joanna Kitlinska, ...

Research showing the adverse effects of sedentary office work has given standing desks and treadmill desks new attention. If you happen to be interested in using a treadmill desk, your greatest challenge may be convincing your boss. Fortunately, two BYU researchers have good news: People on treadmill desks perform cognitive tasks nearly as well as those at sitting desks, despite the fact that they're walking. In a study published Wednesday in PLOS One, exercise science professor James LeCheminant and neuroscientist Michael Larson report their findings after putting ...

Phytoplankton, commonly known as plant plankton that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, are potentially a key driver of Arctic warming under greenhouse warming, a study reveals. Scientists with Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M), and Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), presented on Monday, April 20, in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Online, the geophysical impact of phytoplankton that triggers positive feedbacks in the Arctic warming ...

Sex differences in some behaviors are well established, but it's unclear whether differences still occur within highly selective sub-populations, such as expert financial decision makers or elite athletes. Researchers assessed the competitiveness of over 1,100 collegiate distance runners and tested whether the already-known sex difference in competitiveness narrowed when considering the fastest runners. They found the difference between genders was just as large among the fastest as it was among the slowest runners. Whether or not sex differences disappear among selective ...

CINCINNATI - Researchers have identified a biological basis for asthmatic children who do not respond well to corticosteroid treatment - currently the most effective treatment for chronic asthma and acute asthma attack. Conducted at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the study also identifies a genetic pathway that could open the possibility of new therapies for difficult-to-treat patients. The findings are reported April 21 in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, published by the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. The researchers ...

In a new study published today in the British Journal of Nutrition, a team of researchers led by the University of Surrey, has found that front of package nutrition labels can enable consumers to make healthier food choices. In recent years, a number of different front of package labels have been developed by industry and health promotion organisations. The majority of labels include values for energy, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt, but some also include percentage Guideline Daily Amounts or traffic light colours to help consumers' understanding of the numerical ...

Preliminary findings presented at international TB vaccine conference suggest development and introduction of a "post-infection" vaccine could have a major impact in reducing TB disease in China WHO currently estimates nearly 1 million new cases of TB in China every year SHANGHAI (21 April 2015)--A major contributor to the number of tuberculosis infections and cases in China will likely be the elderly over the next few decades, requiring a refocus in efforts to control a disease affecting millions of people in the country, according to preliminary new research presented ...

In the 1950s computers were giant machines that filled buildings and served a variety of arcane functions. Today they fit into our pockets or backpacks, and help us work, communicate and play. "Biotechnology today it is very similar to where computing technology used to be," said Ingmar Riedel-Kruse, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford. "Biological labs are housed in big buildings and the technology is hard to access," he added. "But we are changing that. We are enabling people to interact with biological materials and perform experiments the way they ...

PHILADELPHIA (April 21, 2015) - New research from the Monell Center reveals that tumor necrosis factor (TNF), an immune system regulatory protein that promotes inflammation, also helps regulate sensitivity to bitter taste. The finding may provide a mechanism to explain the taste system abnormalities and decreased food intake that can be associated with infections, autoimmune disorders, and chronic inflammatory diseases. In addition to its role in mediating inflammation, TNF has been implicated in the progression of varied diseases ranging from Alzheimer's disease ...

*World-first: MRI used to study infant pain *Finds 18 of 20 brain 'pain' regions activate in adults are active in babies *Also suggests infants are more sensitive to pain than adults *Highlights need to review pain relief for babies The brains of babies 'light up' in a very similar way to adults when exposed to the same painful stimulus, a pioneering Oxford University brain scanning study has discovered. It suggests that babies experience pain much like adults. The study looked at 10 healthy infants aged between one and six days old and 10 healthy adults aged ...