Researchers have discovered that three commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, alter the activity of enzymes within cell membranes. Their finding suggests that, if taken at higher-than-approved doses and/or for long periods of time, these prescription-level NSAIDs and other drugs that affect the membrane may produce wide-ranging and unwanted side effects. More positively, the researchers say, their work provides the basis for a test that drug developers can use to predict and perhaps avoid these side effects in new medicines they make. A summary ...

NEW YORK, NY (August 21, 2014) — Children and adolescents with autism have a surplus of synapses in the brain, and this excess is due to a slowdown in a normal brain "pruning" process during development, according to a study by neuroscientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). Because synapses are the points where neurons connect and communicate with each other, the excessive synapses may have profound effects on how the brain functions. The study was published in the August 21 online issue of the journal Neuron. A drug that restores normal synaptic pruning ...

Even the most careful chosen meal can contain surprises. To defend against infectious microbes, viruses or other potential hazards that find their way to the intestines, a dedicated contingent of immune cells keeps watch within the thin layer of tissue that divides the contents of the gut from the body itself. New research at Rockefeller University sheds light on the development of a unique class of immune cells known as intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) that reside in this critical interface. The findings, published August 21 in Immunity, may help lead to new insights ...

A newly-discovered species of ant supports a controversial theory of species formation. The ant, only found in a single patch of eucalyptus trees on the São Paulo State University campus in Brazil, branched off from its original species while living in the same colony, something thought rare in current models of evolutionary development. “Most new species come about in geographic isolation,” said Christian Rabeling, assistant professor of biology at the University of Rochester. “We now have evidence that speciation can take place within a single colony.” The findings ...

(SALT LAKE CITY)—University of Utah scientists have developed a genetically engineered line of mice that is expected to open the door to new research on epilepsy, Alzheimer's and other diseases. The mice carry a protein marker, which changes in degree of fluorescence in response to different calcium levels. This will allow many cell types, including cells called astrocytes and microglia, to be studied in a new way. "This is opening up the possibility to decipher how the brain works," said Petr Tvrdik, Ph.D., a research fellow in human genetics and a senior author ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A team of researchers, including an assistant professor at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering, have identified a weakness believed to exist in Android, Windows and iOS mobile operating systems that could be used to obtain personal information from unsuspecting users. They demonstrated the hack in an Android phone. The researchers tested the method and found it was successful between 82 percent and 92 percent of the time on six of the seven popular apps they tested. Among the apps they easily hacked were Gmail, CHASE ...

Winston-Salem, N.C. – August, 21, 2014 – Young girls with an intense, red, itchy rash on their outer genital organs may be at increased risk of developing urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The treatment may be as simple as better hygiene and avoiding potential irritants such as bubble baths and swimming pools. "Vulvitis is a common condition affecting women and girls of all ages," said senior author Steve J. Hodges, M.D., associate professor of urology at Wake Forest Baptist. "We found that girls with ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 21, 2014 – Individuals with schizophrenia often have trouble engaging in daily tasks or setting goals for themselves, and a new study from San Francisco State University suggests the reason might be their difficulty in assessing the amount of effort required to complete tasks. The research, detailed in an article published this week in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, can assist health professionals in countering motivation deficits among patients with schizophrenia and help those patients function normally by breaking up larger, complex tasks into ...

Lowell is now a large hurricane in the Eastern Pacific and NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites double-teamed it to provide infrared and radar data to scientists. Lowell strengthened into a hurricane during the morning hours of August 21. When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Lowell on August 20 at 21:05 UTC (4:05 p.m. EDT), the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder got an infrared look at Lowell's cloud top temperatures when it was still a tropical storm. AIRS showed a very thick band of thunderstorms surrounding the center of circulation and what appeared to be a very small cloud-free ...

West Orange, NJ. August 21, 2014. Researchers have published a study examining racial and ethnic influences in the outcomes of patients with motor complete spinal cord injury (SCI). The article, "Racial and ethnic disparities in functioning at discharge and follow-up among patients with motor complete SCI," was published online ahead of print on August 2 by the Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2014.07.398). Findings included small but significant differences in self-care and mobility at discharge; no differences were apparent at 1-year ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Young adult women who read "Fifty Shades of Grey" are more likely than nonreaders to exhibit signs of eating disorders and have a verbally abusive partner, finds a new study led by a Michigan State University researcher. Further, women who read all three books in the blockbuster "Fifty Shades" erotic romance series are at increased risk of engaging in binge drinking and having multiple sex partners. All are known risks associated with being in an abusive relationship, much like the lead character, Anastasia, is in "Fifty Shades," said Amy Bonomi, ...

New Haven, Conn. – It's official. Yale physicists have chilled the world's coolest molecules. The tiny titans in question are bits of strontium monofluoride, dropped to 2.5 thousandths of a degree above absolute zero through a laser cooling and isolating process called magneto-optical trapping (MOT). They are the coldest molecules ever achieved through direct cooling, and they represent a physics milestone likely to prompt new research in areas ranging from quantum chemistry to tests of the most basic theories in particle physics. "We can start studying chemical reactions ...

ATLANTA—Strongly influenced by their self-interest, humans do not protest being overcompensated, even when there are no consequences, researchers in Georgia State University's Brains and Behavior Program have found. This could imply that humans are less concerned than previously believed about the inequity of others, researchers said. Their findings are published in the journal Brain Connectivity. These findings suggest humans' sense of unfairness is affected by their self-interest, indicating the interest humans show in others' outcomes is a recently evolved propensity. It ...

New Rochelle, NY, August 21, 2014—Popular fiction that normalizes and glamorizes violence against women, such as the blockbuster Fifty Shades series, may be associated with a greater risk of potentially harmful health behaviors and risks. The results of a provocative new study are presented in the article "Fiction or Not? Fifty Shades Is Associated with Health Risks in Adolescent and Young Adult Females," published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health ...

Thousands of Sri Lankans remain refugees five years after a long civil war, and satellite-image analysis seems to reveal many new housing-like structures and development in a military zone in the northern part of the country. However, the analysis also shows no significant increase in civic facilities despite government claims that it has seized the land for public use. The analysis, completed by the nonprofit, nonpartisan American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), suggests a sharp increase in the number of residential housing-type structures within the ...

LAWRENCE — A study recently published in the journal Carcinogenesis by researchers at the University of Kansas shows a new role for the protein adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) in suppressing colorectal cancer — the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. Lead author Kristi Neufeld, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and co-leader of the Cancer Biology program at the KU Cancer Center, has spent the better part of her career trying to understand the various activities of APC, a protein whose functional loss is thought to initiate ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- In the near future, the package that you ordered online may be deposited at your doorstep by a drone: Last December, online retailer Amazon announced plans to explore drone-based delivery, suggesting that fleets of flying robots might serve as autonomous messengers that shuttle packages to customers within 30 minutes of an order. To ensure safe, timely, and accurate delivery, drones would need to deal with a degree of uncertainty in responding to factors such as high winds, sensor measurement errors, or drops in fuel. But such "what-if" planning typically ...

New Rochelle, NY, August 21, 2014--Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are present in virtually every type of human tissue and may help in organ regeneration after injury. But the theory that MSCs are released from the bone marrow into the blood stream following organ damage, and migrate to the site of injury, has long been debated. M.J. Hoogduijn and colleagues provide conclusive evidence to resolve the controversy over the mobilization and migration of MSCs in humans in a new study published in Stem Cells and Development, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., ...

Researchers and health authorities need to ensure that experimental drugs to treat Ebola are distributed fairly, and in the context of randomized controlled trials, according to a new Viewpoint, published in The Lancet today [Thursday 21 August, 2014]. Leading bioethicists Professor Ezekiel Emanuel, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, and Dr Annette Rid, of King's College London, UK, outline critical ethical principles which need to be adhered to if experimental drugs are to be deployed in the Ebola outbreak, stating that the patients selected to receive ...

Thanks to effective vaccination, polio is considered nearly eradicated. Each year only a few hundred people are stricken worldwide. However, scientists of the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from Gabon, are reporting alarming findings: a mutated virus that was able to resist the vaccine protection to a considerable extent was found in victims of an outbreak in the Congo in 2010. The pathogen could also potentially have infected many people in Germany. The results appear now in the magazine PNAS. The polio epidemic in the Congo in 2010 was especially serious. ...

August 21, 2014 (Toronto) – A mindfulness-based therapy for depression has the added benefit of reducing health-care visits among patients who often see their family doctors, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The research showed that frequent health service users who received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy showed a significant reduction in non-mental health care visits over a one-year period, compared with those who received other types of group therapy. The ...

BATON ROUGE – In a finding that has implications for life in other extreme environments, both on Earth and planets elsewhere in the solar system, LSU Associate Professor of Biological Sciences Brent Christner and fellow researchers funded by the National Science Foundation, or NSF, this week published a paper confirming that the waters and sediments of a lake that lies 800 meters (2600 feet) beneath the surface of the West Antarctic ice sheet support "viable microbial ecosystems." Given that more than 400 subglacial lakes and numerous rivers and streams are thought to ...

For AWI geologist Juliane Müller the Fram Strait is a key region in the global oceanic circulation. "On the east side of this passage between Greenland and Svalbard warm Atlantic water flows to the north into the Arctic Ocean while on the west side cold Arctic water masses and sea ice push their way out of the Arctic into the North Atlantic. A considerable portion of the Atlantic water cools here on its way to the north and sinks to deeper layers. The circulation of the water caused in this manner drives the global band of oceanic currents like a giant pump and influences, ...

Ever heard of the water window? It consists of radiations in the 3.3 to 4.4 nanometre range, which are not absorbed by the water in biological tissues. New theoretical findings show that it is possible to develop coherent radiations within the water window. These could be the basis of an optimal technique to obtain a high-contrast image of the biological samples or to be used in high-precision spectroscopy. Now, a new theoretical study identifies the physical mechanism needed to efficiently generate the harmonic radiations—which are multiples of an incoming laser’s frequency—at ...

Alexandria, Va., USA – The International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) have published a paper titled "Projections of U.S. Edentulism Prevalence Following Five Decades of Decline." This study, by lead researcher Gary Slade, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, follows edentulism (tooth loss) over the last hundred years and highlights the numbers of people losing teeth and requiring dentures. It is published in the OnlineFirst portion of the IADR/AADR Journal of Dental Research (JDR). The researchers of this study investigated population ...