It's an often-agonizing challenge facing any parent of a child with autism: How can I help my son or daughter socialize with his or her typically developing peers? The solution, SF State's Pamela Wolfberg found, may lie in a different type of playgroup that focuses on collaborative rather than adult-directed activities. A new study shows that "Integrated Play Groups," or IPGs, developed by Wolfberg over several years, are effective in teaching children with autism the skills they need to interact with their peers and engage in symbolic play such as pretending. In IPGs, ...

Where's the remaining oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico? The location of 2 million barrels of oil thought to be trapped in the deep ocean has remained a mystery. Until now. Scientist David Valentine of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of California, Irvine, have discovered the path the oil followed to its resting place on the Gulf of Mexico sea floor. The findings appear today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy ...

The first images of a nova during its early fireball stage--when it ejects material, and gases expand and cool--show that this activity is more complicated than predicted. That is the conclusion, published in the current issue of Nature, from a research collaboration led by Georgia State University Astronomer Gail Schaefer that includes 37 researchers (many who are National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded) from 17 institutions. The researchers observed the expanding thermonuclear fireball from a nova that erupted last year in the constellation Delphinus. "This is ...

The uncontrolled growth of cancer cells arises from their ability to hijack the cell's normal growth program and checkpoints. Usually after therapy, a second cancer-signaling pathway will open after the primary one shuts down — creating an ingenious escape route for the cancer cell to survive. The answer, say Case Western Reserve researchers, is to anticipate and block that back-up track by prescribing two drugs from the start. The results of the project, led by Ruth Keri, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair Department of Pharmacology, and Associate Director for Basic Research ...

1. Study: Prompt isolation of symptomatic patients is key to eliminating Ebola Isolating the sickest Ebola-infected individuals before they progress into their late phase of illness can effectively eliminate the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, according to a modeling study being published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Currently, West Africa is in the midst of the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic ever recorded. Liberia has been especially hard-hit with more than 3,500 infections and 2,000 deaths in the past three months. Researchers developed a random transmission model ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The drug erlotinib is highly effective in treating advanced-stage lung cancer patients whose tumors have a particular gene change, but when the same drug is used for patients with early-stage tumors with the same gene change, they actually fare worse than if they took nothing. A study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) and at Cincinnati Children's Hospital might show why. Oncologists use erlotinib to treat ...

SPOKANE, Wash.—Americans are in a world of hurt. Nearly one in five U.S. adults are in pain most every day for spells of three months or longer, according to an analysis by Jae Kennedy, professor of health policy and administration at Washington State University Spokane. The estimated 39 million adults in persistent pain outnumber the residents of California. Previous studies have said so much pain costs hundreds of billions of dollars a year in lost productivity and health care. And that doesn't take into account pain's psychic toll. "A sizeable portion of American ...

Chicago, October 27, 2014—The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research today released the results of a major new study and related reports on the recovery from Superstorm Sandy in 12 New York and New Jersey neighborhoods hard hit by the 2012 storm. It is the second AP-NORC study that has focused on the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, with findings that emphasize the important role social factors play in a neighborhood's resilience: the ability of people and their social systems to survive, adapt and continue moving forward after a disaster. Funding ...

Researchers at McGill University have succeeded in simultaneously observing the reorganizations of atomic positions and electron distribution during the transformation of the "smart material" vanadium dioxide (VO2) from a semiconductor into a metal – in a timeframe a trillion times faster than the blink of an eye. The results, reported Oct. 24 in Science, mark the first time that experiments have been able to distinguish changes in a material's atomic-lattice structure from the relocation of the electrons in such a blazingly fast process. The measurements were ...

Influencers trump belief that doctors adopt a new therapy by watching others use it Surprisingly long road from FDA approval to use by doctors New technology is like an influential colleague -- opinionated but not too bossy Doctors need to be reminded every five to seven days CHICAGO --- Doctors are more likely to try a new therapy when they are persuaded to do so by an influential colleague, reports a new Northwestern University study whose findings on adopting innovations also have relevance for business, education and research. The authors have used the ...

A common protein plays a different role than previously thought in the opening and closing of channels that let ions flow in and out of our cells, researchers at Johns Hopkins report. Those channels are critical to life, as having the right concentrations of sodium and calcium ions in cells enables healthy brain communication, heart contraction and many other processes. The new study reveals that a form of calmodulin long thought to be dormant actually opens these channels wide. The finding is likely to bring new insight into disorders caused by faulty control of these ...

CLEVELAND -- A study published in the journal International Scholarly Research Notices (ISRN) Stroke found that overall knowledge about stroke in Uganda was poor, although knowing what to do for a stroke – go to the hospital – was good. Researchers from higher education institutions in Uganda collaborated with those from Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center to assess residents' knowledge of stroke symptoms and treatment options. To date, public perception and level of knowledge of stroke warning signs and risk factors ...

Tropical Cyclone 04A continues to intensify and had been renamed Tropical Cyclone Nilofar when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead on Oct. 27. The MODIS instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image of Nilofar that showed a ring of strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation and bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the low-level center from the east and west. Nilofar attained hurricane strength on Oct. 27, when maximum sustained winds were near 75 knots (86 mph/139 kph) at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT). Nilofar was centered near 15.2 north latitude and 62.2 east ...

The type of sound processing that modern hearings aids provide to make speech more understandable for wearers may also make music enjoyment more difficult, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. The findings, published in the journal Ear and Hearing, suggest that less sophisticated hearing aids might actually be more compatible with listening to music, especially recorded music that has itself been processed to change the way it sounds. "Hearing aids have gotten very advanced at processing sounds to make speech more understandable," said Naomi ...

The uncontrolled growth of cancer cells arises from their ability to hijack the cell's normal growth program and checkpoints. Usually after therapy, a second cancer-signaling pathway will open after the primary one shuts down — creating an ingenious escape route for the cancer cell to survive. The answer, say Case Western Reserve researchers, is to anticipate and block that back-up track by prescribing two drugs from the start. The results of the project, led by Ruth Keri, PhD, Professor and Vice Chair Department of Pharmacology, and Associate Director for Basic Research ...

Religious beliefs and practices may reduce thoughts of suicide among African-American adults in stressful life events induced by racial discrimination, according to a new research study conducted at the University of Houston (UH). "African-Americans experience an inordinate amount of psychological strain through racial discrimination, leading to depression, hopelessness and other high risk factors for suicide, but demonstrate significantly lower rates of suicide relative to European-Americans," said Rheeda Walker, associate professor and director of the Culture, Risk ...

This news release is available in German. While neurons rapidly propagate information in their interior via electrical signals, they communicate with each other at special contact points known as the synapses. Chemical messenger substances, the neurotransmitters, are stored in vesicles at the synapses. When a synapse becomes active, some of these vesicles fuse with the cell membrane and release their contents. To ensure that valuable time is not lost, synapses always have some readily releasable vesicles on standby. With the help of high-resolution, three-dimensional ...

VIDEO: This animation of NOAA's GOES-West satellite imagery from Oct. 1 -27 shows the movement of Tropical Storm Ana as it heads toward British Columbia, Canada. TRT: 00:20. Click here for more information. An animation of imagery from NOAA's GOES-West satellite taken over the period of Oct.19 to 26 shows the movement, intensification, weakening and movement toward British Columbia, Canada. On Oct. 27, wind warnings were posted along some coastal sections of British Columbia. During ...

When you flush the toilet, you may be discarding microscopic warning signs about your health. But a cunningly simple new device can stop that vital information from "going to waste." Brigham Young University chemist Adam Woolley and his students made a device that can detect markers of kidney disease and prostate cancer in a few minutes. All you have to do is drop a sample into a tiny tube and see how far it goes. That's because the tube is lined with DNA sequences that will latch onto disease markers and nothing else. Urine from someone with a clean bill of health ...

This news release is available in German. Pulmonary hypertension is characterised by uncontrolled division of cells in the blood vessel walls. As a result, the vessel walls become increasingly thick. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim and Giessen University have discovered that transcription factor FoxO1 regulates the division of cells and plays a key role in the development of pulmonary hypertension. The researchers were able to cure pulmonary hypertension in rats by activating FoxO1. The study findings could ...

A Johns Hopkins research team reports that major hospitals across the U.S. collectively throw away at least $15 million a year in unused operating room surgical supplies that could be salvaged and used to ease critical shortages, improve surgical care and boost public health in developing countries. A report on the research, published online Oct. 16 in the World Journal of Surgery, highlights not only an opportunity for U.S. hospitals to help relieve the global burden of surgically treatable diseases, but also a means of reducing the cost and environmental impact of medical ...

Physicists in Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences have made important discoveries regarding Bs meson particles—something that may explain why the Universe contains more matter than antimatter. Distinguished Professor Sheldon Stone and his colleagues recently announced their findings at a workshop at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. Titled "Implications of LHCb Measurements and Their Future Prospects," the workshop enabled him and other members of the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) Collaboration to share recent data results. The LHCb Collaboration ...

If you've ever broken a bone, there's a good chance you needed surgery, braces, or splints to realign the bone. Severe fractures in infants, on the other hand, can heal on their own through a process that has eluded scientists. A study published by Cell Press on October 27 in Developmental Cell reveals that a fractured arm bone in newborn mice can rapidly realign through a previously unknown mechanism involving bone growth and muscle contraction. The findings provide new insights into how human infants and other young vertebrates may repair broken bones and pave the way ...

Although Ibuprofen and oral morphine both provide effective pain relief for children with broken limbs, ibuprofen is the recommended choice because of adverse events associated with oral morphine, according to a randomized trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) Fractures make up between 10% and 25% of all children's injuries, and the most severe pain is felt during the first 48 hours after the injury. Because of concerns about the safety of codeine for children, there is limited choice for medications to relieve pain for these patients. "Evidence ...

A new Canadian guideline recommends that the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test should not be used to screen for prostate cancer based on evidence that shows an increased risk of harm and uncertain benefits. The guideline is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) "Some people believe men should be screened for prostate cancer with the PSA test but the evidence indicates otherwise," states Dr. Neil Bell, member of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care and chair of the prostate cancer guideline working group. "These recommendations balance ...