Brazilian researchers described five new species of ascidians, commonly known as sea squirts, ascidians are marine invertebrates that generally form permanently submerged colonies. When the larval stage of the animals is completed, they attach themselves to rocks, shells and shipwrecks, losing the ability to swim or move. Their best defense against predators is the production of chemical substances. What attracts researchers, besides the opportunity to enhance taxonomic knowledge of the group, are the potential uses of these natural compounds, which can contribute to ...

Philadelphia, PA, March 17, 2015 - Agricultural greenhouse gases (GHG) make up 8.1% of total U.S. GHG emissions. The dairy cattle farming industry is being challenged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining or increasing profitability. In a study published in the Journal of Dairy Science®, researchers report that farms with lower carbon footprints and higher-producing cows are more profitable, a win-win situation for everyone, including the cows. Investigators Di Liang, PhD candidate, and Victor E. Cabrera, PhD, from the Department of Dairy Science, University ...

A new study has found some scientists are unknowingly tweaking experiments and analysis methods to increase their chances of getting results that are easily published. The study conducted by scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) is the most comprehensive investigation into a type of publication bias called p-hacking. P-hacking happens when researchers either consciously or unconsciously analyse their data multiple times or in multiple ways until they get a desired result. If p-hacking is common, the exaggerated results could lead to misleading conclusions, ...

DENVER - The German Lung Cancer Screening Intervention Trial (LUSI) shows that the early repeat scan rate for suspicious findings decreased by more than 80% with the second and subsequent low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screens, but emphasizes the need to have an organized screening program with the baseline scan available for comparison. In the United States the National Lung Cancer Screening Trial (NLST) showed that annual lung cancer screening of high-risk individuals with LDCT reduces lung cancer mortality by 20% and overall mortality by 7%. There are now multiple ...

A new study, published today in the journal Scientific Reports, has identified a rural community in Brazil that still follows the earlier sleep and wake times similar to pre-industrial times. The team of researchers from the University of Surrey and the University of São Paulo studied the population of Baependi, a small rural town in south-eastern Brazil, whose sleep/wake cycle is much more aligned with that of our ancestors. "In big cities, the availability of cheap electricity has brought us both artificial lighting and a multitude of other electronic devices ...

A new technique invented at Caltech to produce graphene--a material made up of an atom-thick layer of carbon--at room temperature could help pave the way for commercially feasible graphene-based solar cells and light-emitting diodes, large-panel displays, and flexible electronics. "With this new technique, we can grow large sheets of electronic-grade graphene in much less time and at much lower temperatures," says Caltech staff scientist David Boyd, who developed the method. Boyd is the first author of a new study, published in the March 18 issue of the journal Nature ...

SPOKANE, Wash.--Washington State University researchers have found a mechanism by which omega-3 fatty acids inhibit the growth and spread of prostate cancer cells. The findings, which are at odds with a 2013 study asserting that omega-3s increase the risk of prostate cancer, point the way to more effective anti-cancer drugs. Scientists have long known that omega 3s reduce inflammation and have anti-diabetic effects, and some recently discovered how this happens. "But we're the first to show that they work this way in cancer," said Kathryn Meier, a professor of pharmacy ...

NEW YORK (March 17, 2015)--A new tuberculosis (TB) drug regimen designed to improve options for TB therapy eliminated more bacteria from sputum than standard therapy and did so at a faster rate, according to data from a phase 2b clinical trial published today in The Lancet. These results are published just as the global phase 3 clinical trial, designed to bring this regimen through the last stage of testing, has begun. PaMZ is a three-drug regimen comprised of two candidate drugs that are not yet licensed for use against TB: pretomanid (Pa), formerly known as PA-824, ...

Chemical changes that occur in tree leaves after being attacked by insects and mammals can impact nearby streams, which rely on fallen plant material as a food source, report scientists from the University of Chicago Department of Ecology and Evolution. The study, published March 17 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, shows how interactions between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are an essential part of understanding ecological responses to climate change. Graduate student Sara Jackrel and Timothy Wootton, PhD, professor in the Department of Ecology ...

Longer duration of breastfeeding is linked with increased intelligence in adulthood, longer schooling, and higher adult earnings, a study following a group of almost 3500 newborns for 30 years published in The Lancet Global Health journal has found. "The effect of breastfeeding on brain development and child intelligence is well established, but whether these effects persist into adulthood is less clear,"* explains lead author Dr Bernardo Lessa Horta from the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil. "Our study provides the first evidence that prolonged breastfeeding ...

Alteplase is a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) that helps to disperse blood clots in a process called thrombolysis. Most major stroke guidelines support use of alteplase up to 4.5 hours after stroke onset, but Dr Brian Alper and colleagues believe that current guidance is based on uncertain evidence and they call for urgent reconsideration of the available data to guide policy decisions. The UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), is planning to analyse all relevant sources of evidence and reassess the balance of benefits and risks for ...

Previous research among young and older adults has suggested that the context in which drinking occurs may contribute to specific alcohol-related problems, such as aggression, risky sex, and drinking and driving. However, little is known about how young drinkers select drinking contexts. A longitudinal study of drinking patterns, and demographic and psychosocial characteristics associated with youth drinking in different contexts, has found that where youth drink alcohol varies by characteristics such as age, gender, drinking frequency, smoking, and deviant behaviors. Results ...

Both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Edition (ICD-10) have established diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). While the DSM is widely used by clinicians, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has recently called for providers to bill for services using ICD-10 designations. Given the ramifications for who will and will be not eligible for treatment, this study compares the two diagnostic approaches, finding ...

A new study has examined genetic and environmental influences underlying alcohol use. Results show that genetic effects on the amount of alcohol use appear to be greater in low socioeconomic-status (SES) conditions. Shared environmental effects tended to increase in high-SES conditions, and non-shared environmental effects tended to decrease with SES. Research on genetic and environmental influences underlying alcohol use has thus far failed to uncover specific causes, likely because genetic and environmental influences vary by context. A study of the moderating ...

DALLAS, March 17, 2015 -- Your heart health, which is optimal for most of us at birth, can decline substantially with unhealthy childhood behaviors, according to research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. "Our findings indicate that, in general, children start with pretty good blood pressure," said Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, M.D., Sc.M., senior author of the study and professor and chair of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. "But if they have a horrible ...

March 17, 2015 -- Female community health extension workers deployed to a remote rural community in northern Nigeria led to major and sustained increases in service utilization, including antenatal care and facility-based deliveries, according to latest research by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public. The research also showed that providing a rural residence allowance in addition to a standard salary helped recruit and retain female workers. Other key components to the program's success were posting workers in pairs to avoid isolation, ensuring supplies and transportation ...

Archaeologists from The Field Museum in Chicago, IL and Shandong University (Jinan, China) have investigated the historical processes leading up to China's political unification through the juxtaposition of macro- and micro-scale analysis. The study offers new perspectives on how human impacts of infrastructural investments, interactive technologies, social contracts, and ideologies that were implemented during the Qin and Han Dynasties and before have helped establish the rough spatial configuration of what is today China. Why humans cooperate in large social groupings ...

The genome of a cell is under constant attack, suffering DNA damage that requires an army of repair mechanisms to keep the cell healthy and alive. Understanding the behavior of the enzymes defending these assaults helps determine how - and where - cancer gets its foothold and flourishes. New research published in an Advance Online Publication of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology shows that one of these enzymes - human DNA polymerase theta (POLQ) - may be a promising drug therapy target for inhibiting breast cancer. "The human genome encodes more than 15 different ...

What's in store for the future of industrial bioprocessing for medical therapies, which involves the use of living organisms or cells to create drugs or other agents? Will the batch or continuous bioprocessing platform dominate biomanufacturing of human therapeutics down the road? Three pioneers in the field address these questions in an upcoming issue of Biotechnology and Bioengineering. With batch bioprocessing, components are transferred as a batch from one holding vessel or processing equipment to the next, while with continuous bioprocessing, there is a continuous ...

URBANA, Ill. - While many recent studies have documented that agricultural producers must significantly increase yields in order to meet the food, feed, and fuel demands of a growing population, few have given practical solutions on how to do this. Crop science researchers at the University of Illinois interested in determining and reducing corn yield gaps are addressing this important issue by taking a systematic approach to the problem. A recent study from the Illinois Crop Physiology Laboratory, led by Fred Below, a U of I crop physiologist, provides the first estimate ...

Previous calculations may have overestimated the importance of HIV transmission from recently infected individuals ("acute phase infectivity") in driving HIV epidemics, according to an article published by Steve Bellan of The University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues in this week's PLOS Medicine. The lower estimates of acute phase infectivity suggest that recently infected individuals--who have not had the chance to start antiretroviral treatment--although still more infectious on average than those in the chronic stage of infection, are not as likely to infect others ...

Overpopulation, the greenhouse effect, warming temperatures and overall climate disruption are all well recognized as a major threat to the ecology and biodiversity of the Earth. The issue of mankind's negative impact on the environment, albeit hotly debated and continuously present in the public eye, still only leads to limited policy action. Urgent action is required, insist Paul Cruzten and Stanislaw Waclawek, the authors of "Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate in the Anthropocene", published in open access in the new Chemistry-Didactics-Ecology-Metrology. In their ...

TORONTO, March 17, 2015 - A group of York University investigators and their international counterparts have jointly created a database of lake surface temperatures, to help study ecological effects of climate change. "There has been a significant need to put together a database like this, considering the rapid warming of lakes," observes Professor Sapna Sharma in the Department of Biology in the Faculty of Science who led the international effort. As part of the Global Lake Temperature Collaboration (GLTC) project, Sharma and several of her undergraduate students, Anam ...

AUSTIN, Texas - People who recently have been infected with HIV may not be as highly infectious as previously believed, a finding that could improve global efforts to prevent HIV transmission and save lives. In particular, the finding bolsters the strategy of treating patients with antiretroviral drugs before the onset of AIDS to prevent transmission. Mathematical epidemiologists Steve Bellan, a postdoctoral researcher at The University of Texas at Austin, and Lauren Ancel Meyers, a biology professor at the university, authored the paper with researchers from McMaster ...

Scientists in a collaboration led by Dai Takei of the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Japan have, for the first time, examined a detailed 'time lapse' X-ray image of the expansion of a classical nova explosion using the GK Persei nova -- a binary star system which underwent a nova explosion in 1901. Through this work, they hope to gain a better understanding of the expansion of gases in the universe, including not only in classical novae but also in supernovae--tremendous stellar explosions that are believed to be responsible for the creation of heavy elements such as uranium ...