This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on July 10, 2014. Each hot spot, which appears as a red mark, is an area where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. This area of Russia is extremely remote with little danger coming directly from the fires, although the smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, ...

Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) have received much attention due to their potential application in spintronics, or the storage and transfer of information by using an electron's spin state, its magnetic moment and its charge. In typical systems based on III-V semiconductors, such as (Ga,Mn)As, (In,Mn)As or (Ga,Mn)N, substitution of divalent Mn atoms into trivalent Ga (or In) sites leads to severely limited chemical solubility, resulting in metastable specimens only available as epitaxial thin films. The hetero-valence substitution, which simultaneously dopes both ...

Scientists at The University of Manchester are a step closer to understanding why diabetes is cured in the majority of patients that undergo gastric bypass surgery. The research, published in the journal Endocrinology, shows the cure is likely to be explained by the actions of specialised cells in the intestine that secrete a cocktail of powerful hormones when we eat. During the research, the team showed that gut hormone cells previously thought to contain just one hormone, had up to six hormones including the hunger hormone ghrelin. Study team leader, Dr Craig ...

ANN ARBOR – Because the strong currents in the Straits of Mackinac reverse direction every few days, a rupture of the oil pipeline beneath the channel would quickly contaminate shorelines miles away in both lakes Michigan and Huron, according to a new University of Michigan study commissioned by the National Wildlife Federation. In one scenario examined in the study and accompanying animations, oil from a hypothetical pipeline break reached Mackinac Island and Round Island after 12 hours and Bois Blanc Island after two days. All three islands are in westernmost Lake Huron, ...

Manchester scientists have shown that a new drug could prove useful in treating small cell lung cancer - the most aggressive form of lung cancer. Scientists from the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, based at The University of Manchester and part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, teamed up with experts at AstraZeneca, as part of a collaboration agreed in 2010, to test a drug – known as AZD3965 - on small cell lung cancer cells. The research, published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, also helps identify which patients are most likely to respond ...

Researchers at sarcomas research group at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) have been tested in 19 patients a new therapeutic combination to combat resistant sarcomas. The clinical trial results, which indicate that the new treatment could stabilize the growth of these tumors have been published this week in the British Journal of Cancer. Sarcomas Sarcomas are a rare type of tumor and complex since there are several subtypes. It can affect from children to older ages. It is usually diagnosed in advanced and ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — To keep data safe in the cloud, a group of computer scientists suggests doing the Melbourne Shuffle. That may sound like a dance move (and it is), but it's also a computer algorithm developed by researchers at Brown University. The computing version of the Melbourne Shuffle aims to hide patterns that may emerge as users access data on cloud servers. Patterns of access could provide important information about a dataset — information that users don't necessarily want others to know — even if the data files themselves are encrypted. "Encrypting ...

WASHINGTON - Cigarette warning labels can influence a smoker to try to quit even when the smoker is trying to avoid seeing the labels, according to a survey of thousands of adult smokers in four countries published by the American Psychological Association. Small, text-only warning labels like those on cigarette packs in the United States prompt people to think about health risks of smoking, and people who notice the warnings regularly are more likely to try to quit, the research found. Larger, more graphic warning labels like those in other countries, such as Australia, ...

The discovery of a split-second burst of radio waves by scientists using the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico provides important new evidence of mysterious pulses that appear to come from deep in outer space. The finding by an international team of astronomers, published July 10 in The Astrophysical Journal, marks the first time that a so-called "fast radio burst" has been detected using an instrument other than the Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Scientists using the Parkes Observatory have recorded a handful of such events, but the lack of any similar findings ...

A neuroscientist at Rutgers University-Newark says the human brain operates much the same whether active or at rest – a finding that could provide a better understanding of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental health conditions that afflict an estimated 13.6 million Americans. In newly published research in the journal Neuron, Michael Cole, an assistant professor at the Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, determined that the underlying brain architecture of a person at rest is basically the same as that of a person performing a variety ...

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – For decades, health-conscious people around the globe have taken antioxidant supplements and eaten foods rich in antioxidants, figuring this was one of the paths to good health and a long life. Yet clinical trials of antioxidant supplements have repeatedly dashed the hopes of consumers who take them hoping to reduce their cancer risk. Virtually all such trials have failed to show any protective effect against cancer. In fact, in several trials antioxidant supplementation has been linked with increased rates of certain cancers. In one trial, ...

Depressed men with localized prostate cancer were more likely to be diagnosed with more aggressive prostate cancer, received less effective treatments and survived for shorter times than prostate cancer patients who were not depressed, a UCLA study has found. The negative outcomes may be the result of several factors such as bias against the mentally ill, depression's impact on biological cancer processes, the depressed man's lack of investment in his general health and disinterest in receiving more effective care, and missed opportunities by physicians to educate patients ...

Researchers from the University of Southern California and the Oak Crest Institute of Science have discovered the link between antibiotics and bacterial biofilm formation leading to chronic lung, sinus and ear infections. The study results, published in the current issue of PLOS ONE, illustrate how bacterial biofilms can actually thrive, rather than decrease, when given low doses of antibiotics. "This research addresses the long standing issues surrounding chronic ear infections and why some children experience repeated ear infections even after antibiotic treatment," ...

After central nervous system injury, the increase in Nogo protein is mediated by Nogo-66 receptor gene, leading to the collapse of growth cones and inhibiting the extension of neuronal neurites. Zhiyuan Li and his team, Heibei Xingtai People's Hospital, China used RNA interference to silence Nogo-66 receptor gene expression in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), blocked the inhibitory effect of Nogo protein, promoted the process growth of neurons differentiated by transplanted cells, improved the therapeutic effects and increased the success rate of BMSCs transplantation ...

Activation of Nogo receptor (NgR) is an essential factor of nerve regeneration inhibition, neuronal atrophy and even apoptosis. Upregulation of NgR expression is an important cause of cell apoptosis and visual extinction in some diseases including glaucoma. Whether ganglion cell apoptosis is related to NgR gene expression in diabetes mellitus remains poorly understood. Dr. Xuezheng Liu and his team, Liaoning Medical University, China interfered NgR expression in the retinal ganglion cells of rats with diabetes mellitus and found that Rho kinase expression was obviously ...

Single-chain variable domain fragment (scFv) 637 is an antigen-specific scFv of myasthenia gravis and it can bind to acetylcholine receptor in the residues 67-76 of α-subunit of acetylcholine receptor. Dr. Fanping Meng and his team, College of Medicine, Yanbian University in China conjugated scFv and human serum albumin genes and detected the fusion protein in Pichia pastoris. Results showed that the fusion protein bound to acetylcholine receptors in neuromuscular junction of human intercostal muscle and the inhibition rate of fusion protein binding to acetycholine ...

Hair follicle-derived neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) can be induced to differentiate into Schwann cells (SCs). However, the underlying regulatory mechanism during cell differentiation remains poorly understood. Dr. Yuxin Ni and her team, Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, China isolated NCSCs from human hair follicle and induced them to differentiate into SCs. MicroRNA (miR-21) expression was gradually increased during the differentiation of NCSCs into SCs. After transfection with the miR-21 agonist (agomir-21), the differentiation capacity of NCSCs was increased. ...

Recently, local scar adhesion after laminectomy always challenges the worldwide scholars engaged in spine surgery. Mitomycin C, a classical anti-tumor drug, has been attempted to be used to effectively inhibit scar adhesion after laminectomy and some encouraging outcomes have been achieved. However, there is evidence that mitomycin C has inherent toxicity and other side effects when it is locally used. Whether mitomycin C can influence peripheral nerve structure and function remains unclear. Dr. Tao Sui and his team, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, ...

IRVINE, Calif. (July 10, 2014) – Consuming a whole fresh avocado with either an orange-colored tomato sauce or raw carrots significantly enhanced provitamin A carotenoid (alpha- and beta-carotene) absorption and conversion of these carotenoids to an active form of vitamin A, according to new research (1) published in The Journal of Nutrition. Vitamin A is involved in reproductive health and growth promotion; helps support healthy skin, immune function, and vision; and has antioxidant properties. Provitamin A carotenoids, like alpha- and beta-carotene, impart the orange ...

The yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes is ranked amongst the top 100 worst global invasive species and is responsible for catastrophic ecological impacts on islands. A new study published in the open access journal NeoBiota examines and assesses the effects and dangers of the introduction of the yellow crazy ant to the unique,endemic ecosystem of the mature palm forest of the Vallée de Mai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on the Seychelles. The palm forest of Vallée de Mai is a unique ecosystem containing many endemic species, including the iconic coco de mer palm ...

In some patients, the chronic inflammatory skin diseases psoriasis* and eczema** are similar in appearance. Up to now, dermatologists have therefore had to base their decision on which treatment should be selected on their own experience and an examination of tissue samples. A team of researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now analyzed the molecular processes that occur in both diseases and discovered crucial differences. This has enabled them for the first time to gain a detailed understanding of the ways in which ...

Choosing mobile phone cases and customizing phones with charms and decorations may reveal a lot about a person's culture, as well as increase attachment to the devices, according to researchers. In a study on culture and mobile phone customization, researchers found that people from Eastern cultures tend to be more motivated to change the look and sound of their mobile phones than people in Western countries, said S. Shyam Sundar, Distinguished Professor of Communications and co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory, Penn State. "People who live in collectivist ...

NEW YORK, NY (July 10, 2014) — Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created a way to develop personalized gene therapies for patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a leading cause of vision loss. The approach, the first of its kind, takes advantage of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology to transform skin cells into retinal cells, which are then used as a patient-specific model for disease study and preclinical testing. Using this approach, researchers led by Stephen H. Tsang, MD, PhD, showed that a form of RP caused by mutations to the ...

WACO, Texas (July 10, 2014) — Men who experience hot flashes are unlikely to talk much about it, but they may find relief from their silent suffering if they are willing to try an unusual treatment, according to findings from a Baylor University case study. After seven weeks of hypnotic relaxation therapy, a 69-year-old man who had uncontrolled hot flashes following prostate cancer surgery showed a drastic decrease not only in hot flashes but also an impressive improvement in sleep quality, according to the study. The Baylor study — funded by the National Institutes ...

SEATTLE, WA – As cases of Little League Shoulder (LLS) occur more frequently, the need for additional information about the causes and outcomes of the condition has become clear. Researchers presenting at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting today shared new data identifying associated risk factors, common treatment options and return to play. "Our study examined 95 patients ranging from 8-17 years old diagnosed with Little League Shoulder," commented Benton E. Heyworth, MD, corresponding author from Children's Hospital Boston, ...