Coral reefs are home to a rich and diverse ecosystem, providing a habitat for a wide range of marine animals. But the increasing acidification of ocean water is jeopardizing the calcified foundations of these reefs, endangering the survival of thousands upon thousands of resident species. New research by Prof. Yehuda Benayahu, Dr. Zehava Barkay, Prof. Maoz Fine, and their jointly supervised graduate student Yasmin Gabay of Tel Aviv University's Department of Zoology, Wolfson Applied Materials Research Center and the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat ...

UT Arlington physics researchers may have developed a way to use laser technology to deliver drug and gene therapy at the cellular level without damaging surrounding tissue. The method eventually could help patients suffering from genetic conditions, cancers and neurological diseases. In a study published recently by the journal Nature Scientific Reports, the team paired crystalline magnetic carbon nanoparticles and continuous wave near-infrared laser beams for in what is called photothermal delivery. Authors of the new paper are Ali Koymen, a professor of physics; Samarendra ...

A new paper shows that while science plays a critical role in informing conservation action, scientists must move beyond the realm of their expertise into less familiar areas like public relations, education, and even politics, to ultimately meet America's conservation goals. The paper, "Moving Beyond Science to Protect a Mammalian Migration Corridor," appears in the current online edition on the journal Conservation Biology, and will appear in Volume 28 of the print edition. Authors are Joel Berger of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of Montana, ...

A working group evaluating sexual orientation-related disorders listed in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a publication of the World Health Organization (WHO), has recommended the disorders be deleted, a move that will make getting health care easier for gays and others who may have gender atypicality. The WHO is the world body charged with deciding what is a disease and more than 170 countries, including the United States, follow their recommendations. The organization is currently revising the 10th edition of the ICD for release of the 11th edition ...

WORCESTER, MA – Each fall millions of monarch butterflies use a sophisticated navigation system to transverse 2,000 miles from breeding sites across the eastern United States to an overwintering habitat in specific groves of fir trees in central Mexico. Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Worcester Polytechnic Institute have identified a new component of this complex system. They reported in Nature Communications that monarchs use a light-dependent, inclination magnetic compass to help them orient southward during migration. "Taken as a whole, ...

Complex heart imaging can increase cancer risks for children throughout their lifetime, according to a new study co-authored by Le Bonheur Cardiologist Jason Johnson, MD, MHS. The study, which appears in the June 9, 2014 issue of the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, is the first in which researchers quantified cumulative radiation doses in pediatric heart patients and predicted lifetime cancer risks based on the types of exposures. In the study, Johnson and fellow researchers found that radiation from standard X-rays don't significantly raise cancer risks ...

In 1981, a motorcycle accident left Toronto native Kent Cochrane with severe brain damage and dramatically impaired episodic memory. Following the accident, Cochrane could no longer remember events from his past. Nor could he predict specific events that might happen in the future. When neuroscientist Endel Tulving, PhD, asked him to describe what he would do tomorrow, Cochrane could not answer and described his state of mind as "blank." Psychologists and neuroscientists came to know Cochrane, who passed away earlier this year, simply as "KC." Many scientists have described ...

Epidemiologists know that an important piece of evidence is often staring you in the face – but it's not always easy to see the forest for the trees. Danish scientists recently teamed up with University of New Mexico researchers to test a powerful new method for predicting the progress of common diseases through time by teasing out previously undetected patterns from a very large data set – in this case, the health records of Denmark's entire population. This approach maps out surprising correlations: a disease like gout – a form of arthritis – is strongly linked to ...

Dietary restriction is one of the most-researched methods for slowing the aging process. Now, a new article published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences helps explain the action of a drug that appears to mimic that method — rapamycin. Rapamycin, an antibiotic and immunosuppressant approved for use about 15 years ago, has drawn extensive interest for its apparent ability — at least in laboratory animal tests — to emulate the ability of dietary restriction in helping animals to live both longer and healthier. However, this ...

OMAHA, Neb. – Researchers from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Rice University have released a study that shows hormone levels can affect voter turnout. As witnessed by recent voter turnout in primary elections, participation in U.S. national elections is low, relative to other western democracies. In fact, voter turnout in biennial national elections ranges includes only 40 to 60 percent of eligible voters. The study, published June 22 in Physiology and Behavior, reports that while participation in electoral ...

This past January, Derek Ahneman, a graduate student in the lab of Abigail Doyle, a Princeton University associate professor of chemistry, began work on an ambitious new project: he proposed the merger of two areas of research to enable a powerful reaction that neither could broadly achieve on its own. One field, which is the Doyle research group's domain, was nickel catalysis, wherein nickel squeezes in and out of chemical bonds to bring molecules together. The other field was photoredox catalysis, which uses light to initiate a series of unique bond-breaking and bond-making ...

Researchers at Kessler Foundation and the Cleveland Clinic have published one of the longest longitudinal studies of cognition in multiple sclerosis (MS). The article, "Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis: An 18-year follow-up study," (DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2014.03.004) was epublished by Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders on April 13, 2014. Results provide insight into the natural evolution of cognitive changes over time, an important consideration for researchers and clinicians. Authors are Lauren B. Strober, PhD, of Kessler Foundation and Stephen M. Rao, ...

Boulder, Colo., USA - Three main rivers -- the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna -- meet in the Bengal basin to form the world's largest delta system, which serves as a gateway between the Himalayan mountains and the vast, deep-ocean Bengal Fan. This GSA BULLETIN paper by Stephen Goodbred and colleagues presents a new understanding of how this mega-delta, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta, came together over the past 10,000 years. To determine the delta's construction during the Holocene, Goodbred and colleagues followed geochemical fingerprints to trace the paths and ...

The solar array that will provide power to NOAA's GOES-R satellite has been tested, approved and shipped to a facility where it will be incorporated on the spacecraft. The five sections of the solar array come together as one to resemble a giant black wing. On May 13, 2014, the GOES-R satellite solar array panels were successful deployed in a Lockheed Martin clean room in Sunnyvale, California. The completed solar array was then delivered to Lockheed Martin's facility near Denver. "The GOES-R solar array generates more than 4,000 watts of power, twice as much as that ...

PHILADELPHIA — Imaging breast tumors using four approaches together can better distinguish malignant breast tumors from those that are benign, compared with imaging using fewer approaches, and this may help avoid repeat breast biopsies, according to a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "By assessing many functional processes involved in cancer development, a multiparameter PET-MRI of the breast allows for a better differentiation of benign and malignant breast tumors than currently used DCE-MRI alone. ...

Millennials, the generation after Generation X, born in the 1980s and 1990s, form their own demographic group, with their own unique tastes. According to a June 23rd panel at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans, industry must keep up with Millennials high-speed, digital-age expectations, if they're going to gain and keep them as customers. "Millennials are food savvy and tech savvy," said Heidi Curry, Senior Manager Baker, Global Research and Development with Dunkin' Brands. "In addition, they're socially and environmentally ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Physicians using body mass index (BMI) to diagnose children as obese may be missing 25 percent of kids who have excess body fat despite a normal BMI, which can be a serious concern for long-term health, according to a Mayo Clinic study published online today in Pediatric Obesity. The researchers found that BMI has high specificity in identifying pediatric obesity, meaning BMI accurately identifies children who are obese, but has a moderate sensitivity, meaning the BMI tool misses children who actually should be considered obese, according to the percent ...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 24, 2014 — As the United States grows more diverse than ever, organizations from Fortune 500 companies to political parties are scrambling to keep pace. But in doing so, they face the challenge of uniting people from very different backgrounds in a single purpose. A new study led by a University of Connecticut sociologist suggests that if they want to succeed, they could learn a lot from how an unlikely practice — prayer — is used in one set of diverse organizations. Specifically, the study finds that interfaith group prayer serves as a "bridging ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- University of Florida researchers have found evidence that an influenza A virus can jump from horses to camels – and humans could be next. The One Health Center of Excellence for Research and Training in UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute, in collaboration with U.S. and Mongolian institutions, has identified the first known case of an equine influenza virus in camels. Their findings will be published in the December issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, but an ahead of print version of the report is available here: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/20/12/14-0435_article "Over ...

Ecstasy, also known by its chemical abbreviation MDMA, is an illicit drug that is commonly taken at nightclubs and dance parties. Ecstasy's street names include: "Molly" (U.S.), "Mandy" (U.K.), "E," and "X." Although not limited to nightlife scenes, ecstasy is popular at dance parties, as it tends to enhance the party experience (e.g., perceptions of lights and music, nightlife socialization). A study just published in the journal Substance Use & Misuse by researchers affiliated with New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR), examined a national ...

A first-of-its-kind study by researchers at the University of Minnesota (UMN) using snow during a Minnesota blizzard is giving researchers new insight into the airflow around large wind turbines. This research is essential to improving wind energy efficiency, especially in wind farms where airflows from many large wind turbines interact with each other. The study by researchers at the UMN College of Science and Engineering's St. Anthony Falls Lab was published today in Nature Communications, a major scientific journal. Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing renewable ...

More than 50 percent of consumers are interested in products with reduced levels of salt and sugar, and yet new products in the United States are more likely to tout low- or no-fat attributes, according to a June 23 panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans. In recent research, just 25 percent of consumers claimed to be dieting, yet more than 70 percent said they want to lose weight. "Consumers know they need to take care of their health," said Lynn Dornblaser, director, innovation & insight, Mintel ...

How do you feed a six-person crew on a three-year mission to Mars? Food scientists are working on this and other challenges related to creating and optimizing food for astronauts, soldiers, pilots and other individuals working and living in extreme environments, according to a June 23 panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans. The constraints often are similar whether the food is created for the desert, mountains, deep sea or space – it needs to be nutritious, palatable, light-weight, easy to store ...

Caffeine, which was extensively researched for possible links to birth defects in animals and cardiovascular disease in humans over 30 years ago and then exonerated, has become the focus of renewed concerns as caffeine-containing energy drinks have surged in popularity. However, according to a June 23rd panel discussion at the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo® in New Orleans, a rich database of health evidence exists confirming the safety of caffeine for consumers at current levels of exposure. What isn't known, however, is how caffeine ...

WASHINGTON D.C., June 24, 2014 – "Ghost imaging" sounds like the spooky stuff of frivolous fiction, but it's an established technique for reconstructing hi-res images of objects partly obscured by clouds or smoke. Now a group of researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) is applying the same idea in reverse to securing stored or shared electronic data. Described in the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, the work establishes "marked ghost imaging" technology as a new type of multi-layer verification protocol for data storage or transmission. By ...