Coral reefs provide a range of benefits, such as food, opportunities for income and education, but not everyone has the same access to them, according to a new study conducted by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University. The researchers examined how people from 28 fishing communities in Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles benefit from the marine environment. For many years conservation in developing countries has been based on the assumption that improvements in ecosystem conditions, such as increasing coral reef ...

December 3, 2014 -- Individuals conceived in the severe Dutch Famine, also called the Hunger Winter, may have adjusted to this horrendous period of World War II by making adaptations to how active their DNA is. Genes involved in growth and development were differentially regulated, according to researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center, Harvard University, and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Findings are published in the journal Nature Communications. During the winter of 1944-1945 the Western part of The Netherlands was struck by a severe ...

CHAPEL HILL, NC - UNC School of Medicine researchers have found for the first time a biochemical mechanism that could be a cause of "chemo brain" - the neurological side effects such as memory loss, confusion, difficulty thinking, and trouble concentrating that many cancer patients experience while on chemotherapy to treat tumors in other parts of the body. The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how the common chemotherapy drug topotecan can drastically suppress the expression of Topoisomerase-1, a gene that triggers the ...

Coffee, apple juice, and vitamin C: things that people ingest every day are experimental material for chemist Eva-Maria Felix. The doctoral student in the research group of Professor Wolfgang Ensinger in the Department of Material Analysis is working on making nanotubes of gold. She precipitates the precious metal from an aqueous solution onto a pretreated film with many tiny channels. The metal on the walls of the channels adopts the shape of nanotubes; the film is then dissolved. The technique itself is not new, but Felix has modified it: "The chemicals that are usually ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 3, 2014--A new report from the American Institute of Physics (AIP) Statistical Research Center has found that the number of Hispanic students receiving bachelor's degrees in the physical sciences and engineering has increased over the last decade or so, passing 10,000 degrees per year for the first time in 2012. The overall number of U.S. students receiving degrees in those fields also increased over the same time, but it increased faster among Hispanics. From 2002 to 2012, the number of Hispanics earning bachelor's degrees in the physical sciences ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A team led by Florida State University researchers has identified DNA elements in maize that could affect the expression of hundreds or thousands of genes. "Maybe they are part of the machinery that allows an organism to turn hundreds of genes off or on," said Associate Professor of Biological Science Hank Bass. Bass and Carson Andorf, a doctoral student in computer science at Iowa State University, began this exploration of the maize genome sequence along with colleagues from FSU, Iowa State and the University of Florida. They wanted to know ...

New York, NY, December 2, 2014 - Immediate breast reconstruction following mastectomy is becoming more prevalent. However, in breast cancer patients undergoing simultaneous chemotherapy, thrombotic complications can arise that can delay or significantly modify reconstructive plans. Outcomes of cases illustrating potential complications are published in the current issue of Annals of Medicine and Surgery. Chemotherapy is increasingly used to treat larger operable or advanced breast cancer prior to surgery. Chemotherapy delivered via the placement of a central venous line ...

Hamilton, ON (Dec. 3, 2014) - Scientists at McMaster University have discovered that human stem cells made from adult donor cells "remember" where they came from and that's what they prefer to become again. This means the type of cell obtained from an individual patient to make pluripotent stem cells, determines what can be best done with them. For example, to repair the lung of a patient with lung disease, it is best to start off with a lung cell to make the therapeutic stem cells to treat the disease, or a breast cell for the regeneration of tissue for breast cancer ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- MIT biological engineers have created a new computer model that allows them to design the most complex three-dimensional DNA shapes ever produced, including rings, bowls, and geometric structures such as icosahedrons that resemble viral particles. This design program could allow researchers to build DNA scaffolds to anchor arrays of proteins and light-sensitive molecules called chromophores that mimic the photosynthetic proteins found in plant cells, or to create new delivery vehicles for drugs or RNA therapies, says Mark Bathe, an associate professor ...

Vienna, Austria - 3 December 2014: The Mediterranean diet is linked to improved cardiovascular performance in patients with erectile dysfunction, according to research presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2014 by Dr Athanasios Angelis from Greece. Patients with erectile dysfunction who had poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet had more vascular and cardiac damage. EuroEcho-Imaging is the annual meeting of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and is held 3-6 December in Vienna, Austria. Dr Angelis ...

CHICAGO - Researchers reported today on a procedure that can preserve fertility and potentially save the lives of women with a serious pregnancy complication called placenta accreta. Results of the new study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) showed that placement of balloons in the main artery of the mother's pelvis prior to a Caesarean section protects against hemorrhage and is safe for both mother and baby. Placenta accreta, a condition in which the placenta abnormally implants in the uterus, can lead to additional complications, ...

CHICAGO - Researchers at Mayo Clinic found that some children are receiving chest X-rays that may be unnecessary and offer no clinical benefit to the patient, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). "Chest X-rays can be a valuable exam when ordered for the correct indications," said Ann Packard, M.D., radiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "However, there are several indications where pediatric chest X-rays offer no benefit and likely should not be performed to decrease radiation dose ...

CHICAGO - A popular surgery to repair meniscal tears may increase the risk of osteoarthritis and cartilage loss in some patients, according to research presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The findings show that the decision for surgery requires careful consideration in order to avoid accelerated disease onset, researchers said. The new study focused on the meniscus, a wedge-shaped piece of cartilage in the knee that acts as a shock absorber between the femur, or thighbone, and tibia, or shinbone. The two menisci ...

New research from researchers at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) looking at how goats express subtle positive emotions could lead to greater understanding of animal welfare. While there has been a great deal of research into negative emotions and stress in animals it is often hard for those who work with animals to know when they are in more subtle positive states. Dr Alan McElligott and Dr Elodie Briefer, working from QMUL with goats at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats, carried out the first research, published today (Wednesday) in the journal Animal Behaviour, ...

Pregnant women in Bangladesh with low levels of the most common form of vitamin E are nearly twice as likely to have a miscarriage than those with adequate levels of the vitamin in their blood, according to new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings, published online last week in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggest that improving the diet of women in impoverished nations or encouraging intake of vitamin E through prenatal supplements could have a direct impact on fertility, though more research is needed. "For ...

A new study from the UT Dallas Center for Vital Longevity shows that the brain activity prior to seeing an item is related to how well it is later remembered. In the study published online in NeuroImage, the researchers showed that receiving information about a pair of items before seeing them may affect how well they are remembered. Moreover, the researchers also found that the activity in different areas of the brain was unexpectedly related to how the information was remembered. "If you're interested in memory, you want to know the factors that are associated ...

The deadly fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome has spread to bat colonies throughout eastern North America over the past seven years, causing bat populations to crash, with several species now at risk of extinction. The devastating impact of this disease is due in part to the seasonal dynamics of infection and transmission, according to a new study led by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and published December 3 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The researchers were surprised to discover that during the winter, when the bats are ...

It takes just 10 years for a single emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) to have its maximum warming effects on the Earth. This is according to researchers at the Carnegie Institute for Science who have dispelled a common misconception that the main warming effects from a CO2 emission will not be felt for several decades. The results, which have been published today, 3 December, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, also confirm that warming can persist for more than a century and suggest that the benefits from emission reductions will be felt by those ...

Washington, D.C.--The climate warming caused by a single carbon emission takes only about 10 years to reach its maximum effect. This is important because it refutes the common misconception that today's emissions won't be felt for decades and that they are a problem for future generations. For the first time, a study conducted by Carnegie's Katharine Ricke and Ken Caldeira has evaluated how long it takes to feel the maximum warming effect caused by a single carbon emission. Their work is published in Environmental Research Letters. "A lot of climate scientists have ...

An adaptable strategy that intelligently and flexibly combines positive and negative incentives turns out to be the optimal approach for institutions to encourage the highest level of cooperation at the lowest cost, according to a new study published in the Royal Society journal Interface. "This study applies to many real-life situations, such as teachers incentivizing student efforts or governments seeking compliance with environmental regulations," says IIASA Evolution and Ecology Program Director Ulf Dieckmann, who led the study in collaboration with IIASA researchers ...

Some men are being driven away from macho occupations like surgery and the Royal Marines because they don't feel that they are 'man enough', according to new research. The authors of a study published today in the British Journal of Psychology say this means that only individuals who see themselves as macho apply for and stay in such jobs, which helps explain why they remain an incredibly masculine domain. Although there is much evidence of the negative impact of gendered workplace stereotypes on women, far less attention has been paid to their effect on men. In a ...

Philadelphia, PA, December 2, 2014 - Persistent anxiety is one of the most common and distressing symptoms compromising mental health. Most of the research on the neurobiology of anxiety has focused on the generation of increased anxiety, i.e., the processes that "turn on" anxiety. But what if the problem lay with the "off switch" instead? In other words, the dysfunction could exist in the ability to diminish anxiety once it has begun. A new report in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry by researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison suggests that deficits ...

The Mediterranean diet has been consistently linked with health benefits, including reduced mortality and reduced risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease. It is characterised by a high intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes (such as peas, beans and lentils), and (mainly unrefined) grains; a high intake of olive oil but a low intake of saturated fats; a moderately high intake of fish, a low intake of dairy products, meat and poultry; and regular but moderate intake of alcohol (specifically wine with meals). Telomeres sit on the end of chromosomes (like ...

An accompanying editorial says babies do best when mothers have a normal body weight before and during pregnancy. Women of childbearing age have a high prevalence of overweight and obesity. Previous analyses suggest that maternal obesity (body mass index (BMI) of 30 or over) is associated with increased risk of infant mortality, but results have not been consistent. So a team of researchers based in Sweden and the USA decided to test the theory that maternal overweight and obesity are associated with infant mortality by analysing over 1.8 million singleton births ...

Now come targets for six other conditions, including diabetes coronary heart disease, asthma and depression, writes Dr Martin Brunet, a GP in Surrey. "But the data on which they are based are flawed, and the approach incentivises potentially harmful overdiagnosis," he argues. Every practice in England has been told its diagnosis rate for each condition, estimated from practice data and the expected prevalence, he explains. The intention is to exert pressure on general practitioners to increase diagnosis rates, but he believes the principles behind such a policy need ...