Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have located a new - and likely more promising, they say - target for a potential vaccine against malaria, a mosquito-borne illness that kills as many as 750,000 people each year. The findings, published June 15 in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, detail how the researchers created a 3-D crystal structure of the protein believed central to the transmission of the malaria parasite through mosquitoes. In looking anew at the AnAPN1 protein, an enzyme in the gut of the Anopheles mosquito, ...

Cancer and type 2 diabetes are two of the most significant public health burdens facing the world today, and currently available data suggests their prevalence is expected to continue to increase. Nut consumption has long been hypothesized to have a role in preventing both of these diseases, but until now evidence has been inconsistent. A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in Nutrition Reviews on June 16 shows that nut consumption is, indeed, associated with a decreased risk of certain types of cancer, but not type 2 diabetes. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic ...

This news release is available in French. Quebec City, June 16, 2015--People whose chromosomes contain the DNA of the roseola virus are three times more likely to suffer from angina, according to a new study by researchers from the Université Laval Faculty of Medicine, the CHU de Québec Research Center-Université Laval, and the University of Washington. Details of this finding are published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Roseola, also known as "sixth disease," is a very common childhood infection caused by ...

The SAMT project of the European Union will work together with leading industrial actors from the cement, oil, metal, water, waste and chemical industries and review the latest scientific developments within the field of sustainability assessment. In the first phase of the project, a total of 90 methods and tools were reviewed. In the second phase, the best performing methods and practices will be tested with real-life case studies. 'The industries can learn from each other by sharing information on their methods and tools to evaluate sustainability. The SAMT project ...

Protected forested areas in Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia and Thailand have prevented the release of more than 1,000 million additional tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, an economic service provided by nature worth at least $5 billion, according to new research by Georgia State University economist Paul Ferraro with alumnus Merlin M. Hanauer and colleagues. In an article published this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors use this finding to show how conservation research methodology is improved by joining its two distinct ...

A study conducted by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has revealed the importance of single males in small, threatened populations. Results from a study of endangered New Zealand hihi birds (Notiomystis cincta), published this week in Evolutionary Applications, showed that bachelor males who don't hold breeding territories, known as 'floaters', could help maintain genetic diversity and decrease the likelihood of inbreeding by sneakily fathering chicks. These underestimated individuals are vital to the long-term survival of small populations, such as in the hihi, ...

Researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in the Helmholtz Association, in collaboration with the National Heart Research Institute Singapore (NHRIS), have gained new insights into the regulation of disease-associated genes. They used a new technique that enables them to observe gene regulation at the level of protein production. They could thus capture more individual gene regulations than with traditional methods that only capture gene expression and transcription (Nature Communications, doi: 10.1038/ncomms8200)*. When a gene is read, ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have created stretchable, transparent conductors that work because of the structures' "nano-accordion" design. The conductors could be used in a wide variety of applications, such as flexible electronics, stretchable displays or wearable sensors. "There are no conductive, transparent and stretchable materials in nature, so we had to create one," says Abhijeet Bagal, a Ph.D. student in mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State and lead author of a paper describing the work. "Our technique uses geometry to stretch ...

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University have discovered that suspended sediment damages fish gills and can increase the rate of disease in fish. "Suspended sediments result from flood plumes, coastal agricultural and industrial development and from dredging operations and are increasing in coastal waters worldwide," says study co-author, Dr Amelia Wenger. "Fish gills are in direct contact with their environment and are the first line of defence in the animal's immune response, which makes them the perfect place ...

University of Tokyo researchers have discovered the structure and transport properties of the "intermediate state" in lithium-ion batteries - key to understanding the mechanisms of charge and discharge in rechargeable batteries. These findings may help accelerate battery reaction speed and significantly shorten battery charging time. Although there is strong demand to minimize battery-charging time, the mechanisms of battery charge and discharge reactions have yet to be fully understood. While the existence of an "intermediate state" that accelerates battery charge and ...

Researchers have discovered that extreme exercise can cause intestinal bacteria to leak into the bloodstream, leading to blood poisoning. Experts at Monash University monitored people participating in a range of extreme endurance events, including 24-hour ultra-marathons and multi-stage ultra-marathons, run on consecutive days. "Blood samples taken before and after the events, compared with a control group, proved that exercise over a prolonged period of time causes the gut wall to change, allowing the naturally present bacteria, known as endotoxins, in the gut to ...

A promising type of vaccine designed to eradicate malaria by blocking parasite transmission could be a step closer, as a result of experts uncovering new information about the targeted protein. The international team of researchers co-led by Dr Natalie Borg from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University, and Dr Rhoel Dinglasan from the Malaria Research Institute at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, USA, focused on a protein in the Anopheles mosquito midgut called AnAPN1. The research, published in the journal ...

Restricting teenagers from driving unsupervised at night, and introducing strict penalties and other licensing requirements, could reduce crashes significantly, according to research. Published in Health Affairs, the study by researchers from Monash University and Harvard Medical School, shows that driving laws that eliminate or deter unsupervised night driving by people younger than 18 achieve substantial reductions in car crashes. Car crashes are the leading cause of death among people aged 15-19 worldwide. In the US, where the study was based, teen drivers experience ...

This news release is available in German. Speech is produced in the human cerebral cortex. Brain waves associated with speech processes can be directly recorded with electrodes located on the surface of the cortex. It has now been shown for the first time that is possible to reconstruct basic units, words, and complete sentences of continuous speech from these brain waves and to generate the corresponding text. Researchers at KIT and Wadsworth Center, USA present their "Brain-to-Text" system in the scientific journal Frontiers in Neuroscience (doi: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00217). ...

For breast cancer to be fatal, the tumor has to send out metastases to other parts of the body. The cancer cells are spread via the blood vessels, and a research team at Lund University in Sweden has now proven that the protein ALK1 determines the extent of the tumor's spread in the body. The higher the levels of the protein on the surface of the blood vessels, the greater their permeability to tumor cells and therefore the greater the risk of metastases. The new study also shows that the drug Dalantercept can prevent the spread of tumour cells in breast cancer by blocking ...

This news release is available in German. In 1915 Albert Einstein formulated the theory of general relativity which fundamentally changed our understanding of gravity. He explained gravity as the manifestation of the curvature of space and time. Einstein's theory predicts that the flow of time is altered by mass. This effect, known as "gravitational time dilation", causes time to be slowed down near a massive object. It affects everything and everybody; in fact, people working on the ground floor will age slower than their colleagues a floor above, by about 10 nanoseconds ...

The same kind of contraction that fires our muscles also controls a key stage of mammalian embryo development, according to a new study published in Nature Cell Biology. The research, conducted at EMBL Heidelberg, measured and mapped how cells in very early stage embryos bond tightly together. The scientists also discovered a cellular behaviour that hadn't been observed before: cells in the embryo 'dance', each one making the same rhythmic movement. The focus of the study was a stage of development known as compaction, which takes place when the embryo has eight cells. ...

In recent decades, enormous successes have been achieved in the field of public health. Three examples of these are the fight against HIV, the reduction in cardiovascular disease, and protection for non-smokers. For Germany to make even better use of the potential of public health, it needs more political support, improved research structures, and stronger international involvement. The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, acatech - the National Academy of Science and Engineering, and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities point this out ...

Starfish have strange talents. Two biology students from University of Southern Denmark have revealed that starfish are able to squeeze foreign bodies along the length of their body cavities and out through their arm tips. This newly discovered talent gives insight into how certain animals are able to quickly heal themselves. The two biology students, Frederik Ekholm Gaardsted Christensen and Trine Bottos Olsen have discovered a starfish behaviour that has never previously been described in the scientific literature. As part of their studies they were asked to tag some ...

Chimpanzees and bonobos are the two closest living relatives of the human species - the ultimate tool-using ape. Yet, despite being so closely related on the evolutionary tree, wild chimpanzees and bonobos differ hugely in the way they use tools. Chimpanzees show the most diverse range of tool use outside of humans. For example, chimpanzees use sticks to 'fish' for ants and termites, stones to crack nuts, as well as tools for grooming and communication. Bonobos rarely use tools and never to forage for food. The question of 'what makes a tool user?' is a key one in ...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Improving air quality -- in clean and dirty places -- could reduce pollution-related deaths worldwide by millions of people each year. That finding comes from a team of environmental engineering and public health researchers who developed a global model of how changes in outdoor air pollution could lead to changes in the rates of health problems such as heart attack, stroke and lung cancer. Outdoor particulate air pollution results in 3.2 million premature deaths annually, more than the combined impact of HIV-AIDS and malaria. The researchers found that ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: Despite a prevalence of anonymous sperm donation in European countries, the use of the same sperm donor for subsequent conceptions is of paramount importance to those couples needing sperm donation to have children. "We found a marked tendency to favour full genetic bonds where possible," said midwife Sara Somers presenting study results today at the Annual Meeting of ESHRE. The study, performed by Ms Somers and colleagues at the Ghent University Hospital and Ghent University in Belgium, included 34 lesbian and heterosexual couples using sperm donation ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: Dilatation and curettage (D&C) is one of the most common minor surgical procedures in obstetrics and gynaecology, used mainly for miscarriage or terminations.(1) Today, use of the 15-minute procedure is declining in favour of less invasive medical methods, but it still remains common in O&G. Although D&C is generally considered safe and easy to perform, it is associated with some serious (if rare) side effects, including perforations to the cervix and uterus, infection, and bleeding. Now, an analysis 21 cohort studies which included almost 2 million ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: It is a biological fact that female fertility declines with age - in assisted conception as in natural. Indeed, findings from a 12-year study reported today at the Annual Meeting of ESHRE by Dr Marta Devesa from the Hospital Universitaro Quiron-Dexeus in Barcelona, Spain, showed that in her own clinic cumulative live birth rates following IVF declined from 23.6% in women aged 38-39 years to 1.3% in those aged 44 and over.(1) Such declines in success rate have been seen in many studies, but are not evident in older patients having egg donation to ...

Lisbon, 16 June 2015: The risk of ectopic pregnancy following fertility treatment with assisted reproduction (ART) is small but significantly higher than found in natural conceptions. Now, a nationwide population-based analysis of all ART pregnancies achieved in the UK between 2000 and 2012 has found that the rate of ectopic pregnancy following IVF and ICSI progressively decreased throughout these 12 years, almost halving from an overall rate of 20 to 12 cases per thousand. The results of the study are presented today at the Annual Meeting of ESHRE in Lisbon by Professor ...