VIDEO: This is an animation of the growth and development of the extinct rangeomorph species Beothukis mistakenis, which lived during the Ediacaran Period from approximately 575 to 555 million years ago.... Click here for more information. A bizarre group of uniquely shaped organisms known as rangeomorphs may have been some of the earliest animals to appear on Earth, uniquely suited to ocean conditions 575 million years ago. A new model devised by researchers at the University ...

A study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers found that injecting a vaccine-like compound into mice was effective in protecting them from malaria. The findings suggest a potential new path toward the elusive goal of malaria immunization. Mice, injected with a virus genetically altered to help the rodents create an antibody designed to fight the malaria parasite, produced high levels of the anti-malaria antibody. The approach, known as Vector immunoprophylaxis, or VIP, has shown promise in HIV studies but has never been tested with malaria, ...

Winston-Salem, N.C. – August 11, 2014 – Taking advantage of technology that can analyze tissue samples and measure the activity of thousands of genes at once, scientists at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center are on a mission to better understand and treat interstitial cystitis (IC), a painful and difficult-to-diagnose bladder condition. "We are looking for molecular biomarkers for IC, which basically means we are comparing bladder biopsy tissue from patients with suspected interstitial cystitis to patients without the disease. The goal is to identify factors that will ...

A team of clinician researchers has discovered a highly virulent, multidrug resistant form of the pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, in patient samples in Ohio. Their investigation suggests that the particular genetic element involved, which is still rare in the United States, has been spreading heretofore unnoticed, and that surveillance is urgently needed. The research is published ahead of print in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The P. aeruginosa contained a gene for a drug resistant enzyme called a metallo beta-lactamase. Beta-lactamases enable broad-spectrum ...

Recent research has suggested that women play better with others in small working groups, and that adding women to a group is a surefire way to boost team collaboration and creativity. But a new study from Washington University in St. Louis finds that this is only true when women work on teams that aren't competing against each other. Force teams to go head to head and the benefits of a female approach evaporate. "Intergroup competition is a double-edged sword that ultimately provides an advantage to groups and units composed predominantly or exclusively of men, while ...

A new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Idaho State University (ISU) explored how habitat alterations, including the addition of energy transmission towers, affect avian predators nesting in sagebrush landscapes. Researchers compared nesting habitat selection between Common Ravens and three raptor species commonly found in sagebrush ecosystems: Red-tailed Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, and Ferruginous Hawks. Using the data from their field research and reviewing historical data from other studies, the scientists developed ...

Empathy is important for navigating complex social situations, and is considered a highly desirable trait. Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, discussed how exposure to narrative fiction may improve our ability to understand what other people are thinking or feeling in his session at the American Psychological Association's 122nd Annual Convention. Exposure to stories Many stories are about people--their mental states, their relationships—even stories with inanimate objects, may have human-like characteristics. Mar explains that we understand stories ...

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center has issued its 30th warning on Julio today at 1500 GMT. Julio's position at this point is 395 miles northeast of Honolulu, Hawaii moving northwest at 8 knots per hour. Julio is moving toward the northwest near 9 mph, 15 km/h. Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph, 120 km/h, with higher gusts. Julio is expected to weaken slightly over the next 48 hours, down to tropical storm strength by tonight. At present, hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles, 35 km, from the center, and tropical storm force winds extend outward ...

Once Super Typhoon Genevieve has now been downgraded to a tropical storm. The storm is located approximately 819 nautical miles west-northwest of Midway Island. It is currently tracking northwestward at 8 knots per hour over the past six hours. Maximum significant wave height is 32 feet. Maximum sustained winds 70 knots gusting to 85 knots, with winds of 34 knots or higher occur within 80 to 105 miles of the cente,r and winds of 64 knots or higher occur within 15 miles of the center. No landmasses are currently threatened by this storm. Genevieve is moving northwest ...

The Southfork Complex fire began with a lightning strike on July 31, 2014. The complex of Murderers Creek South fire and the Buck Fork fire is located 20 miles southwest of John Day, Oregon and has affected 62,476 acres to date. The fire area experienced a shift in direction of the prevailing winds Sunday. There were short up-slope, up-canyon runs. At present there are 798 personnel fighting this fire complex. Projected outlook for this fire complex in the next twelve hours sees continued fire spread to to the north toward Dayville, Oregon as well as continued fire ...

The Devil's Elbow Complex is four wildfires that are located on the Colville Indian Reservation in northeastern Washington. They were detected on August 3, but were likely ignited by lightning that passed through the area on August 2. Three fires are in the San Poil River Valley, approximately 10-12 miles north of the town of Keller, WA. These are the Cub Creek Fire (165), the Central Peak Fire (160), and the Deadhorse Fire (164). They are burning timber, grass, brush, litter, and heavy slash that resulted from a local wind storm two years ago. The terrain is very steep ...

Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and five other institutions have created a molecule that can cause cancer cells to self-destruct by ferrying sodium and chloride ions into the cancer cells. These synthetic ion transporters, described this week in the journal Nature Chemistry, confirm a two-decades-old hypothesis that could point the way to new anticancer drugs while also benefitting patients with cystic fibrosis. Synthetic ion transporters have been created before, but this is the first time researchers have shown them working in a real biological ...

To make a better optical fiber for transmitting laser beams, the first idea that comes to mind is probably not a nice long hydrogen bath. And yet, scientists have known for years that hydrogen can alter the performance of optical fibers, which are often used to transmit or even generate laser light in optical devices. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have put this hydrogen "cure" to practical use, making optical fibers that transmit stable, high-power ultraviolet laser light for hundreds of hours. NIST scientists expect these hydrogen-treated ...

A protein present at high levels in more than half of all human cancers drives cell growth by blocking the expression of just a handful of genes involved in DNA packaging and cell death, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The researchers found that the protein, called Myc, works through a tiny regulatory molecule called a microRNA to suppress the genes' expression. It marks the first time that a subset of Myc-controlled genes has been identified as critical players in the protein's cancer-causing function, and suggests ...

Researchers have strived for years to determine how neurons are produced and integrated into the brain throughout adult life. In an intriguing twist, scientists reporting in the August 11 issue of the Cell Press journal Developmental Cell provide evidence that adult-born neurons are derived from a special type of circulating blood cell produced by the immune system. The findings—which were made in crayfish—suggest that the immune system may contribute to the development of the unknown role of certain brain diseases in the development of brain and other tissues. In many ...

During pregnancy, certain hormones trigger specialized mammary stem cells to create milk-producing cells essential to lactation. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have found that mammary stem cells associated with the pregnant mammary gland are related to stem cells found in breast cancer. Writing in the August 11, 2014 issue of Developmental Cell, David A. Cheresh, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Pathology and vice-chair for research and development, Jay Desgrosellier, PhD, assistant professor of pathology ...

A recent study by investigators at VIB and KU Leuven has demonstrated that chloroquine also normalizes the abnormal blood vessels in tumors. This blood vessel normalization results in an increased barrier function on the one hand -- thereby blocking cancer cell dissemination and metastasis -- and in enhanced tumor perfusion on the other hand, which increases the response of the tumor to chemotherapy. The anti-cancer effect of the antimalarial agent chloroquine when combined with conventional chemotherapy has been well documented in experimental animal models. To date, ...

MUSKEGON, Mich. -- Climate change is having a direct negative effect on the Great Lakes, including impacts to recreational value, drinking water potential, and becoming more suited to invasive species and infectious pathogens, according to a Grand Valley State University researcher. The impact of climate change on the Great Lakes, as well as other natural resources in the United States, was explored in the report "Science, Education, and Outreach Roadmap for Natural Resources," recently released by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Kevin Strychar, ...

DALLAS – Aug. 11, 2014 – Researchers at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have identified a gene that contributes to the development of several childhood cancers, in a study conducted with mice designed to model the cancers. If the findings prove to be applicable to humans, the research could lead to new strategies for targeting certain childhood cancers at a molecular level. The study was published today in the journal Cancer Cell. “We and others have found that Lin28b – a gene that is normally turned on in fetal but not adult ...

Immigration to the U.S. may result in increased smoking in Latino and Asian women, according to new research from sociologists at Rice University, Duke University and the University of Southern California. The study, "Gender, Acculturation and Smoking Behavior Among U.S. Asian and Latino Immigrants," examines smoking prevalence and frequency among Asian and Latino U.S. immigrants. The research focuses on how gender differences in smoking behavior are shaped by aspects of acculturation and the original decision to migrate. The study was published recently in the journal ...

West Orange, NJ. August 11, 2014 -- Kessler Foundation scientists have published results of cognitive research that show the negative effects that unexpected task constraint, following self-generated task choice, has on task-switching performance. The article, "You can't always get what you want: The influence of unexpected task constraint on voluntary task switching", was published online on June 11 by The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (DOI:10.1080/17470218.2014.917115). The authors are Starla Weaver, PhD, and Glenn Wylie, DPhil, of Kessler Foundation, John ...

ROSEMONT, Ill.─"Doctor shopping," the growing practice of obtaining narcotic prescriptions from multiple providers, has led to measurable increases in drug use among postoperative trauma patients. The study, "Narcotic Use and Postoperative Doctor Shopping in the Orthopaedic Trauma Population," appearing in the August issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (JBJS), links doctor shopping to higher narcotic use among orthopaedic patients. The data was presented earlier this year at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). "There ...

> Our immunosensory system detects virus such as influenza via specific characteristics of viral ribonucleic acid. Previously, it was unclear how the immune system prevents viruses from simply donning molecular camouflage in order to escape detection. An international team of researchers from the University of Bonn Hospital and the London Research Institute have now discovered that our immunosensory system attacks viruses on a molecular level. In this way, a healthy organism can keep rotaviruses, a common cause of diarrheal epidemics, at bay. The results have been published ...

Queen's University researcher Richard Oko and his co-investigators have come up with a promising method of treating male infertility using a synthetic version of the sperm-originated protein known as PAWP. They found this protein is sufficient and required to initiate the fertilization process. Dr. Oko's research promises to diagnose and treat cases of male factor infertility where a patient's sperm is unable to initiate or induce activation of the egg to form an early embryo. "PAWP is able to induce embryo development in human eggs in a fashion similar to the natural ...

PHILADELPHIA – Groundwater and air quality testing before, during, and after natural gas drilling – which includes hydraulic fracturing -- should be key components of efforts to ensure the safety of communities near these sites, according to an expert panel convened to weigh in on public health research needs associated with unconventional natural gas drilling operations (UNGDO). The panel also urges that any research conducted should use "community-based participatory research principles" so that the concerns of the many stakeholders involved in these activities can be ...