Leesburg, VA, May 6, 2014—A small group of patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic carcinoma suffered no major ill effects—pancreatitis or fistula formation—after undergoing percutaneous CT-guided irreversible electroporation (IRE)—a nonthermal ablation technology that is safe near vascular and ductal structures—as a therapy. "Our findings exceeded our expectations," said Maria Paola Belfiore, a researcher at the Institute of Radiology, Second University of Naples. "In fact, three patients were downstaged, and so had a greater life expectancy. This is a ...

Boston, MA — At the elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 anticipated by around 2050, crops that provide a large share of the global population with most of their dietary zinc and iron will have significantly reduced concentrations of those nutrients, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Given that an estimated two billion people suffer from zinc and iron deficiencies, resulting in a loss of 63 million life years annually from malnutrition, the reduction in these nutrients represents the most significant health threat ever shown to be associated ...

CINCINNATI – A new study in Nature challenges research data that form the scientific basis of clinical trials in which heart attack patients are injected with stem cells to try and regenerate damaged heart tissue. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), report May 7 that cardiac stem cells used in ongoing clinical trials – which express a protein marker called c-kit – do not regenerate contractile heart muscle cells at high enough rates to justify their use for treatment. Including collaboration from ...

The rapid melting of Greenland glaciers is captured in the documentary "Chasing Ice." The retreat of the ice edge from one year to the next sends more water into the sea. Now University of Washington atmospheric scientists have estimated that up to half of the recent warming in Greenland and surrounding areas may be due to climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the planet. Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to global warming caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions. The paper is ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers have some bad news for future farmers and eaters: As carbon dioxide levels rise this century, some grains and legumes will become significantly less nutritious than they are today. The new findings are reported in the journal Nature. Eight institutions, from Australia, Israel, Japan and the United States, contributed to the analysis. The researchers looked at multiple varieties of wheat, rice, field peas, soybeans, maize and sorghum grown in fields with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels like those expected in the middle of this century. ...

LA JOLLA, CA—May 7, 2014—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA "letters," or bases, not found in nature. The cells of this unique bacterium can replicate the unnatural DNA bases more or less normally, for as long as the molecular building blocks are supplied. "Life on Earth in all its diversity is encoded by only two pairs of DNA bases, A-T and C-G, and what we've made is an organism that stably contains those two plus a third, unnatural pair of bases," said TSRI Associate Professor ...

BOSTON -- Blood vessel formation is critical to life and its manipulation is instrumental to a number of diseases. For more than 40 years, investigations into the structure and function of endothelial cells lining the blood vessels have revealed a complex tissue with complex functions, demonstrating that endothelial cells participate in all aspects of vascular homeostasis and pathological processes. Today, important revelations regarding endothelial cell behavior are emerging from vascular simulation research, a blossoming interdisciplinary field that makes use of novel ...

During two days of intensive airborne measurements, oil and gas operations in Colorado's Front Range leaked nearly three times as much methane, a greenhouse gas, as predicted based on inventory estimates, and seven times as much benzene, a regulated air toxic. Emissions of other chemicals that contribute to summertime ozone pollution were about twice as high as estimates, according to the new paper, accepted for publication in the American Geophysical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. "These discrepancies are substantial," said lead author Gabrielle ...

Move over, Matrix - astronomers have done you one better. They have created the first realistic virtual universe using a computer simulation called "Illustris." Illustris can recreate 13 billion years of cosmic evolution in a cube 350 million light-years on a side with unprecedented resolution. "Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the universe on both large and small scales simultaneously," says lead author Mark Vogelsberger (MIT/Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), who conducted the work in collaboration with researchers at several institutions, ...

NEW YORK, NY (May 7, 2014) — A study has shown that a long-overlooked form of neuron-to-neuron communication called miniature neurotransmission plays an essential role in the development of synapses, the regions where nerve impulses are transmitted and received. The findings, made in fruit flies, raise the possibility that abnormalities in miniature neurotransmission may contribute to neurodevelopmental diseases. The findings, by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), were published today in the online edition of the journal Neuron. The primary way ...

VIDEO: The recent appearance of the freshwater algae known as "rock snot " on river bottoms worldwide is caused by a native species responding to changing environmental conditions rather than by accidental... Click here for more information. The recent blooms of the freshwater algae known as "rock snot" on river bottoms worldwide are caused by a native species responding to changing environmental conditions rather than by accidental introductions by fishermen or the ...

A University of Alberta study is helping crack the code to happiness by exploring the long reach of depression and anger over more than two decades. The study, published recently in the Journal of Family Psychology, followed 341 people for 25 years, and found that negative emotions they may have suffered as young adults can have a lasting grip on their couple relationships, well into middle age. The fact that depression and anger experienced during the teen years clung to people, even through major life events such as child-rearing, marriages and careers was surprising, ...

Young mothers are more likely to breastfeed and have positive relationships with their babies when they have another woman "mothering" them in the delivery room, according to new research at the University of Chicago on the value of doulas—women who help with deliveries and early care for mothers and babies. The assistance from doulas is particularly valuable to young mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds. Those mothers sometimes receive help from women known as community doulas, who are from similar backgrounds as the young women and who visit them weekly for several ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — New research at Michigan State University shows that the uber-destructive emerald ash borer arrived at least 10 years before it was first identified in North America. The study, published in the current issue of journal Diversity and Distributions, shows that EABs were feasting on ash trees in southeast Michigan by the early 1990s, well before this pest was discovered in 2002, said Deb McCullough, MSU professor of forest entomology. "We suspect they arrived inside wood crating or pallets imported from Asia where the beetle is native," she said. ...

This news release is available in Spanish. The work, which has had the participation of the Ikerbasque researcher Javier Gorosabal, co-director of the Associated Unit with the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia/CSIC-UPV/EHU, has been published in the prestigious journal Nature. There is no other event in the cosmos that can compete in terms of energy and intensity with stellar explosions on the outer reaches of the universe and which are known as LGRBs (Long Gamma-Ray Bursts): in just one second a single GRB can emit as many as hundreds of stars like the Sun ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Companies should use existing brand names and add new, sub-brand names to maximize revenue when introducing new products to market, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo School of Management. Forthcoming in Management Science, the study notes a proliferation of new products in the consumer packaged-goods market each year. For example, U.S. manufacturers introduced more than 150,000 new products in 2010 alone. Of these, more than 90 percent were extensions of existing brand-name products. "These new products can be line extensions, like ...

VIDEO: Melody Eide, M.D., M.P.H., a Henry Ford Hospital dermatologist and the study's lead author, says regular visits to the doctor may lead to significant reductions in melanoma mortality.... Click here for more information. DETROIT – The risk of dying from the most dangerous type of skin cancer is significantly reduced with regular doctor visits, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study. This is believed to be the first study of its kind to link melanoma mortality with ...

STANFORD, Calif. — New research could soon make it easier for people with type-1 diabetes to get a safe night's sleep, says a Stanford University School of Medicine scientist who led the study. In a large trial conducted in patients' homes in the United States and Canada, scientists demonstrated that they could predict and prevent dangerously low overnight blood sugars in adolescents and adults with type-1 diabetes. Very low blood-sugar levels can cause seizures or even, in rare cases, death. People with type-1 diabetes often sense warning signs of low blood sugar when ...

EDMONTON—The discovery of an ancient ring-like structure in southern Alberta suggests the area was struck by a meteorite large enough to leave an eight-kilometre-wide crater, producing an explosion strong enough to destroy present-day Calgary, say researchers from the Alberta Geological Survey and University of Alberta. The first hints about the impact site near the southern Alberta hamlet of Bow City were discovered by a geologist with the Alberta Geological Survey and studied by a U of A team led by Doug Schmitt, Canada Research Chair in Rock Physics. Time and glaciers ...

The fact that the eight-legged creepy spider in some ways resembles humans is one of the surprising conclusions after researchers at Aarhus University and the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) succeeded in sequencing its genome. However, it is more a discovery on an awesome scale. The sequencing has far greater significance for our future understanding of the spider's special properties. "In brief, we've acquired a tool for everyone interested in spiders," say Kristian W. Sanggaard and Jesper S. Bechsgaard, Aarhus University. Together with Xiaodong Fang, BGI, they are ...

Theta-band activity in hippocampus after an event seems to be crucial for learning. A study at the University of Jyväskylä also proved that the absence of theta facilitated learning a simple task while training during theta had no effect on learning. Hippocampus is a brain structure that has a critical role in mammalian learning. The identification of different hippocampal states is based on the oscillatory properties of electrophysiological activity. Traditionally, rhythmic slow activity, theta, has been linked to attention, whereas transient bursts of synchronised neuronal ...

The US Global Change Research Program released its Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) of the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystems this Tuesday, May 6. The NCA is the most comprehensive peer-reviewed analysis of climate change's impacts in the United States, informing Americans about the effects of climate change in their backyards. "As an ecologist, you can't escape the effects of climate change on natural resources. We're observing climate impacts in nearly all natural and managed ecosystems," said Ecological Society of America President Jill ...

A number of studies have shown that breastfed babies grow slightly slower and are slightly slimmer than children who are fed with infant formula. Children who are breastfed also have a slightly lower incidence of obesity, allergies, diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease later in life. According to a new study by the National Food Institute and the University of Copenhagen this may be due to the fact that breastfeeding promotes the development of beneficial bacteria in the baby's gut. "We have become increasingly aware of how crucially important a healthy gut microbial ...

Physicists are now designing novel materials with physical properties tailored to meet specific energy consumption needs. Before these so-called materials-by-design can be applied, it is essential to understand their characteristics, such as heat flow. Now, a team of Italian physicists has developed a predictive theoretical model for heat flux in these materials, using atom-scale calculations. The research, carried out by Claudio Melis and colleagues from the University of Cagliary, Italy, is published in EPJ B. Their findings could have implications for optimising the ...

Bioengineers at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University of Montreal have used DNA to develop a tool that detects and reacts to chemical changes caused by cancer cells and that may one day be used to deliver drugs to tumor cells. The researchers' nanosensor measures pH variations at the nanoscale – how acidic (a higher pH level) or alkaline (a lower pH level) it is. Many biomolecules, such as enzymes and proteins, are strongly regulated by small pH changes. These changes affect in turn biological activities such as enzyme catalysis, protein assembly, membrane ...