LAWRENCE -- For centuries, people have imagined the possibility of life on Mars. But long-held dreams that Martians could be invaders of Earth, or little green men, or civilized superbeings, all have been undercut by missions to our neighboring planet that have, so far, uncovered no life at all. Yet visits to the Red Planet by unmanned probes from NASA and the European Space Agency have found evidence that a prime condition for life once may have existed: water. "There has been a tremendous amount of very exciting findings this year that Mars once contained actively ...

The Aqua satellite's MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument took this image of the fires in Siberia. The top image shows the full sized false color image of the area highlighting the burn scars from previous fires. The sliding "before and after" image shows the real and false color images side-by-side for comparison. The left side shows current fires burning denoted by the red spots. These spots show areas where the thermal detectors on the MODIS instrument recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, ...

Soft matter encompasses a broad swath of materials, including liquids, polymers, gels, foam and - most importantly - biomolecules. At the heart of soft materials, governing their overall properties and capabilities, are the interactions of nano-sized components. Observing the dynamics behind these interactions is critical to understanding key biological processes, such as protein crystallization and metabolism, and could help accelerate the development of important new technologies, such as artificial photosynthesis or high-efficiency photovoltaic cells. Observing these ...

DNA damage caused by smoking can be detected in cheek swabs, finds research published today in JAMA Oncology. The study provides evidence that smoking induces a general cancer program that is also present in cancers which aren't usually associated with it - including breast and gynaecological cancers. The research team, led by Professor Martin Widschwendter, Head of the Department of Women's Cancer at the UCL Institute for Women's Health and Dr Andrew Teschendorff (UCL Cancer Institute) looked at epigenetic alterations - changes to the DNA that switch genes on and off. ...

May 14, 2015 - For medical practices, having more unique doctors on staff and having doctors see more patients doesn't necessarily lead to improved patient outcomes--and in fact, may have the opposite effect, according to a brief report in the June issue of Medical Care. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer. The study shows that high blood pressure (BP) is less likely to normalize during times when the number of unique doctors on staff is higher and more patients are seen, suggesting that "[W]hen practices are busier, BP care may suffer," writes Nancy R. Kressin, ...

Automated analysis of the vital signs commonly monitored in patients being transported to trauma centers could significantly improve the ability to diagnose those with life-threatening bleeding before they arrive at the hospital, potentially saving their lives. In the May issue of the journal Shock, a research team from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the U.S. Army, air ambulance service Boston MedFlight, and two other Boston trauma centers report successful field testing of a system that simultaneously analyzed blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing patterns during ...

Scientists have made an important step towards understanding how volcanic eruptions happen, after identifying a previously unrecognised potential trigger. An international team of researchers from the University of Liverpool, Monash University and the University of Newcastle (Australia) think their findings could lead to new ways of interpreting signs of volcanic unrest measured by satellites and surface observations. Dr Janine Kavanagh, from the University of Liverpool's School of Environmental Sciences and lead author of the research paper, said: "Understanding the ...

Led by Georgia State University, researchers have developed the first robust and noninvasive detection of early stage liver cancer and liver metastases, in addition to other liver diseases, such as cirrhosis and liver fibrosis. Their findings were published Wednesday (May 13) in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. More than 700,000 people are diagnosed with liver cancer each year. It is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for more than 600,000 deaths annually, according to the American Cancer Society. The rate of liver cancer in the ...

The combination of a cholesterol-lowering drug, Bezafibrate, and a contraceptive steroid, Medroxyprogesterone Acetate, could be an effective, non-toxic treatment for a range of cancers, researchers at the University of Birmingham have found. The findings published in the journal Cancer Research show that the drugs kill cancer cells in a completely new way. Early stage clinical trials of the drugs in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) have shown promising results, with survival three months longer on average than standard palliative care. The combination, ...

Alexandria, VA - The evolutionary age of grass has been hotly contested. Scientists have previously dated the earliest grasses to 55 million years ago; after the dinosaurs went extinct. Now, a new 100-million-year-old specimen of amber from Myanmar potentially pushes back grass evolution to the Late Cretaceous. Scientists from the Oregon State University who studied the amber believe they identified "spikelet" - grass in its flowering state - and a cluster of fossilized ergot, a major ingredient in LSD. While their conclusions are intriguing, and have implications for ...

The knock-on effects of the economic downturn have been explored in economy and psychology. Now researchers are examining the effects of unemployment on an even darker subject - cancer mortality. One would think that dealing with unemployment was challenge enough. But according to the latest research published in ecancermedicalscience, rises in unemployment are associated with significant increases in prostate cancer mortality. This is the first study that has systematically explored the consequences that changes in unemployment - in particular the Great Recession ...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) today announced results from four major studies to be presented at ASCO's 51st Annual Meeting, May 29-June 2, in Chicago. Findings showed that use of a widely available vitamin pill reduces the risk of non-melanoma skin cancers; that early chemotherapy extends the lives of men with advanced prostate cancers; and that new therapies can improve outcomes for children with a rare form of kidney cancer and adults with relapsed multiple myeloma. The studies are among the around 5,000 abstracts publicly released ...

WASHINGTON - A special issue of American Psychologist provides a comprehensive review of over 40 years of research on bullying among school age youth, documenting the current understanding of the complexity of the issue and suggesting directions for future research. "The lore of bullies has long permeated literature and popular culture. Yet bullying as a distinct form of interpersonal aggression was not systematically studied until the 1970s. Attention to the topic has since grown exponentially," said Shelley Hymel, PhD, professor of human development, learning and culture ...

LOS ANGELES (May 14, 2015) - Millions of people afflicted by irritable bowel syndrome can now be diagnosed quickly and accurately with two simple blood tests developed by a Cedars-Sinai gastroenterologist. The tests, created by Mark Pimentel, MD, director of the GI Motility Program and Laboratory, confirm when a patient has developed IBS because of food poisoning, a major cause of the disorder. Toxins produced by bacteria, such as salmonella, can severely harm the digestive system by damaging nerves critical to healthy gut function. The new blood tests identify the ...

Researchers have published results in Environmental Research Letters confirming strong warming in the upper troposphere, known colloquially as the tropospheric hotspot. The hot has been long expected as part of global warming theory and appears in many global climate models. The inability to detect this hotspot previously has been used by those who doubt man-made global warming to suggest climate change is not occurring as a result of increasing carbon dioxide emissions. "Using more recent data and better analysis methods we have been able to re-examine the global weather ...

A new report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics calls for a change in culture across all areas of children's health research, so that children's and young people's views and opinions can help to shape how research is prioritised, designed and reviewed. Unless ethical concerns about asking children to take part in research are addressed, our understanding of childhood disorders and ability to provide evidence based care will remain limited. "It will always be easier to say 'no' to research with children on the grounds that it's too difficult, but we should challenge ...

A new Australian study shows that cells which form the bulk of our fast-acting 'innate' immune system behave differently, depending on whether an injury is infected or not. It is well known that paparazzi-like 'neutrophils' swarm to sites of injury within minutes to undertake damage control and kill invaders. Most have very short lives and self-destruct once their job is done. Sydney researchers now demonstrate that in certain cases neutrophils can also enlist reinforcements in their fight against pathogens. If the injury is infected, neutrophils seek out accomplices ...

A ground-breaking discovery by Monash University researchers could revolutionise treatments given to lupus sufferers, saving thousands of people each year from serious illness or death caused by secondary infections. Lupus is a vicious and widespread autoimmune disease that can attack any part of the body. It affects one in 1,000 Australians and 5 million people worldwide, and its victims are typically young women. Indigenous and Asian people suffer higher rates than other groups. Current treatments for lupus essentially 'switch off' the patient's immune system to stop ...

This news release is available in Spanish. Compelling clinical activity of PM1183 in second line, achieving 67% response rate and a progression-free survival of 4.7 months in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), a type of tumor with very limited treatment alternatives Data from an interim analysis from the pivotal Phase 3 trial of YONDELIS® in soft tissue sarcoma, SAR-3007, will be presented in an oral presentation Phase 2 data showcase activity of YONDELIS® in malignant pleural mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer that is largely related ...

Even a busy job may not provide enough exercise to meet current activity recommendations for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, according to a study reported today at the EuroPRevent congress in Lisbon.1 Dr Eleanor McIntyre from the Galway University Hospital in Ireland said that the workplace - where most adults spend around 60% of their waking hours - "represents a significant domain where short bouts of physical activity can be accrued and counted towards the recommended guidelines" for CVD prevention. However, results from this small study, which assessed the ...

WASHINGTON (May 13, 2015) -- An early phase study testing an anti-PDL1 agent in combination with standard chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer has provided promising early results, prompting multiple phase III studies in lung cancer. The findings are being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). In this phase 1b study, patients with untreated non-small cell lung cancer received one of three standard platinum-based chemotherapy regimens (paclitaxel/carboplatin, pemetrexed/carboplatin or nab-paclitaxel/carboplatin) ...

MANHATTAN, Kansas -- Our belief in pure evil influences our feelings about capital punishment, finds a Kansas State University psychology study. Donald Saucier, associate professor of psychological sciences and 2015-2016 Coffman chair for distinguished teaching scholars, looked at how beliefs in pure evil influenced how people treated those who committed crimes. He recently completed the study with Russell Webster at St. Mary's College of Maryland. Approximately 200 participants were given a summary of a case in which a murderer confessed to his crime. Researchers then ...

AURORA, Colo. (May 14, 2015) - More than half of all Medicaid enrollees prefer the "one-stop shop" of a hospital emergency department to receive care for conditions that could be treated effectively at a primary care clinic, according to an article by a researcher at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus. The finding exposes a gap in the services provided to Medicaid enrollees. From a patient's perspective, going to the hospital emergency department may be less expensive because patients can avoid costs of travel and time away from ...

PHILADELPHIA - In the first-of-its-kind study since the passage of the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (the HOPE Act), which lifted the ban on organ donations from one HIV-positive person to another, Penn Medicine researchers report on the quality of these organs and how their use might impact the country's organ shortage. The study, published online ahead of print May 14 in the American Journal of Transplantation, revealed that there are nearly 400 HIV-positive potential organ donors who could be sources of donated organs annually for HIV-positive patients waiting for organ ...

All land is not created equal. Some ecosystems do triple duty in the benefits they provide to society. Massachusetts forests, for example, filter public drinking water while also providing habitat for threatened species and storing carbon to combat climate change. Ecologists and conservation groups single out the hardest-working ecosystems -- called "hotspots" -- for their exceptional conservation value. A new study published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology reports that the number of ecosystem hotspots has increased in Massachusetts over the past decade, with ...