VIDEO: A 70-foot-long, 52-ton concrete bridge survived a series of earthquakes in the first multiple-shake-table experiment in the University of Nevada, Reno's new Earthquake Engineering Lab, the newest addition to the... Click here for more information. RENO, Nev. – A 70-foot-long, 52-ton concrete bridge survived a series of earthquakes in the first multiple-shake-table experiment in the University of Nevada, Reno's new Earthquake Engineering Lab, the newest addition to the ...

Fires are a way of life during the hot, dry summer days, but that does not mean they are ever taken for granted. Thousands of lightning strikes Sunday (7/13) and early Monday (7/14) probably started most of the wildfires, which are burning on private, public and reservation land. Dozens of fires are plaguing the forest areas in the state of Oregon. In this image, are shown the Buzzard Fire, the Shaniko Butte fire, the Bridge 99 Complex fire, and the Saddle Draw Fire. The Buzzard Complex fire began as a lightning strike. Difficult terrain, combined with extremely dry ...

Tempe, Ariz. -- A heat-sensing camera designed at Arizona State University has provided data to create the most detailed global map yet made of Martian surface properties. The map uses data from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), a nine-band visual and infrared camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. A version of the map optimized for scientific researchers is available at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The new Mars map was developed by the Geological Survey's Robin Fergason at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., in collaboration ...

Rapidly accumulating data on the molecular sequences of animal genes are overturning some standard zoological narratives about how major animal groups evolved. The turmoil means that biologists should adopt guidelines to ensure that their evolutionary scenarios remain consistent with new information—which a surprising number of scenarios are not, according to a critical overview article to be published in the August issue of BioScience and now available with Advance Access. The article, by Ronald A Jenner of the Natural History Museum in London, describes how evolutionary ...

Obese women were better able to identify cues that predict monetary rewards than those that predict food rewards, according to a study by Yale School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues in the journal Current Biology. The findings could result in specific behavioral interventions to treat obesity. "Instead of focusing on reactions to the food itself, such interventions could focus on modifying the way in which obese individuals learn about the environment and about cues predicting food rewards," said lead author Ifat Levy, assistant professor of comparative medicine ...

EUGENE, Ore. – (July 16, 2014) – A new study by researchers at the University of Oregon published today in the journal Neuron describes a brainstem circuit in mice that may help explain how active movement impacts the way the brain processes sensory information. "Previous studies have examined changes in the visual cortex of mice during running. What was unknown was how do running and vision get linked together in the first place?" said Cristopher Niell, a biology professor in the Institute of Neuroscience and the senior author on the paper "Identification of a Brainstem ...

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (July 14, 2014) -- When envisioning a new structure, engineers often have to balance design choices against the environmental impact of materials used. It is estimated that 40 to 50 percent of greenhouse gases are produced by the construction industry, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board. Lessening the impact of construction on the environment is a work in progress. Researchers at the University of Miami (UM) and the University of Milwaukee School of Engineering are searching for designs and materials that are less harmful ...

Anyone who has squashed a stink bug knows why they got their name. Although just a nuisance to homeowners, the insects feed on and damage fruits and vegetables, causing significant economic losses for farmers. Now scientists report in ACS' Journal of Natural Products that they've discovered certain stink bug pheromone components and made them artificially in the lab for the first time, and these substances can be used to monitor and manage their populations. Ashot Khrimian and colleagues explain that the brown marmorated stink bug, also known as Halyomorpha halys, is ...

Rochester, Minn. — An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a potentially life-threatening condition: If the body's major blood vessel ruptures, it can prove deadly. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently updated its recommendations on screening. Mayo Clinic vascular surgeon Peter Gloviczki, M.D., explains who should be watched for abdominal aortic aneurysms, how they are diagnosed and how surgery, which now includes a less invasive endovascular option, is improving survival rates: MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video and audio are available for download on the Mayo Clinic News Network. What ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., July 16, 2014 -- Neutron scattering research at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has revealed clear structural differences in the normal and pathological forms of a protein involved in Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease, an incurable neurodegenerative disorder, starts as a genetic mutation that leads to an overabundance of "huntingtin" protein fragments, which form clumps in the brain. Valerie Berthelier of the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, who co-led the study published in Biophysical Journal ...

CHICAGO (July 16, 2014) – Expert guidance released today offers updated evidence reviews and recommendations for hand hygiene in healthcare facilities. The guidance is featured in the August issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and emphasizes best practices for implementing and optimizing hand hygiene programs to prevent the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The guidance is part of the Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Updates produced in a collaborative effort led by the Society ...

A cancer drug that has shown promise against Alzheimer's disease in mice and has begun early clinical trials has yielded perplexing results in a novel mouse model of AD that mimics the genetics and pathology of the human disease more closely than any other animal model. The drug, bexarotene, was found to reduce levels of the neurotoxic protein amyloid-beta in experimental mice with late-stage Alzheimer's but to increase levels during early stages of disease. The finding, by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, was reported July 16 ...

The Annals of Family Medicine today published an article detailing research showing that women with a history of pregnancy loss are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease later in adulthood than other women, work completed by physicians in the Center for Primary Care and Prevention (CPCP) at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island. The article "Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among Postmenopausal Women with Prior Pregnancy Loss: The Women's Health Initiative" stems from the analysis of data from the maternity experiences of a sample of 77,701 women, according to Donna Parker, ...

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill in the Gulf of Mexico was the largest accidental release of oil into the ocean, with approximately 210 million gallons gushing from the blown out well. In an attempt to prevent vast quantities of oil from fouling beaches and marshes, BP applied 1.84 million gallons of chemical dispersant to oil to oil released in the subsurface and to oil slicks at the sea surface. The dispersant was thought to rapidly degrade in the environment. A new study by scientists at Haverford College and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has found ...

CHICAGO – A new study authored by Northwestern Medicine® researchers found that reviewing electronic health records (EHRs) using algorithms can successfully identify patients with previously undiagnosed hypertension, or high blood pressure, with a high rate of accuracy. Of the 1,033 patients that were identified with the EHR algorithms and evaluated, 361 were formally diagnosed with the hypertension and 290 others were diagnosed with related blood pressure conditions such as prehypertension, white-coat hypertension or elevated blood pressure. The study, "A Technology-Based ...

LIVERPOOL, UK – 17 July 2014: An untreatable and deadly neurodegenerative disease has been modelled and treated in worms by University of Liverpool researchers, suggesting a cure could be found for humans. The scientists studied adult onset neuronal lipofuscinosis (ANCL) which usually strikes around 1 in 100,000 people in Europe and North America in their 30s and results in death by the mid-40s. There is currently no known treatment for this disease, though it has recently been identified as being caused by mutations in the gene called DNAJC5. For the first time scientists, ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – July 16, 2014 – Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability among people with Type 2 diabetes. In fact, at least 65 percent of people with diabetes die from some form of heart disease or stroke, according to the American Heart Association. However, a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center suggests that the use of cholesterol-lowering statins may help prolong the lives of people with diabetic cardiovascular disease. The study is published in the current online edition of Diabetes Care. "Although ...

CHICAGO (July 16, 2014) – Thousands of critically ill patients on life support develop ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) each year. A new document released today by a consortium of professional organizations helps prioritize strategies to prevent this potentially fatal infection. This guidance, featured in the update of the Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals, is published in the August issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and was produced in a collaborative effort led by the Society for Healthcare ...

HOUSTON – (July 16, 2014) – Being a part of a business group and participating in capital markets can have a significant positive impact on an Indian company's performance in the stock market, according to a new study on Indian entrepreneurship by emerging-economy experts at Rice University, the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, India, and the graduate business school INSEAD Singapore. The findings contradict prior research that suggests business groups in developing economies act mainly as substitutes to poorly developed economic institutions in these countries. ...

Does practice really make perfect? It's an age-old question, and a new study from Rice University, Princeton University and Michigan State University finds that while practice won't make you perfect, it will usually make you better at what you're practicing. "This question is the subject of a long-running debate in psychology," said Fred Oswald, professor and chair of psychology at Rice and one of the study's co-authors. "Why do so few people who are involved in sports such as golf, musical instruments such as the violin or careers such as law or medicine ever reach an ...

CHICAGO (July 16, 2014) – Cases of the highly contagious, drug-resistant bacteria, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), have increased fivefold in community hospitals in the Southeastern United States, according to a new study published in the August issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. "This dangerous bacteria is finding its way into healthcare facilities nationwide. Even this marked increase likely underestimates the true scope of the problem given variations in hospital surveillance ...

The repetitive facilitation exercise (RFE) is one of the most common rehabilitation tactics for stroke patients attempting to regain wrist movement. Stroke hemiparesis individuals are not able to move that part of their body because they cannot create a strong enough neural signal that travels from the brain to the wrist. With RFE, however, patients get a mental boost. They are asked to think about moving. At the same time, a practitioner flexes the wrist. The goal is to send a long latency response from the stretch that arrives in the brain at the exact time the thought ...

DARIEN, IL – A new study shows that worse sleep quality predicts lower physical activity in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results show that PTSD was independently associated with worse sleep quality at baseline, and participants with current PTSD at baseline had lower physical activity one year later. Further analysis found that sleep quality completely mediated the relationship between baseline PTSD status and physical activity at the one-year follow-up, providing preliminary evidence that the association of reduced sleep quality with reduced physical ...

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL July 16, 2014... While the Mediterranean diet may have broad health benefits, its impact on cognitive decline differs among race-specific populations, according to a new study published in the Journal of Gerontology. The team of researchers, including Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU Prof. Danit R. Shahar RD, Ph.D, analyzed an NIH/NIA prospective cohort study [Health ABC] conducted over eight years in the U.S. to measure the effects of adherence to a Mediterranean diet. Prof. Shahar is affiliated with the BGU S. Daniel Abraham International Center ...

Neuropsychological impairment has long been established as a fundamental characteristic of depression, but a specific pattern of impairment that is widely recognized has not been summarized. Professor Jia Hongxiao and his group from the Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, explore major depressive disorder (MDD) from the perspective of neuropsychology. They found that the self-serving bias and self-recognition bias were impaired in individuals suffering from MDD compared with a control group. This research lays the groundwork for further study on the etiology ...