The body plan of octopuses is nothing if not unique, with a sophisticated brain in a soft, bilaterally symmetrical body, encircled by eight radially symmetrical and incredibly flexible arms. Now, researchers reporting the first detailed kinematic analysis of octopus arm coordination in crawling show that the animals have a unique motor control strategy to match their "odd" form. The researchers report their findings in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 16. "Octopuses use unique locomotion strategies that are different from those found in other animals," ...

Bacteria that naturally reside in the gut are important for health, but recent studies consistently show that a modern lifestyle depletes the gut's collection of microbes. How lifestyle affects the diversity of this gut "microbiome" is unclear, but an analysis of the gut microbiomes of Papua New Guinean and US residents in Cell Reports now suggests that western lifestyle may diminish the variety of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract by limiting their ability to be transmitted among humans. "There are several aspects of western lifestyle that have been hypothesized ...

Oral infections are the most common diseases of mankind and are also a key risk factor for heart disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide. In a review article published in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism on April 16, researchers summarize the latest clinical evidence supporting a link between oral infections, which are caused by the bacteria in our mouth, and heart disease, and they emphasize the important role of inflammation in both of these conditions. "Given the high prevalence of oral infections, any risk they contribute to future cardiovascular ...

By analyzing the activity of "GPS" neurons in mice, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered that the mental maps created by these cells accumulate errors, which are corrected when the animal encounters a wall. The findings support the theory that these cells, called grid cells, use an animal's perceived speed and direction to help it navigate familiar places. Thus, as you stumble through your pitch-black kitchen in the middle of the night for a glass of water, your body knows how many steps to take and when to turn to get to the sink. ...

Men give more money through fundraising websites after seeing that other men have donated large amounts and when the fundraiser is an attractive woman, according to new UCL and University of Bristol research. The scientists say this response by men is unlikely to be conscious and could have an evolutionary function as theories predict that generous actions can honestly signal hidden qualities, such as wealth or desirable personality attributes, to potential partners. Co-author Dr Nichola Raihani from UCL (Life Sciences), said: "We looked at why people behave generously ...

A nerve neglected in today's era of molecular and genetic analysis has yielded a surprising secret. A handful of neurons control breathing in a fine-tuned but powerful way, scientists have discovered in mice. Among these sensory neurons, two types are dedicated to two specific respiratory functions. The findings, published in Cell, suggest new ways of considering clinical conditions related to the vagus nerve. The team, led by Stephen Liberles, Harvard Medical School associate professor of cell biology, has effectively deconstructed the vagus nerve, a key connection ...

The enzyme AMPK initiates a dizzying array of cellular activities, from breaking down worn-out cellular parts to turning on energy production. How does a single protein, activated by a single switch, fulfill so many different tasks without getting them mixed up? To get at such a complex question, cell biologists at Johns Hopkins designed several molecular tools that allowed them to watch, measure and manipulate the activity of the enzyme AMPK in individual compartments within the cell. The new tools have confirmed that at least some of AMPK's ability to multitask comes ...

Angiogenesis inhibitors--a widely used class of cancer drugs designed to shrink tumors by preventing them from forming new blood vessels--often work in the short term, but usually become ineffective within months. Now, a team led by UC San Francisco scientists has discovered a possible reason, one that could lead to a way to address the problem and prevent cancer relapse. Working with laboratory models of pancreatic and breast cancer, the scientists found that myeloid cells, which originate in bone marrow and are part of the body's first-line of defense--the so-called ...

How does climate change affect the occurrence and distribution of species? This is a key question in the climate debate, and one that is hard to answer without information about natural variation in species abundance. Now researchers from Uppsala University can, for the first time, give us a detailed picture of natural variation through a major study published today in the leading scientific journal Current Biology. The impact of climate change on species occurrence and distribution is a central issue in the climate debate, since human influence on the climate risks posing ...

The nutrients excreted by fish in their "pee" may be critical to the health of coastal ecosystems. But knowing whether generalizations can be made about how to predict these nutrient levels in various ecosystems has vexed researchers - until now. In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, North Carolina State University associate professor Craig Layman and colleagues show that ecologists can better predict the rates of how these chemical nutrients are transferred by fish if they know the various fish species living in an ecosystem, along ...

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have found genetic overlap between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and two significant cardiovascular disease risk factors: high levels of inflammatory C-reactive protein (CRP) and plasma lipids or fats. The findings, based upon genome-wide association studies involving hundreds of thousands of individuals, suggest the two cardiovascular phenotypes play a role in AD risk - and perhaps offer a new avenue for potentially delaying disease progression. The findings ...

A potentially game-changing breakthrough in artificial photosynthesis has been achieved with the development of a system that can capture carbon dioxide emissions before they are vented into the atmosphere and then, powered by solar energy, convert that carbon dioxide into valuable chemical products, including biodegradable plastics, pharmaceutical drugs and even liquid fuels. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have created a hybrid system of semiconducting ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A national survey suggests that slightly more than half of the older adults in the United States are now taking a daily dose of aspirin, even though its use is not recommended by the Food and Drug Administration for most people who have not yet had a heart attack or stroke. The analysis was published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. It observed that aspirin use is continuing to surge, especially among adults who are using it for "primary prevention," meaning in order to prevent an initial cardiovascular event, and in some cases to ...

The psychological impact and private agony of infertility must be carefully considered by healthcare professionals, suggests a new review, published today (Friday 10 April) in The Obstetrician & Gynaecologist (TOG). The review identifies infertility as a complex state and life crisis and sets out the dangers of neglecting the emotional impact of involuntary childlessness and viewing it solely in biological or medical terms.1 The article provides an introduction to infertility counselling in the UK, within the context of fertility treatment. This includes an explanation ...

Analysis of the longer-term influence of menopausal hormone therapy on breast cancer incidence in two Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trials suggests a pattern of changing influences over time on breast cancer, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology. Use of menopausal hormone therapy decreased dramatically after reports of increased breast cancer risk with estrogen plus progestin from the WHI randomized clinical trial followed by the Million Women Study observational analysis. Following the initial WHI reports, decreases in both combined estrogen ...

Obesity was associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer in African American men and that risk grew by nearly four times as body-mass index (BMI) increased, according to an article published online by JAMA Oncology. African American men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer of any racial or ethnic group in the United States, as well as the highest rates of aggressive disease and prostate cancer death. These elevated risks likely arise from both social and biologic factors. The associations of obesity with prostate cancer risk are complex. Wendy E. Barrington, ...

Advice on preventing and treating venous thromboembolism (VTE) during pregnancy, birth and following delivery is outlined in two new revised guidelines published today (13 April) by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and launched at the RCOG World Congress in Brisbane, Australia. VTE refers to the formation of a clot within veins. This can occur anywhere in the venous system, but the predominant sites are in the vessels of the leg (giving rise to deep vein thrombosis (DVT)) and in the lungs (resulting in a pulmonary embolism (PE)). The Green-top ...

Two primatologists working in the forests of the Republic of Congo have returned from the field with a noteworthy prize: the first-ever photograph of the Bouvier's red colobus monkey, a rare primate not seen for more than half a century and suspected to be extinct by some, according to WCS (the Wildlife Conservation Society). The elusive primate was recently photographed by independent researchers Lieven Devreese and Gaël Elie Gnondo Gobolo within Ntokou-Pikounda National Park, a 4,572-square-kilometer (1,765-square-mile) protected area created on advice from WCS ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Discussing end-of-life wishes with loved ones can be difficult, but new research from the University of Missouri shows more individuals are engaging in advance care planning. Advance care planning includes discussing end-of-life care preferences, providing written end-of-life care instructions and appointing a durable power of attorney for health care. "Advance care planning increases the likelihood that the care one receives at the end of her life is congruent with what she wants," said lead author Nidhi Khosla, an assistant professor of health sciences ...

This news release is available in French. Many potentially efficient drugs have been created to treat neurological disorders, but they cannot be used in practice. Typically, for a condition such as epilepsy, it is essential to act at exactly the right time and place in the brain. For this reason, the team of researchers led by Christophe Bernard at Inserm Unit 1106, "Institute of Systems Neuroscience" (INS), with the help of scientists at the École des Mines de Saint-Étienne and Linköping University (Sweden) have developed an organic electronic micropump ...

Fairfax, Va., April 16, 2015--The "Radiation and the Modern Management of Lymphoma" issue (May 1, 2015) of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), is focused on the integral role of radiation therapy in current lymphoma treatment. May 2015 marks 50 years since the first multidisciplinary lymphoma conference, "La Radiotherapie de la Maladie de Hodgkin," was held in Paris in 1965, which led to a more comprehensive understanding of the cancer's ...

Older adults who keep a clean and orderly home--because of the exercise it takes to get the job done--tend to feel emotionally and physically better after tackling house chores, according to new findings by a Case Western Reserve University school of nursing researcher. "House cleaning kept them up and moving," said Kathy D. Wright, PhD, RN, CNS, a postdoctoral KL2 Scholar at the university's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. "A clean environment is therapeutic." Wright and a research team set out to test a theory called House's Conceptual Framework for Understanding ...

CHICAGO (April 16, 2015): People with limited education and low income have higher odds of death within 30 days after undergoing an operation for lung cancer than those who are more educated and financially better off, according to new research published as an article in press on the website of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in advance of print publication later this year. "In order to get uniform superior outcomes for our patients, we need to identify the patients who are at risk for worse outcomes," said study co-author Felix G. Fernandez, MD, FACS, ...

A concentrated extract of maple syrup makes disease-causing bacteria more susceptible to antibiotics, according to laboratory experiments by researchers at McGill University. The findings, which will be published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, suggest that combining maple syrup extract with common antibiotics could increase the microbes' susceptibility, leading to lower antibiotic usage. Overuse of antibiotics fuels the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria, which has become a major public-health concern worldwide. Prof. Nathalie Tufenkji's research ...

Neutrinos are a type of particle that pass through just about everything in their path from even the most distant regions of the universe. The Earth is constantly bombarded by billions of neutrinos, which zip right through the entire globe, houses, animals, people - everything. Only very rarely do they react with matter, but the giant IceCube experiment at the South Pole can detect when there is a collision between neutrinos and atoms in the ice using a network of detectors. New research results from the Niels Bohr Institute among others have measured the neutrinos at the ...