ENVIRONMENT - Invertebrates' role in bioaccumulation ... By studying fish and invertebrates in a creek with known mercury contamination, researchers are gaining a better understanding of the relationship between the toxin in the stream and bioaccumulation in organisms. While mercury concentrations in East Fork Poplar Creek in Oak Ridge, Tenn., have decreased significantly over the last 30 years, levels in tissue from fish have remained the same or increased. To understand why, a team led by Monica Poteat of Oak Ridge National Laboratory is examining the intricacies of ...

WASHINGTON, DC, April 1, 2015 -- America's welfare state is quietly evolving from needs-based to an employment-based safety net that rewards working families and fuels dreams of a better life, indicates a new study led by a Michigan State University (MSU) scholar. The major reason: the little-known Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a $65 billion federal tax-relief program for poor, working families. The program has been expanded dramatically during the past 25 years, while cash welfare has been sharply curtailed. Reporting in the April issue of the American Sociological ...

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2015 -- Last year, Reactions shook up the comedy world with a video featuring nothing but chemistry jokes. After overwhelming public acclaim, we're back for this April Fools' Day with round two, featuring a number of fan submissions. If you're looking for a laugh, or maybe a groan or two, check out the video here: https://youtu.be/QbxBsD_tDQw. Subscribe to the series at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos. INFORMATION: The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization ...

Irvine, Calif., April 1, 2015 -- A pouchlike structure inside the heart's left atrial chamber in some people may explain strokes that otherwise lack an identifiable cause, according to UC Irvine School of Medicine researchers. Dr. Mark Fisher, a professor of neurology and pathology & laboratory medicine, and colleagues evaluated 75 stroke patients at UC Irvine Medical Center to learn whether this left atrial septal pouch could be a potent source of stroke-causing blood clots. Of the 23 patients who had experienced a stroke of undetermined origin (a "cryptogenic" stroke), ...

Jena (Germany) The "Villa trans lacum" at the eastern shore of the Laacher See (lake) in the volcanic part of the Eifel - a rural landscape in Germany - was a highly dangerous place. In the 19th century the Jesuit order bought the abbey Maria Laach and built a villa at the shore of the lake. This is where the friars congregated to pray far away from everyday life. But numerous Jesuits paid with their lives for the religious beliefs in the villa. Between 1864 and 1888 17 of them died in the building - literally in their sleep. "The monks possibly died of carbon dioxide ...

This news release is available in German. The Bacillus cereus bacteria is one of the potential causes of food poisoning. Indeed, a recent study in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry shows that this versatile pathogen produces 19 different variants of a poison that causes nausea and vomiting in human beings. This variety could explain why some cases are relatively benign and others can result in death. Across Europe, the number of food poisoning cases caused by the Bacillus species is on the rise. While unpleasant, infections resulting from B. cereus are usually ...

Our opponents always seem to be one step ahead. Although pest controllers now have numerous chemical preparations available, allowing them to take action against unwanted insects, the species targeted are developing a resistance against the different active substances at a rapid pace. Often a single change in the organisms' genetic material is enough to do this. This means that scientists know more than 500 pests all over the world currently able to resist a total of 300 different insecticides. Many disease-transmitting mosquitoes defy any attempts to control them just ...

The core circuits of quantum teleportation, which generate and detect quantum entanglement, have been successfully integrated into a photonic chip by an international team of scientists from the universities of Bristol, Tokyo, Southampton and NTT Device Technology Laboratories. These results pave the way to developing ultra-high-speed quantum computers and strengthening the security of communication. Qubits (quantum bits) are sensitive quantum versions of today's computer 0's and 1's (bits) and are the foundation of quantum computers. Photons are particles of light and ...

Penicillin has nearly eradicated rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the United States. But 15 million people still suffer with the disease worldwide, and 1.4 million die each year, according to World Heart Federation. Access to penicillin can prevent deaths from RHD. Researchers from Case Western Reserve University, Makerere University and the Uganda Heart Institute at Mulago Hospital, a national referral hospital in Kampala, collaborated to learn about those obstacles to receive the medication and find ways to overcome them. The researchers heard from some Ugandans ...

The media is littered with celebrity trainers, bakers, nutritionists, even gardeners. But, one profession is always missing from the roster - the celebrity accountant. The reason is most likely due to the negative stereotypes propagated for centuries. However, this is no bad thing, according to researchers in Australia who suggest in the International Journal of Critical Accounting, that stock characters entrenched in popular culture provide professional stability. Frances Miley of the University of New South Wales and Andrew Read of the University of Canberra, Australia, ...

Damage to neural tissue is typically permanent and causes lasting disability in patients, but a new approach has recently been discovered that holds incredible potential to reconstruct neural tissue at high resolution in three dimensions. Research recently published in the Journal of Neural Engineering demonstrated a method for embedding scaffolding of patterned nanofibers within three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel structures, and it was shown that neurite outgrowth from neurons in the hydrogel followed the nanofiber scaffolding by tracking directly along the nanofibers, particularly ...

For the first time, a research team, led by a UC San Francisco biologist, has isolated energy-burning "beige" fat from adult humans, which is known to be able to convert unhealthy white fat into healthy brown fat. The scientists also found new genetic markers of this beige fat. The discovery is an important advance in the search for new medications to fight obesity, said senior investigator Shingo Kajimura, PhD, UCSF assistant professor of cell and tissue biology, with a joint appointment in the UCSF Diabetes Center and the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration ...

Graphene, a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb sheet composed of carbon atoms, has attracted intense interests worldwide because of its outstanding properties and promising prospects in both basic and applied science. The great development of graphene is closely related to the unique electronic structure, that is, Dirac cones. The cone which represents linear energy dispersion at Fermi level gives graphene massless fermions, leading to various quantum Hall effects, ultra high carrier mobility, and many other novel phenomena and properties. Dirac cone is special but might ...

A common growth-promoting hormone used worldwide in the cattle industry has been found to affect the sexual behaviours of fish at a very low concentration in waterways - with potentially serious ecological and evolutionary consequences. Researchers from Monash University, in collaboration with researchers from Åbo Akademi University in Finland, have found that the steroid 17β-trenbolone - used on livestock to increase muscle growth - alters male reproductive behaviour in guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata). This androgenic growth promoter is part of a group ...

The increase of green-house gases in the atmosphere reduces outgoing radiation and thus causes global warming. About 93% extra energy trapped by the greenhouse gases is stored in oceans and only 1% is used to heat the atmosphere. As a main reservoir of heat sink, Oceans are slowing down the global warming magnitude by absorbing the extra energy. Global warming hiatus was observed since 1998, but the Tibetan Plateau (TP) (also known as the Third Pole) is still undergoing significant warming. Meanwhile, the thermal forcing over the TP, which is a well-known driver of the ...

Hands pressed to the hips or perhaps leaning back with arms crossed behind the head are typical poses of power. Referred to power poses or high status gestures in technical jargon, they are assumed to stimulate both psychological and physiological processes. Researchers around Amy Cuddy of Harvard Business School concluded in a study in 2010 that power poses held for a short time influenced the hormones and the willingness to take on financial risks for the subjects participating in the study. Scientists of the University of Zurich now refute these findings with a large ...

A common growth-promoting hormone used worldwide in the cattle industry has been found to affect the sexual behaviours of fish at a very low concentration in waterways - with potentially serious ecological and evolutionary consequences. Researchers from Monash University, Australia in collaboration with researchers from Åbo Akademi University in Finland, have found that the steroid 17β-trenbolone - used on livestock to increase muscle growth - alters male reproductive behaviour in guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata). This androgenic growth promoter is part of ...

When negotiating your next pay raise, haggling at the flea market or selling a used car, attention should be paid to the choice of words. Because the findings of a recent study by Leuphana University of Lüneburg and Saarland University revealed that proper wording can translate into hard cash. Thus, even slight linguistic nuances may significantly affect the outcome of negotiations - an effect which can also benefit non-professional negotiators. The paper will be published shortly in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (DOI: 10.1037 / pspi0000009). Imagine ...

A new study highlights the value of local knowledge in recovering endangered species. The collaborative research, co-authored by NOAA Fisheries, the University of Washington, and researchers from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, is specifically designed to incorporate the knowledge of recreational anglers into recovery planning for three rockfish species in Puget Sound--bocaccio, canary rockfish, and yelloweye rockfish, each of which was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2010. The study explores how recreational anglers' understanding of the ecosystem ...

Complex brain disorders, such as autism or schizophrenia, still puzzle scientists because their causes lie hidden in early events of brain development, which are still poorly understood. This is about to change thanks to research by University of Toronto Professors Ben Blencowe and Sabine Cordes, who have developed a powerful model that will allow researchers to better understand the physiology behind many disorders. Blencowe and Cordes joined forces to create a mouse model that lacks the nSR100 gene (also known as SRRM4), which is important for brain development. They ...

The term "single-nucleotide polymorphism" (SNP) refers to a single base change in DNA sequence between two individuals. SNPs are the most common type of genetic variation in plant and animal genomes and are, thus, an important resource to biologists. The ubiquity of these markers and the fact that these polymorphisms show variation at such a fine scale (i.e., at the individual level) makes them ideal markers for many applications, such as population-level genetic diversity studies and genetic mapping in plants. The growing popularity of next-generation sequencing has ...

Massachusetts' health reform may be a crystal ball for researchers and policymakers in forecasting the potential impact of the Affordable Care Act. Many see the ACA as the backbone of efforts toward closing the nation's health gap. Because minorities and low-income populations are more likely to be uninsured, health coverage is widely assumed to be the most essential strategy to eliminating disparities in health outcomes. However, new research published Wednesday in the BMJ, examining use of joint replacement and preventable hospital admissions, shines fresh light on ...

ATLANTA - April 1, 2015- While there has been substantial progress in some cancer control efforts in the past several decades, like reductions in smoking and increased utilization of cancer screening, progress in some areas is lagging, according to a new report. Among the areas of most concern: smoking rates among certain populations, obesity, indoor tanning, and low utilization of a new vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical and other cancers. Additionally, colorectal cancer screening, which not only detects tumors early but also may prevent ...

Bottom Line: The prevalence of childhood cancer survivors is estimated to have increased, and the majority of those who have survived five or more years beyond diagnosis may have at least one chronic health condition. Journal in Which the Study was Published: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research Author: Siobhan M. Phillips, PhD, MPH, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago Background: The goal of the study was to update prevalence ...

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) and American Thoracic Society (ATS) have published a statement describing the current evidence on the diagnosis, assessment and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), identifying gaps in knowledge and making recommendations for the directions of future research. ERS Guidelines Director, Professor Guy Brusselle, commented: "The World Health Organization predicts that COPD will become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030. It is therefore a critical time for us to act on improving the management of ...