The Ebola virus is spreading rapidly and to an unexpected extent. The outbreak does not follow the patterns experienced in the past and the virus shows a new disease dynamic in regions, where it has never been recorded before. For this reason, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, acatech – the German Academy of Science and Engineering, and the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities have presented a statement on the Ebola epidemic today. In the statement the academies call for the following consequences to be taken: To combat the ...

A blend of photos and technology takes a new twist on studying cliff landscapes and how they were formed. Dylan Ward, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor of geology, will present a case study on this unique technology application at The Geological Society of America's Annual Meeting & Exposition. The meeting takes place Oct. 19-22, in Vancouver. Ward is using a method called Structure-From-Motion Photogrammetry – computational photo image processing techniques – to study the formation of cliff landscapes in Colorado and Utah and to understand how ...

Researchers have linked increased resistance to bacterial pneumonia in female mice to an enzyme activated by the female sex hormone estrogen. Females are naturally more resistant to respiratory infections than males. Now, an international team of scientists has shown that increased resistance to bacterial pneumonia in female mice is linked to the enzyme nitric oxide synthase 3 (NOS3). They also show that this enzyme is ultimately activated by the release of the female sex hormone estrogen. The team, lead by Professor Lester Kobzik at the Harvard University School of ...

Change in disturbance regimes -- rather than a change in climate -- is largely responsible for altering the composition of Eastern forests, according to a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Forests in the Eastern United States remain in a state of "disequilibrium" stemming from the clear-cutting and large-scale burning that occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s, contends Marc Abrams, professor of forest ecology and physiology. Moreover, Abrams noted, since about 1930 -- during the Smokey Bear era -- aggressive forest-fire suppression has ...

Next year, the European Commission is set to release guidelines for warning labels on products made with lavender oil, which reportedly can cause allergic reactions for some people. But lavender growers in France are putting up a fight, and some are even threatening to quit the business altogether if the rules go into effect, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Alex Scott, a senior editor at C&EN, writes that at least one lavender producer has notified the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) that ...

As medical personnel and public health officials are responding to the first reported cases of Ebola Virus in the United States, many of the safety and treatment procedures for treating the virus and preventing its spread are being reexamined. One of the tenets for minimizing the risk of spreading the disease has been a 21-day quarantine period for individuals who might have been exposed to the virus. But a new study by Charles Haas, PhD, a professor in Drexel's College of Engineering, suggests that 21 days might not be enough to completely prevent spread of the virus. Haas's ...

The phase-out of traditional incandescent bulbs in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well as a growing interest in energy efficiency, has given LED lighting a sales boost. However, that trend could be short-lived as key materials known as rare earth elements become more expensive. Scientists have now designed new materials for making household LED bulbs without using these ingredients. They report their development in ACS' Journal of the American Chemical Society. LED lighting, which can last years longer than conventional bulbs, is an energy-efficient alternative. Switching ...

New Rochelle, NY, October 15, 2014—Chronic inflammation caused by activation of the human immune system contributes to a large and rapidly growing list of diseases including some cancers, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and autoimmune diseases. Significant advances in understanding the role that the cytokine-mediated JAK/STAT signaling network and pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) play in regulating immune responses and their potential as novel targets for developing potent new therapies are presented in a Review article in Journal of Interferon & ...

DARIEN, IL – A study of hospitalized cardiac patients is the first to show that effective treatment with positive airway pressure therapy reduces 30-day hospital readmission rates and emergency department visits in patients with both heart disease and sleep apnea. The results underscore the importance of the "Stop the Snore" campaign of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project, a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sleep Research Society and other partners. Results show that none of the cardiac ...

Napa, California—October 15, 2014—Although recent trends show a decline in anesthesia-related deaths, a study published today by the Journal of Healthcare Risk Management concludes that risks are evolving and both physicians and patients can take steps to reduce injuries. The study, "Analysis of Patient Injury Based on Anesthesiology Closed Claims Data from a Major Malpractice Insurer," is based on 607 anesthesia-related claims reported by The Doctors Company, the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer. Three prominent Harvard Medical ...

Crocodiles which roamed the world's seas millions of years ago developed in similar ways to their modern-day relatives, a study has shown. Fresh research into a group of prehistoric marine crocs known as Machimosaurus reveals key details of how and where they lived. Each species adapted features that enabled them to live and hunt in a range of habitats, just like modern-day crocodiles. They varied in body length, body skeleton, skull and lower jaw shape, and in their teeth. The ancient croc group included a nine-metre long saltwater species, which was adapted for ...

University of Cincinnati geologists will be well represented among geoscientists from around the world at The Geological Society of America's Annual Meeting and Exposition. The meeting takes place Oct. 19-22, in Vancouver, Canada, and will feature geoscientists representing more than 40 different disciplines. The meeting will feature highlights of UC's geological research that is taking place globally, from Chile to Costa Rica, Belize, Bulgaria, Scotland, Trinidad and a new project under development in the Canary Islands. UC faculty and graduate students are lead or ...

A University of Cincinnati research project is taking a groundbreaking approach to monitoring groundwater resources near fracking sites in Ohio. Claire Botner, a UC graduate student in geology, will outline the project at The Geological Society of America's Annual Meeting & Exposition. The meeting takes place Oct. 19-22, in Vancouver. Botner's research is part of UC Groundwater Research of Ohio (GRO), a collaborative research project out of UC to examine the effects of fracking (hydraulic fracturing) on groundwater in the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio. First launched ...

ANN ARBOR—Lake Erie has become increasingly susceptible to large blooms of toxin-producing cyanobacteria since 2002, potentially complicating efforts to rein in the problem in the wake of this year's Toledo drinking water crisis, according to a new study led by University of Michigan researchers. Since the detection of the toxin microcystin left nearly half a million Ohio and Michigan residents without drinking water for several days in early August, discussions of ways to prevent a recurrence have largely focused on the need to reduce the amount of phosphorus fertilizer ...

As our ability to assess the pandemic risk from strains of influenza virus increases with the latest scientific developments, we must not allow ourselves to become complacent that the most substantial threats have been identified, argue an international consortium of scientists. Influenza pandemics arise when a new virus strain – against which humans have yet to develop widespread immunity – spreads in the human population. There have been five such pandemics in the past 100 years, the worst of which – the 1918 Spanish Flu – cost 50 million lives ...

"Imagine a heavy ball rolling on an elastic net: what happens?" asks Daniele Fausti, researcher at Elettra Sincrotrone of Trieste and the University of Trieste. That's how Fausti explains the concept of "dressing" in physics: "the ball's movement is slowed down because each movement is accompanied by a deformation of the net: the sphere no longer behaves like a free sphere (i.e., that rolls on a rigid plane), but like a sphere that is 'dressed' by the net's deformation". Why is this "dressing" concept so important? "Because it's what physicists believe explains superconductivity ...

A UNIVERSITY of Huddersfield researcher has shown that tiny tweaks to the soundtrack can make TV adverts much more memorable, increasing their commercial impact. The necessary adjustments are imperceptible to the ear and eye. But Andy Rogers – in the last stages of his PhD project at the University – has proved that there are considerable perceptual improvements if the synchronisation between the music and the visual content of the commercial is altered by just tenths of a second. Joined by his PhD supervisor, Dr Ian Gibson, Andy has just presented his ...

VIDEO: This video shows a chimpanzee who has constructed a tool with which to investigate a camera (Nimba mountains, Guinea). Click here for more information. West African chimpanzees will search far and wide to find Alchornea hirtella, a spindly shrub whose straight shoots provide the ideal tools to hunt aggressive army ants in an ingenious fashion, new research shows. The plant provides the animals with two different types of tool, a thicker shoot for 'digging' and a more ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Our view of other solar systems just got a little more familiar, with the discovery of a planet 25,000 light-years away that resembles our own Uranus. Astronomers have discovered hundreds of planets around the Milky Way, including rocky planets similar to Earth and gas planets similar to Jupiter. But there is a third type of planet in our solar system—part gas, part ice—and this is the first time anyone has spotted a twin for our so-called "ice giant" planets, Uranus and Neptune. An international research team led by Radek Poleski, postdoctoral ...

This news release is available in German. Public spending appears to have contributed substantially to the fact that life expectancy in eastern Germany has not only increased, but is now almost equivalent to life expectancy in the west. While the possible connection of public spending and life expectancy has been a matter of debate, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) have now for the first time quantified the effect. They found that for each additional euro the eastern Germans received in benefits from pensions and public health ...

VIDEO: Fruit fly border cells form clusters of six to eight cells, which display directional migration during oogenesis. Migration of border cells in egg chambers can be examined in detail by... Click here for more information. Cell migration is important for development and physiology of multicellular organisms. During embryonic development individual cells and cell clusters can move over relatively long distances, and cell migration is also essential for wound healing and many ...

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have found vital new evidence on how to target and reverse the effects caused by one of the most common genetic causes of Parkinson's. Mutations in a gene called LRRK2 carry a well-established risk for Parkinson's disease, however the basis for this link is unclear. The team, led by Parkinson's UK funded researchers Dr Kurt De Vos from the Department of Neuroscience and Dr Alex Whitworth from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, found that certain drugs could fully restore movement problems observed in fruit flies carrying ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Since the first undersea methane seep was discovered 30 years ago, scientists have meticulously analyzed and measured how microbes in the seafloor sediments consume the greenhouse gas methane as part of understanding how the Earth works. The sediment-based microbes form an important methane "sink," preventing much of the chemical from reaching the atmosphere and contributing to greenhouse gas accumulation. As a byproduct of this process, the microbes create a type of rock known as authigenic carbonate, which while interesting to scientists was ...

Just 14 per cent of the population has an Advance Directive, or "living will", detailing their end of life treatment and care preferences, according to an article led by QUT Australian Centre for Health Law Research director Professor Ben White. This research is from a joint University of Queensland, QUT and Victoria University study, supported by the Australian Research Council in partnership with seven public trustee organisations across Australia. An Advance Directive is a legal document in which a person specifies what treatment or end of life care they want, when ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Have you ever noticed you find your candidate for political office more attractive than the opponent? New research from Cornell University shows you're not the only one. "We showed pictures of familiar and unfamiliar political leaders to voters in two different samples and found that familiarity and partisanship each significantly influenced how candidates were perceived," said the study's lead researcher, said Kevin M. Kniffin, a postdoctoral research associate at Cornell's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. "For example, Democrats ...