Parts of ancient Antarctica were as warm as today's California coast, and polar regions of the southern Pacific Ocean registered 21st-century Florida heat, according to scientists using a new way to measure past temperatures. The findings, published the week of April 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscore the potential for increased warmth at Earth's poles and the associated risk of melting polar ice and rising sea levels, the researchers said. Led by scientists at Yale, the study focused on Antarctica during the Eocene epoch, 40-50 million ...

PHILADELPHIA - When we get sick it feels natural to try to hasten our recovery by getting some extra shuteye. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that this response has a definite purpose, in fruitflies: enhancing immune system response and recovery to infection. Their findings appear online in two related papers in the journal Sleep, in advance of print editions in May and June. "It's an intuitive response to want to sleep when you get sick," notes Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology research associate Julie ...

What looked at first like a sort of upside-down planet has instead revealed a new method for studying binary star systems, discovered by a University of Washington student astronomer. Working with UW astronomer Eric Agol, doctoral student Ethan Kruse has confirmed the first "self-lensing" binary star system — one in which the mass of the closer star can be measured by how powerfully it magnifies light from its more distant companion star. Though our sun stands alone, about 40 percent of similar stars are in binary (two-star) or multi-star systems, orbiting their companions ...

PHILADELPHIA - Nonsteroidal antinflamatory drugs (NSAIDs) that block an enzyme called COX-2 relieve pain and inflammation but can cause heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, and even sudden cardiac death. This has prompted a decade-plus search for safer, but still effective, alternatives to these commonly prescribed, pain-relieving drugs. Building on previous work that showed that deleting an enzyme in the COX-2 pathway in a mouse model of heart disease slowed the development of atherosclerosis, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania ...

Cancer researchers have discovered a new 'dustman' role for a molecule that helps a drug kill cancer cells according to a study*, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), today (Monday). The new findings point to a possible test that could identify patients who would be most responsive to a new class of cancer drugs and also those who might develop resistance, as well as suggesting new approaches to discovering more effective drugs. The study, by Cancer Research UK-funded scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, shows ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A team of scientists has successfully identified the age of 120,000-year-old Antarctic ice using radiometric krypton dating – a new technique that may allow them to locate and date ice that is more than a million years old. The ability to discover ancient ice is critical, the researchers say, because it will allow them to reconstruct the climate much farther back into Earth's history and potentially understand the mechanisms that have triggered the planet to shift into and out of ice ages. Results of the discovery are being published this week in the ...

The process of metastasis – a tumor's ability to spread to other parts of the body – is still poorly understood. It is not easy to determine whether metastasis began early or late in the development of the primary tumor or whether individual metastatic sites were seeded directly from the original tumor or from an intermediate site. Now a research team has developed a simple assay that can reveal the evolutionary relationships among various tumor sites within a patient, information that may someday help with treatment planning. "If we could build a 'family tree' of all ...

Scientists have shown new genetic evidence that could strengthen the link between the role of dietary fats with colon cancer progression. The study, led by Arizona State University researcher and physician Dr. Raymond DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., has identified a molecular culprit, called peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPAR delta), which, when deleted in a mouse model of colon cancer, stopped key steps required for the initiation and progression of tumor growth. "This study has shown without a doubt there is a new function for a key molecule, PPAR delta, ...

A geostatistical approach for studying environmental conditions in stream networks and landscapes has been successfully applied at a valley-wide scale to assess headwater stream chemistry at high resolution, revealing unexpected patterns in natural chemical components. "Headwater streams make up the majority of stream and river length in watersheds, affecting regional water quality," said Assistant Professor Kevin J. McGuire, associate director of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment. "However, the ...

For the first time, researchers have studied the Black Death bacterium's entire family tree to fully understand how some of the family members evolve to become harmful. Contrary to popular belief, the team found pathogenic members of this bacterial family do not share a recent common disease-causing ancestor, but instead, have followed parallel evolutionary paths to become harmful. The Yersinia family of bacteria has many sub species, some of which are harmful and others not. Two of the most feared members of this bacterial family are Yersinia pestis, the bacterium ...

PITTSBURGH, April 21, 2014 – Malfunctions in the molecular "proofreading" machinery, which repairs structural errors in DNA caused by ultraviolet (UV) light damage, help explain why people who have the disease xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) are at an extremely high risk for developing skin cancer, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). Their findings will be published this week in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Previous research ...

(PHILADELPHIA) – Despite decades of common use for surgeries of all kinds, the precise mechanism through which general anesthesia works on the body remains a mystery. This may come as a surprise to the millions of Americans who receive inhaled general anesthesia each year. New research led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania investigated the common anesthetic sevoflurane and found that it binds at multiple key cell membrane protein locations that may contribute to the induction of the anesthetic response. Their findings will appear online ...

On Earth Week--and in fact, every week now--trees in mountains across the western United States are dying, thanks to an infestation of bark beetles that reproduce in the trees' inner bark. Some species of the beetles, such as the mountain pine beetle, attack and kill live trees. Others live in dead, weakened or dying hosts. In Colorado alone, the mountain pine beetle has caused the deaths of more than 3.4 million acres of pine trees. What effect do all these dead trees have on stream flow and water quality? Plenty, according to new research findings reported this ...

A team of scientists, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), has successfully used a new technique to confirm the age of a 120,000-year-old sample of Antarctic ice. The new dating system is expected to allow scientists to identify ice that is much older, thereby reconstructing climate much farther back into Earth's history and potentially leading to an understanding of the mechanisms that cause the planet to shift into and out of ice ages. The use of a radiometric-Krypton-dating technique on ice from Antarctica's Taylor Glacier was documented in a paper published ...

Scientists are facing a number of barriers as they try to develop circuits that are microscopic in size, including how to reliably control the current that flows through a circuit that is the width of a single molecule. Alexander Shestopalov, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Rochester, has done just that, thereby taking us one step closer to nanoscale circuitry. "Until now, scientists have been unable to reliably direct a charge from one molecule to another," said Shestopalov. "But that's exactly what we need to do when working with ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A small gene that is embedded in a larger, well-known gene is the true leukemia-promoting force usually attributed to the larger gene, according to a new study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). The findings are published in the journal Science Signaling. The larger host gene is called BAALC (pronounced "Ball C"). The smaller embedded gene is called microRNA-3151 (miR-3151). The study investigated the degree to which each ...

Using computer simulations to predict which drug candidates offer the greatest potential has thus far not been very reliable, because both small drug-like molecules and the amino acids of proteins vary so much in their chemistry. Uppsala researchers have now cunningly managed to develop a method that has proven to be precise, reliable and general. The largest class of human target proteins for drugs are the so-called G-protein-coupled receptors. They are targets for about 40 per cent of all drugs on the market. These receptors are found in the cell membrane and handle ...

Blue-footed Boobies are on the decline in the Galápagos. A new study appearing in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology indicates numbers of the iconic birds, known for their bright blue feet and propensity to burst into dance to attract mates, have fallen more than 50 percent in less than 20 years. The drastic drop in population is probably due to an unexplained disappearance of sardines from the Boobies' diet, said Dave Anderson, a professor of biology at Wake Forest University and the study's principal investigator. This in turn has adult Boobies electing not ...

Tropical Cyclone Jack may have hurricane-force winds today, April 21, but strong vertical wind shear is expected to weaken the storm. NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead and saw that the bulk of the storm's rainfall was being pushed south of the center from the wind shear. Tropical Cyclone Jack formed on Sunday, April 20, near 13.4 south and 91.1 east, and began moving to the south at 6 knots/6.9 mph/11.1 kph. Jack strengthened quickly and hours after its birth, the storm already had maximum sustained winds near 55 knots/63.2 mph/101.9 kph. On April 21 at 0900 UTC/5 ...

Scientists have long been trying to understand how the Andes and other broad, high-elevation mountain ranges were formed. New research by Carmala Garzione, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Rochester, and colleagues sheds light on the mystery. In a paper published in the latest Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Garzione explains that the Altiplano plateau in the central Andes—and most likely the entire mountain range—was formed through a series of rapid growth spurts. "This study provides increasing evidence that the plateau formed ...

A new study in the Journal of Food Science, published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), found that common edible flowers in China are rich in phenolics and have excellent antioxidant capacity. Edible flowers, which have been used in the culinary arts in China for centuries, are receiving renewed interest. Flowers can be used as an essential ingredient in a recipe, provide seasoning to a dish, or simply be used as a garnish. Some of these flowers contain phenolics that have been correlated with anti-inflammatory activity and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- The most effective way to tackle debilitating diseases is to punch them at the start and keep them from growing. Research at Michigan State University, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, shows that a small "molecular tweezer" keeps proteins from clumping, or aggregating, the first step of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. The results are pushing the promising molecule toward clinical trials and actually becoming a new drug, said Lisa Lapidus, MSU associate professor ...

Russian scientists, in collaboration with their colleagues from Pittsburgh University, find how lipid mediators are produced. The relevant paper was publish in Nature Chemistry. Lipid mediators are molecules playing an important role in inflammation process. A study devoted to some of them has earned a Nobel prize in 1982. Mitochondria are known as "cellular power plants", the organelles where oxidation of various substances leads to formation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule universally used for storage and transportation of energy inside cells. But this is ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University study of reactions to the 2011 death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs suggests health communicators have a critical window of opportunity after a public figure dies to disseminate information about disease prevention and detection. The study, involving a survey of 1,400 adult men and women, found that immediately after Jobs' death, more than a third of survey participants sought information about how he died or about cancer in general, and 7 percent sought information about pancreatic cancer, the disease that took Jobs' life. Lead ...

MINNEAPOLIS – (April 21, 2014) – An Allina Health study published in the current issue of the journal Applied Clinical Informatics showed that a significant number of diagnostic tests and procedures can be avoided if clinicians exchange health information with other health systems. Allina Health uses Care Everywhere which is a health information exchange tool embedded in the Allina Health electronic health record called Excellian® that is powered by Epic (Epic Systems Corporation, Verona, Wis.) With patient consent, Allina Health providers can use this tool to exchange ...