VIDEO: This movie is a simple 0 m to -210 m geographical loop sequence at 5 m increments. Important features are the substantial gaps between Galapagos' "core " islands even at -100... Click here for more information. The Galapagos Islands have an iconic status in the history of evolutionary study, now new research shows that the islands' own geological past may have influenced the evolution of the chain's native species. Writing in the Journal of Biogeography, ...

WASHINGTON -- People who grew up with a parent who abused alcohol may be 85 percent more likely to attempt suicide than people whose parents did not abuse alcohol, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Furthermore, having divorced parents increased by 14 percent the risk that a person would try to take his or her own life when compared to people whose parents did not divorce, the study found. But putting those two factors together - parents who abuse alcohol and are divorced -- did not increase suicide attempts, according to the study, ...

TORONTO, ON – People who claim to see "Jesus in toast" may no longer be mocked in the future thanks to a new study by researchers at the University of Toronto and partner institutions in China. Researchers have found that the phenomenon of "face pareidolia"--where onlookers report seeing images of Jesus, Virgin Mary, or Elvis in objects such as toasts, shrouds, and clouds--is normal and based on physical causes. "Most people think you have to be mentally abnormal to see these types of images, so individuals reporting this phenomenon are often ridiculed", says lead researcher ...

ATLANTA--Chimpanzees have almost the same personality traits as humans, and they are structured almost identically, according to new work led by researchers at Georgia State University. The research also shows some of those traits have a neurobiological basis, and that those traits vary according to the biological sex of the individual chimpanzee. "Our work also demonstrates the promise of using chimpanzee models to investigate the neurobiology of personality processes," said Assistant Professor Robert Latzman of Psychology, who led the research team. "We know that ...

Although the nation is spending more on welfare than ever before, most of that money is going to better-off families rather than the very poorest, a researcher found. Robert A. Moffitt, the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Economics at the Johns Hopkins University, found that the United States has become more generous over time in supporting low-income families, spending 74 percent more in inflation-adjusted dollars on welfare programs in 2007 than in 1975. But for the 2.5 million single parent families with the absolute lowest levels of earnings, aid dropped 35 percent ...

Orlando, Fla. — In two separate studies, scientists have developed methods to convert non-embryonic stem cells into eye cells that could be used to restore sight. The research is being presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this week in Orlando. In the first method, researchers converted cells taken from the front of a patient's eye into stem cells, which were then programmed to become nerve cells found in the back of the eye. The second study involved introducing stem cells to a single growth factor, which ...

Orlando, Fla. — In an effort to avoid serious side effects suffered after surgery to repair retinal detachment, vision scientists have developed a new product to help stabilize the eye while it heals. The research is being presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this week in Orlando, Fla. In a recent study, Healaflow® a gel based on one of the most common compounds found in the liquid that fills the eye, was tested in rabbit eyes. After surgery to repair retinal detachment in the rabbits, Healaflow® did ...

Orlando, Fla. — Scientists have developed the first reversible glue that could be used on the battlefield to treat eye injuries, potentially saving soldiers' vision. The research is being presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this week in Orlando, Fla. When applied to a wounded eye, the adhesive warms up and becomes sticky, sealing the wound and minimizing further damage while the soldier is transported for treatment. Upon arriving at a hospital, doctors can simply apply cool saline solution to the glue, ...

SEATTLE – Economic findings were released today on the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), estrogen plus progestin (E+P) trial. The WHI is one of the largest National Institutes of Health-funded studies ever conducted on women. Housed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, it is a 15-year, multimillion-dollar study established in 1991, involving more than 160,000 women nationwide, including some 3,500 in Washington. The overall economic return from the WHI E+P trial indicates that changes in practice stemming from the trial provided a net economic return ...

An antioxidant that targets specific cell structures—mitochondria—may be able to reverse some of the negative effects of aging on arteries, reducing the risk of heart disease, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder. When the research team gave old mice—the equivalent of 70- to 80-year-old humans—water containing an antioxidant known as MitoQ for four weeks, their arteries functioned as well as the arteries of mice with an equivalent human age of just 25 to 35 years. The researchers believe that MitoQ affects the endothelium, a thin layer of cells ...

Orlando, Fla. — New research finds that cataract surgery dramatically decreases the number of falls individuals suffer due to poor vision. The research is being presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this week in Orlando, Fla. In a study of more than 400 Vietnamese patients who were 50-plus years old with cataracts in both eyes, the number of falls patients suffered before and after cataract surgery was monitored. Researchers found a 78% decrease in the risk of falls the year after patients had cataract ...

Orlando, Fla. — Scientists have developed a model that mimics the complex structure of the cornea to enable the transplant of healthy corneal stem cells. The research is being presented at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) this week in Orlando Fla. Used to restore sight, corneal stem cells live in a specific physical environment. Transplanting these stem cells requires accurate mimicry of their natural surroundings during transport. In this work, vision scientists have recreated the 3D architecture where corneal ...

An international team of astronomers has made a measurement of a distant neutron star that is one million times more precise than the previous world's best. The researchers were able to use the interstellar medium, the 'empty' space between stars and galaxies that is made up of sparsely spread charged particles, as a giant lens to magnify and look closely at the radio wave emission from a small rotating neutron star. This technique yielded the highest resolution measurement ever achieved, equivalent to being able to see the double-helix structure of our genes from the ...

Dr. Ruxu Zhang and colleagues from Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University in China previously found that the K141N mutation in heat shock protein B8 (HSPB8) was responsible for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2L in a large Chinese family. Therefore, they generated a transgenic mouse model bearing the K141N mutation in the human HSPB8 gene, and to determine whether this K141NHSPB8 transgenic mouse model would manifest the clinical phenotype of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2L, and consequently be suitable for use in studies of disease pathogenesis. The K141NHSPB8 ...

Different types of retinal damage could induce plastic changes of retinal synapses, which might precede the serious damage of neuron soma. These morphological and functional changes to synapses after retinal injury could explain why many intervention measures protected neurons from death but failed to fully recover the damaged visual function. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate both the protection of synapses as well as protecting neurons from death. Dr. Lihong Zhou and co-workers from Central South University in China suggested that retinal glial cell activation ...

Currently, the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is not entirely clear, but it has been generally considered to be the result of interactions among various genetic and environmental factors. Ting Zou and coworkers from Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University in China previously found that Parkin mutation causes Parkin-associated endothelin receptor-like receptor (Pael-R) protein deposition, and the associated cytotoxicity leads to dopaminergic neuronal apoptosis. These researchers speculated that the Pael-R gene is possibly involved in the action of rotenone ...

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction is associated with neuronal apoptosis, which may result from post-surgery inflammation, the phosphorylation of tau protein and the accumulation of amyloid in aged people. 5′adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) can be involved in anti-inflammation, neuronal repair and anti-inflammation of the body through different downstream proteins and pathways. In addition, the activation of AMPK regulates tau protein phosphorylation and reduces amyloidogenesis in neurons. Yanlin Bi and co-workers from the Affiliated Qianfoshan ...

"We are turning the professional social workers into moral agents. This development recalls a time before the welfare state, when we had poor relief and when the extent to which the state could help you depended on your own dignity." This is the assertion by Marie Østergaard Møller, who is associate professor at the Department of Political Science and Government, Aarhus University regarding the labour market policy that has been carried out in Denmark since the 1990s. More specifically, since 1994 the opportunities for citizens to get relief from the state have been reduced. ...

Overlapping impacts of climate change such as drought or flooding, declining crop yields or ecosystem damages create hotspots of risk in specific parts of Africa. These are for the first time identified in a study now published by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The uncertainties in assessing the impacts do not necessarily hamper but can inform development strategies, according to the scientists. Likelihood and potential severity of impacts can be weighed to decide on suitable adaptation measures. "We found three regions to be amongst those most at ...

All industrial nations need large volumes of oil which is normally delivered by ocean-going tankers or via inland waterways to its destination. The most environmentally-friendly way of cleaning up nature after an oil spill accident is to absorb and recover the floating film of oil. The Empa researchers Tanja Zimmermann and Philippe Tingaut, in collaboration with Gilles Sèbe from the University of Bordeaux, have now succeeded in developing a highly absorbent material which separates the oil film from the water and can then be easily recovered, "silylated" nanocellulose sponge. ...

Philadelphia, PA, May 6, 2014 – Even among the healthiest individuals, memory and cognitive abilities decline with age. This aspect of normal aging can affect an individual's quality of life and capability to live independently but the rate of decline is variable across individuals. There are many factors that can influence this trajectory, but perhaps none more importantly than genetics. Scientists are seeking to identify key molecular switches that control age-related memory impairment. When new molecules are identified as critical to the process of memory consolidation, ...

Common belief is that yawning helps to increase the oxygen supply. However, previous research has failed to show an association between yawning and blood oxygen levels. New research by a team of researchers led by Psychologist Andrew Gallup of SUNY College at Oneonta, USA now reveals that yawning cools the brain. Sleep cycles, cortical arousal and stress are all associated with fluctuations in brain temperature, Yawning subsequently functions to keep the brain temperature balanced and in optimal homeostasis. According to this theory, yawning should also be easily manipulated ...

Amsterdam, NL, 5 May 2014 – A follow-up study of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who participated in an earlier "proof of concept" clinical trial using exenatide showed that improvements persisted twelve months after discontinuing exenatide therapy. These data provide strong encouragement for the further study of this drug in patients with PD, report researchers in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease. Several recent discoveries have highlighted common cellular pathways that potentially relate neurodegenerative processes with abnormal mitochondrial function and abnormal ...

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a genetic risk factor for premature birth. The risk factor is related to a gene that codes for a protein that the scientists have found helps the body's immune cells recognize and fight Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria. These bacteria are found in the vagina or lower gastrointestinal tract of approximately 15 to 20 percent of healthy women, but may cause life-threatening infections, such as sepsis or meningitis in newborns, especially those born prematurely. The study is published ...

Philadelphia, PA, May 5, 2014 – New cancer therapies, particularly agents that block vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling, have improved the outlook for patients with some cancers and are now used as a first line therapy for some tumors. However, almost 100% of patients who take VEGF inhibitors (VEGFIs) develop high blood pressure, and a subset develops severe hypertension. The mechanisms underlying VEGF inhibitor-induced hypertension need to be better understood and there is a need for clear guidelines and improved management, say investigators in a review ...