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Environment28 Aug 2014

Study finds marine protected areas inadequate for protecting fish and ocean ecology

A new study reports that an expansion of marine protected areas is needed to protect fish species that perform key ecological functions. According to investigators from the Wildlife Conservation Society and other organizations, previous efforts at protecting fish have focused on saving the largest numbers of species, often at the expense of those species that provide key and difficult-to-replace ecological functions. Many vital ecological functions of ocean ecology are performed by fish species that also are food for millions of people. This study uncovers a significant ...

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Environment28 Aug 2014

NASA's TRMM analyzes Hurricane Cristobal

VIDEO: TRMM satellite passed over Cristobal on Aug. 27 at 8:16 a.m. EDT. Cristobal didn't appear round and symmetric in either clouds or rainfall which suggests that the hurricane is being... Click here for more information. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM Satellite provided a look under the hood of Hurricane Cristobal as it continues moving north and paralleling the U.S. East Coast. NASA's HS3 hurricane mission also investigated the storm. Cristobal is now ...

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Science28 Aug 2014

A new, tunable device for spintronics

Spin-charge converters are important devices in spintronics, an electronic which is not only based on the charge of electrons but also on their spin and the spin-related magnetism. Spin-charge converters enable the transformation of electric into magnetic signals and vice versa. Recently, the research group of Professor Jairo Sinova from the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in collaboration with researchers from the UK, Prague, and Japan, has for the first time realised a new, efficient spin-charge converter based on the common semiconductor material ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

New analysis of old HIV vaccines finds potentially protective immune response

DURHAM, N.C. – Applying the benefit of hindsight, researchers at Duke Medicine have reanalyzed the findings of two historic pediatric HIV vaccine trials with encouraging results. The vaccines had in fact triggered an antibody response -- now known to be associated with protection in adults -- that was previously unrecognized in the infants studied in the 1990s. Reporting online Aug. 28, 2014, in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the Duke researchers relied on fresh insights that have been gleaned from a recent adult HIV vaccine trial in which the vaccine reduced the ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

New tool aids stem cell engineering for medical research

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A Mayo Clinic researcher and his collaborators have developed an online analytic tool that will speed up and enhance the process of re-engineering cells for biomedical investigation. CellNet is a free-use Internet platform that uses network biology methods to aid stem cell engineering. Details of CellNet and its application to stem cell engineering are described in two back-to-back papers in the journal Cell. "This free platform has a broad range of uses for all types of cell-based investigations and can potentially offer help to people working on all ...

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Science28 Aug 2014

UMN researchers find animal model for understudied type of muscular dystrophy

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (August 28, 2014) – Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed an animal research model for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) to be used for muscle regeneration research as well as studies of the effectiveness of potential therapies for FSHD. The research is published in the current edition of the journal Cell Reports. There is no treatment for FSHD, which is thought by many to be the most common type of muscular dystrophy. FSHD is an unusual genetic disorder because, unlike most genetic diseases, it is not caused by the ...

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Science28 Aug 2014

Breastfeeding study shows need for effective peer counseling programs

Athens, Ga. – The support of peer groups and clinicians is critical to the development of effective breastfeeding programs, according to recent University of Georgia research. A qualitative study of 21 mothers in the Athens-Clarke County area determined that role models for successful breastfeeding help positively shape the outcomes of mothers of infants. "Mothers who received that support are more likely to be successful at breastfeeding," said study co-author Alex Anderson, an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences department of foods and ...

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Environment28 Aug 2014

New solutions needed to recycle fracking water

HOUSTON – (Aug. 28, 2014) – Rice University scientists have produced a detailed analysis of water produced by hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking) of three gas reservoirs and suggested environmentally friendly remedies are needed to treat and reuse it. More advanced recycling rather than disposal of "produced" water pumped back out of wells could calm fears of accidental spillage and save millions of gallons of fresh water a year, said Rice chemist Andrew Barron, who led the study that appeared this week in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Environmental Science: ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

Females ignored in basic medical research

CHICAGO --- A new study from Northwestern Medicine® has found that surgical researchers rarely use female animals or female cells in their published studies -- despite a huge body of evidence showing that sex differences can play a crucial role in medical research. Editors of the five major surgical journals reviewed in this study have responded to this finding and will now require authors to state the sex of animals and cells used in their studies. If they use only one sex in their studies, they will be asked to justify why. "Women make up half the population, but ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

UTHealth researchers find up to 3,000 times the bacterial growth on hollow-head toothbrushes

HOUSTON – (Aug. 28, 2014) — Solid-head power toothbrushes retain less bacteria compared to hollow-head toothbrushes, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Dentistry. The results of the study are published in the August issue of the Journal of Dental Hygiene. Lead author and professor at the UTHealth School of Dentistry, Donna Warren Morris, R.D.H., M.Ed., notes that microbial counts were lower in the solid-head toothbrush group than in the two hollow-head toothbrush groups in 9 out of 10 comparisons. "Toothbrushes ...

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Technology28 Aug 2014

Together, humans and computers can figure out the plant world

As technology advances, science has become increasingly about data—how to gather it, organize it, and analyze it. The creation of key databases to analyze and share data lies at the heart of bioinformatics, or the collection, classification, storage, and analysis of biochemical and biological information using computers and software. The tools and methods used in bioinformatics have been instrumental in the development of fields such as molecular genetics and genomics. But, in the plant sciences, bioinformatics and biometrics are employed in all fields—not just genomics—to ...

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Technology28 Aug 2014

New analytical technology reveals 'nanomechanical' surface traits

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A new research platform uses a laser to measure the "nanomechanical" properties of tiny structures undergoing stress and heating, an approach likely to yield insights to improve designs for microelectronics and batteries. This new technique, called nanomechanical Raman spectroscopy, reveals information about how heating and the surface stress of microscale structures affect their mechanical properties. Researchers have discussed the merits of surface-stress influence on mechanical properties for decades. However, the nanomechanical Raman spectroscopy ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

Sensory-tested drug-delivery vehicle could limit spread of HIV, AIDS

A unique method for delivering compounds that could positively impact the global battle against HIV and AIDS may be possible, thanks to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. A semi-soft vaginal suppository made from the seaweed-derived food ingredient carrageenan and loaded with the antiviral drug Tenofovir provides a woman-initiated, drug-delivery vehicle that can protect against the spread of sexually transmitted infections during unprotected heterosexual intercourse, the researchers said. With more than 34 million people worldwide living with ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

The Lancet: Respiratory infection controls being used for ebola patients are unnecessary and may contribute to public panic

Respiratory infection control measures – which have been adopted by most health agencies to deal with the Ebola epidemic in west Africa – are unnecessary, and may heighten panic and fear among the public, according to the authors of a new letter, published in The Lancet, and written by Professor Jose M. Martin-Moreno from the University of Valencia in Spain, and colleagues. Ebola virus is primarily transmitted through contact with infected patients' blood, vomit, faeces and other secretions, both direct and indirect, from contaminated needles and other materials. This ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

Indoor mold poses health risk to asthma sufferers

Damp and mould in homes could pose a significant health risk to people with asthma according to a new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. By critically reviewing the findings from 17 studies in eight different countries, the research has found that the presence of several types of mould can lead to breathing problems in asthma sufferers, as well as increasing the likelihood of developing the condition. The research has been conducted by a team at the University of Exeter Medical School and is the first time all of the information relating ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

Synthesis produces new antibiotic

HOUSTON – (Aug. 28, 2014) – A fortuitous collaboration at Rice University has led to the total synthesis of a recently discovered natural antibiotic. The laboratory recreation of a fungus-derived antibiotic, viridicatumtoxin B, may someday help bolster the fight against bacteria that evolve resistance to treatments in hospitals and clinics around the world. As part of the process, Rice organic chemist K.C. Nicolaou and structural biologist Yousif Shamoo and their colleagues created and tested a number of variants of viridicatumtoxin B that could lead to the simplified ...

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Science28 Aug 2014

Inter-dependent networks stress test

Energy production systems are good examples of complex systems. Their infrastructure equipment requires ancillary sub-systems structured like a network—including water for cooling, transport to supply fuel, and ICT systems for control and management. Every step in the network chain is interconnected with a wider network and they are all mutually dependent. A team of UK-based scientists has studied various aspects of inter-network dependencies, not previously explored. The findings have been published in EPJ B by Gaihua Fu from Newcastle University, UK, and colleagues. These ...

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Technology28 Aug 2014

Quantum physics enables revolutionary imaging method

This news release is available in German. Researchers from the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ), and the University of Vienna have developed a fundamentally new quantum imaging technique with strikingly counterintuitive features. For the first time, an image has been obtained without ever detecting the light that was used to illuminate the imaged object, while the light revealing the image never touches the imaged object. In general, to obtain an image of an object one has to illuminate ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

This is your brain's blood vessels on drugs

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2014—A new method for measuring and imaging how quickly blood flows in the brain could help doctors and researchers better understand how drug abuse affects the brain, which may aid in improving brain-cancer surgery and tissue engineering, and lead to better treatment options for recovering drug addicts. The new method, developed by a team of researchers from Stony Brook University in New York, USA and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, was published today in The Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express. The researchers ...

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Science28 Aug 2014

Ancient metal workers were not slaves but highly regarded craftsmen

In 1934, American archaeologist Nelson Glueck named one of the largest known copper production sites of the Levant "Slaves' Hill." This hilltop station, located deep in Israel's Arava Valley, seemed to bear all the marks of an Iron Age slave camp – fiery furnaces, harsh desert conditions, and a massive barrier preventing escape. New evidence uncovered by Tel Aviv University archaeologists, however, overturns this entire narrative. In the course of ongoing excavations at Timna Valley, Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef and Dr. Lidar Sapir-Hen of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Near ...

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Science28 Aug 2014

Global warming pioneer calls for CO2 to be taken from atmosphere and stored underground

Wally Broeker, the first person to alert the world to Global Warming, has called for atmospheric CO2 to be captured and stored underground. He says that Carbon Capture, combined with limits on fossil fuel emissions, is the best way to avoid global warming getting out of control over the next fifty years. Professor Broeker (Columbia University, New York) made the call during his presentation to the International Carbon Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland, where 150 scientists are meeting to discuss Carbon Capture and Storage. He was presenting an analysis which showed that ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

Neuroscientists watch imagination happening in the brain

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one," sang John Lennon in his 1971 song Imagine. And thanks to the dreams of a BYU student, we now know more about where and how imagination happens in our brains. Stefania Ashby and her faculty mentor devised experiments using MRI technology that would help them distinguish pure imagination from related processes like remembering. "I was thinking a lot about planning for my own future and imagining myself in the future, and I started wondering how memory and imagination work together," Ashby said. "I wondered if they ...

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Environment28 Aug 2014

Protected areas proven to protect biodiversity

Protected areas conserve biodiversity and more action is needed to ensure safeguards are in place to protect these areas, researchers say. Published in PLOS ONE, researchers from Monash University, Stellenbosch University and the University of Exeter, used meta-analysis - combining results from different studies - to look at the past 30 years of research into these areas, to determine whether they actually protect biodiversity. Dr Bernard Coetzee, School of Biological Sciences, said protecting an area from human exploitation made common sense, however, up until now ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

Serotonin transporter is a mifepristone pharmacological target

In the central nervous system, serotonergic transmission is critically regulated by serotonin reuptake through the serotonin transporter. As a crucial pharmacological target of antidepressants, the role of erotonin transporter in treatment of major depression is well-established. Dr. Chaokun Li and co-workers from Xinxiang Medical University in China cloned the human brain serotonin transporter into Xenopus oocytes, to establish an in vitro expression system. Two-electrode voltage clamp recordings were used to detect serotonin transporter activity. Their results show that ...

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Medicine28 Aug 2014

Vasopressin decreases neuronal apoptosis during cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Epinephrine has been shown to be a first-choice drug for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Nevertheless, its β-adrenergic effect probably increases myocardial oxygen consumption and leads to severe cardiac and cerebral injuries; moreover, epinephrine does not elevate long-term survival rates. The American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council recently recommended that vasopressin can be used for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, instead of epinephrine. However, the guidelines do not discuss the effects of vasopressin during cerebral resuscitation. According ...

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