MONTREAL, August 12, 2014 – An analysis of autism research covering genetics, brain imaging, and cognition led by Laurent Mottron of the University of Montreal has overhauled our understanding of why autism potentially occurs, develops and results in a diversity of symptoms. The team of senior academics involved in the project calls it the "Trigger-Threshold-Target'' model. Brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability to respond and remodel itself, and this model is based on the idea that autism is a genetically induced plastic reaction. The trigger is multiple brain ...

HOUSTON – (Aug. 12, 2014) – A Rice University laboratory has provided proof that foam may be the right stuff to maximize enhanced oil recovery (EOR). In tests, foam pumped into an experimental rig that mimicked the flow paths deep underground proved better at removing oil from formations with low permeability than common techniques involving water, gas, surfactants or combinations of the three. The open-access paper led by Rice scientists Sibani Lisa Biswal and George Hirasaki was published online today by the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Lab on a Chip. Oil ...

Boston, MA – Decline in daily functioning associated with Alzheimer's disease is related to alterations in activity in certain regions of the brain, according to a study published in the August 2014 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Impairment in instrumental activities of daily living—or an inability to perform high-level daily activities such as calculating finances, remembering appointments and medications, and driving—is first seen when a person has mild cognitive impairment, which can later progress to dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. Deterioration ...

TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2014—Immigrants are at lower risk of an overdose or death after being prescribed codeine than people born in Canada, a new study has found. Surprisingly, this is true even when the immigrants lack proficiency in English or French, which might be thought to hamper their ability to read prescription labels or instructions, said lead author Dr. Joel Ray, a physician and researcher at St. Michael's Hospital. His study was published in the current issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Dr. Ray undertook this study because of the large ...

Having survived cancer as a child does not necessarily have a ripple effect that makes people lead a healthier lifestyle once they grow up. In fact, in a report derived from a National Cancer Institute-funded study of childhood cancer survivors known as the Chicago Healthy Living Study, investigators found that childhood cancer survivors in no way adhere more closely to guidelines on healthy eating than their cancer-free peers. The findings are published in Springer's Journal of Cancer Survivorship. Childhood cancer survivors face different health-care challenges and ...

Rochester, MN, August 12, 2014 – There is strong epidemiological evidence of the importance of regular physical activity, such as brisk walking and jogging, in the management and rehabilitation of cardiovascular disease and in lowering the risk of death from other diseases such as hypertension, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends about 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise or about 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise. But there is clear evidence of an increase in cardiovascular deaths in heart attack ...

While hiking through the Ozarks' characteristic oak and hickory forests as a teenager, ecologist Scott Woolbright discovered something decidedly uncharacteristic for the region: prickly pear cacti growing on an exposed, rocky ledge. In a recent paper published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Woolbright describes how populations and communities like these, known as climate relicts, can help scientists understand how ecological communities are affected by climate change. Rocky, well-drained slopes in the Ozarks often create habitat "islands" within the surrounding ...

Cloud tops were warming and precipitation was waning in Tropical Depression Genevieve when NASA's Aqua satellite flew overhead. Genevieve moved through all three Pacific Ocean regions (eastern, central and western) in its two week lifetime and met its end today. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Depression Genevieve on Aug. 11 at 01:29 UTC and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) captured infrared data on the storm. AIRS data showed a small area of the strongest thunderstorms were occurring over the northern quadrant, where temperatures approached -63F/-52C. ...

PHILADELPHIA (August 12, 2014)— "Roads are essentially the primary feature of human civilization at this point," according to Dane Ward, a doctoral student in environmental science at Drexel University who is presenting research at the Ecological Society of America (ESA) meeting. Perhaps not surprisingly, Ward, along with fellow doctoral students Ryan Rebozo and Kevin P.W. Smith from the Laboratory of Pinelands Research led by Walter Bien, PhD in Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, took advantage of a cross-country roadtrip from Philadelphia to the meeting in Sacramento ...

Researchers have identified the mechanism used by the deadly MERS virus to transmit from bats to humans. Bats are a native reservoir for MERS and the finding could be critical for understanding the animal origins of the virus, as well as preventing and controlling the spread of MERS and related viruses in humans. The findings were published in the most recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Leading the research was Fang Li, Ph.D., associate professor of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Graduate students Yang ...

A new paper by University of Notre Dame researchers describes their investigations of the fundamental optical properties of a new class of semiconducting materials known as organic-inorganic "hybrid" perovskites. The research was conducted at the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory by Joseph Manser, a doctoral student in chemical and biomolecular engineering, under the direction of Prashant Kamat, Rev. John A. Zahm Professor of Science. The findings appear in a paper in the August 10 edition of the journal Nature Photonics. The term "perovskites" refers to the structural ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- Scientists have known for decades that cancer can be caused by genetic mutations, but more recently they have discovered that chemical modifications of a gene can also contribute to cancer. These alterations, known as epigenetic modifications, control whether a gene is turned on or off. Analyzing these modifications can provide important clues to the type of tumor a patient has, and how it will respond to different drugs. For example, patients with glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor, respond well to a certain class of drugs known as alkylating agents ...

A federal program that provides billions in drug discounts to safety net hospitals and other health care providers is expanding under health care reform, but divergent views on the purpose and future scope of the program creates uncertainty for safety net providers and drug manufacturers, according to new report from the RAND Corporation. The so-called 340B program faces a number of critical issues, such as whether to change and better define eligibility, strengthen compliance efforts and provide greater transparency about the discounts provided through the program, according ...

Researchers have found a link between digital literacy and a reduction in cognitive decline, according to a study published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Medical Sciences on July 8th. Led by Andre Junqueira Xavier at the Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, this is the first major study to show that digital literacy, or the ability to engage, plan and execute digital actions such as web browsing and exchanging emails, can improve memory. Drawn from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, the study followed 6442 participants in the UK between the ages ...

VIDEO: As many as 98 percent of all pediatric knee surgeries performed at Nationwide Children's Hospital were done in an outpatient setting, as a result of this method that reduces... Click here for more information. A recent study of an ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia technique, called femoral nerve block, shows that it leads to less opioid use and allows the majority of patients to go home within hours of surgery. As many as 98 percent of all pediatric knee surgeries ...

CINCINNATI—Oxidative stress is a significant predictor for hip fracture in postmenopausal women, according to new research led by University of Cincinnati (UC) epidemiologists. The research, appearing online ahead of print in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, was led by Tianying Wu, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the UC College of Medicine Department of Environmental Health, and Shuman Yang, a postdoctoral fellow in the department. They collaborated with researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School. "To our knowledge, this ...

The Pacific Northwest has been inundated with wildfires most stemming from lightning strikes during summer storms. Four of these wildfires can be seen in this natural-color Aqua satellite image collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, MODIS, instrument aboard. This image was taken on August 11, 2014. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red. The Upper Falls wildfire was started by a lightning strike on August 03. It is located 17 Miles North of Winthrop WA, 37 miles Northwest of Omak, WA and has grown to ...

Tropical Storm Julio continues to weaken as it moves through cooler waters of the Central Pacific Ocean. NASA's Terra satellite passed over Julio and saw that the bulk of the clouds and precipitation were being pushed to the34 north of the center as the storm tracked far north of the Hawaiian Islands. NASA's Terra satellite passed over Julio on August 11 at 21:25 UTC (5:25 p.m. EDT) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard took a visible picture of the storm. The MODIS image revealed a circular center, but most of the clouds and ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A catalyst made from a foamy form of copper has vastly different electrochemical properties from catalysts made with smooth copper in reactions involving carbon dioxide, a new study shows. The research, by scientists in Brown University's Center for the Capture and Conversion of CO2, suggests that copper foams could provide a new way of converting excess CO2 into useful industrial chemicals. The research is published in the journal ACS Catalysis. As levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continue to rise, researchers are looking for ways to make ...

WASHINGTON D.C. Aug. 12, 2014 -- If you've ever spent any time watching a gecko, you may have wondered about their uncanny ability to adhere to any surface -- including upside down on ceilings. It turns out the little lizards can turn the "stickiness" of toe hairs on the bottom of their feet on and off, which enables them to run at great speeds or even cling to ceilings without expending much energy. In the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, Oregon State University (OSU) researchers describe their work exploring the subtleties of geckos' adhesion system ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists who sequenced the genome of the Antarctic midge suspect the genome's small size – the smallest in insects described to date – can probably be explained by the midge's adaptation to its extreme living environment. The midge is a small, wingless fly that spends most of its two-year larval stage frozen in the Antarctic ice. Upon adulthood, the insects spend seven to 10 days mating and laying eggs, and then they die. Its genome contains only 99 million base pairs of nucleotides, making it smaller than other tiny reported genomes for the body ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a model that explains how geckos, as well as spiders and some insects, can run up and down walls, cling to ceilings, and seemingly defy gravity with such effortless grace. The solution, outlined today in the Journal of Applied Physics, is a remarkable mechanism in the toes of geckos that use tiny, branched hairs called "seta" that can instantly turn their stickiness on and off, and even "unstick" their feet without using any energy. These extraordinary hairs contribute to the ability of geckos to ...

PULLMAN, Wash.—Few animals can boast of being as tough as the Antarctic midge. Its larvae develop over not one but two Antarctic winters, losing nearly half their body mass each time. It endures high winds, salt, and intense ultraviolet radiation. As an adult, the midge gets by without wings and lives for only a week or so before starting its life cycle all over again. And as Joanna Kelley has learned, it does this with the smallest insect genome sequenced so far. "It's tiny," said Kelley, a Washington State University assistant professor, who recently sequenced and analyzed ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Researchers who looked at the impact of discrimination, poverty and stigma on the mental health and relationship quality of transgender women and their male romantic partners found that social and economic marginalization not only takes a psychological toll on each person individually but also appears to undermine them as a couple. It is difficult to be a transgender woman in the United States. Prior research has shown that they generally face high risks of depression, financial hardship, and discrimination, said study lead author Kristi Gamarel, a ...

The majority of children in Quebec's youth protection system who are placed in out-of-home care (family foster care, or in a group or rehabilitation centre) are reunited with their "natural" families within 6 months, according to a study led by Professor Tonino Esposito of University of Montreal's School of Social Work. However, younger children, specifically those aged 2 to 5 years old at initial placement, have the lowest likelihood of returning to live with their natural families over time. "All placed children, irrespective of age, are less likely to return to live ...