Sleeping well is a crucial factor contributing to our physical and mental restoration. SWS in particular has a positive impact for instance on memory and the functioning of the immune system. During periods of SWS, growth hormones are secreted, cell repair is promoted and the defence system is stimulated. If you feel sick or have had a hard working day, you often simply want to get some good, deep sleep. A wish that you can't influence through your own will – so the widely held preconception. Sleep researchers from the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg now prove ...

DARIEN, IL – A new study shows that college students who are poor sleepers are much more likely to earn worse grades and withdraw from a course than healthy sleeping peers. Results show that sleep timing and maintenance problems in college students are a strong predictor of academic problems even after controlling for other factors that contribute to academic success, such as clinical depression, feeling isolated, and diagnosis with a learning disability or chronic health issue. The study also found that sleep problems have about the same impact on grade point average ...

A team of international scientists led by Professor Jagadese J Vittal of the Department of Chemistry at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Faculty of Science has successfully unraveled the chemical reaction responsible for propelling microscopic crystals to leap distances up to hundreds of times their own size when they are exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light. This popping effect, akin to the bursting of popcorn kernels at high temperatures, demonstrates the conversion of light into mechanical motion. It is the first instance of a "photosalient effect" driven ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — 1 in 2 hypertensive pregnant women who habitually snore may have unrecognized obstructive sleep apnea, a sleeping disorder that can reduce blood oxygen levels during the night and that has been linked to serious health conditions, new University of Michigan-led research shows. One in four hypertensive pregnant women who don't snore also unknowingly suffer from the sleeping disorder, according to the study that appears in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "We know that habitual snoring is linked with poor pregnancy outcomes for both ...

DARIEN, IL – A new study suggests that marijuana use is associated with impaired sleep quality. Results show that any history of cannabis use was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting difficulty falling asleep, struggling to maintain sleep, experiencing non-restorative sleep, and feeling daytime sleepiness. The strongest association was found in adults who started marijuana use before age 15; they were about twice as likely to have severe problems falling asleep (odds ratio = 2.28), experiencing non-restorative sleep (OR = 2.25) and feeling overly sleepy ...

TORONTO, June 2, 2014 — Even by three months of age, babies are visually able to locate objects that stand out from a group, a York University study has found. "For example, an infant can pick a red umbrella in a sea of grey ones," says Psychology Professor Scott Adler in the Faculty of Health, who led the research. "This indicates that babies at a very young age are able to selectively extract information from the environment, just like adults." Previously it was unknown how early this form of visual attention developed in infants. For the current study, both infants ...

LOS ANGELES – (June 2, 2014) – The rates of community-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CO-MRSA) varied dramatically among academic medical centers in California, New York, Illinois and North Carolina, suggesting there is not a uniform change in the "national epidemic" of the "superbug" that has generated extensive public health concern over the past decade, according to a new study. The study, published online ahead of print in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, surveyed hospital records of 4,171 cases of MRSA and MRSA-related infections between ...

LOS ANGELES (May 30, 2014) – An international team of scientists including researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute and the University of Southern California found that an enzyme commonly used as a target for antidepressants may also promote prostate cancer growth. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, found that suppressing the enzyme monoamine oxidase A, or MAOA, may reduce or even eliminate prostate tumor growth and metastasis in laboratory mice. The finding could open the door for physicians to use antidepressants ...

University of Tokyo researchers have described how a plant-virus protein suppresses an important plant defense mechanism that remembers viral genetic information, providing a new target for developing the first-ever chemical against plant viruses that globally cause more than $60 billion of crop losses each year. Invading viruses carry genetic material that hijacks the host cell's machinery, fooling it into producing proteins and new viruses. All cells from fungi to plants and mammals employ RNA silencing, a cellular process essential for the regulation of gene expression ...

LISBON, PORTUGAL (31 May 2014) – This week, the Population Council presented new research at the 13th Congress of the European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health. Presentations included a pharmacokinetic analysis of the Council's investigational one-year contraceptive vaginal ring containing Nestorone® and ethinyl estradiol, and its investigational male contraceptive implant MENT®, as well as new approaches to "green contraception," including strategies to ensure that future contraceptive technologies are both effective and protect the environment. "The ...

VIDEO: Dr. Joyce Liu talks about her clinical trial showing drug combination may be effective in recurrent ovarian cancer. Click here for more information. CHICAGO –– Significant improvement with the use of a combination drug therapy for recurrent ovarian cancer was reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago today. This is the first ovarian cancer study to use a combination of drugs that could be taken orally. The ...

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, June 2, 2014 – Today, for the first time, Metamark presents results from the clinical validation study that showed ProMark™, the first and only proteomic-based imaging biopsy test, achieved its primary endpoint by accurately differentiating between aggressive and non-aggressive forms of prostate cancer at early stages of disease. ProMark™ was shown to predict which patients have low-risk disease with a sensitivity of 90 percent or better, confidently identifying patients who are appropriate for active surveillance or need aggressive therapy. The ...

Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is a primarily pediatric brain tumor caused mainly by mutations in the BRAF gene. In fact, there are two specific mechanisms for activation of BRAF implicated in PA formation: by fusion of the gene with nearby gene KIAA1549 (K:B fusion) or by point mutations of the BRAF gene itself. Research presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2014 used a newly designed test for K:B fusion to show that point mutations lead to a more dangerous form of the disease than does K:B fusion. "Overall, the prognosis for Pilocytic ...

A study published June 1 in the journal Nature Biotechnology describes the results of an open challenge to predict which breast cancer cell lines will respond to which drugs, based only on the sum of cells' genomic data. The winning entry, from the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, was 78 percent accurate in identifying sensitive versus resistant cell lines, and was one of 44 algorithms submitted by groups from around the world. "The idea is simple – we have this question and anybody can participate in searching for the answer. The question is, do we have ...

Many representatives of the fauna possess unique masking abilities but stick insects are among the masters of disguise within the animal world. During a field trip in Guangxi, China Mr. Ho Wai-chun George from the Hong Kong Entomological Society discovers a new species from this enigmatic insect group, which he describes in a recent research paper published in the open access journal Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift. Like the name suggests the new stick insect Sinophasma damingshanensis is distinguished by peculiarly elongated body and green-brownish coloration, which ...

A piece of Eocene Baltic Amber of about 45 million years age contains a well preserved extinct flat bug, which turned out to be a new species to science. This exciting discovery is one of the many secrets that deposits of Baltic amber have revealed in the last years and are yet to come in the future. The study describing the new species was published in the open access journal Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift. The new species Aradus macrosomus is a rather large representative of the genus, differing by its size and particular structures from its congeners. The name ...

Slight variations in how an individual face is viewed can lead people to develop significantly different first impressions of that individual, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "Our findings suggest that impressions from still photos of individuals could be deeply misleading," says psychological scientist and study author Alexander Todorov of Princeton University. Previous research has shown that people form first impressions about someone's personality after viewing their face only briefly. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – An expectant mother who chooses to find out her child's sex before birth may be giving subtle clues about her views on proper gender roles, new research suggests. The study found that women who choose not to learn their child's sex may be more open to new experiences, and combine egalitarian views about the roles of men and women in society with conscientiousness. On the other hand, expectant mothers who scored high on a test of parenting perfectionism were more likely than others to learn their baby's sex. "These results suggest women who choose ...

A Swedish-German research team has successfully tested a new method for the production of ultra-strong cellulose fibres at DESY's research light source PETRA III. The novel procedure spins extremely tough filaments from tiny cellulose fibrils by aligning them all in parallel during the production process. The new method is reported in the scientific journal Nature Communications. "Our filaments are stronger than both aluminium and steel per weight," emphasizes lead author Prof. Fredrik Lundell from the Wallenberg Wood Science Center at the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology ...

(Washington, DC) – New research published in the June 2014 issue of Language presents evidence that the methods employed by the authors of articles published in prestigious international science journals are not supported by a more rigorous linguistic analysis. The Language article, "A statistical comparison of written language and non-linguistic symbol systems," was authored by Richard Sproat, a Research Scientist at Google, based on work he previously did at the Oregon Health & Science University. A pre-print version of the article is available for review at: http://www.linguisticsociety.org/document/language-vol-90-issue-2-june-2014-sproat. ...

New research reveals that bilingualism has a positive effect on cognition later in life. Findings published in Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, show that individuals who speak two or more languages, even those who acquired the second language in adulthood, may slow down cognitive decline from aging. Bilingualism is thought to improve cognition and delay dementia in older adults. While prior research has investigated the impact of learning more than one language, ruling out "reverse causality" has proven ...

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 2, 2014 – Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN) today presented results from a pivotal clinical validation study of the Myriad myPath™ Melanoma test at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, Ill. The Myriad myPath Melanoma test is a novel molecular test that accurately differentiates malignant melanoma from benign skin lesions with a high level of accuracy and helps physicians deliver a more objective and confident diagnosis for patients. "Unfortunately, some melanomas mimic benign skin lesions, making ...

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 2, 2014 – Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYGN) today presented several clinical studies on the Myriad myRisk™ Hereditary Cancer test at the 2014 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois. Among the important new findings is that the myRisk test detects significantly more deleterious mutations than single cancer tests and helps solve the overlap dilemma that exists among hereditary cancer syndromes. "There is robust evidence that hereditary cancers are caused by mutations in many genes and testing for only ...

As Brazil gets set to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup this month amid concerns about the amount of public money being used to stage the world's largest sporting event, Physics World's editorial team reveals in a new special report how physicists are taking full advantage of the four-fold increase in science funding that the government has invested over the past 10 years. Negotiations are currently under way to make Brazil an associate member of the CERN particle-physics lab in Geneva, while the country is also taking a leading role in the Pierre Auger Observatory – an international ...

Analysis of genetic variation in the exome, the DNA sequence of genes that are translated into protein, can aid in uncovering the cause of conditions for which no genetic cause could previously be found, and this can directly impact clinical management, the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics will hear today. Dr Jayne Hehir-Kwa, Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics in the Translational Research group, Department of Human Genetics, Radboud UMC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, will describe results from her group's study that set out to determine whether ...