CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Cancer cells that break away from tumors to go looking for a new home may prefer to settle into a soft bed, according to new findings from researchers at the University of Illinois. Some particularly enterprising cancer cells can cause a cancer to spread to other organs, called metastasis, or evade treatment to resurface after a patient is thought to be in remission. The Illinois team, along with colleagues in China, found that these so-called tumor-repopulating cells may lurk quietly in stiffer cellular environments, but thrive in a softer space. The ...

Rising temperatures may be seen as universally beneficial for non-native species expanding northward, but a Dartmouth College study suggests a warmer world may help some invaders but hurt others depending on how they and native enemies and competitors respond. The study, which sheds light on the uncertain relationship between climate change and invasive species, appears in the journal Ecology. A PDF of the study is available on request. Climate change and invasive species rank among the largest predicted threats to global ecosystems over the next century, but they are ...

At least one part of the human brain may be able to process information the same way in older age as it does in the prime of life, according to new research conducted at the University of Adelaide. A study compared the ability of 60 older and younger people to respond to visual and non-visual stimuli in order to measure their "spatial attention" skills. Spatial attention is critical for many aspects of life, from driving, to walking, to picking up and using objects. "Our studies have found that older and younger adults perform in a similar way on a range of visual ...

Dimethyl fumarate (trade name: Tecfidera) has been approved since January 2014 for adults with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has examined whether this new drug for MS offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy specified by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA). However, no added benefit can be determined, as no suitable data are available, neither for the direct ...

AUDIO: Washington University scientists have developed a method to grow human intestinal epithelial cells from tiny biopsies that are collected from patients during routine screening procedures like colonoscopies. They say the... Click here for more information. A method of growing human cells from tissue removed from a patient's gastrointestinal (GI) tract eventually may help scientists develop tailor-made therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and other GI conditions. Reporting ...

LAWRENCE — Recently, Malaysian herpetologist Juliana Senawi puzzled over an unfamiliar orange-striped, yellow-speckled frog she'd live-caught in swampland on the Malay Peninsula. She showed the frog to Chan Kin Onn, a fellow herpetologist pursuing his doctorate at the University of Kansas. They wondered — was this striking frog with an appearance unlike others nearby in the central peninsula an unidentified species? Poring over records to find out, the researchers saw that a comparable frog had been collected in the area 10 years earlier, but written off then as a ...

Weight loss significantly improves physical health but effects on mental health are less straightforward, finds new UCL research funded by Cancer Research UK. In a study of 1,979 overweight and obese adults in the UK, people who lost 5% or more of their initial body weight over four years showed significant changes in markers of physical health, but were more likely to report depressed mood than those who stayed within 5% of their original weight. The research, published in PLOS ONE, highlights the need to consider mental health alongside physical health when losing ...

Vision and hearing problems reduce the active participation of older people in various events and activities. This was observed in two studies carried out by the Gerontology Research Center. Impaired vision and hearing make it difficult to interact in social situations. However, social relationships and situations in which there is an opportunity to meet and interact with other people are important for older adults' quality of life. – Sensory impairments are common among older adults. About one third of Europeans aged 50 and older were found to have impairment in hearing, ...

NASA's Terra satellite grabbed a look at Typhoon Halong as it was nearing the Japanese islands of Minamidaito and Kitadaito and headed for a landfall in the main islands of southern Japan. The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Typhoon Halong on August 7 at 02:35 UTC, as it continued approaching southern Japan. The image showed thunderstorms tightly wrapped around the center of circulation. In addition there was a large, thick band of thunderstorms that wrapped into the center from ...

Boston, MA – New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that higher caffeine intake is associated with lower rates of tinnitus, often described as a ringing or buzzing sound in the ear when there is no outside source of the sounds, in younger and middle-aged women. This research is published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine. In this prospective study, which followed more than 65,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study II, researchers tracked self-reported results regarding lifestyle and medical history from these women, aged 30 to ...

HOUSTON – (August 7, 2014) – The misfolded and infectious prion protein that is a marker for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – linked to the consumption of infected cattle meat – has been detected in the urine of patients with the disease by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School. The results of the international study, led by Claudio Soto, Ph.D., professor of neurology at the UTHealth Medical School, are published in the Aug. 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ...

According to a study published in the journal Conservation Biology by a group of scientists from the University of Notre Dame, Resources for the Future, U.S. Forest Service, University of Michigan and the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Laboratory, if bighead and silver carp were to establish in Lake Erie, local fish biomass is not likely to change beyond observations recorded in the last 3 decades. "Bighead and silver carp will continue to have access to the Great Lakes— it is important understand what the consequences could be if they were to establish" Marion ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Women applying for a job in male-dominated fields should consider playing up their masculine qualities, indicates new research by Michigan State University scholars that's part of a series of studies on bias in the hiring process. In a laboratory experiment, women who described themselves using masculine-like traits (assertive, independent, achievement oriented) were evaluated as more fitting for the job than those who emphasized female-like traits (warmth, supportiveness, nurturing). "We found that 'manning up' seemed to be an effective strategy, ...

Numerous risk factors are believed to contribute to the development of autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, and new research is focusing on the role that bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract as well as other cell stress-related chemical signals could have in stimulating inflammation in the central nervous system and activating immunostimulatory cytokines. Two comprehensive Review articles are part of a focus on "Cytokines in Neuroinflammation and Immunity" in a special issue of Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research (JICR), a peer-reviewed publication from ...

A visible satellite image from NOAA's GOES-East satellite shows that Post-Tropical Storm Bertha was merging with a frontal system in the North Atlantic Ocean. The visible image from 1200 UTC (8 a.m. EDT) on August 6 was created at the NASA GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The image was created from data from NOAA's GOES-East satellite and the circulation center of Bertha is barely discernable. Bertha's circulation was connected to a stationary front that stretched from northeastern Canada to the Bahamas creating what ...

The adult CNS is remarkably adaptable – it retains the ability to generate and integrate new cells, and remodel pre-existing circuits. Intense research over the last 25 years has provided critical insight into the cell generation and differentiation potential of endogenous neural stem and progenitor cells, and has described three core CNS plasticity mechanisms. While we are still a long way from fully understanding how neural plasticity is regulated from the level of the individual cell, through to the level of the neural network, there is growing evidence to support the ...

ATLANTA – August 7, 2014 –For adults, eating at both fast-food and full-service restaurants is associated with significant increases in the intake of calories, sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, according to a new study. The study, appearing early online in Public Health Nutrition, finds on days when adults ate at a restaurant, they consumed about 200 additional total daily calories whether they ate at fast- food restaurants or at full-service restaurants. Previous studies looking at restaurant food consumption have found that adults who reported eating fast food consumed ...

For 20 years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been the subject of intensive fundamental as well as applied research. With their extraordinary mechanical, thermal and electronic properties, these tiny tubes with their graphitic honeycomb lattice have become the paragon of nanomaterials. They could help to create next-generation electronic and electro-optical components that are smaller than ever before, and thus to achieve even faster switching times. As uniform as possible With a diameter of roughly one nanometre, single-wall CNTs (or SWCNTs) need to be considered as quantum ...

While companies like Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A are at the forefront of debate over the religious rights of employers, a new study by a Grand Valley State University researcher shows religious affiliation can safeguard companies against negative reactions to store policies. The findings were published in the Journal of Services Marketing. The research, led by Kelly Cowart, assistant professor of marketing at Grand Valley State University, examines the effect of a firm's religious association on customer perceptions of the firm, especially when a service failure occurs. ...

This news release is available in German. Anyone who strolls around the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, can't help but notice them – the small signs on the doors of shops and cafes "Bitcoins accepted". Customers pay for their shirt or their cappuccino with their Smartphone instead of with bank notes or credit cards. The digital currency Bitcoin makes all this possible. "The image of Bitcoin has changed fundamentally", explains David Garcia, a post-doctoral researcher with the Chair of Systems Design held by Professor Frank Schweitzer. "Bitcoins used to be the reserve ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- During a four-year excavation of an Etruscan well at the ancient Italian settlement of Cetamura del Chianti, a team led by a Florida State University archaeologist and art historian unearthed artifacts spanning more than 15 centuries of Etruscan, Roman and medieval civilization in Tuscany. "The total haul from the well is a bonanza," said Nancy de Grummond, the M. Lynette Thompson Professor of Classics at Florida State. De Grummond, who has performed work at the site since 1983, is one of the nation's leading scholars of Etruscan studies. "This ...

Journalists working with images of extreme violence submitted to newsrooms by the public are at increased risk of adverse psychological consequences, including post-traumatic stress disorder. New research, published today by JRSM Open, shows that frequent, repetitive viewing of traumatic images by journalists working with 'live' or User Generated Content material can be closely linked to anxiety, depression, PTSD and alcohol consumption. Frequency rather than duration of exposure to images of graphic violence is more emotionally distressing to journalists processing User ...

This news release is available in German. The Quantum Computer is the Holy Grail of quantum technology. Its computing power would eclipse even the fastest classical computers we have today. A team of researchers from TU Wien (Vienna) the National Institute for Informatics (Tokyo) and NTT Basic Research Labs in Japan has now proposed a new architecture for quantum computing, based on microscopic defects in diamond. A reliable quantum computer capable of solving complex problems would have to consist of billions of quantum systems, and such a device is still out of ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 7, 2014 ─ It is commonly argued that students should attend the most academically selective college possible, since, among other reasons, highly selective institutions graduate students at higher rates. However, is it the institutions themselves that succeed in getting students through to degree completion, or is degree completion merely a result of the quality of the students entering the institutions? New research published today in the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ), a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research ...

The care of patients with complex medical needs is widely regarded as one of the key factors driving increased U.S. health costs, and it is generally accepted that 10 to 15 percent of Medicare patients account for 65 to 75 percent of all Medicare spending. Many of the country's leading health care organizations have been adopting the strategy of complex care management – assembling multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, mental health professionals and others, with services being coordinated by care managers who work closely with patients and their ...