A research breakthrough at Queen's University Belfast has sparked interest among aquatic biologists, zoologists and ecologists around the world. The joint research between Queen's and several South African institutions centred on the behaviour of some of the "world's worst" invasive species, including the large-mouth bass, an invasive fish which typically devastates invertebrate and other fish communities wherever it is introduced. Previously, the search for general characteristics of invasive species had been elusive, but work carried out by Professor Jaimie Dick ...

Endocrine disrupters are not the only worrying chemicals that ordinary consumers are exposed to in everyday life. Also nanoparticles of silver, found in e.g. dietary supplements, cosmetics and food packaging, now worry scientists. A new study from the University of Southern Denmark shows that nano-silver can penetrate our cells and cause damage. Silver has an antibacterial effect and therefore the food and cosmetic industry often coat their products with silver nanoparticles. Nano-silver can be found in e.g. drinking bottles, cosmetics, band aids, toothbrushes, running ...

The edge of chaos—right before chaos sets in—is a unique place. It is found in many dynamical systems that cross the boundary between a well-behaved dynamics and a chaotic one. Now, physicists have shown that the distribution—or frequency of occurrence—of the variables constituting the physical characteristics of such systems at the edge of chaos has a very different shape than previously reported distributions. The results, by Miguel Angel Fuentes from the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico, USA, and Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile, and Alberto Robledo from the National ...

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland (UEF) have developed a novel treatment for myocardial infarction. In a study carried out at the UEF, virus vectors were used in a mouse model to deliver small RNA molecules into the heart, and this significantly reduced the size of myocardial infarction. In the novel treatment method, RNA molecules are targeted at the regulatory area of the vascular endothelial growth factor gene (VEGF-A). These molecules use epigenetic mechanisms to enhance the production of the growth factor in cells. The study also focused on the mechanisms ...

People in their 80s are often prescribed drugs to ward off a stroke when the risk of a stroke is not that high and the drugs have other side effects, finds a perspective published online in Evidence Based Medicine. People in this age group are being "over-treated," and doctors need to actively rethink their priorities and beliefs about stroke prevention, argues Dr Kit Byatt of the Department of Geriatric Medicine, The County Hospital in Hereford, UK. Statins and antihypertensive drugs were the most commonly prescribed cardiovascular drugs in the UK in 2006. And they ...

Babies born by caesarean section are more likely to be overweight or obese as adults, according to a new analysis. The odds of being overweight or obese are 26 per cent higher for adults born by caesarean section than those born by vaginal delivery, the study found (see footnote). The finding, reported in the journal PLOS ONE, is based on combined data from 15 studies with over 38,000 participants. The researchers, from Imperial College London, say there are good reasons why many women should have a C-section, but mothers choosing a caesarean should be aware that ...

When you're talking about something as complex as the brain, the task isn't any easier if the vocabulary being used is just as complex. An international collaboration of neuroscientists has not only tripled the number of identified brain structures, but created a simple lexicon to talk about them, which will be enormously helpful for future research on brain function and disease. Nick Strausfeld and Linda Restifo, both professors in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Arizona, worked with colleagues in Japan who led the project, and colleagues in Germany ...

PORTLAND, Ore. – Researchers have identified another concern related to low birth weight – a difference in how the body reacts to drugs, which may last a person's entire life and further complicate treatment of illnesses or diseases that are managed with medications. The findings add to the list of health problems that are already known to correspond to low birth weight, such as a predisposition for adult-onset diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. The implication, researchers say, is that low birth weight may not only cause increased disease, but it may also lessen the ...

A diverse team of scientists from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has developed an experimental treatment that eradicates an acute type of leukemia in mice without any detectable toxic side effects. The drug works by blocking two important metabolic pathways that the leukemia cells need to grow and spread. The study, led by Dr. Caius Radu, an associate professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at UCLA, and Dr. David Nathanson, an assistant professor of molecular and medical pharmacology, was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Elements ...

Researchers at the Buck Institute have identified and categorized thousands of protein interactions involving huntingtin, the protein responsible for Huntington's disease (HD). To use an analogy of a human social network, the identified proteins are like "friends" and "friends of friends" of the HD protein. The network provides an invaluable resource for identifying targets to treat the disease and has been used to implicate a particular signaling pathway involved in cell motility. HD is an incurable, fatal, inherited neurological disorder that causes severe degeneration ...

Everyone knows a basketball player is more likely to miss a three-point shot if a defender is in his face, but a new automated method for analyzing team formations, created by Disney Research Pittsburgh, shows how players get open for a shot: via defensive role swaps. "To an expert, this makes obvious sense – if a defensive player has to move, the space where they moved from is suddenly open and, if their teammate doesn't cover that space quickly, it creates a potential open shot for the offense," said Patrick Lucey, a Disney researcher who specializes in measuring the ...

An automated analysis by Disney Research Pittsburgh of team formations used during an entire season of professional soccer provides further evidence that visiting teams are less successful than home teams because they play conservatively, not because of a mythical home advantage. The researchers, employing the first automated method for detecting formations, analyzed a whole season of player and ball tracking data compiled by Prozone for a top-tier professional soccer league. They found that teams usually played the same formations for both home and away games, but that ...

The question of why an individual would actively kill itself has been an evolutionary mystery. Death could hardly provide a fitness advantage to the dying individual. However, a new study has found that in single-celled algae, suicide benefits the organism's relatives. "Death can be altruistic – we showed that before – but now we know that programmed cell death benefits the organism's relatives and not just anybody," says Dr Pierre Durand from the Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology and the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) at Wits ...

Despite widespread use of a single term, Alzheimer's disease is actually a diverse collection of diseases, symptoms and pathological changes. What's happening in the brain often varies widely from patient to patient, and a trigger for one person may be harmless is another. In a unique study, an international team of researchers led by USC psychologist Margaret Gatz compared the brains of twins where one or both died of Alzheimer's disease. They found that many of the twin pairs not only had similar progressions of Alzheimer's disease and dementia prior to death, but they ...

A bright supernova discovered only six weeks ago in a nearby galaxy is provoking new questions about the exploding stars that scientists use as their main yardstick for measuring the universe. Called SN 2014J, the glowing supernova was discovered by a professor and his students in the United Kingdom on Jan. 21, about a week after the stellar explosion first became visible as a pinprick of light in its galaxy, M82, 11.4 million light years away. Still visible today through small telescopes in the Big Dipper, it is the brightest supernova seen from Earth since SN1987A, ...

An international team of researchers led by an endocrinologist at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich has identified genetic mutations that result in uncontrolled synthesis and secretion of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by the adrenal gland in response to stressful events, and modulates a whole spectrum of physiological processes. An international research collaboration has now identified genetic mutations that lead to the production and secretion of cortisol in the absence of an underlying stressor. The discovery emerged ...

It might seem too good to be true, but dark chocolate is good for you and scientists now know why. Dark chocolate helps restore flexibility to arteries while also preventing white blood cells from sticking to the walls of blood vessels. Both arterial stiffness and white blood cell adhesion are known factors that play a significant role in atherosclerosis. What's more, the scientists also found that increasing the flavanol content of dark chocolate did not change this effect. This discovery was published in the March 2014 issue of The FASEB Journal. "We provide a more ...

Over the last ten years, a number of studies have suggested that, in animal cells, translation and protein turnover play a larger role in determining the different levels at which proteins are expressed than transcription. The major evidence supporting these claims is a weak correlation between system-wide protein and mRNA abundance measurements. A highly cited Nature article by Schwanhausser et al. in 2011 provides the most comprehensive example of such analyses. A new study just published in PeerJ by Li et al., however, questions the conclusions of these papers. This ...

CINCINNATI—Cincinnati Cancer Center (CCC) and UC Cancer Institute researchers have found that a vaccine, targeting tumors that produce a certain protein and receptor responsible for communication between cells and the body's immune system, could initiate the immune response to fight cancer. These findings, published in the Feb. 27 online edition of the journal Gene Therapy, build on previously reported research and could lead to new treatments for cancer. Principal Investigator John Morris, MD, clinical co-leader of the Molecular Therapeutics and Diagnosis Program for ...

The Dust Devils Microgravity Research Team of Arizona State University has been accepted to this year's Microgravity University run by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The proposal consisted of an astrophysics experiment testing the first seconds of galaxy formation. ASU's Microgravity Research Team will be heading to Texas's Ellington Field, part of Johnson Space Center, in April to test their experiment on the modified Boeing 727-200, a plane that creates near-weightlessness during the flight. The astrophysics experiment being tested tries ...

The past decade has been a time of great upheaval for the publishing industry, with the major publishers' stranglehold over the book world being wrested away by independent authors seeking more creative control over their work. But it is no easy thing for an author to challenge these corporate Goliaths; funding their projects alone can seem an insurmountable task. For one independent author, the $7,500.00 needed to bring his novel to life would be impossible alone. However, thanks to the relatively new phenomenon of crowdfunding, Paul Combs, author of the novel "The ...

Blair, Bohle & Whitsitt, PLLC (BBW) announces a major expansion of its current operations through an agreement to merge with Austin and Falls, CPAs effective January 1, 2014. The combined firm will offer an enhanced mix of tax compliance, assurance, and advisory services to individuals and the business community in Charlotte and the counties surrounding it. The merger will expand BBW's pre-merger annual revenue by approximately 25%, but will continue to focus on individuals and businesses seeking client-centered services from an experienced team of trusted advisors. ...

Today, Fit Armadillo, a fitness company specializing in online exercise options, announced the start of their newest group fitness program: Run Away from Winter, Get 5K Fit.  Since starting online group fitness programs last year, Fit Armadillo has run several 8 week programs to help busy individuals tone up without a gym membership. The Run Away from Winter, Get 5K Fit program will have the same goal, but with the added excitement that comes from training for a specific event.  With a March 31st start date, this group session allows beginning runners the ability to kick ...

Prudential, a leading UK pensions provider, has selected Anaplan's integrated sales, operations and finance business modeling and planning platform to underpin improvements to its bonus modeling process. Anaplan's real-time modeling and calculation capabilities will enable Prudential to significantly shorten the end-to-end process for bonus calculation and payment across its UK Intermediary Channel. Prudential is implementing an uncluttered, streamlined system that will be the backbone of the bonus process. "By switching to Anaplan's platform, which allows us to ...

IOMIC USA, manufacturer of innovative, revolutionary and dynamically designed grips, announced today that IOMIC grips were used by pro staff member and third place finisher, Catriona Matthew, the second place finisher, and one other top-5 finisher at the Honda LPGA Thailand. According to Katz Murai, General Manager, IOMIC USA, "Our great feeling, colorful grips have been extremely popular on the LPGA Tour and it is always exciting to watch so many professionals play well with our grips. The three top-5 finishers were all using IOMIC grips in a variety of bold colors. ...