The press release
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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Investigators from Montefiore and Einstein to present data at 2014 Alzheimer's Association International Conference

NEW YORK (July 8, 2014) – Researchers from Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University will present new findings at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) being held July 12 – July 17 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Data from the four abstracts will focus on triggers that could prompt transition from cognitive normality to mild cognitive impairment and dementia. The research is part of the Einstein Aging Study, established in 1980 to examine healthy brain aging as well as the special challenges of Alzheimer's ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Study predicts ranavirus as potential new culprit in amphibian extinctions

KNOXVILLE—Amphibian declines and extinctions around the world have been linked to an emerging fungal disease called chytridiomycosis, but new research from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) shows that another pathogen, ranavirus, may also contribute. In a series of mathematical models, researchers showed that ranavirus, which causes severe hemorrhage of internal organs in frogs, could cause extinction of isolated populations of wood frogs if they are exposed to the virus every few years, a scenario that has been documented in ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Study of dermatology on YouTube shows new ways science reaches public

p>YouTube is for more than watching World Cup highlights, Brian Williams refreshing old school rap classics, and videos of skateboarders landing in unfortunate positions on railings. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the Dermatology Online Journal shows that YouTube also allows researchers, journals, and health advocates to connect directly with the public on topics of skin cancer and prevention. "No matter what field you're in, social media is the future of how we communicate around the world," says Chante Karimkhani, MD candidate in the lab of ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Postcards from the photosynthetic edge

A crucial piece of the puzzle behind nature's ability to split the water molecule during photosynthesis that could help advance the development of artificial photosynthesis for clean, green and renewable energy has been provided by an international collaboration of scientists led by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Working at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world's most powerful x-ray laser, the researchers were able to take detailed "snapshots" of the four photon-step ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Women's Medicine Collaborative examines safety of fecal transplant to treat C. difficile

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Researchers have found that fecal transplantation is effective and safe for treating C. difficile in immunocompromised patients. This is the result of a study led by Colleen Kelly, M.D., a gastroenterologist in the Center for Women's Gastrointestinal Medicine at The Women's Medicine Collaborative. The study and its findings have been published online in advance of print in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, has increased to epidemic proportions over the past decade. It is an infection that is often difficult ...

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Energy9 Jul 2014

Controlling contamination in open algae ponds for biofuels

New Rochelle, NY, July 9, 2014—Biofuels derived from the oils produced by algae may offer a low-cost sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. To achieve this goal, optimization of cost effective strategies for large-scale algae cultivation, such as in open pond systems, is needed. Sapphire Energy has developed an innovative solution to the challenge of contamination of open pond algae cultivation systems, described in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Industrial Biotechnology website. ...

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Technology9 Jul 2014

New technology illuminates colder objects in deep space

Too cool and faint, many objects in the universe are impossible to detect with visible light. Now a Northwestern University team has refined a new technology that could make these colder objects more visible, paving the way for enhanced exploration of deep space. "High performance infrared cameras are crucial for space exploration missions," said Manijeh Razeghi, the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. "By studying the infrared waves emitted by cool ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Immune function predicts infection risk among child trauma patients

Researchers studying critically ill children with traumatic injuries have identified an immune marker that predicts which patients are likely to develop a hospital-acquired infection. The study, led by clinician-scientists at Nationwide Children's Hospital and published online in June in the journal Shock, is part of several larger efforts that could lead to the clinical implementation of quick-turnaround immune function tests and treatments to prevent or reverse immune system damage following critical illness or injury in pediatric patients. Hospital-acquired, or nosocomial, ...

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Environment9 Jul 2014

BU researchers relate arrests with HIV risk environment

Boston—Practices used in policing injection drug users in Russia might contribute to HIV transmission and overdose mortality. A study, conducted by researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, in collaboration with St. Petersburg Pavlov State University, sought to discover the effect police arrests had on the health outcomes of a cohort of HIV-positive people with lifetime of injection drug use. Those who were arrested by police were more likely to share needles—increasing HIV transmission—and to overdose, according to the study published ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Miriam Hospital study examines effect of depressed mood on pulmonary rehab completion

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Researchers from The Miriam Hospital have found that people with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are also depressed have difficulty sticking to a pulmonary rehabilitation program. This appears to be particularly true for women, and screening and brief treatment of depression should be considered as part of treatment. The study and its findings are published in print in Respiratory Medicine. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a common and often disabling inflammatory lung disease characterized by a progressive airway obstruction ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Bee foraging chronically impaired by pesticide exposure: Study

A study co-authored by a University of Guelph scientist that involved fitting bumblebees with tiny radio frequency tags shows long-term exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide hampers bees' ability to forage for pollen. The research by Nigel Raine, a professor in Guelph's School of Environmental Sciences, and Richard Gill of Imperial College London was published July 9 in the British Ecological Society's journal Functional Ecology. The study shows how long-term pesticide exposure affects individual bees' day-to-day behaviour, including pollen collection and which flowers ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Adults with special needs see gains, challenges with long term oral care

BOSTON (July 9, 2014) — A retrospective study conducted by researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and colleagues reports that among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the likelihood of having cavities decreased as the number of years receiving dental care increased. The findings, published in the July/August issue of Special Care in Dentistry, may help improve interventions designed to address the oral health of individuals in this population. The researchers reviewed the dental records of 107 patients at one of the eight clinics ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Most prescription labels fail to meet guidelines, risking dosage errors

Small print and poor printing on prescription labels handed out by pharmacists may be misread and may lead to errors in taking medication, according to new research by the University of Waterloo and CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind). The study, published recently in the Canadian Pharmacists Journal, found that labels on prescription medications dispensed by pharmacies do not consistently follow professionally recommended guidelines for legibility. By simply following recommended guidelines for font size, use of bolding, justification, sentence case and ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Penn study finds living kidney donation does not increase risk of death or heart disease for older

PHILADELPHIA – Previous studies linking older age with kidney and heart disease have raised concerns about the safety of living kidney donation among older adults. However, in the first study to look closely at this issue, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report that older kidney donors (55 years and above) enjoy similar life expectancy and cardiovascular health as very healthy older people who did not donate their kidneys. In light of the ever increasing organ transplant waitlists, the authors of the study hope the results ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Projecting a 3-dimensional future

Since the 1960s, theatergoers have shelled out for crude 3-D glasses, polarized glasses, and shutter glasses to enhance their viewing experience. These basic devices, used to trick the brain into perceiving an artificial three-dimensional reality, may soon be rendered obsolete with the introduction of new holography technology developed by Tel Aviv University researchers. TAU doctoral students Yuval Yifat, Michal Eitan, and Zeev Iluz have developed highly efficient holography based on nanoantennas that could be used for security as well as medical and recreational purposes. ...

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Environment9 Jul 2014

Shark teeth analysis provides detailed new look at Arctic climate change

A new study shows that some shark species may be able to cope with the rising salinity of Arctic waters that may come with rising temperatures. The Arctic today is best known for its tundra and polar bear population, but it wasn't always like that. Roughly 53 to 38 million years ago during what is known as the Eocene epoch, the Arctic was more similar to a huge temperate forest with brackish water, home to a variety of animal life, including ancestors of tapirs, hippo-like creatures, crocodiles and giant tortoises. Much of what is known about the region during this period ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Making a more healthful, low-fat hot dog without giving up texture

With grilling season upon us, many backyard cooks are turning to more healthful alternatives to their savored but fatty hot dogs. But low fat can sometimes mean low satisfaction. Now researchers are reporting new progress toward addressing the texture problem in low-fat wieners that are made with olive oil rather than pork fat. Their study was published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Ana M. Herrero and colleagues note that hot-dog consumers have come to expect just the right amount of chewiness and springiness, among other things, from their beloved ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Tiny DNA pyramids enter bacteria easily -- and deliver a deadly payload

Bacterial infections usually announce themselves with pain and fever but often can be defeated with antibiotics — and then there are those that are sneaky and hard to beat. Now, scientists have built a new weapon against such pathogens in the form of tiny DNA pyramids. Published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, their study found the nanopyramids can flag bacteria and kill more of them than medicine alone. David Leong, Jianping Xie and colleagues note that some infectious pathogens can lie in wait, undetectable in the human body or in places that antibiotics ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

My brother's keeper

This news release is available in French. Montreal, July 9, 2014 — Whether it's how to throw a ball or put together a puzzle, young children learn a lot from their older siblings. While researchers have long known that brothers and sisters teach each other about the world, most of their observations about this have been made in a lab setting. A new study recently published in the Journal of Cognition and Development by Concordia University education professor Nina Howe takes that investigation a step further by observing how children interact in their natural habitat: ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

What drives a child to abuse alcohol?

This news release is available in French. By looking at 40 different factors in 14 year old teens, including brain structure and function, personality, life experiences and genetics, researchers can predict with 70% accuracy who will go on to develop binge drinking within the next two years. Impulsivity, hopelessness, sensation-seeking traits, lack of conscientiousness, and other variables such as life events and a family history of drug use contribute to the likelihood of binge drinking. Whether or not the child had had a single drink at age 14 was a particularly ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

One secret of ancient amber revealed

The warm beauty of amber was captivating and mysterious enough to inspire myths in ancient times, and even today, some of its secrets remain locked inside the fossilized tree resin. But for the first time, scientists have now solved at least one of its puzzles that had perplexed them for decades. Their report on a key aspect of the gemstone's architecture appears in the ACS journal Analytical Chemistry. Jennifer Poulin and Kate Helwig of the Canadian Conservation Institute point out that much of the amber we see today had its origins millions of years ago, when it exuded ...

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Medicine9 Jul 2014

Sunshine vitamin ups bowel cancer survival odds, study finds

Bowel cancer patients with high levels of vitamin D in their blood are more likely to survive the disease, a study shows. Patients with the highest levels of vitamin D have half the risk of dying compared with those with the lowest levels, the findings reveal. The study is the first to correlate total blood levels of vitamin D in bowel cancer patients after their diagnosis – which includes that produced after exposure to sunlight and that obtained from dietary sources – with their long term survival prospects. The University of Edinburgh team tested blood samples ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Short circuit in the food web

Jena (Germany) They are amongst the most numerous inhabitants of the sea: tiny haptophytes of the type Emiliania huxleyi. Not visible to the naked eye, when they are in bloom in spring, they form square kilometer sized patches, they are even visible on satellite images. "Together with other phytoplankton, Emiliania huxleyi is responsible for approximately half of the global photosynthesis output," states Prof. Dr. Georg Pohnert of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany). In the process the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide – CO2 – is extracted from the atmosphere and ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Fit for the frontline? New study identifies the hearing requirements of British soldiers

AUDIO: The gunshot is a binaural recording using KEMAR, the weapon was an SA80 assault rifle and the microphone is 50m downrange from the firer and approximately 30cm from the bullet... Click here for more information. University of Southampton researchers, with assistance from the Ministry of Defence, have conducted the first study to identify the hearing requirements of British soldiers fighting on the frontline. The study, which provides an important and novel insight into ...

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Science9 Jul 2014

Even geckos can lose their grip

Not even geckos and spiders can sit upside down forever. Nanophysics makes sure of that. Mechanics researchers at Linköping University have demonstrated this in an article just published in Physical Review E. Knowledge that can be of great industrial benefit. Geckos and spiders that seem to be able to sit still forever, and walk around upside down have fascinated researchers worldwide for many years. We will soon be able to buy smart new fasteners that hold the same way as the gecko's foot. But the fact is, sooner or later the grip is lost, no matter how little force ...

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