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Medicine1 Jul 2014

In study of individual neuron activity, key brain region responds to subjective perception

LOS ANGELES (June 30, 2014) – When evaluating another person's emotions – happy, sad, angry, afraid – humans take cues from facial expressions. Neurons in a part of the brain called the amygdala "fire" in response to the visual stimulation as information is processed by the retina, the amygdala and a network of interconnected brain structures. Some of these regions respond just to the actual features of the face, whereas others respond to how things appear to the viewer, but it is unknown where in the brain this difference arises. Although the amygdala's importance in ...

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Science1 Jul 2014

Up in flames: Evidence confirms combustion theory

Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (Berkeley Lab) and the University of Hawaii have uncovered the first step in the process that transforms gas-phase molecules into solid particles like soot and other carbon-based compounds. The finding could help combustion chemists make more-efficient, less-polluting fuels and help materials scientists fine-tune their carbon nanotubes and graphene sheets for faster, smaller electronics. In addition, the results could have implications for the burgeoning field of astrochemistry, potentially establishing ...

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Social Science1 Jul 2014

Study finds online bullying creates off-line fear at school

HUNTSVILLE, TX (7/1/14) -- Cyberbullying creates fear among students about being victimized at school, a recent study by Sam Houston State University found. While traditional bullying still creates the most fear among students, cyberbullying is a significant factor for fear of victimization at school among students who have experienced bullying or disorder At school, such as the presence of gangs. The fear from cyberbullying is most prominent in minority populations. "It cannot be overstated – online victimization has offline consequences, and those consequences may ...

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Environment1 Jul 2014

Scientists discover how plastic solar panels work

This news release is available in French. Scientists don't fully understand how 'plastic' solar panels work, which complicates the improvement of their cost efficiency, thereby blocking the wider use of the technology. However, researchers at the University of Montreal, the Science and Technology Facilities Council, Imperial College London and the University of Cyprus have determined how light beams excite the chemicals in solar panels, enabling them to produce charge. "Our findings are of key importance for a fundamental mechanistic understanding, with molecular ...

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Physics1 Jul 2014

Stanford engineers envision an electronic switch just 3 atoms thick

VIDEO: This animation shows the three-atom thick crystal being pulled from a non-conductive to conductive state, and then being pushed back to the non-conductive state. Click here for more information. Do not fold, spindle or mutilate. Those instructions were once printed on punch cards that fed data to mainframe computers. Today's smart phones process more data, but they still weren't built for being shoved into back pockets. In the quest to build gadgets that can survive such ...

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Medicine1 Jul 2014

Updated guidelines covering fusion procedures for degenerative disease of the lumbar spine

Charlottesville, VA (July 1, 2014). Experts in the spine surgery community—neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons—banded together to evaluate the recent literature on lumbar spine fusion procedures and to publish up-to-date evidence-based recommendations on their use. The Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine is pleased to announce today's publication of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves' updated guidelines for the performance of fusion procedures for degenerative disease ...

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Medicine1 Jul 2014

Freeze-storage egg banking for egg donation treatment

Munich, 1 July 2014: The rapid freezing technique of vitrification is set to revolutionise egg donation as a fertility treatment by enabling freeze-storage egg-banking. The cryopreservation of eggs was one of IVF's continuing challenges until the widespread introduction of vitrification; the older slow freezing methods induced the formation of ice crystals, which could cause damage to several structures of the egg. Thus, as demand for egg donation increases as a treatment for age-related infertility, egg banking with vitrification can theoretically provide a large pool ...

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Science1 Jul 2014

Preconceptional factors in the prediction of fertility and the reproductive lifespan

Munich, 1 July 2014: A project in Denmark whose aim is to assess the reliability of preconceptional lifestyle and biological factors as predictors of fertility has found a pronounced effect of the contraceptive pill on markers used to assess "ovarian reserve", a predictor of future reproductive lifespan. Available evidence of whether the Pill has an effect on fertility has so far been reassuring - and usual advice to those stopping the Pill is that cycles will soon revert to normal, with pregnancy likely within six months or so.(1) However, one continuing concern ...

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Science1 Jul 2014

Pregnancies following egg donation associated with more than 3-fold higher risk of hypertension

Munich, 1 July 2014: With an ever-ageing female patient population, egg donation is an increasingly common treatment in infertility. ESHRE's own annual reports on fertility treatments in Europe show a rise in egg donation cycles from 15,028 in 2007 to 24,517 in 2010 (to 4.05% of all treatments). This proportion is still some way behind the USA, where egg donation now accounts for around 12% of all treatments. As women age their store of viable eggs reduces such that their "ovarian reserve" (and likelihood of pregnancy) declines. Once the eggs have gone, they cannot be ...

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Social Science1 Jul 2014

Most women are aware of oocyte freezing for social reasons

Munich, 1 July 2014: While the majority of younger women are aware of egg freezing as a technique of fertility preservation and consider it an acceptable means of reproductive planning, only one in five would consider it appropriate for them, according to the results of an internet survey performed in the UK and Denmark. The questionnaire, which was accessible online, was completed anonymously by 973 women with a median age of 31 years between September 2012 and September 2013. Results are reported today at the ESHRE Annual Meeting in Munich by Dr Camille Lallemant of ...

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Medicine1 Jul 2014

Short sleep, aging brain

Researchers at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (Duke-NUS) have found evidence that the less older adults sleep, the faster their brains age. These findings, relevant in the context of Singapore's rapidly ageing society, pave the way for future work on sleep loss and its contribution to cognitive decline, including dementia. Past research has examined the impact of sleep duration on cognitive functions in older adults. Though faster brain ventricle enlargement is a marker for cognitive decline and the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, ...

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Medicine1 Jul 2014

New approach identifies cancer mutations as targets of effective melanoma immunotherapy

PHILADELPHIA —A new approach demonstrated that the recognition of unique cancer mutations appeared to be responsible for complete cancer regressions in two metastatic melanoma patients treated with a type of immunotherapy called adoptive T-cell therapy. This new approach may help develop more effective cancer immunotherapies, according to a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "This study provides the technical solution to identify mutated tumor targets that can stimulate immune responses, which is one ...

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Medicine1 Jul 2014

Deployment-related respiratory symptoms in returning veterans

In a new study of the causes underlying respiratory symptoms in military personnel returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, a large percentage of veterans had non-specific symptoms that did not lead to a specific clinical diagnosis. Most patients who did receive a diagnosis had evidence of asthma or nonspecific airway hyperreactivity, which may have been due in some cases to aggravation of pre-existing disease by deployment exposures. "Earlier studies of military personnel deployed in Southwest Asia have shown increases in non-specific respiratory symptoms related ...

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Medicine1 Jul 2014

Foodborne bacteria can cause disease in some breeds of chickens after all

Contrary to popular belief, the foodborne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni is not a harmless commensal in chickens but can cause disease in some breeds of poultry according to research published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. "The main implication is that Campylobacter is not always harmless to chickens. This rather changes our view of the biology of this nasty little bug," says Paul Wigley of Institute for Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool, an author on the study. Campylobacter jejuni is the ...

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Medicine1 Jul 2014

The inhibition of a protein opens the door to the treatment of pancreatic cancer

Researchers from IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) have identified a new protein, galectin-1, as a possible therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer. For the first time they have demonstrated the effects of the inhibition of this protein in mice suffering this type of cancer and the results showed an increase in survival of 20%. The work further suggests that it could be a therapeutic target with no adverse effects. Until now, the strategies for treating this tumour were aimed at attacking the tumour cells and had little success. The latest studies indicate ...

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Science30 Jun 2014

Scientists chart a baby boom -- in southwestern Native-Americans from 500 to 1300 A.D.

Scientists have sketched out one of the greatest baby booms in North American history, a centuries-long "growth blip" among southwestern Native Americans between 500 and 1300 A.D. It was a time when the early features of civilization--including farming and food storage--had matured to a level where birth rates likely "exceeded the highest in the world today," the researchers report in this week's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Then a crash followed, says Tim Kohler, an anthropologist at Washington State University (WSU), offering ...

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Medicine30 Jun 2014

Lead in kids' blood linked with behavioral and emotional problems

Emotional and behavioral problems show up even with low exposure to lead, and as blood lead levels increase in children, so do the problems, according to research funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The results were published online June 30 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. "This research focused on lower blood lead levels than most other studies and adds more evidence that there is no safe lead level," explained NIEHS Health Scientist Administrator Kimberly Gray, Ph.D. "It is important to ...

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Science30 Jun 2014

Malaria parasite manipulates host's scent

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Malaria parasites alter the chemical odor signal of their hosts to attract mosquitos and better spread their offspring, according to researchers, who believe this scent change could be used as a diagnostic tool. "Malaria-infected mice are more attractive to mosquitos than uninfected mice," said Mark Mescher, associate professor of entomology, Penn State. "They are the most attractive to these mosquito vectors when the disease is most transmissible." Malaria in humans and animals is caused by parasites and can be spread only by an insect vector, ...

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Medicine30 Jun 2014

Adults can undo heart disease risk

CHICAGO --- The heart is more forgiving than you may think -- especially to adults who try to take charge of their health, a new Northwestern Medicine® study has found. When adults in their 30s and 40s decide to drop unhealthy habits that are harmful to their heart and embrace healthy lifestyle changes, they can control and potentially even reverse the natural progression of coronary artery disease, scientists found. The study was published June 30 in the journal Circulation. "It's not too late," said Bonnie Spring lead investigator of the study and a professor of ...

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Medicine30 Jun 2014

New Tel Aviv University research links Alzheimer's to brain hyperactivity

Patients with Alzheimer's disease run a high risk of seizures. While the amyloid-beta protein involved in the development and progression of Alzheimer's seems the most likely cause for this neuronal hyperactivity, how and why this elevated activity takes place hasn't yet been explained – until now. A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers, published in Cell Reports, pinpoints the precise molecular mechanism that may trigger an enhancement of neuronal activity in Alzheimer's patients, which subsequently damages memory and learning functions. The research team, led ...

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Physics30 Jun 2014

Study helps unlock mystery of high-temp superconductors

A Binghamton University physicist and his colleagues say they have unlocked one key mystery surrounding high-temperature superconductivity. Their research, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found a remarkable phenomenon in copper-oxide (cuprate) high-temperature superconductors. Michael Lawler, assistant professor of physics at Binghamton, is part of an international team of physicists with an ongoing interest in the mysterious pseudogap phase, the phase situated between insulating and superconducting phases in the cuprate phase ...

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Technology30 Jun 2014

Tropical countries' growing wealth may aid conservation

DURHAM, N.C. -- While inadequate funding has hampered international efforts to conserve biodiversity in tropical forests, a new Duke University-led study finds that people in a growing number of tropical countries may be willing to shoulder more of the costs on their own. "In wealthier developing countries, there has been a significant increase in public demand for conservation, which has not yet been matched by an equivalent increase in protective actions by the governments of those countries," said Jeffrey R. Vincent, a Duke environmental economist who led the study, ...

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Medicine30 Jun 2014

Using geometry, researchers coax human embryonic stem cells to organize themselves

About seven days after conception, something remarkable occurs in the clump of cells that will eventually become a new human being. They start to specialize. They take on characteristics that begin to hint at their ultimate fate as part of the skin, brain, muscle or any of the roughly 200 cell types that exist in people, and they start to form distinct layers. Although scientists have studied this process in animals, and have tried to coax human embryonic stem cells into taking shape by flooding them with chemical signals, until now the process has not been successfully ...

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Medicine30 Jun 2014

Research team pursues techniques to improve elusive stem cell therapy

Stem cell scientists had what first appeared to be an easy win for regenerative medicine when they discovered mesenchymal stem cells several decades ago. These cells, found in the bone marrow, can give rise to bone, fat, and muscle tissue, and have been used in hundreds of clinical trials for tissue repair. Unfortunately, the results of these trials have been underwhelming. One problem is that these stem cells don't stick around in the body long enough to benefit the patient. But Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) scientists at Boston Children's Hospital aren't ready ...

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Science30 Jun 2014

Oil palm plantations threaten water quality, Stanford scientists say

If you've gone grocery shopping lately, you've probably bought palm oil. Found in thousands of products, from peanut butter and packaged bread to shampoo and shaving cream, palm oil is a booming multibillion-dollar industry. While it isn't always clearly labeled in supermarket staples, the unintended consequences of producing this ubiquitous ingredient have been widely publicized. The clearing of tropical forests to plant oil palm trees releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas fueling climate change. Converting diverse forest ecosystems to these ...

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