St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – For years researchers have been developing molecular imaging techniques that visualize hormonally active breast cancer cells—specifically those testing positive for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). A recent innovation in breast cancer biomarkers seeks the HER3 receptor instead, which could mean more comprehensive breast cancer imaging and potential treatments, say experts presenting data during the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Anti-androgen hormonal therapy, also called chemical castration, can be an important defense against further disease progression for patients with prostate cancer that has traveled and grown in other areas, or metastasized—but some cases simply do not respond to this treatment. A groundbreaking molecular imaging agent has been developed to help clinicians find as much cancer as possible, whether it is responding favorably or not, in an effort to improve clinical decision making for these patients, say researchers at the Society of Nuclear ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Patients with advanced breast cancer that may have spread to their lymph nodes could benefit from a more robust dose of a molecular imaging agent called Tc-99m filtered sulfur colloid when undergoing lymphoscintigraphy, a functional imaging technique that scouts new cancer as it begins to metastasize. Best results also indicate that imaging could be improved by injecting the agent the day prior to surgical resection, according to research unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2014 Annual Meeting. "The innovative ...

St. Louis, Mo. (June 9, 2014) – Startling data from an international multi-center trial provide growing evidence that sentinel node imaging is more effectively accomplished with hybrid functional imaging with single photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography (SPECT/CT) than with another molecular imaging technique called lymphoscintigraphy. This conclusion held after imaging a range of cancers displaying a variety of lymphatic drainage types associated with melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer; breast carcinoma; and malignancies of the pelvis, such as prostate ...

Climate change mitigation strategies such as the German Energiewende require linking vast numbers of new power generation facilities to the grid. As the input from many renewable sources is rather volatile, depending on how much the wind blows or the sun shines, there's a higher risk of local power instabilities and eventually blackouts. Scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now employed a novel concept from nonlinear systems analysis called basin stability to tackle this challenge. They found that connecting dead ends can significantly ...

June 9, 2014 – (BRONX, NY) – Investigators at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center will present their latest research at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions. Einstein-Montefiore scientists and clinicians are participating in nearly three dozen presentations, sessions and symposia during the five-day meeting. They will address a range of basic, translational and clinical research topics—from medication adherence in adolescents and the impact on resveratrol and vitamin D on insulin resistance to epigenetic ...

Since the early 1970s, lithium has been the most popular element for batteries: it's the lightest of all metals and has the greatest electrochemical potential. But a lithium-based battery has a major disadvantage: it's highly flammable, and when it overheats, it can burst into flames. For years, scientists have searched for safer battery materials that still have the same advantages as lithium. While plastics (or polymers) seemed like an obvious choice, researchers never fully understood how the material would change when an ion charge was introduced. Now a Northwestern ...

AURORA, Colo. (June 9, 2014) – In an article published in the scientific journal Nature, a University of Colorado School of Medicine researcher and colleagues explain how RNA molecules found in certain viruses mimic the shape of other molecules as part of a strategy to 'hijack' the cell and make more viruses. The findings by Jeffrey S. Kieft, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics at the School of Medicine and an early career scientist with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and his colleagues solve a biochemical and molecular mystery that has ...

NASA and NOAA satellites are gathering visible, infrared, microwave and radar data on a persistent tropical low pressure area in the southwestern Bay of Campeche. System 90L now has a 50 percent chance for development, according to the National Hurricane Center and continues to drop large amounts of rainfall over southeastern Mexico. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathered infrared data on the developing low on June 5 at 18:59 UTC (2:59 p.m. EDT). Basically, AIRS looks at the infrared region of the spectrum. In a spectrum, ...

A group of scientists believe that a previously unexplained isotopic ratio from deep within the Earth may be a signal from material from the time before the Earth collided with another planet-sized body, leading to the creation of the Moon. This may represent the echoes of the ancient Earth, which existed prior to the proposed collision 4.5 billion years ago. This work is being presented at the Goldschmidt conference in Sacramento, California. The currently favoured theory says that the Moon was formed 4.5 billion years ago, when the Earth collided with a Mars-sized mass, ...

Let's say you're buying a car. You have a wealth of data at your fingertips, from safety information to performance, to guide your decision. The same is not as true in health care, especially if you're pricing procedures. A new study from the University of Iowa compared the cost of prostate cancer surgery at 100 hospitals throughout the United States. The quote for the procedure, the researchers found, varied from $10,100 to $135,000, a 13-fold range. (The average price was nearly $35,000, more than double the Medicare reimbursement.) Only 10 of the hospitals that provided ...

TORONTO, ON — Think those flat, glassy solar panels on your neighbour's roof are the pinnacle of solar technology? Think again. Researchers in the University of Toronto's Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering have designed and tested a new class of solar-sensitive nanoparticle that outshines the current state of the art employing this new class of technology. This new form of solid, stable light-sensitive nanoparticles, called colloidal quantum dots, could lead to cheaper and more flexible solar cells, as well as better gas sensors, infrared ...

If you're faced with a troubling personal dilemma, such as a cheating spouse, you are more likely to think wisely about it if you consider it as an observer would, says a study led by a professor at the University of Waterloo. Professor Igor Grossmann, of Waterloo, and Professor Ethan Kross from the University of Michigan, asked study participants to reflect on a relationship conflict of their own or someone else's, such as a spouse's infidelity with a close friend, and think about the conflict in the first and third person. The findings will appear in an upcoming issue ...

Despite warnings and legislation, online consumers may still be susceptible to post-transaction marketing schemes, according to Penn State researchers. At least 40 percent of consumers who made an online purchase in a study bought an additional product, even though it offered no extra value, said Jens Grossklags, assistant professor of information sciences and technology. "The focus of this study was to determine the likelihood that a consumer would accept an offer after they had already made a purchase," said Grossklags. "What stood out was the vast number of people ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass-- New observations by researchers at MIT have revealed the inner workings of a type of electrode widely used in lithium-ion batteries. The new findings explain the unexpectedly high power and long cycle life of such batteries, the researchers say. The findings appear in a paper in the journal Nano Letters co-authored by MIT postdoc Jun Jie Niu, research scientist Akihiro Kushima, professors Yet-Ming Chiang and Ju Li, and three others. The electrode material studied, lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), is considered an especially promising material for ...

WASHINGTON – Much as human DNA can be used as evidence in criminal trials, genetic information about microorganisms can be analyzed to identify pathogens or other biological agents in the event of a suspicious disease outbreak. The tools and methods used to investigate such outbreaks belong to an emerging discipline known as microbial forensics, but the field faces substantial scientific and technical challenges, says a new report from the National Research Council. The report offers an initial set of research priorities for advancing the capabilities needed to make microbial ...

In the healthy pancreas of someone without type 1 diabetes (T1D), the hormone insulin (essential for turning food into energy) is produced, stored, and released in a normal "factory-like" process within pancreatic beta cells in response to glucose in the diet. Early in the course of T1D, however, excessive or pathologic stress in beta cells compromises their ability to properly secrete insulin, triggering a cascade of events ultimately contributing to the beta cell death. Over the past several years, JDRF-funded researchers have found evidence that beta cell stress may ...

The Man in the Moon appeared when meteoroids struck the Earth-facing side of the moon creating large flat seas of basalt that we see as dark areas called maria. But no "face" exists on farside of the moon and now, Penn State astrophysicists think they know why. "I remember the first time I saw a globe of the moon as a boy, being struck by how different the farside looks," said Jason Wright, assistant professor of astrophysics. "It was all mountains and craters. Where were the maria? It turns out it's been a mystery since the fifties." This mystery is called the Lunar ...

By studying laboratory mice, scientists at The Johns Hopkins University have succeeded in plotting the labyrinthine paths of some of the largest nerve cells in the mammalian brain: cholinergic neurons, the first cells to degenerate in people with Alzheimer's disease. "For us, this was like scaling Mount Everest," says Jeremy Nathans, Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience, and ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "This work reveals the amazing challenges that cholinergic neurons face every day. Each of these cells ...

VIDEO: This movie of NOAA's GOES-East satellite imagery shows the movement of System 90L over land and dissipating between June 6 and June 7 at 2000 UTC (4 p.m. EDT).... Click here for more information. The movement of tropical storm Boris into southern Mexico and a nearly stationary low pressure system in the southern Gulf of Mexico caused heavy rainfall in that area. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM ...

"If we know not only the volume of the traffic but also the way in which the flow is taking place, we can detect when the traffic is undergoing a significant change. This information can be used, for example, when decisions are taken about signs (traffic lights, directions, etc.), road capacity, and other aspects," explained Fermín Mallor, Prof of the Department of Statistics and Operational Research. What is new about this research is that it applies the so-called curve statistics to the specific problem of traffic control or monitoring. The use of the methodology is ...

DURHAM, N.H. – For more than 40 years, policy makers have been working to reduce acid rain, a serious environmental problem that can devastate lakes, streams, and forests and the plants and animals that live in these ecosystems. Now new research funded by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station (NHAES) at the University of New Hampshire College of Life Sciences and Agriculture indicates that lakes in New England and the Adirondack Mountains are recovering rapidly from the effects of acid rain. Researchers found that sulfate concentration in rain and snow declined by more ...

We've all been on the receiving end of an angry glare, whether from a teacher, parent, boss, or significant other. These angry expressions seem to boost the effectiveness of threats without actual aggression, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research findings show that angry expressions lend additional weight to a negotiator's threat to walk away from the table if his or her demands aren't met, leading the other party in the negotiation to offer more money than they otherwise would have. "Our ...

If you're faced with a troubling personal dilemma, such as a cheating spouse, you may think about it more wisely if you consider it as an outside observer would, according to research forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "These results are the first to demonstrate a new type of bias within ourselves when it comes to wise reasoning about an interpersonal relationship dilemma," says psychology researcher and study author Igor Grossmann of the University of Waterloo in Canada. "We call the bias Solomon's Paradox, ...

Penn Medicine researchers will be among the featured presenters at the 18th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Stockholm, Sweden, from Sunday, June 8 to Thursday, June 12, 2014. Matthew Stern, MD, director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center in the Department of Neurology and current president of the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Society, will chair a plenary session entitled "New insights into the pathology, progression, and heterogeneity of Parkinson's disease." John Q. Trojanowski, ...