YOUNG people from disadvantaged communities in Northern Ireland should be provided with "safe spaces" in which to protest and make their views known. This would help prevent them falling under the sway of extremists, argue researchers at the University of Huddersfield who played a major role in organising a conference in Belfast that investigated the "culture wars" of Ulster. One of the key themes to emerge was that many working-class communities felt they had gained little from the province's "peace dividend", with jobs hard to find and segregation still common. As a ...

Turku, FI – An international team led by scientists at the University of Turku in Finland studied thermally-adapted fish populations to discover that the more biological functions a gene has, the less it responds to environmental change. "In addition to having important implications for climate change adaptation, these findings could radically change the way we study gene responses to any external stimulus like for example to drug treatments", the authors suggest. Their findings are reported on June 3 2014 in the journal Nature Communications. When organisms need more ...

Researchers from the Missouri Botanical Garden have discovered in dry forests and transient sand dunes in Bolivia and Paraguay, a new plant species in the moonseed family Menispermaceae. The discovery was reported in the open access journal PhytoKeys. The new species was described in the genus Cissampelos, which includes vining species that for the most part are found in disturbed habitats of the tropical and subtropical regions of the World. This new Cissampelos is morphologically unique by its small leaves, its 8 anther-cells in the male flowers, and a large endocarp–a ...

Allergies in humans and animals are on the increase. An allergic reaction may cause unpleasant symptoms like hay fever, food intolerance or skin rashes. Allergic reactions may also cause acute and life-threatening symptoms, such as asthma or anaphylactic shock. A single pollen protein is responsible for allergies One of the most well known allergens, i.e. substances that cause allergies, is so-called "Bet v 1" from birch pollen (Betula verrucosa). The protein was first produced artificially in the laboratory 25 years ago in Vienna, and is being used as an allergen ...

Shorter TB treatment regimens will reduce the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by both patients and their family members, who often act as the patients' guardians. In addition, shorter TB regimens may allow an earlier return to productive activities for patients and their families. These conclusions come from an international alliance of researchers, led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), who carried out a comparative study in Tanzania and Bangladesh looking at the out-of-pocket costs incurred by TB patients in both countries. These patients were taking ...

Computer scientists at Microsoft Research and the University of California, San Diego have developed a system that combines a mobile application and sensor to detect stress in parents and delivers research-based strategies to help decrease their stress during emotionally charged interactions with their children. The system was initially tested on a small group of parents of children with ADHD. The system, called ParentGuardian, is the first to detect stress and present interventions in real-time—at the right time and in the right place. It combines a sensor worn on the ...

The current state of science on the adverse health effects of marijuana use links the drug to several significant adverse effects including addiction, a review reports. The article, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, is authored by scientists from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The review describes the science establishing that marijuana can be addictive and that this risk for addiction increases for daily or young users. It also offers insights into research on the gateway theory indicating ...

Fish and aquatic life living in the high seas are more valuable as a carbon sink than as food and should be better protected, according to research from the University of British Columbia. The study found fish and aquatic life remove 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, a service valued at about $148 billion US. This dwarfs the $16 billion US paid for 10 million tonnes of fish caught on the high seas annually. "Countries around the world are struggling to find cost effective ways to reduce their carbon emissions," says Rashid Sumaila, ...

AUDIO: Edward Awh briefly describes the finding of his study on tracking early processing of working memory, and the differences between EEG and fMRI is studying the process. (41 seconds) Click here for more information. EUGENE, Ore. -- (June 5, 2014) -- University of Oregon researchers have tapped the rhythm of memories as they occur in near real time in the human brain. Using electroencephalogram (EEG) electrodes attached to the scalps of 25 student subjects, a UO team led by ...

The 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association (AGE) held May 30-June 2, 2014, at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas, featured the latest scholarship and research findings in the field of aging research from more than 70 leading experts. The event has long been recognized as a launching pad for researchers to share cutting-edge discoveries into the underlying mechanisms of the causes of aging as well as the possible breakthroughs in finding ways to increase healthspan. "The talks at this year's meeting were of exceptionally high quality with really ...

The first genotyping of grey squirrels sampled from Italy and the UK shows a direct link between their genetic diversity and their ability to invade new environments. In this new study, published in Diversity and Distributions, an international team of scientists from Imperial College London and the Zoological Society of London compared 12 DNA markers from grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in Piedmont in Northern Italy with the same markers from squirrel populations in Northern Ireland, Northumberland and East Anglia. After correlating genetic diversity against ...

Quebec City, June 5, 2014—A recent study published in Annals of Neurology reports that healthy human tissue grafted to the brains of patients with Huntington's disease in the hopes of treating the neurological disorder also developed signs of the illness, several years after the graft. This discovery will have profound implications on our understanding of the disease and how to treat it, and may also lead to the development of new therapies for neurodegenerative disorders. Huntington's disease is a hereditary illness that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells ...

Entitled attitudes appear to be linked to sexism—even among women, according to a personality study by psychologists from Case Western Reserve University and San Diego State University. In general, entitled men are more likely to endorse hostile views of women and entitled women are more likely to endorse views of women as frail and needing extra care. The researchers found that, for men, entitlement was associated with hostile views of women. Entitled men were more likely to endorse views of women as manipulative, deceptive, and untrustworthy—attitudes, which past ...

If you're trying to outwit the competition, it might be better to have been born a chimpanzee, according to a study by researchers at Caltech, which found that chimps at the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute consistently outperform humans in simple contests drawn from game theory. The study, led by Colin Camerer, Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Economics, and appearing on June 5 in the online publication Scientific Reports, involved a simple game of hide-and-seek that researchers call the Inspection Game. In the game, two players (either a pair of chimps ...

Philadelphia, PA, June 5, 2014 – A mouse model of endometriosis has been developed that produces endometriosis lesions similar to those found in humans, according to a report published in The American Journal of Pathology. This model closely mirrors the human condition as an estrogen-dependent inflammatory disorder, and findings from the study suggest that macrophages present in shed endometrium contribute to the development of the lesions. "One in 10 women of reproductive age have endometriosis; it is as common as asthma or diabetes, but it can take up to seven years ...

After Mitt Romney was defeated by President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, some political pundits and even Romney himself tried to pin the loss in part on Hurricane Sandy. Observers, particularly conservatives, believed the storm was an "October surprise" that allowed Obama to use the trappings of his office to show sympathy and offer support for the victims. The devastating storm hit a week before Election Day, killing hundreds and causing more than $50 billion worth of damage. But a new study examining the psychological impact of Sandy on people's ...

BONN, Germany (June 05, 2014) – Programs and policies to reduce tropical deforestation, and the global warming emissions resulting from deforestation, are seeing broad success in 17 countries across four continents, according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The report, "Deforestation Success Stories: Tropical Nations Where Forest Protection and Reforestation Policies Have Worked," highlights successes in reducing deforestation and restoring forests while supporting economic development in 17 cases across Africa, Latin America and South and ...

Habitat loss on breeding grounds in the United States – not on wintering grounds in Mexico – is the main cause of recent and projected population declines of migratory monarch butterflies in eastern North America, according to new research from the University of Guelph. The groundbreaking study was published today in the Journal of Animal Ecology. "Our work provides the first evidence that monarch butterfly numbers in eastern North America are most sensitive to changes in the availability of milkweed on breeding grounds, particularly in the Corn Belt region of the United ...

Young men who use cannabis may be putting their fertility at risk by inadvertently affecting the size and shape of their sperm according to research published today (Thursday 5 June 2014). In the world's largest study to investigate how common lifestyle factors influence the size and shape of sperm (referred to as sperm morphology), a research team from the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester also found that sperm size and shape was worse in samples ejaculated in the summer months but was better in men who had abstained from sexual activity for more than six days. However, ...

Boys may be especially prone to excess weight gain, the findings indicate. The researchers base their findings on a nationally representative sample of more than 3000 pupils attending 127 schools across Norway. All the children were part of the national 2010 Norwegian Child Growth Study. School nurses measured the height, weight, and waist circumference of the children whose average age was 8, to gauge general overweight, as defined by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), and (abdominal) obesity, as defined by a waist to height ratio of 0.5 or more. The results ...

But its impact on directly boosting the risk of heart attacks and stroke is rather less clear, the research indicates. The evidence suggests that high levels of certain air pollutants are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular problems, but exactly how this association works has not been clarified. The research team therefore set out to explore the short term biological impact of air pollution on cardiovascular disease, using data from three national collections in England and Wales for the period 2003-9. These were the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit ...

A 14-year-old boy's turnaround and quick recovery after mysteriously being stricken by brain-inflaming encephalitis -- which led to him being hospitalized for six weeks and put into a medically induced coma after falling critically ill -- shows that the newest generation of DNA analysis tools can be harnessed to reveal the cause of a life-threatening infection even when physicians have no suspects. The quick diagnosis and successful treatment of the adolescent just 48 hours after cerebrospinal spinal fluid and blood were received for analysis portends the broader application ...

If you're depressed, don't get enough exercise or have high blood pressure, you may find yourself complaining more about memory problems, even if you're a young adult, according to a new UCLA study. UCLA researchers and the Gallup organization polled more than 18,000 people about their memory and a variety of lifestyle and health factors previously shown to increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. They found that many of these risk factors increased the likelihood of self-perceived memory complaints across all adult age groups. The findings, published ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Pain medicines often lead to constipation for patients seeking long-term pain relief, but an investigational once-daily drug may help, according to study led by the University of Michigan Health System. Globally, approximately 28 million to 35 million, or nearly half, of patients taking opioids for long-term pain develop constipation. Laxatives provide sub-optimal relief. The results of two pivotal Phase 3 studies – KODIAC-4 and KODIAC-5 of naloxegol, an investigational treatment for opioid-induced constipation (OIC) – were published online first ...

PITTSBURGH, June 4, 2014 – Even before conception, a son's vulnerability for alcohol use disorders could be shaped by a father who chronically drinks to excess, according to a new animal study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The findings, published online Wednesday in PLOS ONE, show male mice that were chronically exposed to alcohol before breeding had male offspring that were less likely to consume alcohol and were more sensitive to its effects, providing new insight into inheritance and development of drinking behaviors. Previous human studies ...