It's an odd twist. For scientists to determine if a cell is functioning properly, they must destroy it. This is what happens in X-ray fluorescence microscopy when biological specimens are exposed to ionizing radiation, which provides images with a level of detail that conventional microscopes just can't match. This exposure can change what is being imaged in profound ways, possibly giving false accounts of how the cell actually works. To address this issue, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory created a new probe that freezes ...

ST. LOUIS – In a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Saint Louis University researchers have found a link between acute pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas) and pancreatic cancer, a finding which may eventually lead to some pancreatic cancers being detected earlier. Principle investigator Banke Agarwal, M.D., associate professor of gastroenterology and hepatology at Saint Louis University, says the study builds on earlier research suggesting a connection between the two illnesses. "Our study demonstrates that there is a much higher ...

Photoreactive compounds developed by scientists of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich directly modulate nerve-cell function, and open new routes to the treatment of neurological diseases, including chronic pain and certain types of visual impairment. All modes of sensory perception are based on communication between nerve cells. Both the response to the primary stimulus and the transmission of the resulting signal depend on the function of specialized receptor proteins that are associated with the surface membranes of neurons. Many sensory neurons respond ...

MANHATTAN, Kan. — A collaborative experiment involving a Kansas State University biochemist may mark the beginning of an effective, environmentally friendly plant-based method of insect control. Timothy Durrett, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, was part of the collaboration that used various plant and moth enzymes to engineer plants that emitted sex pheromones that mimic those naturally produced by two species of moths. The research recently appeared in the journal Nature Communications, "A plant factory for moth pheromone production." The ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Just 12 percent of parents without insurance coverage take breastfeeding support classes that can offer crucial support and encourage new moms to breastfeed, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusively breastfeeding until babies are 6 months of age followed by breastfeeding in combination with the introduction of complementary foods until at least 12 months of age. However, only about half of moms in the US are still breastfeeding ...

Beating cancer is all about early detection, and new research from the University of South Carolina is another step forward in catching the disease early. A team of chemists is reporting a new way to detect just a handful of lurking tumor cells, which can be outnumbered a billion to one in the bloodstream by healthy cells. The researchers have constructed an ultrasensitive nanoprobe that can electrochemically sense as few as four circulating tumor cells, and it doesn't require any enzymes to produce a detectable signal. "That makes it a very robust system," says Hui ...

ETC International College, that has been helping students to improve their English Language Skills for Business and other areas since 1989, now adds English Plus Courses to its curriculum. By enrolling onto these courses, students can learn and improve other areas of their interests along with General or Business English skills. The current range of Plus courses available at the Bournemouth-based Language Training Center are: English plus tennis, horse riding, dancing, golf, photography, and alternative therapies. "We realize that, apart from learning English, ...

Source Health Labs launched a brand-new video available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvM3FOZtREU, showing effective ways by which having natural pain relief ingredients incorporated into a spray, the medication can be used quickly in any situation. The goal is to show how with a spray, a persistent discomfort victim can still delight in everyday tasks without being inconvenienced with having to use strong scented creams. The first concern asked was just how the video was advantageous. Source Health Labs media personnel, Jason Oglow, described that individuals who ...

A new screening technology reveals a signature of mortality in blood samples. Researchers have identified four biomarkers that help to identify people at high risk of dying from any disease within the next five years. Researchers from Finland and Estonia have discovered novel biological markers that are strongly indicative of risk of dying from any disease within the near future. Blood samples from over 17 000 generally healthy people were screened for more than a hundred different biomolecules. The health status of these study volunteers was followed for several years. ...

Around 16,000 people in Switzerland suffer a stroke every year. Often the result of a sudden occlusion of a vessel supplying the brain, it is the most frequent live-threatening neurological disorder. In most cases, it has far-reaching consequences for survivors. Often the stroke sufferers have to cope with handicaps and rehabilitation is a long process. The brain does, however, have a "considerable capacity for regeneration" explains Lukas Bachmann from the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich. As member of Professor Martin Schwab's research team, he found ...

A radiotherapy regime involving higher doses of radiation is a better option than having lower doses for men with localised prostate cancer, the 10-year results of the largest trial of its kind have shown. Having 37 rounds, or fractions, of radiotherapy at 74 Gray (Gy) – compared with 32 fractions at 64 Gy – controlled the disease more effectively and reduced the chance that men would need follow-up hormone-deprivation therapy, which can have long-term side-effects. The findings, published in The Lancet Oncology today (Wednesday), come from the major RT01 phase III ...

Early humans may have evolved black skin to protect against a very high risk of dying from ultraviolet light (UV)-induced skin cancer, a new analysis concludes. Skin cancer has usually been rejected as the most likely selective pressure for the development of black skin because of a belief that it is only rarely fatal at ages young enough to affect reproduction. But a new paper, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, cites evidence that black people with albinism from parts of Africa with the highest UV radiation exposure, and where humans first evolved, almost ...

Mass strandings of whales have puzzled people since Aristotle. Modern-day strandings can be investigated and their causes, often human-related, identified. Events that happened millions of years ago, however, are far harder to analyze—frequently leaving their cause a mystery. A team of Smithsonian and Chilean scientists examined a large fossil site of ancient marine mammal skeletons in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile—the first definitive example of repeated mass strandings of marine mammals in the fossil record. The site reflected four distinct strandings over time, ...

Increased brain cell activity boosts brain fluid levels of a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease, according to new research from scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Tau protein is the main component of neurofibrillary tangles, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. It has been linked to other neurodegenerative disorders, including frontotemporal dementia, supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration. "Healthy brain cells normally release tau into the cerebrospinal fluid and the interstitial fluid that surrounds them, but ...

New images from the Smithsonian's Submillimeter Array (SMA) telescope provide the most detailed view yet of stellar nurseries within the Snake nebula. These images offer new insights into how cosmic seeds can grow into massive stars. Stretching across almost 100 light-years of space, the Snake nebula is located about 11,700 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus. In images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope it appears as a sinuous, dark tendril against the starry background. It was targeted because it shows the potential to form many massive ...

Older women who have overcome breast cancer are likely to struggle with heart disease, osteoporosis and hypertension further on in their lives. Whether these conditions occur or not is influenced by the treatment that patients received to fight cancer, their overall weight and their age. Breast cancer survivors therefore should watch their weight and get regular exercise so that they can enjoy a high quality of life. These findings, by lead author Nadia Obi of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, who collaborated with the group of Prof. Chang-Claude from the ...

February 26, 2014 - Oakland, CA – A new study by Rhonda Patrick, PhD and Bruce Ames, PhD of Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) demonstrates the impact that Vitamin D may have on social behavior associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Dr. Patrick and Dr. Ames show that serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin, three brain hormones that affect social behavior, are all activated by vitamin D hormone. Autism, which is characterized by abnormal social behavior, has previously been linked to low levels of serotonin in the brain and to low vitamin D levels, ...

Research by Beaumont Health System radiation oncologists and neurosurgeons found that symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia, or TN, a nerve disorder causing severe facial pain, were reduced in those treated with Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery. The results were published in the February issue of the journal Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery. TN is a disorder of the trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for feeling in the face. In most cases, the facial pain is caused by a blood vessel pressing on the nerve. It is believed that TN is caused by deterioration of the ...

Enough women experience reproductive coercion – male behavior to control contraception and pregnancy outcomes – that a research team now recommends health care providers address the subjects with their patients and tailor family planning discussions and recommendations accordingly. Researchers from Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island were part of a team that published "Reproductive coercion and co-occurring intimate partner violence in obstetrics and gynecology patients" in a recent issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "Reproductive coercion, ...

In the heart, as in the movies, 3D action beats the 2D experience hands down. In 3D, healthy hearts do their own version of the twist. Rather than a simple pumping action, they circulate blood as if they were wringing a towel. The bottom of the heart twists as it contracts in a counterclockwise direction while the top twists clockwise. Scientists call this the left ventricular twist—and it can be used as an indicator of heart health. The heart is not alone. The human body is replete with examples of soft muscular systems that bend, twist, extend, and flex in complex ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a "superabsorbing" design that may significantly improve the light absorption efficiency of thin film solar cells and drive down manufacturing costs. The superabsorbing design could decrease the thickness of the semiconductor materials used in thin film solar cells by more than one order of magnitude without compromising the capability of solar light absorption. "State-of-the-art thin film solar cells require an amorphous silicon layer that is about 100 nanometers (nm) thick to capture the majority of the ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Associated with unhappy visits to the dentist, "cavity" means something else in the branch of physics known as optics. Put simply, an optical cavity is an arrangement of mirrors that allows beams of light to circulate in closed paths. These cavities help us build things like lasers and optical fibers used for communications. Now, an international research team pushed the concept further by developing an optical "nanocavity" that boosts the amount of light that ultrathin semiconductors absorb. The advancement could lead to, among other things, more powerful ...

A genus of cockroach in the poorly studied family Corydiidae has been revised for the first time since 1920. The revision has resulted in the discovery and description of 39 new species of Arenivaga, a genus which previously held nine species. The Corydiidae family of roaches is found worldwide and its constituents are frequently found in harsh, dry habitats not usually associated with cockroaches. They are also often subterranean in their habits making their presence easily overlooked. The study was completed over a four-year period by Heidi Hopkins, who is a cockroach ...

As the price for decoding a person's DNA keeps dropping, expectations for personalized medicine based on specific genetic profiling rise. But translating an individual's genetic data into finely tailored medical treatments still faces major challenges, explains a new article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly magazine of the American Chemical Society. Rick Mullin, senior editor at C&EN, notes that advances in DNA sequencing have allowed researchers to design some therapies, particularly in the cancer realm, for patients with certain genetic traits. As the ...

Scientists from the University of Cambridge have demonstrated that an abrupt weakening of the summer monsoon affected northwest India 4,100 years ago. The resulting drought coincided with the beginning of the decline of the metropolis-building Indus Civilisation, which spanned present-day Pakistan and India, suggesting that climate change could be why many of the major cities of the civilisation were abandoned. The research, reported online on 25 February, 2014, in the journal Geology, involved the collection of snail shells preserved in the sediments of an ancient lake ...