Future lunar missions may be fueled by gas stations in space, according to MIT engineers: A spacecraft might dock at a propellant depot, somewhere between the Earth and the moon, and pick up extra rocket fuel before making its way to the lunar surface. Orbiting way stations could reduce the fuel a spacecraft needs to carry from Earth — and with less fuel onboard, a rocket could launch heavier payloads, such as large scientific experiments. Over the last few decades, scientists have proposed various designs, such as building a fuel-manufacturing station on the moon ...

DALLAS – March 4, 2014 – Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified an important step toward potentially shutting down the growth of prostate cancer cells. Dr. Ralf Kittler, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, studies ERG, a protein that facilitates the transformation of normal prostate cells into cancer cells. His lab found that an enzyme called USP9X protects ERG from degradation and subsequently found that a molecule called WP1130 can block USP9X and lead to the destruction of ERG. "We now have a target that we could potentially exploit to develop ...

Thirty percent of adults with Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) report they were physically abused before they turned 18. This compares to seven per cent of those without ADD/ADHD who were physically abused before 18. The results were in a study published in this week's online Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma. "This strong association between abuse and ADD/ADHD was not explained by differences in demographic characteristics or other early adversities experienced by those who had been abused," says lead author ...

WASHINGTON, DC (March 6, 2014)— Drug companies spent $97.5 million marketing pharmaceuticals in the District of Columbia in 2012, with $30.5 million (31.3%) of that spending taking the form of payments and gifts to physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers, according to a report by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS). These expenditures represent the first year-on-year spending increase by drug companies since 2007. Between 2007 and 2011, spending declined each year to a low of $84 million in ...

This news release is available in German. Taking photos with a wink, checking one's calendar with a glance of the right eye, reading text messages — the multinational cooperation Google wants to make it possible with Google Glass. But what IT experts celebrate as a new milestone makes privacy groups skeptical. So far, few people have access to the prototype to test how it can be used in daily life. "Thanks to the Max Planck Institute for Informatics we are one of the few universities in Germany that can do research with Google Glass", says Dominique Schröder, assistant ...

VIDEO: This video shows: "Efficacy of the Responsive Classroom Approach: Results from a Three Year, Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Trial. " Published Online First in: American Educational Research Journal March 6, 2014 Authors: Sarah Rimm-Kaufman, Ross A. Larsen, Alison... Click here for more information. WASHINGTON, D.C., March 6, 2014 ─ Classroom programs designed to improve elementary school students' social and emotional skills can also ...

In 2011, one in three pregnant women in the U.S. delivered babies by cesarean delivery. While cesarean delivery may be life-saving for the mother, the baby or both, the rapid increase in cesarean birth rates since 1996 without clear indication raises concerns that this type of delivery may be overused. Dwight J. Rouse, MD, MSPH, a specialist in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, has co-authored the first in a new, joint ...

For Chinese and Vietnamese immigrant parents and their children, success is equal to getting straight As, graduating from an elite university and pursuing an advanced degree. However, these narrow measures of success can make those who do not fulfil the strict aspirations feel like ethnic outliers, warn Jennifer Lee of UC Irvine in the US and Min Zhou of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Their findings are published in Springer's journal Race and Social Problems. The researchers analyzed in-depth interviews of 82 adult children of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants, ...

A visit to the dentist could one day require a detailed look at how genes in a patient's body are being switched on or off, as well as examining their pearly whites, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide. In a new paper published in the Australian Dental Journal, researchers from the University of Adelaide's School of Dentistry have written about the current and future use of the field of epigenetics as it relates to oral health. Speaking on Dentist's Day (Thursday 6 March), co-author Associate Professor Toby Hughes says epigenetics has much to offer ...

WASHINGTON – Black boys as young as 10 may not be viewed in the same light of childhood innocence as their white peers, but are instead more likely to be mistaken as older, be perceived as guilty and face police violence if accused of a crime, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. "Children in most societies are considered to be in a distinct group with characteristics such as innocence and the need for protection. Our research found that black boys can be seen as responsible for their actions at an age when white boys still benefit ...

The uplifting effects of energy drinks are well advertised, but a new report finds consumption among teenagers may be linked with poor mental health and substance use. Researchers are calling for limits on teen's access to the drinks and reduction in the amount of the caffeine in each can. The paper by researchers at the University of Waterloo and Dalhousie University, published in Preventive Medicine, found that high school students prone to depression as well as those who are smoke marijuana or drink alcohol are more likely to consume energy drinks than their peers. ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a computational tool designed to guide future research on biochemical pathways by identifying which components in a biological system are related to specific biochemical processes, including those processes responsible for gene expression, cell signaling, stress response, and metabolism. "Our goal was to identify modules, or functional units, which are critical to the performance of the biochemical pathways that govern a host of biological processes," says Dr. Cranos Williams, an assistant professor of electrical ...

According to the results of a recent study, soil color changes in the atmosphere basically through the oxidation of chemical substances in the soil. The fundamental mechanism is the remodeling effect of micro-structures because of motion effects and chemical reactions of the water–soil–electrolyte–atmosphere system leading to the coupling and transforming of soil particles. The above provides a theoretical foundation for the assessment and forecast of the stability of the geotechnical environment. Nowadays, with increasing focus on the harmful effects of fog and haze ...

Oxford, March 6, 2014 -- Recent reports warn about a link between eating red and processed meat and the risk of developing cancer in the gut. These reports have resulted in new nutritional recommendations that advise people to limit their intake of red and processed meats. A recent perspective paper, authored by 23 scientists, published in the latest issue of journal Meat Science underlines the uncertainties in the scientific evidence and points to further research needed to resolve these issues and improve the foundation for future recommendations on the intake of red ...

For many people with advanced cardiac insufficiency, a heart transplant may be their only hope. e. But waiting for a donor heart to come along is a race against time. Patients who remains active and stay in good shape psychologically can significantly increase their chances of surviving this period. . Anxiety-ridden, depressive and passive patients, on the other hand, run the risk of further serious deterioration of their heart's ability to function. This is what health psychologists at the universities of Luxembourg, Mainz and San Francisco found in a study conducted ...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dispersants are often used in oil spill responses because they may mitigate the environmental impacts of the spill by moving the oil from the water surface into the water column enhancing its biodegradation. While this process helps reduce the likelihood of oil exposure to marine wildlife such as seabirds and marine mammals, aquatic toxicity on marine communities from the dispersant and the chemically dispersed oil needs to be considered more carefully. Scientists at Research Planning, Inc. and HDR Ecosystem Management evaluated the standard toxicity ...

BOSTON – It's by now well established that obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes. But what exactly is it about extra body fat that leads to insulin resistance and blood glucose elevation, the hallmarks of diabetes? Over the past several years, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) endocrinologist Barbara Kahn, MD, has developed a large body of research suggesting that a molecule called retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) plays a key role in the process. Kahn's lab was the first to show that elevated levels of RBP4 – previously known only for its role as a ...

Although there is widespread consensus among the scientific community that the composition of generic drugs is identical to that of brand name drugs, this is not the case among the public. In a four-year study of over 3,000 opinions on Spanish web pages, researchers at the National University of Distance Education (UNED) of Spain have identified communication strategies aimed at creating risk perceptions about generic drugs, which may influence the low usage of these drugs. Generic drugs, which are copies of brand name drugs whose patent has expired, have exactly the ...

Researchers from the University of Surrey worked together with scientists from Philips to further develop the 'Source-Gated-Transistor' (SGT) - a simple circuit component invented jointly by the teams. Previously, they found that the component could be applied to many electronic designs of an analog nature, such as display screens. Through this current study, researchers have now shown that SGTs can also be applied to next-generation digital circuits. SGTs control the electric current as it enters a semiconductor, which decreases the odds of circuit malfunction, improves ...

Uncontrolled cell growth and division is a hallmark of cancer. Now a research project led by the University of Dundee has provided the most complete description to date of the gene activity which takes place as human cells divide. Researchers have managed to gather data which details the behaviour of protein molecules encoded by over 6000 genes in cancer cells, as they move through the cell cycle. The team has used advances in technology and data analysis to study how genes work over time in cancer cells, as opposed to capturing a `snapshot' of activity – a leap forward ...

The genetic disease ARVC leads to sudden cardiac death and is more common than it has been hitherto assumed. This is reported by an international team of researchers headed by Prof Dr Hendrik Milting from the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW in the "European Heart Journal". The molecular biologist working at the Ruhr-Universität's clinic in Bad Oeynhausen revealed that all families who are known to be affected by the disease share the same genetic origin. There must be other families in Europe who also carry the genetic mutation but who are not yet known. Mutation initially ...

A randomised placebo-controlled study by the University of Oxford suggests that higher levels of omega-3 DHA, the group of long-chain fatty acids found in algae and seafood, are associated with better sleep. The researchers explored whether 16 weeks of daily 600 mg supplements of algal sources would improve the sleep of 362 children. The children who took part in the study were not selected for sleep problems, but were all struggling readers at a mainstream primary school. At the outset, the parents filled in a child sleep questionnaire, which revealed that four in ten ...

This news release is available in French. Gallery owners, private collectors, conservators, museums and art dealers face many problems in protecting and evaluating their collections such as determining origin, authenticity and discovery of forgery, as well as conservation issues. Today these problems are more accurately addressed through the application of modern, non-destructive, "hi-tech" techniques. Dmitry Gavrilov, a PhD student in the Department of Physics at the University of Windsor (Windsor, Canada), along with Dr. Roman Gr. Maev, the Department of Physics ...

Though just two of Hirono's 5,418 residents lost their lives in Japan's mega-earthquake and tsunami, a new study shows that the survivors are struggling to keep their sanity. One year after the quake, Brigham Young University professor Niwako Yamawaki and scholars from Saga University evaluated the mental health of 241 Hirono citizens. More than half of the people evaluated experienced "clinically concerning" symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Two-thirds of the sample reported symptoms of depression. Those rates exceed levels seen in the aftermath of other ...

Al Brommeland found a true partner in his wife Florence. Through 57 years of marriage they've proved a formidable team, swinging and bowing at square dances, kicking up dust in their clogs, and now in their golden years, taking daily strolls side by side. When Al started experiencing irregular heart rhythm 12 years ago, the couple worked together to stay healthy. It hasn't been easy, both in terms of symptoms—emergency doctors stopped and restarted Al's heart eight times over the years—or finding answers to their questions about how to best manage his illness, recently ...