Snake and eel bodies are elongated, slender and flexible in all three dimensions. This striking body plan has evolved many times independently in the more than 500 million years of vertebrate animals history. Based on the current state of knowledge, the extreme elongation of the body axis occurred in one of two ways: either through the elongation of the individual vertebrae of the vertebral column, which thus became longer, or through the development of additional vertebrae and associated muscle segments. Long body thanks to doubling of the vertebral arches A team of ...

Hercules, CA — October 7, 2013 — Since its introduction in 2011, Bio-Rad Laboratory's Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR™) technology has demonstrated the potential to be a transformative technology, particularly in clinical applications. At the second annual CHI Digital PCR Conference in San Diego, CA, Oct. 7–9, 2013, 12 scientists using Bio-Rad's Droplet Digital PCR systems will highlight ddPCR applications that have advanced their research. These researchers will share how ddPCR technology provides greater precision, reproducibility, and sensitivity than real-time PCR approaches ...

BARCELONA, SPAIN (7 October 2013) – Food addiction is not yet recognised as a mental disorder but certain obese individuals clearly display addictive-like behaviour towards food. To achieve a formal diagnostic status, 'food addiction' requires a stronger evidence base to support the claim that certain ingredients have addictive properties identical to addictive drugs of abuse. This topic is up for debate in the session, 'Binge eating obesity is a food addiction'. This year's fifth edition of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) recognises 'binge ...

BARCELONA, SPAIN (7 October 2013) – Improved understanding of the roles of inflammation and oxidative stress in psychiatric disorders has generated new leads in the search for novel therapies. One such investigative compound currently in clinical trials is an amino acid, N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), which appears to reduce the core symptoms of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, autism and cravings in addictions including cocaine, cannabis abuse and cigarette smoking. At the start of the decade of the brain, in the early 1990s, there was great hope that a flurry ...

BARCELONA, SPAIN (7 October 2013) – Improved understanding of the role of female sex hormones on the drivers and symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) may shed light on the complex interactions between sex hormones and mood, potentially helping to explain the increased prevalence of mood disorders in women. Most women are unaffected by the hormonal changes of the menstrual cycle, however approximately 20% of women experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS), or premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a more severe form of PMS. The latter affects roughly 5% of ...

BARCELONA, SPAIN (7 October 2013) – A selective GABA inverse agonist has restored cognitive function in a mouse model of Down's syndrome (DS) and has the potential to benefit humans, French researchers have revealed. "The drug we used is a specific GABA-A α5 inverse agonist (α5IA) that hypothetically could combat the abnormal neuronal excitation/inhibition balance associated with DS", explained lead researcher Dr Benoit Delatour from the Research Centre of the Institute of Brain and Spinal Cord (Centre de Recherche de l'Institut du Cerveau et de Moelle Epinière) ...

BARCELONA, SPAIN (7 October 2013) – Up to two-thirds of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) find their disorder persists into adulthood yet only a small proportion of adults ever receive a formal diagnosis and treatment, research suggests. ADHD, a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood, continues into adulthood in the majority of children. Prevalence figures show that 3-4% of adults are affected by ADHD and it is associated with a broad range of psychosocial impairments. Dr Esther Sobanski investigates the pharmacological ...

A person sliding a finger across a topographic map displayed on a touch screen can feel the bumps and curves of hills and valleys, despite the screen's smooth surface, with the aid of a novel algorithm created by Disney Research, Pittsburgh for tactile rendering of 3D features and textures. By altering the friction encountered as a person's fingertip glides across a surface, the Disney algorithm can create a perception of a 3D bump on a touch surface without having to physically move the surface. The method can be used to simulate the feel of a wide variety of objects ...

Electric current sufficient to light a string of LEDs, activate an e-paper display or even trigger action by a computer can be generated by tapping or rubbing simple, flexible generators made of paper, thin sheets of plastic and other everyday materials, researchers at Disney Research, Pittsburgh, have demonstrated. This new approach to energy harvesting uses electrets, materials with special electrical properties that already are used in microphones and in tiny MEMS devices. This latest application, developed by researchers at Disney Research, Pittsburgh and at Carnegie ...

The kinds of traits that show genealogical relationships between species are often minute and easily overlooked. Dr. Neil Snow, a botanist at Pittsburg State University, published a paper in 1996 that included observations of some odd-shaped hairs on three species of grass native to Africa. Their odd shape stems from distinctly swollen tips that are then pinched into a small party-hat structure at the very apex. "A tongue-twisting technical term for that shape is 'clavicorniculate', but 'club-shaped' is a workable simplification we often prefer," remarked Snow. In ...

Monitoring a dog's behaviour could be used as an early warning sign that an older owner is struggling to cope or their health is deteriorating. Experts at Newcastle University, UK, are using movement sensors to track normal dog behaviour while the animals are both home alone and out-and-about. Providing a unique insight into the secret life of man's best friend, the sensors show not only when the dog is on the move, but also how much he is barking, sitting, digging and other key canine behaviours. By mapping the normal behaviour of a healthy, happy dog, Dr Cas Ladha, ...

Swedish soccer star Zlatan is associated with happiness, but not iPhones. A new study at the Sahlgrenska Academy and Lund University suggests that our collective picture of what makes us happy is more about relationships, and less about things. News articles published online by Swedish dailies during 2010 were analyzed in the study. By analyzing which words most often occurred in the same articles as the Swedish word for happiness, the researchers could pinpoint our collective happiness. "It's relationships that are most important, not material things, and this is in ...

A team of researchers based at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has shown how temporal control of a single gene solves two problems during fruit ripening in strawberry. Not only human consumers find the rich red color of ripe strawberries attractive. In wild strawberries, it also serves to lure the animals which the plant exploits to spread its seeds. When birds and small mammals feed on the fruit, they subsequently excrete the indigestible seeds elsewhere, thus ensuring the dispersal of the species. However, ...

BOSTON – Although Parkinson's disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in the U.S., there are no standard clinical tests available to identify this widespread condition. As a result, Parkinson's disease often goes unrecognized until late in its progression, when the brain's affected neurons have already been destroyed and telltale motor symptoms such as tremor and rigidity have already appeared. Now researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have discovered that an important clue to diagnosing Parkinson's may lie just beneath ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Bile salts scream seduction – for sea lampreys, that is. New research at Michigan State University shows that bile salts, secreted from the liver and traditionally associated with digestive functions, are being used as pheromones by sea lampreys. The interesting twist, though, is that this scent has evolved as the invasive species' cologne of choice. The evolution of bile salts from digestive aid to pheromone, featured in the current issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, mirrors humans' adaptation of perfume. "It's similar to how perfume ...

Retinal damage is one of the most common complications of diabetes, affecting about 90 percent of type 1 diabetics and 75 percent of type 2 diabetics. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in adults of working age, and its incidence is showing an upward trend. The retina is the part of the eye that converts optical images into nerve signals, which are then transmitted to the brain where vision is interpreted. Numerous proteins and molecules are involved in the process of signal transduction. Diabetic retinal ...

This news release is available in German. Leipzig/ Halle. The Leipzig Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research has gained new insights on the influence of tobacco smoke in utero. For the first time, it could be demonstrated with smoking pregnant women and their children, how exposure to tobacco smoke affects the development of human immune system on molecular level. The focus thereby was on microRNA – a short, single-stranded RNA molecule that is now recognised as playing an important role in gene regulation. For some time now, the impact of environmental ...

A system that allows users to experience multi-point haptic feedback above an interactive surface without having to touch or hold any device will be unveiled this week [Friday 11 October] at one of the world's most important conferences for innovations in human-computer interfaces. Multi-touch surfaces offer easy interaction in public spaces, with people being able to walk-up and use them. However, people cannot feel what they have touched. A team from the University of Bristol's Interaction and Graphics (BIG) research group have developed a solution that not only allows ...

Brooklyn, NY (October 7, 2013) – SUNY Downstate Medical Center announced today that Sheryl Smith, PhD, professor of physiology and pharmacology, has published new findings demonstrating a reproducible pathology that may help shed light on anxiety and mood volatility in methamphetamine dependence. In her animal study, Dr. Smith demonstrates that neuroactive stress steroids can trigger identifiable changes to the brains of methamphetamine dependent rats in withdrawal. Interestingly, Dr. Smith notes, these changes appear to be reversible by an existing pharmacological agent ...

PITTSBURGH—Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Disney Research Pittsburgh have devised a motion tracking technology that could eliminate much of the annoying lag that occurs in existing video game systems that use motion tracking, while also being extremely precise and highly affordable. Called Lumitrack, the technology has two components — projectors and sensors. A structured pattern, which looks something like a very large barcode, is projected over the area to be tracked. Sensor units, either near the projector or on the person or object being tracked, can ...

CINCINNATI – New research in the Journal of Experimental Medicine identifies a protein that controls the formation of different types of mature blood cells – a finding that could be important to developing new treatments for blood diseases and helping realize the potential of regenerative medicine. Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report their results in a study published online by the journal Oct. 7. The authors focus on a protein called RhoA, a GTPase that serves as a molecular switch in the cytoplasm of cells to control cell function. ...

WASHINGTON, DC – October 7, 2013 – A universal infant vaccination campaign in China has led the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) to more than double its rate of "breakout" mutations. These mutations may enable the virus to elude the vaccine, necessitating new vaccination strategies. Researchers at the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, report their findings in an article published ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. Until a universal vaccination program for infants was implemented in 1992, nearly ten percent ...

HOUSTON – (Oct. 7, 2013) – Atomically thin sheets of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have the handy benefit of protecting what's underneath from oxidizing even at very high temperatures, Rice University researchers have discovered. One or several layers of the material sometimes called "white graphene" keep materials from oxidizing – or rusting -- up to 1,100 degrees Celsius (2,012 degrees Fahrenheit), and can be made large enough for industrial applications, they said. The Rice study led by materials scientists Pulickel Ajayan and Jun Lou appears today in the online ...

Triathletes participate in a grueling endurance sport, swimming, bicycling, and running long distances without rest. In training and competitions, they regularly push their bodies beyond the limits most of us can endure. But while there is no doubt that triathletes are tough, very little is known about what gives them their exceptional abilities. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have discovered a possible explanation. Prof. Ruth Defrin and her doctoral student Nirit Geva of the Department of Physical Therapy at TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine have found that triathletes ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- As the budget crisis drags on, at least conservatives and liberals have something in common: both believe their views on certain issues are not only correct but all other views are inferior. A study from Duke University examined whether one end of the American political spectrum believes more strongly than the other in the superiority of its principles and positions. It found both sides have elements of "belief superiority," depending on the issue. When asked about nine hot-button issues, conservatives feel most superior about their views on voter identification ...