How strongly do two dissolved analytes react with each other? Such information is of paramount importance not only in chemistry and molecular biology, but also in medicine or pharmacy, where it is used, i.a., to determine optimal drug doses. A method developed in the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw will allow for determining diffusion coefficients of analytes in fluids and equilibrium constants of reactions – quickly, at low cost, and most importantly: universally. In many medical therapies, a prerequisite for efficient treatment ...

Scientists have identified genetic traits in cattle that might allow farmers to breed livestock with increased resistance to bovine tuberculosis (TB). The study, which compared the genetic code of TB-infected animals with that of disease-free cattle, could help to impact on a disease that leads to major economic losses worldwide. The research, led by the University of Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, has identified a number of genetic signatures associated with TB resistance in the cows that remained unaffected. The study builds on previous research by The Roslin Institute, ...

One 15-minute focused-breathing meditation may help people make smarter choices, according to new research from researchers at INSEAD and The Wharton School. The findings are published in the February issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. People have trouble cutting their losses: They hold on to losing stocks too long, they stay in bad relationships, and they continue to eat large restaurant meals even when they're full. This behavior, often described as "throwing good money after bad," is driven by what behavioral scientists ...

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Fear is primal. In the wild, it serves as a protective mechanism, allowing animals to avoid predators or other perceived threats. For humans, fear is much more complex. A normal amount keeps us safe from danger. But in extreme cases, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), too much fear can prevent people from living healthy, productive lives. Researchers are actively working to understand how the brain translates fear into action. Today, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) announce the discovery of a new neural circuit in the ...

White rhinoceros may be extinct in twenty years with the current poaching rates. The loss of this megaherbivore is in itself a tragedy, but it may also have tremendous effects on the ecosystems they now live in. The white rhino (Ceratotherium simum), and other megaherbivores, are key drivers of ecosystem functioning because they´re not controlled by predation. A new study by Joris Cromsigt and Mariska te Beest, published in Journal of Ecology, highlights the role of the white rhino in the savannah ecosystems. Earlier empirical studies on the ecosystem impact of megaherbivores ...

Whether lifting weights in a gym or just walking around the block, exercise has many benefits, such as helping people lose weight and build stronger muscles. Some studies suggest that it may reduce the risk of developing cancer and other diseases. Researchers now report in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research that moderate, long-term physical activity appears to improve cardiovascular health in mice by targeting the heart cells' powerhouses — the mitochondria. Eduard Sabidó, Francisco Amado and colleagues explain that despite the well-documented benefits of exercise, the ...

Astronomers know that while large stars can end their lives as violently cataclysmic supernovae, smaller stars end up as planetary nebulae – colorful, glowing clouds of dust and gas. In recent decades these nebulae, once thought to be mostly spherical, have been observed to often emit powerful, bipolar jets of gas and dust. But how do spherical stars evolve to produce highly aspherical planetary nebulae? In a theoretical paper published this week in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, a University of Rochester professor and his undergraduate student ...

Researchers at Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute are learning more about the impact invasive zebra mussels and native aquatic insect larvae have on the risk of algae blooms in two West Michigan lakes. The results of the research will be published in the journal Oikos. Postdoctoral researcher Geraldine Nogaro and AWRI director Alan Steinman studied the impact that invasive zebra mussels and native chironomid larvae have on nutrient releases in Muskegon Lake and Bear Lake. While studying the mussels, Nogaro and Steinman noted that filter feeding ...

In today's search for renewable energy sources, researchers are turning to the hi-tech, from solar and hydrogen fuel cells, and the very low-tech. The latest example of a low-tech alternative comes from an age-old industry: paper. A new study, appearing in ACS' journal Energy & Fuels, reveals a sustainable way to turn the huge amounts of waste from paper production into solid fuel with the added bonus of diverting the sludge from overflowing landfills. Chinnathan Areeprasert, Peitao Zhao and colleagues note that making paper, from debarking and chipping wood to the final ...

New research from the University of Adelaide shows that the state of South Australia has a higher rate of deaths from extreme cold compared with the northern European nation of Sweden. The study, by a team from the University's School of Medical Sciences, analyzed forensic cases of hypothermia deaths from 2006-2011 in both South Australia and Sweden. The results show that South Australia had a rate of 3.9 deaths for every 100,000 people, compared with Sweden's 3.3 deaths per 100,000. In total, there were 62 fatal cases of hypothermia in South Australia and 296 cases ...

An international team of scientists from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (China) and the Forest Herbarium (BKF - Thailand) discovered a new species of Stone Oak in the Ton Pariwat Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand. This isolated sanctuary is popular for its rich bird- and wildlife such as the Blue-banded Kingfisher and Whitehanded Gibbons, as well for its rare and beautiful flora like Rafflesia's - known to hold some of the largest flowers on earth. The wildlife sanctuary covers a region of low-lying forested mountains and is located in the middle of a fascinating ...

Scientists report that they have developed a novel compound that appears to protect mice against developing movement problems associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). The research, which could one day in the future translate into a therapy that could halt the progression of PD and thereby prevent the symptoms of the disease, appears in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Onyou Hwang, Ki Duk Park and colleagues explain that PD, which affects an estimated 4 million to 10 million people worldwide, is a progressive movement disorder with no known cure. It often starts ...

(Boston) --Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health concern for all, however women who experience IPV are more likely to sustain injury and report adverse health consequences. An expanding body of research suggests that experience of IPV is common in women veterans (WV), particularly those who access Veterans Health Administration (VA) services. In a review paper currently available online in the Journal of Women's Health, Megan R. Gerber, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine, Boston University School of Medicine and Medical Director, Women's Health, ...

Writing a program to control a single autonomous robot navigating an uncertain environment with an erratic communication link is hard enough; write one for multiple robots that may or may not have to work in tandem, depending on the task, is even harder. As a consequence, engineers designing control programs for "multiagent systems" — whether teams of robots or networks of devices with different functions — have generally restricted themselves to special cases, where reliable information about the environment can be assumed or a relatively simple collaborative task can ...

Just like humans, whether or not some genes are switched on in bumblebees is a result of a battle of the sexes between genes inherited from their mother and genes inherited from their father. Published online today (Wednesday 12 February) in the Royal Society journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a new study from the University of Leicester provides new evidence for the kinship theory of evolution of genomic imprinting in bumblebees. Each bumblebee worker inherits two copies of every gene – one from their mother and one from their father. For a small number ...

For the first time researchers have studied the kind of physical pain that troubles adolescents with different mental health problems. Professor Marit Sæbø Indredavik at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) thinks that everyone working in the health care system, from medical doctors to psychologists, must be more aware of the chronic pain that can plague young people with mental health woes. From anxiety to ADHD The researchers gave a questionnaire to 566 teenagers between 13 and 18 years old, all of whom had conditions ranging from ADHD and depression ...

PHILADELPHIA (February 12, 2014) – Scientists from the Monell Center have used analytical organic chemistry to identify the presence of odor-producing chemical compounds in human earwax. Further, they found that the amounts of these compounds differ between individuals of East Asian origin and Caucasians. The findings suggest that human earwax, an easily obtained bodily secretion, could be an overlooked source of personal information. "Our previous research has shown that underarm odors can convey a great deal of information about an individual, including personal identity, ...

Scientists from The University of Manchester working with IBM Research have identified a key biological mechanism that for the first time explains why women with dense breast tissue are at greater risk of developing breast cancer. The research, published today in the journal Cell Cycle, has important implications for future cancer prevention and treatment. Women with higher breast density—detected on mammograms—have more compacted breast tissue and are more likely to develop breast cancer, but until now the reasons for this have been unclear. Manchester scientists, ...

People who consider themselves very religious and view Internet porn even once may perceive they are addicted, according to a new Case Western Reserve University's psychology study. "This is one of the first studies to examine the link between perceptions of addiction to online pornography and religious beliefs," said Joshua Grubbs, a doctoral student in psychology and lead author of the study. The research, "Transgression as Addiction: Religiosity and Moral Disapproval as Predictors of Perceived Addiction to Pornography," will be published today in the journal, Archives ...

This news release is available in German. Mr. S. is visually impaired and dependent on a cane since suffering a stroke. Nevertheless, as a 70-yr old living alone, he would rather not move into a care home. Most older people harbor this wish. They want to stay in their own familiar surroundings and continue to live independently for as long as possible. According to data from the German Federal Statistical Office, this applies to 70 percent of seniors. Against better judgment, they are putting their health at risk, for not only does the risk of cardiovascular problems ...

Male users of Pinterest pin more content about photography, art, design, and home decor than sports, technology and cars, says a new study by researchers at the University of Minnesota and Georgia Tech. The study revealed that while women and men differed in the types of content they collected and the degree to which they specialized, surprisingly men were not particularly interested in stereotypically male topics. The most popular topics on Pinterest tend to be of "traditional female" interest including food and drink, crafts, home decor, and women's fashion. While ...

This news release is available in German. We want it cozy and warm in our homes when the thermometer outside gets down into the minus area. Especially with older buildings, however, the money we pay for heat ends up out the window. The fault lies hidden in incorrect insulation, or at spots around windows or ceiling joints that are not sealed. These weak points cannot be perceived from outside – unless you are viewing the building though the lens of an infrared camera. This type of camera is equipped with specialized sensors that distinguish the temperature differences ...

The change by our ancestors from hunter-gathers to farmers is one of the most intensively researched aspects of archaeology. Now a large-scale investigation of British archaeological sites dating from around 4,600 BC to 1,400 AD has examined millions of fragments of bone and analysed over 1,000 cooking pots. The team, led by Professor Richard Evershed of the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry, developed new techniques in an effort to identify fish oils in the pots. Remarkably, they showed that more than 99 per cent of the earliest farmer's cooking pots lacked ...

Researchers at the University of East Anglia have made an important advance in understanding genetic changes associated with terminal prostate cancer. Findings published today in the British Journal of Cancer, and funded by the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR), show how a genetic mutation in untreated patients is linked to aggressive cancer later in life. It was previously thought that the mutation only occurred in response to therapy. The research highlights why relapses could occur in some men following hormone therapy. And it could help identify ...

Boulder, Colo., USA – Topics in this current batch of Geology articles posted ahead of print include the puzzle of parallel mountain chains; 25 years on the East Pacific Rise; unique episodes in Earth's history; turbidity currents; computer models; Wilson cycles; salt structure beneath the sea bed; the North Scotia Ridge; El Hierro, Canary Islands; sand-sized sub-spherical silica grains; bank pull or bar push; kaolinitic paleosols; Earth's youngest, hottest rocks; 3-D thermo-mechanical numerical models; and the Bohemian Massif. Open Access Papers: 1. Sublithospheric ...