This news release is available in German. In his third major research paper since December 2013, IST Austria Professor Peter Jonas together with his collaborator, postdoc Hua Hu, identifies a new subcellular mechanism for reliable, fast transmission in the so-called basket cells of the brain. The results will be published on the website of Nature Neuroscience on March 23, 2014 (DOI 10.1038/nn.3678) IST Austria president Thomas Henzinger expressed his delight: "This is an extraordinary streak of publications in major journals which once more emphasizes the outstanding ...

Prions are infectious agents responsible for neurodegenerative diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalitis (commonly known as "mad cow disease") and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans. Since the discovery in the 60s that an incurable and fatal disease could be caused by an infectious agent formed by nothing but converted misfolded proteins, the mechanisms responsible for the conversion of a normal prion protein into its infectious counterpart – the scrapie prion – have been relentlessly investigated. Researchers now know that once converted into the scrapie form, ...

VIDEO: In the absence of Omi, Ras-transformed tumor cells form invasive lamellipodial protrusions. Click here for more information. The tumor suppressor p53 does all it can to prevent oncogenes from transforming normal cells into tumor cells by killing defective cells or causing them to become inactive. Sometimes oncogenes manage to initiate tumor development in the presence of p53, but, even then, the tumor suppressor doesn't give up and focuses its efforts instead on limiting ...

The process of producing high-quality, fertile sperm requires many steps. A study in The Journal of Cell Biology shows how the transcription factor p73 promotes this process by regulating the adhesions between developing sperm and their support cells. The p53 family of transcription factors has an ancient and well-conserved function in protecting reproductive cells. In mammals, for example, p63 promotes the death of eggs and sperm that have sustained DNA damage, and female mice lacking p73 are infertile due to defects in egg development. Male mice lacking p73 are also ...

(PHILADELPHIA) – Radiation therapy fights cancer in more ways than one. Not only does it force cancer cells to self-destruct, but several studies demonstrate that it also activates the immune system to attack tumor cells. This activation can be used to boost current immunotherapies, such as anti-tumor vaccines, to produce better clinical results. What's less clear, however, is exactly how to combine the two therapies to get the best bang for the therapeutic buck. To address this question, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University tested an experimental cancer vaccine ...

Proteins are important molecules in our body and they fulfil a broad range of functions. For instance as enzymes they help to release energy from food and as muscle proteins they assist with motion. As antibodies they are involved in immune defence and as hormone receptors in signal transduction in cells. Until only recently it was assumed that all proteins take on a clearly defined three-dimensional structure – i.e. they fold in order to be able to assume these functions. Surprisingly, it has been shown that many important proteins occur as unfolded coils. Researchers ...

(Boston) Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that the diabetic drug, pramlintide, reduces amyloid-beta peptides, a major component of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the brain and improves learning and memory in two experimental AD models. These findings, which appear online in Molecular Psychiatry, also found AD patients have a lower level of amylin in blood compared to those without this disease. These results may provide a new avenue for both treatment and diagnosis of AD. AD is a degenerative brain disease associated with severe functional ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Bosses who are fair make their workers happier and their companies more productive, but in the end may be burning themselves out. A new study led by Michigan State University's Russell E. Johnson found the act of carefully monitoring the fairness of workplace decisions wears down supervisors mentally and emotionally. "Structured, rule-bound fairness, known as procedural justice, is a double-edged sword for managers," said Johnson, assistant professor of management. "While beneficial for their employees and the organization, it's an especially draining ...

When it comes to detecting deceit, your automatic associations may be more accurate than conscious thought in pegging truth-tellers and liars, according to research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The findings suggest that conscious awareness may hinder our ability to detect whether someone is lying, perhaps because we tend to seek out behaviors that are supposedly stereotypical of liars, like averted eyes or fidgeting. But those behaviors may not be all that indicative of an untrustworthy person. "Our research ...

What sort of leader are you? Do you think leading is all about a laser-like focus on the task, watching the bottom line and making sure everyone is doing what they should? Or is it about listening to your team, being open to ideas and perspectives, and inspiring them to find their own niche? Distinctions between a task-oriented leader and a social-emotional leader have filled the pages of academic literature for more than a half-century. But recent research strongly suggests the distinction has a foundation in our brains—which allows us to be either analytical or empathetic, ...

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2014 — If you believe the doomsayers, a zombie apocalypse is coming, and you need to be prepared. On AMC's The Walking Dead, whose season finale airs Sunday, survivors are always worried about running out of bullets, arrows or even sharp sticks. But what if chemistry could help you get away from the flesh eaters? In the American Chemical Society's (ACS') latest Reactions video, we talk with chemist Raychelle Burks, Ph.D., who shares her recipe for a "death cologne" that might someday save you from the undead. The video is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUEjmyisz7c. INFORMATION: Subscribe ...

NEW YORK, NY (March 21, 2014) — Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have devised a new system for classifying periodontal disease based on the genetic signature of affected tissue, rather than on clinical signs and symptoms. The new classification system, the first of its kind, may allow for earlier detection and more individualized treatment of severe periodontitis, before loss of teeth and supportive bone occurs. The findings were published recently in the online edition of the Journal of Dental Research. Currently, periodontal disease is classified ...

DALLAS – March 21, 2014 – People who have an inherited mutation of a certain gene have a high chance of getting lung cancer — higher, even, than heavy smokers with or without the inherited mutation, according to new findings by cancer researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Although both genders have an equal risk of inheriting the mutation, those who develop lung cancer are mostly women and have never smoked, the researchers found. People with the rare inherited T790M mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene who have never smoked have a one-in-three ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Groundbreaking work by a team of chemists on a fringe element of the periodic table could change how the world stores radioactive waste and recycles fuel. The element is called californium — Cf if you're looking at the Periodic Table of Elements — and it's what Florida State Professor Thomas Albrecht-Schmitt, the lead researcher on the project, calls "wicked stuff." In carefully choreographed experiments, Albrecht-Schmitt and his colleagues found that californium had amazing abilities to bond and separate other materials. They also found it was extremely ...

(Toronto) March 24, 2014 – A nasal spray that delivers a peptide to treat depression holds promise as a potential alternative therapeutic approach, research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows. The study, led by CAMH's Dr. Fang Liu, is published online in Neuropsychopharmacology. In a previous study published in Nature Medicine in 2010, Dr. Liu developed a protein peptide that provided a highly targeted approach to treating depression that she hopes will have minimal side effects. The peptide was just as effective in relieving symptoms when ...

Climate change may be bad news for billions, but scientists at the University of Sheffield have discovered one unlikely winner – a tiny British bird, the long-tailed tit. Like other small animals that live for only two or three years, these birds had until now been thought to die in large numbers during cold winters. But new research suggests that warm weather during spring instead holds the key to their survival. The findings come from a 20-year study of long-tailed tits run by Professor Ben Hatchwell at the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences. The recent work ...

Birds in female-dominated populations are more likely to ditch and 'divorce' their mates while promiscuity increases in predominantly male environments, according to new research. A joint study by the University of Sheffield and the University of Bath gives the first conclusive proof that rates of divorce and infidelity in birds are affected by the adult sex ratio of the population they live in – a theory previously discounted by biologists. The study, which examined the pair bonding and mating behaviour of 197 different species of bird, found the divorce rate was higher ...

Not only plants, but also humans and animals need phosphorus, which is a building block of DNA. Many biological processes in our body can only take place if phosphorus atoms are also present. But farmers and industrial enterprises use so much of this element that soil is over-fertilized and waterways are contaminated. This is where the experts of the German Phosphorus Platform DPP come in. As they have made it their aim to recover the phosphorus from the water, on the one hand in order to protect the environment and on the other to reutilize this valuable raw material ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have demonstrated that vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs) can be manufactured using ambient air, making the manufacturing process safer and less expensive. VACNFs hold promise for use in gene-delivery tools, sensors, batteries and other technologies. Conventional techniques for creating VACNFs rely on the use of ammonia gas, which is toxic. And while ammonia gas is not expensive, it's not free. "This discovery makes VACNF manufacture safer and cheaper, because you don't need to account for the risks and costs ...

(Millbrook, NY) People living in northern and central parts of the U.S. are more likely to contract Lyme disease and other tick-borne ailments when white-footed mice are abundant. Mice are effective at transferring disease-causing pathogens to feeding ticks. And, according to an in-press paper in the journal Ecology, these "super hosts" appear indifferent to larval tick infestations. Drawing on 16 years of field research performed at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, the paper found that white-footed mice with hundreds of larval ticks ...

With twelve years of sales experience, Dan Blaze fell sorrowfully into the realization that he didn't know everything there was to know about being in sales. During his sales experience, which has now reached a sixteen year plateau, Mr. Blaze has worked for various companies, in various industries, and has performed various roles, including cold-calling, direct-selling, field-sales, sales management and self-employment in sales and lead-generation. "The truth is, today, so many companies expect to hire experienced sales people, and so few companies are engaged ...

In support of their latest successful CD release, On the Funky Side (currently charting on the CMJ, The Roots Music Report and the JazzWeek Charts), Jambalaya Brass Band will be performing three live sets at d.b.a. in New Orleans on Thursday, March 27, 2014, starting at 10:00 pm. Jambalaya Brass Band's previous CD, It's a Jungle Out There, resulted in heavy broadcast radio rotation on eighty-five stations nationwide, as well as countless national and worldwide Internet radio stations, and charted in the top five of the CMJ Charts, The Roots Music Report and the Cashbox ...

Rodger Rau of Stony Brook, N.Y., and Christine Kenney of New York took first place in the men's and women's divisions of the 2014 Michelob ULTRA New York 13.1 Marathon today at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Rau, 32, won in a time of 1:17:15, outpacing Jeffrey Meyers of Northfield, Ohio, by more than two and a half minutes. Kenney, 35, also blitzed the women's field, as her time of 1:25:29 was 2:39 faster than runner-up Lauren Meyer of Charlestown, Mass. Approximately 3,000 competitors began the half-marathon, while around 300 laced it up for the Life Time 5K. Juan Horiuchi, ...

Join Detroit rockers Dead in 5 for a night of movies, music and mayhem at Emagine Theatre (200 N. Main St, Royal Oak, MI Ph: 248-414-1000) on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The band hosts two screenings of horror B-Movie "Pro Wrestlers Vs. Zombies" starring WWE legends Rowdy Roddy Piper, Matt Hardy, Jim "Hacksaw" Duggan, Shane Douglas, and Olympic champ Kurt Angle. Screenings are at 7:30 pm and 10 pm. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased in advance at Emagine Theater's web site: http://www.emagine-entertainment.com/coming-soon/ or at the box office. ...

In an effort to stay current on the relatively fast pace of development and progress occurring in the world of cloud server hosting, Cyber Host Pro has recently released an update to their popular iOS application as well as an Android-compatible application featuring the same functionality. The recent updates were prompted by Cyber Host Pro's desire to further enhance the accessibility and functionality of their product in response to the overwhelmingly positive feedback they had already received. In addition to a revamped graphical interface, the new iOS updates and ...