More than 83,000 volunteer citizen scientists. Over 16 million galaxy classifications. Information on more than 300,000 galaxies. This is what you get when you ask the public for help in learning more about our universe. The project, named Galaxy Zoo 2, is the second phase of a crowdsourcing effort to categorize galaxies in our universe. Researchers say computers are good at automatically measuring properties such as size and color of galaxies, but more challenging characteristics, such as shape and structure, can currently only be determined by the human eye. An international ...

For years, scientists have attempted to understand how Alzheimer's disease harms the brain before memory loss and dementia are clinically detectable. Most researchers think this preclinical stage, which can last a decade or more before symptoms appear, is the critical phase when the disease might be controlled or stopped, possibly preventing the failure of memory and thinking abilities in the first place. Important progress in this effort is reported in October in Lancet Neurology. Scientists at the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington ...

Friendships matter throughout life, and in early adolescence they provide validation and emotional support. Now a new study has found that friendships across ethnic groups in urban middle schools help protect youths from feeling vulnerable, making them feel less lonely and at the same time safer. As the population of children in the United States grows increasingly diverse, this study has implications for how educators oversee student interactions. The study, by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, ...

Young children readily learn words from their parents, grandparents, and child care providers in live conversations, but learning from video has proven more difficult. A new study questioned why and found that it's the responsiveness of the interactions that's key: When we respond to children in timely and meaningful ways, they learn—even when that response comes from a screen. The study, by researchers at the University of Washington, Temple University, and the University of Delaware, appears in the journal Child Development. Three dozen 2-year-olds were randomly assigned ...

Playing with blocks may help preschoolers develop the kinds of skills that support later learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), according to a new study by researchers at the University of Delaware and Temple University. And for low-income preschoolers, who lag in spatial skills, such play may be especially important. The study is published in the journal Child Development. More than a hundred 3-year-olds of various socioeconomic levels took part in the study. Children who were better at copying block structures were also better at early math, ...

In the U.S., there are nearly 300,000 children with juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic illnesses according to estimates from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). For pediatric patients with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), effective treatment for this disabling disease is imperative. New treatment recommendations that guide physicians caring for children with systemic JIA are now published in the ACR journals, Arthritis & Rheumatism and Arthritis Care & Research. Systemic JIA is defined by the International League of Associations for Rheumatology ...

Drug ads often warn of serious side effects, from nausea and bleeding to blindness, even death. New research suggests that, rather than scaring consumers away, these warnings can improve consumers' opinions and increase product sales when there is a delay between seeing the ad and deciding to buy or consume the product. "Messages that warn consumers about potentially harmful side effects — presumably with the intent to nudge them to act more cautiously — can ironically backfire," says psychological scientist Ziv Carmon of INSEAD in Singapore. Working with Yael Steinhart ...

1. A recent discovery by scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), in close collaboration with researchers at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), provides hope for a new personalised treatment strategy that could use a patient's own blood to treat the infection. This could help treat millions of people living with chronic infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C. These findings were published in the August 2013 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2. Patients suffering from chronic infections often have to undergo ...

A brighter, better, longer-lasting dental implant may soon be on its way to your dentist's office. Dental implants are posts, usually made of titanium, that are surgically placed into the jawbone and topped with artificial teeth. More than dentures or bridges, implants mimic the look and feel of natural teeth. While most dental implants are successful, a small percentage fail and either fall out or must be removed. A scientist at Michigan Technological University wants to lower that rate to zero using nanotechnology. "Dental implants can greatly improve the lives of ...

New research on the most commonly used anaesthetic drug could help to unravel a long-standing mystery about how it induces a pain-free, sleep-like state. General anaesthetics are administered to tens of millions of people every year in hospitals, where they are used to sedate patients undergoing surgery. Despite this, scientists have yet to understand how the drug interacts with its targets in brain cells to achieve this effect. Following years of research on propofol, which has become the most commonly used anaesthetic since it was introduced in the 1980s, researchers ...

Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have found that even our immune system is subject to performance enhancement, with our bodies giving immune cells the boost they need to ensure the best team is selected to fight infections. The discovery could help in developing new treatments for blood diseases such as leukaemia and autoimmune diseases in which the body attacks its own tissues, such as in diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis. It could also be used to enhance immune response to HIV and other chronic infections. The finding, by researchers at the Walter and Eliza Hall ...

While we grapple with the impact of climate change, archaeologists suggest we spare a thought for Aboriginal Australians who had to cope with the last ice age. "The period scientists call the Last Glacial Maximum, or LGM for short, is the most significant climatic event ever faced by humans on this continent," Associate Professor Sean Ulm from James Cook University in Cairns said. Research recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science sheds new light on the ways Aboriginal civilisation met the challenges of extreme climate change during the Last Glacial ...

Systematic conservation planning is a multiple-objective process. Identification of important areas and species with high conservation priority is two of the research objectives. China is one of mega-biodiversity countries of the world. Along with rapid economic development and environmental degeneration, native and endemic species of China are confronting growing threats in the last two decades. It is an urgent agenda to set up relevant conservation policies, researches and decision supports so as to better reduce extinction risks of vertebrate animals of China. Amphibians ...

Atlanta, September 22, 2013—When used to treat pediatric patients with intracranial malignant tumors, proton therapy may limit the toxicity of radiation therapy while preserving tumor control, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. Typically, central nervous system malignancies are treated with surgical resection and post-operative radiation therapy. Proton therapy, an external beam radiation therapy in which protons deliver precise radiation doses to a tumor, offers significant sparing of ...

Atlanta, September 22, 2013—Patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) for cancers in the pelvic region can experience diarrhea, a negative side effect of radiation treatment. Sulfasalazine, an oral tablet used to treat inflammation of the bowels, had been shown in a past trial of 31 patients to decrease diarrhea during pelvic RT (Killic 2001). Sulfasalazine does not reduce diarrhea, according to research presented today at the American Society of Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The study also determined that the medication may be associated with a higher ...

Atlanta, September 22, 2013 — Adding the chemotherapy drug cisplatin to a treatment plan of radiation therapy (RT) and high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDRB) for stage IIIB cervical cancer is beneficial, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The study also indicated that the combined treatments produced acceptable levels of toxicity. The randomized, controlled trial studied a total of 147 women in Brazil with stage IIIB squamous cell cervical cancer. A stage IIIB classification indicates that ...

Atlanta, September 22, 2013—Proton therapy, an external beam radiotherapy in which protons deliver precise radiation doses to a tumor and spare healthy organs and tissues, is cost-effective in treating medulloblastomas, fast-growing brain tumors that mainly affect children, when compared to standard photon radiation therapy, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The study used a first-order Monte Carlo simulation model to examine a population of 18-year old survivors of medulloblastoma brain ...

Atlanta, September 22, 2013—When treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), that is not combined with whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), adult brain cancer patients who were 50 years old and younger were found to have improved survival, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. Younger patients (under 50 years old) were also found to be at no greater risk of new brain metastases developing despite omission of WBRT. A highly advanced brain cancer treatment, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) utilizes ...

Atlanta, September 22, 2013 – The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) will highlight the recently published Adjuvant and Salvage Radiotherapy After Prostatectomy: ASTRO/AUA Guideline during ASTRO's 55th Annual Meeting, September 22-25, 2013, in Atlanta. The guideline focuses on radiation therapy after prostatectomy for patients with and without evidence of prostate cancer recurrence, and is a joint effort between ASTRO and the American Urological Association (AUA). The 81-page document represents an intensive collaboration among experts in the radiation oncology ...

Investments in green energy, education, networking opportunities and research top a list of 10 priorities for countries looking to move up the world's financial ranks, according to a leading US expert in innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship and economic growth. Jerry Hultin, Senior Presidential Fellow of New York University, and President Emeritus of the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, says investments in life-long education and entrepreneurial spirit are the primary keys to a country's economic breakthrough. Mr. Hultin, also a former US Secretary of the Navy, who ...

A study of 4CMenB, a new vaccine to protect against meningitis B bacteria (which can cause potentially fatal bacterial meningitis in children), shows that waning immunity induced by infant vaccination can be overcome by a booster dose at 40 months of age, according to a clinical trial published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The 4CMenB vaccine, an important breakthrough in the fight against childhood meningitis, was recently licensed in Europe and is being considered for approval in Canada and elsewhere. However, although it is known that immunizing infants ...

MAYWOOD, Il. -- Cancer patients can be accurately screened for major depression with a simple two-question survey, according to a study presented Sept. 23 at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's 55th Annual Meeting. The two-question screening test proved to be as accurate as a longer nine-question screening test. The study was presented at plenary session by William Small, Jr., MD, FASTRO, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology of Loyola University Medical Center. "We found that a two-question survey can effectively screen for depression," Small said. ...

Binge-eating disorder, designated only months ago by the American Psychiatric Association as a diagnosis in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is associated with substantial lifelong impairments comparable to those of bulimia nervosa, according to a World Health Organization study based on community epidemiological surveys conducted in 12 nations worldwide. The publication of the results online today in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences is timed to coincide with the beginning of Weight Stigma Awareness Week (September 23-27). Although both ...

Hyperlink films mirror contemporary globalized communities, using exciting cinematic elements and multiple story lines to create the idea of a world that is interconnected on many social levels. However, films in this genre like Crash, Babel, and Love Actually are not as new and innovative as presumed and still conform to conventional social patterns. These findings, by Jaimie Krems of Arizona State University in the US and Robin Dunbar of the University of Oxford in the UK, are published in Springer's journal Human Nature. Hyperlink cinema uses cinematic devices such ...

Atlanta, September 23, 2013—An analysis of quality of life (QOL) data of stage III lung cancer patients who received higher doses of radiation therapy (with chemotherapy) shows a significantly lower quality of life at 3 months after treatment compared to patients who received a standard dose of radiation (with chemotherapy), according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting. The study also suggests that lung cancer patients who received intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) reported less decline in ...