The ability to maintain mental representations of ourselves and the world — the fundamental building block of human cognition — arises from the firing of highly evolved neuronal circuits, a process that is weakened in schizophrenia. In a new study, researchers at Yale University School of Medicine pinpoint key molecular actions of proteins that allow the creation of mental representations necessary for higher cognition that are genetically altered in schizophrenia. The study was released July 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Working memory, the ...

PHILADELPHIA (July 01, 2013) – Scientists from the Monell Center report the surprising finding that two proteins involved in oral taste detection also play a crucial role in sperm development. "This paper highlights a connection between the taste system and male reproduction," said lead author Bedrich Mosinger, MD, PhD, a molecular biologist at Monell. "It is one more demonstration that components of the taste system also play important roles in other organ systems." While breeding mice for taste-related studies, the researchers discovered that they were unable to ...

PULLMAN, Wash.—A study led by Washington State University researchers has turned a fairly common non-metallic solvent into a superconductor capable of transmitting electrical current with none of the resistance seen in conventional conductors. "It is an important discovery that will attract a lot of attention from many scientific communities—physics, chemistry, and materials science," said Choong-Shik Yoo, a professor of chemistry and Institute for Shock Physics. The National Science Foundation-funded discovery, which grows out of research by Yoo doctoral student Ranga ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Farmers in the United States witnessed record-breaking extremes in temperature and drought during the last two summers, causing worldwide increases in the costs of food, feed and fiber. Indeed, many climate scientists caution that extreme weather events resulting from climate change is the new normal for farmers in North America and elsewhere, requiring novel agricultural strategies to prevent crop losses. Now a research team led by Sean Cutler, a plant cell biologist at the University of California, Riverside, has found a new drought-protecting chemical ...

SAN FRANCISCO, July 1, 2013 -- Arguing with your spouse about where to go on vacation or how to handle the kids? As you age, you may find yourself handling these disagreements more often by changing the subject, according to a new San Francisco State University study. The study by Sarah Holley, SF State assistant professor of psychology who directs the University's Relationships, Emotion and Health Lab, followed 127 middle-aged and older long-term married couples across 13 years, checking in to see how they communicated about conflicts from housework to finances. The researchers ...

STANFORD, Calif. — Long-term hearing loss from loud explosions, such as blasts from roadside bombs, may not be as irreversible as previously thought, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Using a mouse model, the study found that loud blasts actually cause hair-cell and nerve-cell damage, rather than structural damage, to the cochlea, which is the auditory portion of the inner ear. This could be good news for the millions of soldiers and civilians who, after surviving these often devastating bombs, suffer long-term hearing ...

An analysis of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) who attained low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goals with no treatment intensification suggests that about one-third of them underwent repeat testing, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The authors note in the study background that the frequency and correlates of repeat lipid testing in patients with CHD who have already achieved Adult Treatment Panel III guideline-recommended LDL-C treatment targets and received no treatment intensification are unknown. ...

Treatment with a biological agent was not superior to conventional treatment in terms of the effect on work loss over 21 months in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who responded insufficiently to methotrexate, according to a report published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. The introduction of biological tumor necrosis factor inhibitors has improved the treatment of RA but at a substantial cost, according to the study background. From a randomized clinical trial, Jonas K. Eriksson, M.Sc., of the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and colleagues ...

Exercise-induced improvements in glycemic control are dependent on the pre-training glycemic level, and although moderate-intensity aerobic exercise can improve glycemic control, individuals with ambient hyperglycemia (high blood glucose) are more likely to be nonresponders, according to a research letter by Thomas P. J. Solomon, Ph.D. of the Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism, Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues. A total of 105 older (average age 61 years), overweight or obese individuals with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) participated ...

Nighttime frequency of vital signs monitoring for low-risk medical inpatients might be reduced, according to a research letter by Jordan C. Yoder, B.A. and colleagues at the University of Chicago. Overnight vital signs are collected frequently among hospitalized patients regardless of their risk of clinical deterioration and these vital checks may have negative effects on low-risk patients such as patient distress and sleep deprivation, according to the study. In total, 54,096 patients were included in the study, accounting for 182,828 patient-days and 1,699 adverse ...

Respiratory infections in early childhood may be a potential risk factor for developing type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D), according to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication. The incidence of T1D is increasing worldwide, although its etiology is not well understood. Infections have been discussed as an important environmental determinant, according to the study background. Andreas Beyerlein, Ph.D., from the Institute of Diabetes Research, Munich, Germany, and colleagues sought to determine whether early, short-term or cumulative exposures to ...

Most electronic games are no better than watching TV in terms of the body movement and energy expenditure involved, say the authors. Kids in developed countries spend an estimated 38 to 90 minutes a day playing these games. But what has not been clear is whether the newer generation "active" games, such as Sony PlayStation EyeToy and Move, dance mats, and Microsoft Xbox Kinect, are any better. The Australian researchers compared the impact of removing traditional electronic games, involving a game pad, from the home or replacing them with more active newer generation ...

One in five UK NHS staff report bullying by colleagues, with almost half saying they have witnessed bullying, in the past six months, indicates research published in the online journal BMJ Open. Managers are the most common source of bullying, with workload pressures and organisational culture contributory factors, the study reveals. The findings are based on the responses of almost 3000 NHS staff (46% response rate) to a validated questionnaire (NAQ-R), designed to tease out exposure to negative and bullying behaviours. The 12 item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) ...

Shift work has been suggested as a risk factor for breast cancer, but there has been some doubt about the strength of the findings, largely because of issues around the assessment of exposure and the failure to capture the diversity of shift work patterns. Several previous studies have also been confined to nurses rather than the general population. In this study, the researchers assessed whether night shifts were linked to an increased risk of breast cancer among 1134 women with breast cancer and 1179 women without the disease, but of the same age, in Vancouver, British ...

Previously misunderstood multi-sensory organs in the skin of crocodylians are sensitive to touch, heat, cold, and the chemicals in their environment, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal EvoDevo. These sensors have no equivalent in any other vertebrate. Crocodylians, the group that includes crocodiles, gharials, alligators and caimans, have particularly tough epidermal scales consisting of keratin and bony plates for added protection. On the head, these scales are unusual because they result from cracking of the hardened skin, rather than their shape ...

People with tuberculosis (TB) in China often delay going to see a doctor for more than two weeks, finds research in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine. Reasons for this include a poor understanding of TB, increasing costs of treatment not covered by health insurance, and using traditional approaches first. Even after going to a clinic there were still delays in treatment, especially in rural areas, due to a lack of qualified medical staff. Worldwide TB remains a leading cause of death, and China has the second largest TB epidemic with the most number of ...

Implementing an out-of hospital stroke policy in some Chicago hospitals was associated with significant improvements in emergency medical services use and increased intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) use at primary stroke centers, according to a study published by JAMA Neurology. The study evaluated the relationship between a citywide policy recommending pre-hospital triage of patients with suspected stroke to transport them to the nearest primary stroke center and use of intravenous tPA use. The therapy is used to restore blood flow through blocked arteries ...

It identifies the Amazon region, the Mediterranean and East Africa as regions that might experience severe change in multiple sectors. The article is part of the outcome of the Intersectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) that will be featured in a special issue of PNAS later this year. "Overlapping impacts of climate change in different sectors have the potential to interact and thus multiply pressure on the livelihoods of people in the affected regions," says lead-author Franziska Piontek of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "This is ...

PITTSBURGH, July 1, 2013 – Cells of the placenta may have a unique ability to prevent viruses from crossing from an expectant mother to her growing baby and can transfer that trait to other kinds of cells, according to researchers at Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings, published in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shed new light on the workings of the placenta and could point to new approaches to combat viral infections during pregnancy. It is imperative ...

When it comes to economics versus psychology, score one for psychology. Economists argue that markets usually reflect rational behavior—that is, the dominant players in a market, such as the hedge-fund managers who make billions of dollars' worth of trades, almost always make well-informed and objective decisions. Psychologists, on the other hand, say that markets are not immune from human irrationality, whether that irrationality is due to optimism, fear, greed, or other forces. Now, a new analysis published in the XX issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy ...

In order to extend forecasting from six months to one year or even more, scientists have now proposed a novel approach based on advanced connectivity analysis applied to the climate system. The scheme builds on high-quality data of air temperatures and clearly outperforms existing methods. The study will be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Enhancing the preparedness of people in the affected regions by providing more early-warning time is key to avoiding some of the worst effects of El Niño," says Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, ...

A new technique that involves removing the nerves connecting the kidney to the brain has shown to significantly reduce blood pressure and help lower the risk of stroke, heart and renal disease in patients. The procedure, which has very few side effects, has already shown promising results in hard-to-treat cases of high blood pressure. The technique, published in the journal Hypertension, was performed by a team led by Professor Julian Paton at the University of Bristol who found that in an animal model of hypertension removing nerves connecting the kidney to the brain ...

ANN ARBOR—A University of Michigan researcher and colleagues at the University of Georgia and elsewhere have identified the most underfunded countries in the world for biodiversity conservation. They found that 40 of the most poorly funded countries harbor 32 percent of all threatened mammalian biodiversity. Most—though not all—of the countries in greatest need of more funding are developing nations, so important gains could be made at relatively low cost, the researchers concluded. "Knowing where the need is greatest could help aid donors to direct their funding for ...

The first evidence of widespread 'modern slavery' in England for refugees and asylum seekers is revealed in a study published today. The two-year study calls for an overhaul of government policy to restore asylum seekers' right to work and ensure all workers can access basic employment rights, such as National Minimum Wage, irrespective of immigration status. Dr Stuart Hodkinson from the University of Leeds, who co-authored of the study, said: "We found that in the majority of cases, if the asylum seeker had been able to work legally then the employer or agent would ...

HOUSTON – (July 1, 2013) – The idea that worms can be seen as waveforms allowed scientists at Rice University to find new links in gene networks that control movement. The work led by Rice biochemist Weiwei Zhong, which will appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition, involved analyzing video records of the movement of thousands of mutant worms of the species Caenorhabditis elegans to identify the neuronal pathways that drive locomotion. One result was the discovery of 87 genes that, when inactivated, caused movement ...