Athens, Greece. Tuesday 25 June 2013: Using catheter ablation to create complete linear lesions around pulmonary veins, proved more effective than the creation of incomplete lesions in preventing recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF), reports the GAP-AF study. The study, presented today in the Late Breaking Clinical Trials session I at the EHRA EUROPACE 2013 meeting in Athens, Greece, represents the first time that a randomized controlled study has been undertaken comparing the two different ablation strategies for patients with paroxysmal AF. Identification of triggers ...

Traditional methods of marking larger farm animals rely on branding with hot irons or on ear-tagging. Dogs and cats are instead identified by the implant of a microchip transponder. With very few exceptions, it is now mandatory within the European Union to mark horses by means of transponders. Nevertheless, some sport-horse registries oppose the use of microchips because they believe that the rate of identification failure is unacceptably high. To date, no systematic examinations to see whether chips are easy to decode, have been conducted. Manuela Wulf in the group of ...

Plants possess receptors which are similar to the glutamate receptors in the brain of humans and animals. Biochemists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) with colleagues from the University of Würzburg and the Agricultural University of China in Beijing have discovered that these receptors do not, however, recognise the amino acid glutamate, but many other different amino acids. The team reports in the journal "Science Signaling". Glutamate-like receptor in Arabidopsis recognises many amino acids To exchange information, cells send out signalling molecules that are ...

North Carolina State University researchers are using video game technology to remotely control cockroaches on autopilot, with a computer steering the cockroach through a controlled environment. The researchers are using the technology to track how roaches respond to the remote control, with the goal of developing ways that roaches on autopilot can be used to map dynamic environments – such as collapsed buildings. The researchers have incorporated Microsoft's motion-sensing Kinect system into an electronic interface developed at NC State that can remotely control cockroaches. ...

This news release is available in German. Various areas of the brain process our sensory experiences. How the areas of the cerebral cortex communicate with each other and process sensory information has long puzzled neu-roscientists. Exploring the sense of touch in mice, brain researchers from the University of Zurich now demonstrate that the transmission of sensory information from one cortical area to connected areas depends on the specific task to solve and the goal-directed behavior. These findings can serve as a basis for an improved understanding of cognitive ...

The Fundación Mutua Madrileña, in its 10th Call for Aids to Research, has selected a project to improve the diagnosis of Lynch syndrome led by researcher Marta Pineda, from the Hereditary Cancer research group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO). The aid is provided with 33,000 euros and has a duration of two years. Hereditary predisposition to cancer Lynch syndrome is a hereditary predisposition to cancer caused by germline mutations in DNA repair genes. Families with Lynch syndrome have a higher risk ...

A life without feelings – unimaginable. Although emotions are so important, philosophers are still discussing what they actually are. Prof. Dr. Albert Newen and Dr. Luca Barlassina of the Institute of Philosophy II at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have drawn up a new theory. According to this, emotions are not just special cases of perception or thought but a separate kind of mental state which arises through the integration of feelings of bodily processes and cognitive contents. They describe the model in the journal "Philosophy and Phenomenological Research". Earlier ...

By managing macro-economic parameters, scientists believe that—unlike previously thought—it is possible to steer an economy around irreversible changes in its complex dynamics and avert potential economic disasters. These findings, about to be published in EPJ B, stem from the theoretical work of Michael Harré and colleagues at the Complex Systems Group at the University of Sydney, Australia. Physicists have a long experience of using statistical mechanics to study equilibrium points and small fluctuations in large numbers of interacting particles under varying pressure ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Training young children in spatial reasoning can improve their math performance, according to a groundbreaking study from Michigan State University education scholars. The researchers trained 6- to 8-year-olds in mental rotation, a spatial ability, and found their scores on addition and subtraction problems improved significantly. The mental rotation training involved imagining how two halves of an object would come together to make a whole, when the halves have been turned at an angle. Past research has found a link between spatial reasoning and ...

ANN ARBOR – A new laser that can show what objects are made of could help military aircraft identify hidden dangers such as weapons arsenals far below. "For the defense and intelligence communities, this could add a new set of eyes," said Mohammed Islam, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan. The system, which is made of off-the-shelf telecommunications technology, emits a broadband beam of infrared light. While most lasers emit light of one wavelength, or color, super-continuum lasers like ...

West Orange, NJ. June 24, 2013. U.S. and Italian researchers have determined that brain reserve, as well as cognitive reserve, independently protects against cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis (MS). Their article, "Brain reserve and cognitive reserve in multiple sclerosis: What you've got and how you use it", was published in Neurology on June 11, 2013 (Neurology 2013;80:2186-2193). Authors James Sumowski, PhD, Victoria Leavitt, PhD, and John DeLuca, PhD, are with Kessler Foundation in West Orange, NJ. Maria Rocca, MD, Gianna Riccitelli, PhD, Giancarlo Comi, MD, ...

Theoretically, hydropower can step in when wind turbines go still, but barriers to this non-polluting resource serving as a backup are largely policy- and regulation-based, according to Penn State researchers. "We have a very clear realization that we need to make energy systems more sustainable," said Seth A. Blumsack, assistant professor of energy policy. "We want to reduce the environmental footprint -- carbon dioxide and conventional pollutants." Americans also expect to have the system continue to work exactly as it is without blackouts and with low cost electricity. ...

This news release is available in German. Hungry people are often difficult to deal with. A good meal can affect more than our mood, it can also influence our willingness to take risks. This phenomenon is also apparent across a very diverse range of species in the animal kingdom. Experiments conducted on the fruit fly, Drosophila, by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have shown that hunger not only modifies behaviour, but also changes pathways in the brain. Animal behaviour is radically affected by the availability and amount ...

NEW YORK, NY (June 25, 2013) — Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) have demonstrated that a protein called caspase-2 is a key regulator of a signaling pathway that leads to cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. The findings, made in a mouse model of Alzheimer's, suggest that inhibiting this protein could prevent the neuronal damage and subsequent cognitive decline associated with the disease. The study was published this month in the online journal Nature Communications. One of the earliest events in Alzheimer's is disruption of the brain's synapses ...

June 25, 2013 — New lines of engineered bacteria can tailor-make key precursors of high-octane biofuels that could one day replace gasoline, scientists at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School report in the June 24 online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The same lines can also produce precursors of pharmaceuticals, bioplastics, herbicides, detergents, and more. "The big contribution is that we were able to program cells to make specific ...

The Colorado River provides water for more than 30 million people, including those in the fast-growing cities of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Increasing demand for that water combined with reduced flow and the looming threat of climate change have prompted concern about how to manage the basin's water in coming decades. In the past five years, scientific studies estimated declines of future flows ranging from 6 percent to 45 percent by 2050. A paper by University of Washington researchers and co-authors at eight institutions across the West aims to explain this ...

Students who consistently receive individualized reading instruction from first through third grade become better readers than those who don't, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. These findings come after a three-year study that followed several hundred Floridian students, who received varying amounts of individualized instruction, from first to third grade. "Our results show that children need sustained, effective instruction from first through third grade if they are going to become ...

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have developed an unprecedented approach to restore nitric oxide (NO) to donated blood, a breakthrough that could dramatically reduce harmful effects from transfusions. Jonathan Stamler, MD, and colleagues from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and from Duke University Medical Center describe their findings in the June 24 issue of PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Stamler and his colleagues report that restoring blood levels of NO in animals ...

Jamie K. Teer, Ph.D., assistant member of the Cancer Biology and Evolution Program at Moffitt Cancer Center, and colleagues have developed a new streamlined method to rapidly identify the genetic changes in small protein fragments unique to melanoma cancer cells. These fragments can be used as targets for tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes that have been shown to reduce cancerous lesions. The new approach is outlined in an article published online by Nature Medicine in May. A previous phase 2 clinical trial showed substantial regression of metastatic lesions in up to 70 ...

The largest investigation to date has found a dramatic increase in the number of hospitalizations for children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) during the past decade in the United States. The new study, published online and scheduled for the August 2013 print issue of the Journal of Investigative Medicine, found a 65 percent increase in IBD hospital discharges from 2000 to 2009. The number increased from 11,928 discharges in 2000 to 19,568 discharges in 2009. IBD refers to a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. The major types of ...

The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Lab has announced a world record of 31.1% conversion efficiency for a two-junction solar cell under one sun of illumination. NREL Scientist Myles Steiner announced the new record June 19 at the 39th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference in Tampa, Fla. The previous record of 30.8% efficiency was held by Alta Devices. The tandem cell was made of a gallium indium phosphide cell atop a gallium arsenide cell, has an area of about 0.25 square centimeters and was measured under the AM1.5 global spectrum at 1,000 W/m2. It ...

Improving care for depression in low-income communities -- places where such help is frequently unavailable or hard to find -- provides greater benefits to those in need when community groups such as churches and even barber shops help lead the planning process, according to a new study. When compared to efforts that provided only technical support to improve depression care, a planning effort co-led by community members from diverse services programs further improved clients' mental health, increased physical activity, lowered their risk of becoming homeless and decreased ...

WASHINGTON -- Diluted bitumen has no greater likelihood of accidental pipeline release than other crude oils, says a new report from the National Research Council. The committee that wrote the report found that diluted bitumen has physical and chemical properties within the range of other crude oils and that no aspect of its transportation by pipeline would make it more likely than other crude oils to cause an accidental release. The committee was not asked to address whether the consequences of a diluted bitumen release differ from those of other crude oils. Bitumen ...

DEERFIELD, IL—During the Permian era, the Earth was dominated by a single supercontinent called Pangea – "All-Earth". Animal and plant life dispersed broadly across this land, as documented by identical fossil species found on multiple modern continents. But a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology supports the idea that there was an isolated desert in the middle of Pangea with a fauna all its own. Roaming this desert in what is now northern Niger was a very distinctive creature known as a pareiasaur. Pareiasaurs were large, herbivorous reptiles ...

Task Force Recommendation: Screen All Baby Boomers and High-risk Patients for Hep C The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in persons at high risk for infection and one-time screening for all adults born between 1945 and 1965. Up to 3.9 million people in the United States are infected with HCV, a virus that can cause inflammation, permanent liver damage, and cancer. The most significant risk factor for HCV infection is past or current injection drug use. Receiving a blood transfusion before ...