A chemical found in plants could reduce the symptoms of a rare muscle disease that leaves children with little or no control of their movements. Scientists have found that a plant pigment called quercetin – found in some fruits, vegetables, herbs and grains – could help to prevent the damage to nerves associated with the childhood form of motor neuron disease. Their findings could pave the way for new treatments for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) – also known as floppy baby syndrome – which is a leading genetic cause of death in children. The team has found that the ...

BOSTON, March 4, 2014 – Women who used an injectable contraceptive called DMPA were more likely to acquire HIV than women using a similar product called NET-EN, according to a secondary analysis of data from a large HIV prevention trial called VOICE, researchers from the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) reported today at the 21st Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston. An unexpected finding in the study was that the combination of being positive for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and using DMPA ...

Social media may fuel unprecedented civic engagement. Digital networks might make possible mass protest and revolution – think "Arab Spring." But sometimes and maybe even most of the time, a new study suggests, the accomplishments of online activism are much more modest. Published in Sociological Science, the paper was co-authored by Kevin Lewis, of the University of California, San Diego's department of sociology, with Kurt Gray, department of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Jens Meierhenrich, department of international relations, London ...

VIDEO: This animation of NOAA's GOES satellite data shows the progression of the major winter storm over the US Mid-Atlantic and southern states on Mar. 2 and 3. Click here for more information. As NOAA's GOES-East satellite sat in a fixed orbit in space it monitored and provided visible and infrared imagery of the major winter storm that hit the U.S. east coast on March 2 and 3. Now, that data has been compiled and made into a video at NASA. On March 2 and 3, a major winter ...

An experimental drug aimed at restoring the immune system's ability to spot and attack cancer halted cancer progression or shrank tumors in patients with advanced melanoma, according to a multisite, early-phase clinical trial at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and 11 other institutions. All patients had experienced disease progression despite prior systemic therapies, and most had received two or more prior treatments. Patients who showed responses to the drug, nivolumab (anti-PD-1; BMS-936558; MDX-1106; ONO-4538), survived for an average 16.8 months following initiation ...

Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment has ended. Now researchers at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University have found clues that may explain how these symptoms can linger. Chemotherapy, one of the major treatments for breast cancer, can leave a long-lasting epigenetic imprint in the DNA of breast cancer patients' blood cells. That imprint is associated with biological signs of inflammation up to six months after the completion of treatment. Inflammation in ...

Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified a set of genes that appear to predict which tumors can evade detection by the body's immune system, a step that may enable them to eventually target only the patients most likely to respond best to a new class of treatment. Immune therapy for ovarian, breast and colorectal cancer — treatments that encourage the immune system to attack cancer cells as the foreign invaders they are — has so far had limited success, primarily because the immune system often can't destroy the cancer cells. In a report published online Feb. ...

Astronomers at the University of Washington have developed a new method of gauging the atmospheric pressure of exoplanets, or worlds beyond the solar system, by looking for a certain type of molecule. And if there is life out in space, scientists may one day use this same technique to detect its biosignature — the telltale chemical signs of its presence — in the atmosphere of an alien world. Understanding atmospheric pressure is key to knowing if conditions at the surface of a terrestrial, or rocky, exoplanet might allow liquid water, thus giving life a chance. The ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have discovered a link between prostate cancer aggressiveness and the accumulation of a compound produced when cholesterol is metabolized in cells, findings that could bring new diagnostic and treatment methods. Findings also suggest that a class of drugs previously developed to treat atherosclerosis might be repurposed for treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The research showed depletion of the compound cholesteryl ester significantly reduced prostate cancer cell proliferation, impaired its ability to invade a laboratory tissue ...

Just like adults, children as young as 3 tend to judge an individual's character traits, such as trustworthiness and competence, simply by looking at the person's face, new research shows. And they show remarkable consensus in the judgments they make, the findings suggest. The research, led by psychological scientist Emily Cogsdill of Harvard University, shows that the predisposition to judge others based on physical features starts early in childhood and does not require years of social experience. The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association ...

Amid times of crisis, citizens often turn to social media as a method to share information, make observations and vent. But as a Georgia Tech professor's research into social media use amid the Mexican drug war shows, posts can reveal growing numbness, or desensitization, during times of protracted violence and stress. Munmun De Choudhury, formerly of Microsoft Research and now an assistant professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech, led the research. Her team's paper, "'Narco' Emotions: Affect and Desensitization in Social Media during the Mexican ...

This new Hubble image shows spiral galaxy ESO 137-001, framed against a bright background as it moves through the heart of galaxy cluster Abell 3627. This cluster is violently ripping the spiral's entrails out into space, leaving bright blue streaks as telltale clues to this cosmic crime. This new Hubble image shows ESO 137-001, a galaxy located in the southern constellation of Triangulum Australe (The Southern Triangle) -- a delicate and beautiful spiral galaxy, but with a secret. This image not only captures the galaxy and its backdrop in stunning detail, but also ...

Exposing leafy vegetables grown during spaceflight to a few bright pulses of light daily could increase the amount of eye-protecting nutrients produced by the plants, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder. One of the concerns for astronauts during future extended spaceflights will be the onslaught of eye-damaging radiation they'll be exposed to. But astronauts should be able to mitigate radiation-induced harm to their eyes by eating plants that contain carotenoids, especially zeaxanthin, which is known to promote eye health. Zeaxanthin ...

Rate of change in the thickness of the brain's cortex is an important factor associated with a person's change in IQ, according to a collaborative study by scientists in five countries including researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital – The Neuro, at McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre. The study has potentially wide-ranging implications for the pedagogical world and for judicial cases in which the defendant's IQ score could play a role in determining the severity of the sentence. The cortex is the thin, outermost layer of ...

LIVERPOOL, UK – 5 March 2014: People who copy their friend's drinking behaviour will deny that their decision has been influenced, researchers at the University of Liverpool have shown. A new study, conducted in the University of Liverpool's bar laboratory, a lab designed to imitate a bar, brought together pairs of friends. One of the friends was made aware of the experimental aims and was told to drink alcoholic drinks throughout the session or to stick to soft drinks. While most people were strongly influenced by peers – they mimicked their friend and drank more ...

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS. AND BOSTON -- When a person suffers a broken bone, treatment calls for the surgeon to insert screws and plates to help bond the broken sections and enable the fracture to heal. These "fixation devices" are usually made of metal alloys. But metal devices may have disadvantages: Because they are stiff and unyielding, they can cause stress to underlying bone. They also pose an increased risk of infection and poor wound healing. In some cases, the metal implants must be removed following fracture healing, necessitating a second surgery. Resorbable ...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saeed A. Jortani, Ph.D., associate clinical professor in the University of Louisville's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, headed up one of three labs in the United States involved in determining two new markers for acute kidney injury (AKI). The research group's paper, "Validation of Cell-Cycle Arrest Biomarkers for Acute Kidney Injury Using Clinical Adjudication," was posted online Feb. 25 by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. AKI has been difficult to diagnose and treat early because current markers for ...

Scientists have created temperature maps to explain how reduced ignition propensity (RIP) bands influence cigarette burn rate and possibly the chemical composition of the resulting smoke. RIP bands are designed to make a cigarette go out if it is not being actively smoked. Previous studies have shown a significant increase in levels of biomarkers for a few polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in smokers of RIP cigarettes, although the toxicological implications of these increases are currently unknown (June et al. Tobacco Induced Diseases 2011, 9:13). RIP bands are ...

Several fertility clinics across the country are beginning to administer testosterone, either through a patch or a gel on the skin, to increase the number of eggs produced by certain women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Women are also purchasing the over-the-counter supplement DHEA, which is converted by the body into testosterone, to boost their chances of pregnancy with IVF. A few clinical trials support the use of testosterone given through the skin, while others have shown no benefit of DHEA – also used in attempts to slow aging and enhance muscle mass ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new tool to detect and contain malware that attempts root exploits in Android devices. The tool improves on previous techniques by targeting code written in the C programming language – which is often used to create root exploit malware, whereas the bulk of Android applications are written in Java. Root exploits take over the system administration functions of an operating system, such as Android. A successful Android root exploit effectively gives hackers unfettered control of a user's smartphone. The ...

In the largest, most comprehensive, nationwide study to examine the prevalence of allergies from early childhood to old age, scientists from the National Institutes of Health report that allergy prevalence is the same across different regions of the United States, except in children 5 years and younger. "Before this study, if you would have asked 10 allergy specialists if allergy prevalence varied depending on where people live, all 10 of them would have said yes, because allergen exposures tend to be more common in certain regions of the U.S.," said Darryl Zeldin, M.D., ...

NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of the tropical cyclone called Faxai as it reached typhoon strength in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean today, March 4. On March 4 at 1500 UTC/10 a.m. EST, Tropical cyclone Faxai reached typhoon strength with maximum sustained winds near 65 knots/74.8 mph/120.4 kph. It was centered near 18.2 north and 151.6 east, about 429 nautical miles east-northeast of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. Faxai was moving to the north-northeast at 16 knots/18.4 mph/29.6 kph. On March 4 at 03:05 UTC, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ...

A recent study sheds new light on the phenomenon known as "gaydar," or the ability to determine another person's sexual orientation. The study found that women who identified as lesbians were better at detecting sexual orientation in other women, but that straight women were more attune to detecting emotion and personality in their peers. Led by Northeastern University doctoral candidate Mollie Ruben, with assistance from psychology professor Judith Hall and visiting professor of marketing Krista Hill, this isn't the first study to look at "gaydar," but it is one of ...

Harvard stem cell scientists have successfully converted skins cells from patients with early-onset Alzheimer's into the types of neurons that are affected by the disease, making it possible for the first time to study this leading form of dementia in living human cells. This may also make it possible to develop therapies far more quickly and accurately than before. The research, led by Tracy Young-Pearse, PhD, and published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, confirmed what had long been observed in mouse models—that the mutations associated with early-onset Alzheimer's ...

TORONTO, ON - New research from the University of Toronto shows that a little training can go a long way in a desperate situation. Carmen Logie, assistant professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, demonstrated that marginalized and displaced women in Leogane, Haiti, can measurably impact mental and sexual health behaviours in their village. Leogane was at the epicentre of a 2010 earthquake that displaced entire populations and led to the collapse of business, social and health infrastructure throughout the country. "By bringing women together for six ...