A scientific team led by University of Louisville doctoral student Karen Collins has discovered a hot Saturn-like planet in another solar system 700 light-years away. Collins announced the discovery of exoplanet KELT-6b Tuesday, June 4, during the American Astronomical Society's national meeting in Indianapolis. Astronomers caught sight of the planet when it passed in front of, or "transited," its host star—and they've since discovered that the planet resembles one of the most famous and well-studied transiting planets, HD 209458b. The discovery was made using inexpensive ...

ANN ARBOR—Researchers at the University of Michigan have evidence that a single gene controls both halves of nerve cells, and their research demonstrates the need to consider that design in the development of new treatments for regeneration of nerve cells. A paper published online in PLOS Biology by U-M Life Sciences Institute faculty member Bing Ye and colleagues shows that manipulating genes of the fruit fly Drosophila to promote the growth of one part of the neuron simultaneously stunts the growth of the other part. Understanding this bimodal nature of neurons ...

TAMPA, Fla. (June 4, 2013) – Scientists may not know for certain whether life exists in outer space, but new research from a team of scientists led by a University of South Florida astrobiologist now shows that one key element that produced life on Earth was carried here on meteorites. In an article published in the new edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, USF Assistant Professor of Geology Matthew Pasek and researchers from the University of Washington and the Edinburg Centre for Carbon Innovation, revealed new findings that explain how the ...

In a new publication that appears in Human Molecular Genetics, the laboratory of Christine DiDonato, PhD reports on their pharmacological characterization of the drug RG3039, demonstrating that it can extend survival and improve function in two spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) mouse models. They have determined the minimum effective dose and drug action, thus contributing to dose selection and exposure estimates for the first studies with RG3039 in humans. As in cellular assays, the animal studies have shown that drug treatment leads to improvement in nuclear gem/Cajal body ...

NASA's Aqua satellite captured multiple plumes of smoke from agricultural fires and industrial pollution in China. The smoke and haze stretches from Inner Mongolia, located north of Beijing, south and west including the provinces of Hebei, Shedong, Henan, Shanxi, Hubai, Hunan, and Chongqing. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite has infrared capabilities that can detect heat from the various wildfires. This image was captured on June 2, 2013 5:55 UTC (1:55 a.m. EDT/2:05 p.m. MT). In the MODIS images, fires, or ...

TORONTO, ON, June 4, 2013 — While only a small percentage of adult males who are victims of sex assault report the crime, a new study by Women's College Research Institute (WCRI) and the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres (ONSA/DVTCs) shows of those who do, an overwhelming majority — almost 90 per cent — use five or more services ranging from counselling to medical care and treatment. The study, published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, sheds light on the characteristics of male victims of sex assault and the services they ...

About one of every two people diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also suffer symptoms of depression, according to new research by Case Western Reserve University's Department of Psychological Sciences. The analysis also concludes that both genders diagnosed with PTSD equally suffer from depression. Since women tend to report more symptoms of depression than men, this contradicts a general belief that women are more inclined to struggle with both. The findings were based on an analysis of 57 peer-reviewed studies, representing data on 6,670 people (civilians ...

Berkeley — In a quest to make concrete more durable and sustainable, an international team of geologists and engineers has found inspiration in the ancient Romans, whose massive concrete structures have withstood the elements for more than 2,000 years. Using the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), a research team from the University of California, Berkeley, examined the fine-scale structure of Roman concrete. It described for the first time how the extraordinarily stable compound -- calcium-aluminum-silicate-hydrate (C-A-S-H) ...

What do swimmers like trout, eels and sandfish lizards have in common? According to a new study, the similar timing patterns that these animals use to contract their muscles and produce undulatory swimming motions can be explained using a simple model. Scientists have now applied the new model to understand the connection between the electrical signals and body movement in the sandfish. Most swimming creatures rely on an undulating pattern of body movement to propel themselves through fluids. Though differences in body flexibility may lead to different swimming styles, ...

When it comes to taking diet advice from a physician—size matters. This is according to a new study led by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who examined the impact of primary care physician BMI (body mass index) on their patients' trust and perceptions of weight-related stigma. They found that overweight and obese patients trust weight-related counseling from overweight physicians more than normal weight physicians and patients seeing an obese primary care physician were more ...

SAN FRANCISCO, June 4, 2013 -- An innovative financial lending program is helping low-income individuals build credit, reduce debt and find their financial footing, according to a pair of studies released today from San Francisco State University's César E. Chávez Institute (CCI). Lending Circles, a program managed by the nonprofit Mission Asset Fund, dramatically improved credit scores for low-income residents of San Francisco, the studies found. In addition, the reports suggest the program can be successfully replicated in other communities and could serve as a nationwide ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – June 4, 2013 – People suffering from type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are at an increased risk of cognitive decline, according to a new study from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Lead author Christina E. Hugenschmidt, Ph.D., an instructor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest Baptist, said the results from the Diabetes Heart Study-Mind (DHS-Mind) suggest that CVD is playing a role in cognition problems before it is clinically apparent in patients. The research appears online ahead of print in the Journal of Diabetes ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study finds that utilities aren't rewarded for adopting energy efficiency programs, and that reforms are needed to make energy efficiency as attractive as renewables. The article, just published in the current issue of Environmental Law, examines key differences between energy efficiency projects and renewable resources. Author Inara Scott, an assistant professor at Oregon State University, outlines ways to increase the amount of energy utilities save each year through efficiency programs. "Right now, the system actually discourages utilities ...

Philadelphia, Pa. (June 4, 2013) –The last few years have seen the emergence of a new drug problem in so-called "bath salts"—actually "designer stimulants," packaged and sold in ways that skirt drug laws. A review and update on these designer drugs is presented in the June Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Recent high-profile incidents have drawn attention to "bath salts" as a new and potentially hazardous type ...

Peb­bles and sand scat­tered near an ancient Mar­t­ian river net­work may present the most con­vinc­ing evi­dence yet that the frigid deserts of the Red Planet were once a hab­it­able envi­ron­ment tra­versed by flow­ing water. Sci­en­tists with NASA's Mars Sci­ence Lab­o­ra­tory mis­sion reported May 30 in the jour­nal Sci­ence the dis­cov­ery of sand grains and small stones that bear the tell­tale round­ness of river stones and are too heavy to have been moved by wind. The researchers esti­mated that the sed­i­ment was pro­duced by water that moved at a speed between ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Using a novel genetic 'editing' technique, Duke University biomedical engineers have been able to repair a defect responsible for one of the most common inherited disorders, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, in cell samples from Duchenne patients. Instead of the common gene therapy approach of adding new genetic material to "override" the faulty gene, the Duke scientists have developed a way to change the existing mutated gene responsible for the disorder into a normally functioning gene. The Duke researchers believe their approach could be safer and more ...

A team of researchers including members of the University of Chicago's Institute for Molecular Engineering highlight the power of emerging quantum technologies in two recent papers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). These technologies exploit quantum mechanics, the physics that dominates the atomic world, to perform disparate tasks such as nanoscale temperature measurement and processing quantum information with lasers. The two papers are both based on the manipulation of the same material, an atomic-scale defect in diamond known ...

Rosemont, Ill. - The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recently released its revised clinical practice guideline (CPG) on the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee, addressing two key changes. Most of the remaining recommendations provided in the 2009 CPG go unchanged. CPGs are not meant to be stand-alone documents, but rather serve as a point of reference and educational tool for both primary care physicians and orthopaedic surgeons. The original guideline, as well as this revised version, was developed to include only treatments which are less invasive ...

For many older adults, the aging process seems to go hand-in-hand with an annoying increase in clumsiness — difficulties dialing a phone, fumbling with keys in a lock or knocking over the occasional wine glass while reaching for a salt shaker. While it's easy to see these failings as a normal consequence of age-related breakdowns in agility, vision and other physical abilities, new research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that some of these day-to-day reaching-and-grasping difficulties may be be caused by changes in the mental frame of reference that ...

URBANA, Ill. – Products derived from coconuts and oil palm trees are the primary protein sources in swine diets in parts of Africa, southeast Asia, South America, and Europe. New research from the University of Illinois is helping to establish the nutritional value of these products. "In many countries in the world, and particularly in the tropics, copra and palm kernel products are the main protein sources for livestock. You also see palm kernel products and copra products fed throughout Latin America and in some countries in Europe," said Hans H. Stein, a U of I professor ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Scientists in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University have developed a new, inexpensive and precise way to detect the toxin secreted by Vibrio tubiashii, a bacterial disease that a few years ago caused millions of dollars in losses to the oyster aquaculture industry in the Pacific Northwest. When perfected and commercialized, the new assay should give oyster growers an early warning system to tell when they have a problem with high levels of this toxin and must take quick steps to address it. Findings were just published in the ...

A flash of light from a stellar outburst has provided a rare look at the 3-D structure of material ejected by an erupting nova. Astronomers used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to observe the light emitted by the close double-star system T Pyxidis, or T Pyx, a recurring nova, during its latest outburst in April 2011. A nova erupts when a white dwarf, the burned-out core of a sun-like star, has siphoned off enough hydrogen from a companion star to trigger a thermonuclear runaway. As hydrogen builds up on the surface of the white dwarf, it becomes hotter and denser until ...

PHILADELPHIA (June 4, 2013)— Living in a neighborhood that supports a healthy lifestyle can make a measurable difference in preventing obesity, according to a longitudinal study recently published in the journal Obesity. The five-year study found that significantly fewer people became obese when living in neighborhoods with healthier food environments, compared to those who had fewer healthy food options within a mile of their homes. Previous cross-sectional "snapshot" studies have shown that healthier, less-obese people are more likely to live in neighborhoods with ...

VIDEO: Our understanding of what lies beneath the world's biggest ice sheet has taken another leap forward. This video strips away Antarctic ice to reveal a new, and much more detailed... Click here for more information. A new dataset called Bedmap2 gives a clearer picture of Antarctica from the ice surface down to the bedrock below. Bedmap2 is a significant improvement on the previous collection of Antarctic data—known as Bedmap—that was produced more than 10 years ago. ...

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (May 30, 2013) – The University of Miami's Center for Advanced Supply Chain Management (CASCM), in collaboration with Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business (ALJGSB), recently completed a study to develop the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) for Trinidad and Tobago. Established by the World Bank, LPI measures logistics "friendliness" of the countries for operators trading in and with those countries. According to The World Bank, LPI helps countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their trade logistics performance ...