The press release
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Environment13 Feb 2014

Stanford climate scientist to discuss state of climate science, coming risks

WHO: Chris Field, professor of interdisciplinary environmental studies at Stanford University and co-chair of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Working Group II. WHAT: The world is staring down the barrel of climate change that is faster than at any time in the last 65 million years, says climate expert Chris Field. He will speak on the topic. WHEN: Friday, Feb. 14, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. CST. WHERE: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, Hyatt Regency, Grand Ballroom B, ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Diabetes, epilepsy and asthma increase risk of self-harm

New research quantifying the risk of admission to hospital for self-harm has identified a raised risk of self-harm among groups of patients with certain physical illnesses. While it is known that psychiatric illnesses are associated with a greatly elevated risk of self-harm, a moderately elevated risk was seen with common physical illnesses such as diabetes, epilepsy and asthma. The research, published today by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, investigated the risk of self-harm comparing people with different psychiatric and physical disorders in England. Other ...

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Science13 Feb 2014

A promising new approach for treating leukemia discovered

A group of researchers at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of Université de Montréal discovered a promising new approach to treating leukemia by disarming a gene that is responsible for tumor progression. That gene, known as Brg1 is a key regulator of leukemia stem cells that are the root cause of the disease, resistance to treatment and relapse. Julie Lessard, principal investigator and her colleagues at IRIC have spent the past four years studying that gene in collaboration with another research group at Stanford University in California. The ...

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Science13 Feb 2014

How memory and schizophrenia are connected

Many psychiatric disorders are accompanied by memory deficits. Basel scientists have now identified a network of genes that controls fundamental properties of neurons and is important for human brain activity, memory and the development of schizophrenia. Their results have been published in the online edition of the US journal Neuron. The ability to hold transitory information - e.g. memorizing a telephone number - is a fundamental function of the human brain. This so-called working memory enables us to understand the world that surrounds us. To keep the working ...

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Science13 Feb 2014

Asian longhorned beetles pheromone could be used to manage pest

Female Asian longhorned beetles lure males to their locations by laying down sex-specific pheromone trails on tree surfaces, according to an international team of researchers. The finding could lead to the development of a tool to manage this invasive pest that affects about 25 tree species in the United States. "Tens of thousands of hardwood trees, mostly maples, have been cut down and destroyed in New York, Ohio and Massachusetts because of the Asian longhorned beetle," said Kelli Hoover, professor of entomology, Penn State. "We discovered a pheromone produced by females ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Can-do plan gets women trimmer, healthier, and cuts hot flashes

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Thursday, February 13, 2014)—A woman can beat middle-aged spread, her disease risks, and her hot flashes with the help of her healthcare provider. And even a short term program can spell success for women and fit into a busy provider's practice, shows a demonstration obesity-fighting and health risk reduction program detailed in an article just published online in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS). Making lifestyle changes can take a lot of work. Programs that have successfully helped women lose weight and reduce their ...

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Social Science13 Feb 2014

Immunologists from the University of Bonn topple dogma

An international team of scientists under the leadership of the University of Bonn disproves a dogma: To date, immunologists have assumed that the macrophages functioning as "scavenger cells" can be classified into two different forms. In an extensive search, the researchers have now discovered that these immune cells turn into far more different manifestations. These findings also give rise to completely new therapeutic approaches for many widespread diseases. The results are now being published in the renowned journal Immunity. In the body, macrophages go on patrol ...

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Science13 Feb 2014

Books rate more negatively after winning award, study finds

Looking for a good book? Stay away from the award-winning section of the bookstore or library. New research from Amanda Sharkey of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business finds that a book read after winning a prestigious award will likely be judged more negatively than if it's read in its pre-award days. In "The Paradox of Publicity: How Awards Can Negatively Affect the Evaluation of Quality," to be published in the March issue of Administrative Science Quarterly, Sharkey and colleague Balázs Kovács of the University of Lugano analyze thousands of reader ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Study: Beauty not disease motivates teens to wear sunscreen

After offering information about UV light and sun-protective behaviors, the two health-ed videos diverge: one describes the increased skin cancer risk of UV exposure and the other describes effects on appearance including wrinkles and premature aging. Which of these two videos do you think caused teenagers to use more sunscreen six weeks after it was shown? A University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows that while teens who watched both videos learned and retained the same amount of knowledge about UV light and sun-protective behaviors, only the teens who ...

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Environment13 Feb 2014

Air pollution increases risk for hypertension in pregnant women

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Breathing the air outside their homes may be just as toxic to pregnant women — if not more so — as breathing in cigarette smoke, increasing a mom-to-be's risk of developing deadly complications such as preeclampsia, according to findings from a new University of Florida study. UF researchers compared birth data with Environmental Protection Agency estimates of air pollution, finding that heavy exposure to four air pollutants led to a significantly increased risk for developing a high blood pressure disorder during pregnancy. The research was published ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Light-induced degradation in amorphous silicon thin film solar cells

This news release is available in German. Researchers at the Helmholtz Center Berlin (HZB) have taken a leap forward towards a deeper understanding of an undesired effect in thin film solar cells based on amorphous silicon – one that has puzzled the scientific community for the last 40 years. The researchers were able to demonstrate that tiny voids within the silicon network are partly responsible for reducing solar cell efficiency by some 10 to 15 percent as soon as you start using them. Their work has now been published in Physical Review Letters (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.066403). Amorphous ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Two new weapons in the battle against bacteria

This news release is available in German. Proteins are made up of a chain of amino acids and are vital for all cell processes. Proteases are among the most important types of protein. Like "molecular scissors", they cut other proteins at given positions and thereby execute important cell functions. By cutting the amino acid chains to the right length or breaking proteins apart they, for example, activate or deactivate proteins, decompose defective ones or switch signal sequences that serve to transport proteins to their proper position within a cell. But proteases ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Metal implants may cut chemotherapy side effects, study suggests

Cancer patients could one day experience fewer side effects from chemotherapy following a discovery that opens the door for more targeted treatments. Researchers have identified a possible way of treating tumours that would see doctors place harmless metal implants at the cancer site. The discovery could make treatment more targeted than existing therapies, avoiding unwanted side effects, such as hair loss, tiredness and nausea. These occur when chemotherapy drugs carried in the blood kill healthy cells as well as cancer cells. The scientists found that they could ...

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Technology13 Feb 2014

Deutsche eMark (DEM) - Could be second cryptocurrency coin after Bitcoin

Deutsche eMark is an open source peer-to-peer digital Internet currency. Deutsche eMark stands for fast and secure payments to anyone around the world, who has an eMark Wallet. Therefore no banks are required and the fees are low and simple to understand. Today price on Cryptsy Exchange is 0.00012, but experts says, that it could fast reach 0.002 DEM/BTC.

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Sleep apnea common among stroke-related brainstem injuries

People whose brainstems are affected by their stroke have a significantly higher prevalence of sleep apnea than those who have stroke-related injury elsewhere in the brain, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014. Sleep apnea is marked by interrupted breathing during sleep and can lead to serious health problems including heart disease and stroke. "This is the largest population-based study to address the issue of the location of the brain injury and its relationship to sleep apnea in post-stroke patients," ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

ADHD drugs not linked to increased stroke risk among children

Children who take medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) don't appear to be at increased stroke risk, according to a study presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2014. In a study of 2.5 million 2- to 19-year-olds over a 14-year period, researchers compared stimulant medication usage in children diagnosed with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke to stimulant usage in children without stroke. Researchers found no association between stroke risk and the use of ADHD stimulant medications at the time of stroke ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Worm infections in developing countries: Veterinary drugs improve the health of school children

This news release is available in German. Hookworms and whipworms are detrimental to health. Children in many developing countries in particular are prone to regular infection via contaminated soil due to a lack of latrines and clean water. Whipworm eggs enter the body via the gastrointestinal tract and evolve over several devel-opment stages. To contain the health risks of worm infections, the WHO recommends annual de-worm treatment for children and at-risk groups (such as field hands and miners). However, the recommended standard treatment appears to have little ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

New research uncovers debilitating effects of disease on toy dog breeds

A new study from the University of Surrey, published today in the journal PLOS One, has identified the specific effect Chiari malformation has on the shape of a dog's skull and brain. This condition has become prevalent as a result of selective breeding and affects many toy dog breeds which have been bred to look more doll-like, including Griffon Bruxellois, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Chihuahuas and their crosses. Researchers took brain, skull and vertebrae measurements of 155 Griffon Bruxellois and compared dogs affected by the condition, with normal Griffons. ...

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Science13 Feb 2014

Jawed vertebrates get a face

This week in the leading journal Nature, a team of French and Swedish researchers present new fossil evidence for the origin of one of the most important and emotionally significant parts of our anatomy: the face. They show how a series of fossils, with a 410 million year old armoured fish called Romundina at its centre, documents the step-by-step assembly of the face during the evolutionary transition from jawless to jawed vertebrates. Vertebrates (backboned animals) come in two basic models: jawless and jawed. Today, the only jawless vertebrates are lampreys and hagfishes, ...

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Science13 Feb 2014

Quality of acupuncture needles is less than perfect and must improve

The quality of acupuncture needles is high, but should still be universally improved to avoid potential problems, such as pain and skin reactions, finds research published online in Acupuncture in Medicine (AiM). Despite improvements to the manufacturing process, surface irregularities and bent tips have not been completely eliminated, say the researchers. In China, traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture, accounts for 40% of all medical treatment, while in the West, acupuncture is one of the most frequently used complementary therapies. An estimated 1.4 ...

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Engineering13 Feb 2014

Tobacco industry claims 'plain' packs won't work based on weak evidence

Tobacco companies lack strong, relevant evidence to support their claims that standardised (plain) packaging of tobacco products in the UK won't work, finds research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The aim of plain packaging, with no logos, brand imagery, symbols, or promotional text, is to restrict the already limited opportunities that transnational tobacco companies have to market their products, and deter people from starting smoking. Australia adopted plain packaging for tobacco products in 2012, the same year that the Department of Health in England ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Hospitals not always prepared for full costs of implementing electronic patient records

Hospitals don't always take into account the full costs of implementing new electronic health record systems and should be better prepared if they are to maximise the benefits, finds research published online in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA). Electronic health record (EHR) systems can improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of healthcare in hospitals, and their adoption is a priority for the UK and US governments. But despite their promise and the existence of EHRs in UK primary care for several decades, UK hospitals have been ...

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Earth Science13 Feb 2014

Revision to rules for color in dinosaurs suggests connection between color and physiology

New research that revises the rules allowing scientists to decipher color in dinosaurs may also provide a tool for understanding the evolutionary emergence of flight and changes in dinosaur physiology prior to its origin. In a survey comparing the hair, skin, fuzz and feathers of living terrestrial vertebrates and fossil specimens, a research team from The University of Texas at Austin, the University of Akron, the China University of Geosciences and four other Chinese institutions found evidence for evolutionary shifts in the rules that govern the relationship between ...

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Medicine13 Feb 2014

Many stroke patients on 'clot-busting' tPA may not need long stays in the ICU

A Johns Hopkins study of patients with ischemic stroke suggests that many of those who receive prompt hospital treatment with "clot-busting" tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) therapy can avoid lengthy, restrictive monitoring in an intensive care unit (ICU). The study challenges the long-standing protocol that calls for intensive monitoring, mostly done in ICUs, for the first 24 hours after tPA infusion to catch bleeding in the brain, a side effect seen in 6 percent of patients treated with the medication. Results show that a relatively simple measure of stroke severity ...

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Space13 Feb 2014

Whales viewed from space

High-resolution satellite images may be a useful tool for counting whale populations for conservation purposes, according to a study published in PLOS ONE on February 12, 2014 by Peter Fretwell from British Antarctic Survey, UK, and colleagues. In the study, the authors selected one of the largest southern right whale populations, breeding off the Argentinian coast. The population was selected, due to its large size and tendency to bask near the surface in large aggregations around sheltered coastal waters during breeding season. Scientists used this population to test ...

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