This news release is available in French. University of Montreal researchers have discovered how telomerase, a molecule essential for cancer development, is directed to structures on our genome called telomeres in order to maintain its integrity and in turn, the integrity of the genome. In an article published in the journal Molecular Cell, the scientists explain how they discovered that telomerase molecules are rallied together by a molecule called TERRA, a so-called "non-coding RNA" having no known function in the cell. The scientists used cutting edge microscopy ...

The two new species described from Uruguay, Chaco castanea and Chaco costai, are middle sized spiders that range between 1 and 2 cm in body size. Like all Nemesiids they have elongated body and robust legs with predominantly black-brownish coloration. A recent study in the open access journal Zookeys provides a detailed description of the two news species and a rare glimpse into their living habits. The two new species are typically found in sandy soils of oceanic and river coastal areas associated with psammophyte, or sand-dwelling, vegetation. This is where these peculiar ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — On the exoplanet Kepler 7b, the weather is highly predictable, an international team of scientists has found: On any given day, the exoplanet, which orbits a star nearly 1,000 light-years from Earth, is heavily overcast on one side, while the other side likely enjoys clear, cloudless weather. The new work, by researchers from MIT and other institutions, is the first mapping of the distribution of clouds on an exoplanet. The scientists observed that one of Kepler 7b's hemispheres is blanketed with a dense layer of clouds — far denser than any found ...

Scientists have developed a new kind of 'X-ray vision' that is able to peer inside an object and map the three-dimensional distribution of its nano-properties in real time. University of Manchester researchers, working with colleagues in the UK, Europe and the US, say the novel imaging technique could have a wide range of applications across many disciplines, such as materials science, geology, environmental science and medical research. "This new imaging method – termed Pair Distribution Function-Computed Tomography – represents one of the most significant developments ...

RUSTON, La. – Physicists from Louisiana Tech University are part of an international team of researchers which has reported first results for the proton's weak charge based on precise new data from Jefferson Laboratory, the nation's premier electron beam facility for nuclear and particle physics research in Newport News, Va. The results will be published in an upcoming issue of "Physical Review Letters," a prestigious and widely-referenced international journal that focuses on major advances in physics and cross disciplinary developments. The "Q-weak" experiment used ...

This news release is available in French. The incidence of mental health issues amongst 509 British youth was reduced by 25 to 33% over the 24 months following two 90-minute group therapy sessions, according to a study led by Dr. Patricia Conrod of the University of Montreal and its affiliated Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Centre. "Almost one-in-four American 8 to 15 year olds has experienced a mental health disorder over the past year. We know that these disorders are associated with a plethora of negative consequences," Conrod said. "Our study shows that teacher ...

Why does hunger keep us awake and a full belly make us tired? Why do people with sleep disorders such as insomnia often binge eat late at night? What can sleep patterns tell us about obesity? Sleep, hunger and metabolism are closely related, but scientists are still struggling to understand how they interact. Now, Brandeis University researchers have discovered a function in a molecule in fruit flies that may provide insight into the complicated relationship between sleep and food. In the October issue of the journal Neuron, Brandeis scientists report that sNPF, a ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report that they have created a man-made catalyst that is an "enzyme mimic." Unlike most enzymes, which act on a single target, the new catalyst can alter the chemical profiles of numerous types of small molecules. The catalyst – and others like it – will greatly speed the process of drug discovery, the researchers say. Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemistry Society. Most enzymes are large proteins that act on only one molecular target, said University of Illinois chemistry professor M. Christina White, who conducted ...

To pinpoint why depression messes with memory, researchers took a page from Sesame Street's book. The show's popular game "One of these things is not like the others" helps young viewers learn to differentiate things that are similar – a process known as "pattern separation." A new Brigham Young University study concludes that this same skill fades in adults in proportion to the severity of their symptoms of depression. The more depressed someone feels, the harder it is for them to distinguish similar experiences they've had. If you've ever forgotten where you parked ...

Autumn is usually not such a great time for big special effects movies as the summer blockbusters have faded and those for the holiday season have not yet opened. Fall is more often the time for thoughtful films about small subjects, which makes it perfect for the unveiling of a new movie produced by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Through a combination of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their own unique graphene liquid cell, the researchers have recorded the three-dimensional motion of ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A tag team of two bacteria, one of them genetically modified, has a good chance to reduce or even eliminate the deadly disease African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness, researchers at Oregon State University conclude in a recent mathematical modeling study. African trypanosomiasis, caused by a parasite carried by the tsetse fly, infects 30,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa each year and is almost always fatal without treatment. In a 2008 epidemic, 48,000 people died. In this research, scientists evaluated the potential for success of a new approach ...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (October 3, 2013) -- The mix of bacteria in the vagina changes as women go through menopause. And a certain mix is typical after menopause in women who have vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA), a common cause of vaginal dryness and sexual pain, finds a team at Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland. They suspect these bacteria may play a role in causing VVA and that personalized probiotics or other ways to manage the bacterial mix might prevent or treat VVA in the future. Their study was published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Traditionally, honey bee research has focused on environmental stressors such as pesticides, pathogens and diseases. Now a research team led by entomologists at the University of California, Riverside has published a study that focuses on an anthropogenic pollutant: selenium (Se). The researchers found that the four main forms of Se in plants — selenate, selenite, methylselenocysteine and selenocystine — cause mortality and delays in development in the honey bee. "Metal pollutants like selenium contaminate soil, water, can be accumulated in plants, ...

Boston, Mass., Oct. 3, 2013 – In a paper in Cell Stem Cell, a team led by researchers in the Boston Children's Hospital's Stem Cell Transplantation Program reports a new approach for turning induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells for in vivo disease modeling. With this strategy—which they call re-specification—the team, including Sergei Doulatov, PhD, and George Daley, MD, PhD, of Boston Children's, may have overcome technical barriers to generating blood disease-specific animal models from the thousands of iPSC cell lines ...

MAYWOOD, Il. – An old home remedy called ipecac syrup, once stocked in medicine cabinets in case of accidental poisoning, is showing promise as a new chemotherapy drug for bladder cancer. Years ago, ipecac syrup was used to induce vomiting in poisoning cases. Now a Loyola University Medical Center study has found that the active ingredient of ipecac syrup effectively inhibits the growth of bladder cancer cells, especially when combined with a standard chemotherapy drug. The study by corresponding authors Kimberly Foreman, PhD, Gopal Gupta, MD, and colleagues is published ...

Since remote times humans have been interested in the weather and have used different strategies to predict bad storms. Some of these strategies rely on the observation that in anticipation of storms, birds fly at low heights and cows lie down. Some people even claim to feel their bones ache. These and other similar accounts have been reported but not scientifically tested. In a paper entitled Weather Forecasting by Insects: Modified Sexual Behaviour in Response to Atmospheric Pressure Changes, the group of Dr José Maurício Simões Bento at University of São Paulo (College ...

Insects modify calling and courting mating behavior in response to changes in air pressure, according to results published October 2 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ana Cristina Pellegrino and José Maurício Bento, University of São Paulo, and colleagues from other institutions. The bugs' ability to predict adverse weather conditions may help them modify their mating behavior during high winds and rain, reducing risk of injury or even death. Researchers studied mating behavior changes in the curcurbit beetle, the true armyworm moth, and the potato aphid under falling, ...

MINNEAPOLIS -- People who are depressed may have triple the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in the October 2, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Depression is linked in other studies to illnesses such as cancer and stroke," said study author Albert C. Yang, MD, PhD, with Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. "Our study suggests that depression may also be an independent risk factor for Parkinson's disease." Researchers analyzed the medical records of 4,634 ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Insects are repelled by N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, also known as DEET. But exactly which olfactory receptors insects use to sense DEET has eluded scientists for long. Now researchers at the University of California, Riverside have identified these DEET-detecting olfactory receptors that cause the repellency — a major breakthrough in the field of olfaction. Further, the team of researchers has identified three safe compounds that mimic DEET and could one day be used to prevent the transmission of deadly vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, ...

Barcelona, 03 October 2013. This international trial, published in The Lancet, is one of the largest phase III trials in second-line treatment of gastric cancer. Standard care for advanced gastric cancer, known as first-line treatment, is based on chemotherapy, but it only offers a median survival of 8 to 10 months. The trial investigated the use of ramucirumab, an antibody developed to treat solid tumours that targets Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), a key receptor in the angiogenesis process. It showed that ramucirumab effectively inhibits a ...

New Haven, Conn. – A Yale-led study has identified a gene expression profile that can predict outcomes and lead to better treatment for one of the most lethal lung diseases, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The study appears in Science Translational Medicine. IPF causes progressive scarring of the lungs, leading to cough, shortness of breath, and potentially death. In most cases, the cause cannot be identified, and there is no cure other than a lung transplant. While some patients experience a progressive course that leads to death within one to two years, others ...

Patients treated in intensive care units across the globe are entering their medical care with no evidence of cognitive impairment but oftentimes leaving with deficits similar to those seen in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) or mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) that persists for at least a year, according to a Vanderbilt study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study, led by members of Vanderbilt's ICU Delirium and Cognitive Impairment Group, found that 74 percent of the 821 patients studied, all adults with respiratory failure, cardiogenic ...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 2, 2013) — Statins, commonly prescribed medications for lowering cholesterol, also reduced inflammation associated with gum disease in a new study published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study suggests that steps taken to reduce gum disease may also reduce inflammation in the arteries and vice versa. "Periodontal disease is characterized by chronic gum inflammation and affects approximately 50 percent of the U.S. adult population," said Ahmed Tawkol, MD, co-director of the Cardiac Imaging Trials Program at Massachusetts ...

Hamilton, ON (Oct. 2, 2013) -- A tuberculosis vaccine developed at McMaster University offers new hopes for the global fight against tuberculosis. "We are the first to have developed such a vaccine for tuberculosis," said Dr. Fiona Smaill, professor and chair of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster. She led the phase one clinical study published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The vaccine, based on a genetically modified cold virus, was developed in the lab of Zhou Xing, professor ...

Rosemont, Ill – In late summer and early fall when youth and college sports begin, it's a similar refrain: a star on the varsity basketball team tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and is out for the season after surgery. A college football game stopped as a defensive safety hobbles off the field with an ACL injury. Annually in the U.S., more than 200,000 ACL injuries are reported, often by active young adult and adolescent athletes, though they can occur at any age. Depending on the severity of the injury, treatment may include rehabilitation or surgery and rehabilitation, ...