The Hubble Sequence classifies galaxies according to their morphology and star-forming activity, organising them into a cosmic zoo of spiral, elliptical, and irregular shapes with whirling arms, fuzzy haloes and bright central bulges. Two main types of galaxy are identified in this sequence: elliptical and spiral, with a third type, lenticular, settling somewhere between the two. This accurately describes what we see in the region of space around us, but how does galaxy morphology change as we look further back in time, to when the Universe was very young? "This is ...

All organs in our body rely on stem cells in order to maintain their function. The skin is our largest organ and forms a shield against the environment. New research results from BRIC, University of Copenhagen and Cambridge University, challenge current stem cell models and explains how the skin is maintained throughout life. The results have just been published in the recognized journal Cell Stem Cell. New knowledge challenge stem cell models The skin consists of many different cell types, including hair cells, fat- and sweat glands. It protects us against microbial ...

PHILADELPHIA – Cancer metastasis requires tumor cells to acquire properties that allow them to escape from the primary tumor site, travel to a distant place in the body, and form secondary tumors. But first, an advance team of molecules produced by the primary tumor sets off a series of events that create a network of nurturing blood vessels for arriving primary tumor cells to set up shop. In lung cancer, the formation of that niche likely involves immune cells and moderate levels of VEGF and other molecules that promote the formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis. ...

Canadian high schools with anti-homophobia policies or gay-straight alliances (GSAs) that have been in place for three years or more have a positive effect on both gay and straight students' problem alcohol use, according to a new study by University of British Columbia researchers. GSAs are student-led clubs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth and their straight allies. Their purpose is to provide support and advocacy and help make schools more inclusive. "These strategies appear to be helpful not only for LGBTQ students, but ...

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. – In two recently published papers, Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have established new techniques for predicting the severity of seasonal cholera epidemics months before they occur and with a greater degree of accuracy than other methods based on remote satellite imaging. Taken together, findings from these two papers may provide the essential lead time to strengthen intervention efforts before the outbreak of cholera in endemic regions. Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It occurs ...

August 15, 2013, Shenzhen, China--An international team, consisting of scientists from University of California San Diego, BGI and other institutes, has investigated the entire DNA code of Andean individuals with chronic mountain sickness (CMS), or Monge's disease to unravel the puzzle of genetic mutations associated with CMS from whole-genome level. The study published online today in American Journal of Human Genetics, provides evidence to support whole-genome sequencing as an ultimate approach to advance the understanding of the genetic basis of CMS and its treatment. More ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., August 15, 2013 – Aileron Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is developing first-in-class therapeutics based on its proprietary Stapled Peptide drug platform, announced today the publication of preclinical data on ATSP-7041, a potent and selective stapled peptide re-activator of the wild type p53 tumor suppressor protein. P53, known as "the guardian of the genome" because it repairs damaged DNA or triggers cell death in pre-cancerous cells, is one of the most important known tumor suppressors, as it is shown to be inactivated ...

Children with a particularly lethal cancer could benefit from potentially life-saving treatment, following breakthrough work led by researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). A whole new class of drugs has been developed that, for the first time, targets the structure of the cancer cell. UNSW researchers have provided proof that the therapy is effective in two types of cancers in the animal model. They are neuroblastoma, a cancer that affects children, and melanoma. The resulting paper has been published in Cancer Research. "It is much like what happens ...

Recently, the importance of the neurovascular unit, which is comprised of neurons, endothelial cells and astrocytes, has received great attention in the field of stroke, because stroke affects not only neurons, but also astrocytes and microvessels. Within the neurovascular unit, endothelial cells are critical for maintaining normal hemodynamic and metabolic homeostasis. Vascular damage during ischemia often leads to the disruption of the blood-brain barrier and dysregulation of vascular tonus, eventually causing substantial cell death. The Chinese herbs Rhodiolase, Notoginseng, ...

In the field of developmental neurobiology, accurate and ordered regulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis are crucial factors contributing to the normal formation of the neural tube. Preliminary studies by Xinjun Li and colleagues from Deyang People's Hospital have identified several genes involved in the development of neural tube defects. Their recent study published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 20, 2013) established a model of developmental neural tube defects by administration of retinoic acid to pregnant rats. Gene chip hybridization analysis ...

To stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease in the early stage, it is necessary to identify new therapeutic targets. Prof. Yunpeng Cao and team from the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University examined striatal-enriched phosphatase 61 expression in the brain tissues of Alzheimer's disease rats using in vivo and in vitro models, and analyzed the molecular mechanism by which striatal-enriched phosphatase 61 regulates N-methyl-D- aspartate receptor 2B transport. The researchers found that valeric acid (AP5), an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, significantly ...

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered a novel and complex visual circuit in a dragonfly's brain that could one day help to improve vision systems for robots. Dr Steven Wiederman and Associate Professor David O'Carroll from the University's Centre for Neuroscience Research have been studying the underlying processes of insect vision and applying that knowledge in robotics and artificial vision systems. Their latest discovery, published this month in The Journal of Neuroscience, is that the brains of dragonflies combine opposite pathways - both an ...

Antivirus software running on your computer has one big weak point - if a new virus is released before the antivirus provider knows about it or before the next scheduled antivirus software update, your system can be infected. Such zero-day infections are common. However, a key recent development in antivirus software is to incorporate built-in defences against viruses and other computer malware for which they have no prior knowledge. These defences usually respond to unusual activity that resembles the way viruses behave once they have infected a system. This so-called ...

Researchers at Umeå University, together with researchers at Uppsala University and Stockholm University, show in a new study how nitrogen doped graphene can be rolled into perfect Archimedean nano scrolls by adhering magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on the surface of the graphene sheets. The new material may have very good properties for application as electrodes in for example Li-ion batteries. Graphene is one of the most interesting materials for future applications in everything from high performance electronics, optical components to flexible and strong materials. ...

Philadelphia, PA, August 15, 2013 – Difficulty in registering and responding to the facial expressions of other people is a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Relatedly, functional imaging studies have shown that individuals with ASD display altered brain activations when processing facial images. The hormone oxytocin plays a vital role in the social interactions of both animals and humans. In fact, multiple studies conducted with healthy volunteers have provided evidence for beneficial effects of oxytocin in terms of increased trust, improved emotion recognition, ...

While we're not necessarily aware of our heartbeat, this inner rhythm actually contributes to how we experience the body, and what belongs to it, according to research recently conducted at EPFL. A study to be published in the journal Psychological Science later this year supports the idea that signals from our internal organs combine with visual information to contribute to self-consciousness. "The relevance of internal organs for identifying the self was determined over a decade ago," says EPFL researcher Olaf Blanke. "What is new about our approach and findings is that ...

Of all the dark forms that murder can take, the slaying of a family by the father is one of the most tragic and the least understood. This first ever study of British 'family annihilators', published in the Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, has analysed three decades of cases and reveals four new types of annihilator. "Family annihilators have received little attention as a separate category of killer," said Professor David Wilson, one of the paper's three authors, and Director of the Centre of Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. "Often they are treated ...

By means of the quantum-mechanical entanglement of spatially separated light fields, researchers in Tokyo and Mainz have managed to teleport photonic qubits with extreme reliability. This means that a decisive breakthrough has been achieved some 15 years after the first experiments in the field of optical teleportation. The success of the experiment conducted in Tokyo is attributable to the use of a hybrid technique in which two conceptually different and previously incompatible approaches were combined. "Discrete digital optical quantum information can now be transmitted ...

New research suggests children don't understand competitive behaviour until around the age of four. A team of researchers from the University of Warwick and University of Salzburg found most children under 4 did not have a developed understanding of other people's perspectives — specifically, of the fact that what someone intentionally does depends on their take on the situation. Johannes Roessler, from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, and his co-authors Beate Priewasser and Josef Perner from the Department of Psychology at the University ...

BOSTON (August 15, 2013) -- In a study published on line this week in the journal Human Molecular Genetics, Drs. Donita Garland, Rosario Fernandez-Godino, and Eric Pierce of the Ocular Genomics Institute at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, along with their colleagues, reported the unexpected finding that in mice genetically engineered to have an inherited form of macular degeneration, turning off the animals' complement system, a part of the immune system, prevented the disease. Macular degenerations, which occur in several forms, are important ...

Scientists working at the Research Center on Aging at the Health and Social Services Centre — University Institute of Geriatrics of Sherbrooke (CSSS-IUGS) have been studying strategies for protecting retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. Dysfunction of the RPE is found in retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness of elderly people in developed countries. Findings published today in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology suggest that incubating retinal cells with vegetable oils induces biochemical and biophysical ...

HOUSTON -- (Aug. 15, 2013) -- A Rice University laboratory has improved upon its ability to determine molecular structures in three dimensions in ways that challenge long-used standards. By measuring the vibrations between atoms using femtosecond-long laser pulses, the Rice lab of chemist Junrong Zheng is able to discern the positions of atoms within molecules without the restrictions imposed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging. The technique can capture the structure of molecules at room temperature or very low or high temperatures ...

New Rochelle, NY, August 15, 2013—The first institution-level model to estimate the amount of reactive nitrogen released into the environment—a contributor to smog, acid rain, and climate change—is enabling the University of Virginia to quantify its nitrogen footprint and take steps to reduce it. A detailed description of this cutting-edge tool and how it can help improve institutional sustainability is presented in Sustainability: The Journal of Record a publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The Open Access article is available on the Sustainability: The Journal ...

Researchers at Aalto University, Finland and the University of Tokyo have succeeded for the first time in experimentally measuring a probability distribution for entropy production of electrons. Entropy production means an increase in disorder when electrons are moved individually between two microscopic conductors of differing temperatures. The researchers also showed that a connection prevails between two definitions of entropy that have been used. The result is significant for the design of future nanoelectronic devices. The study was published recently in the scientific ...

Two NJIT researchers have demonstrated that using a continuum-based approach, they can explain the dynamics of liquid metal particles on a substrate of a nanoscale. "Numerical simulation of ejected molten metal nanoparticles liquified by laser irradiation: Interplay of geometry and dewetting," appeared in Physical Review Letters (July 16, 2013). The evolution of fluid drops deposited on solid substrates has been a focus of large research effort for decades, said co-author Shahriar Afkhami, an assistant professor in the NJIT Department of Mathematical Sciences. This ...