VIDEO: This is a 3D image of a heart muscle cell that has been derived from a fibroblast via a process called direct reprogramming. Direct reprogramming allows one cell type to... Click here for more information. SAN FRANCISCO, CA—August 22, 2013—In the aftermath of a heart attack, cells within the region most affected shut down. They stop beating. And they become entombed in scar tissue. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have demonstrated that this damage ...

Females can mount more powerful immune responses than males, but the flip side of this enhanced protection against infections is a greater risk for autoimmune disorders. Shedding light on the underlying causes of the gender bias in autoimmune diseases, a study published by Cell Press August 22nd in the journal Immunity reveals that certain gut microbes prevalent in males can help protect them against type 1 diabetes. The study demonstrates that these microbes cooperate with sex hormones to cause this gender bias and provides an important framework that could lead to better ...

When a member of the wolf pack leaves the group, the howling by those left behind isn't a reflection of stress but of the quality of their relationships. So say researchers based on a study of nine wolves from two packs living at Austria's Wolf Science Center that appears in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, on August 22. The findings shed important light on the degree to which animal vocal production can be considered as voluntary, the researchers say. "Our results suggest the social relationship can explain more of the variation we see in howling behavior ...

Researchers have developed a new technique that might one day be used to convert cells from heart disease patients into heart muscle cells that could act as a personalized treatment for their condition. The research is published online on August 22 in the journal of the International Society of Stem Cell Research, Stem Cell Reports, published by Cell Press. The investigators previously reported the ability to convert scar-forming cells in the heart (called fibroblasts) into new, beating muscle in mice that had experienced heart attacks, thereby regenerating a heart from ...

BOSTON -- A person's skin pigment, which determines hair color and skin tone, is influenced by the melanocortin-1 (MC1R) gene receptor. For the population's one to two percent of redheads, a mutation in MC1R accounts for their red hair color and typical light skin. Now researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that the same MC1R mutation responsible for the red hair phenotype also promotes an important cancer-causing pathway. The new findings, reported on-line today in the journal Molecular ...

Perhaps one of the most defining features of humanity is our capacity for empathy – the ability to put ourselves in others' shoes. A new University of Virginia study strongly suggests that we are hardwired to empathize because we closely associate people who are close to us – friends, spouses, lovers – with our very selves. "With familiarity, other people become part of ourselves," said James Coan, a psychology professor in U.Va.'s College of Arts & Sciences who used functional magnetic resonance imaging brain scans to find that people closely correlate people to whom ...

Mountain View, Calif. –August 22nd, 2013 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, has conducted the first genetic study of striae distensae (stretch marks). Researchers at the company identified four genetic markers significantly associated with the development of stretch marks that inform why some individuals are more susceptible to the skin condition. Estimates of the prevalence of stretch marks range from 50-80 percent, however the exact causes of stretch marks are still widely unknown. Many factors, including excessive skin distension (during pregnancy, ...

Cattle contribute to global warming by burping and farting large amounts of greenhouse gases. Some of the same gases are also emitted from cow pats on pastures. But now researchers from the University of Helsinki have found that beetles living in cow pats may reduce emissions of the key greenhouse gas - methane. Agriculture is one of the biggest sources of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. Among these, cattle farming for meat and milk are major sources of methane, a gas with a potent warming effect. Much of this methane comes from the ...

In a paper published by the journal Biodiversity Conservation, the researchers also suggest that anthropomorphism is overlooked as a powerful tool for promoting low-profile species that are either endangered or require urgent attention. At present, anthropomorphism in conservation is limited to social, intelligent animals, such as chimpanzees, polar bears and dolphins. According to the research, this would imply that other species are not worthy of conservation because they are not like humans in the 'right' ways. However, by making conservationists more aware of how ...

Usually we think of demolished concrete walls and floors as environmental contaminants, but in fact this material may turn out to be a valuable resource in nature protection work. This is the conclusion from researchers from University of Southern Denmark after studying the ability of crushed concrete to bind phosphorus. "We have shown that crushed concrete can bind up to 90 per cent of phosphorus, "says PhD student and environmental engineer, Melanie Sønderup, Department of Biology at the University of Southern Denmark. Contributors to the research are also postdoc, ...

As we grow older, not only the function of organs slows down. Also on a cellular level more and more damages occur. One reason is that DNA errors accumulate which cause defective cells. Now a team of researchers lead by Nils-Göran Larsson at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing in Cologne has shown that ageing is determined not only by the accumulation of DNA damage that occurs during lifetime but also by damage that we acquire from our mothers. In a study on mice, the researchers have shown that mutations of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA influence the ...

Researchers have for the first time created an X-ray laser based on a solid. The method developed at DESY's free-electron laser FLASH opens up new avenues of investigation in materials research, as reported by the team of Prof. Alexander Föhlisch of the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) in the British scientific journal "Nature." "This technology makes it possible to analyse sensitive samples that otherwise are quickly destroyed by intense X-ray light," notes co-author Prof. Wilfried Wurth of the University of Hamburg and the Hamburg Center for Free-Electron Laser Science ...

A small cue of social connection to someone from another group — such as a shared interest — can help reduce prejudice immediately and up to six months later, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "Our research shows that even a brief opportunity to take part in another group's culture can improve intergroup attitudes even months later," says psychological scientist and lead researcher Tiffany Brannon of Stanford University. Decades of research in psychology show that extended relationships ...

San Francisco, CA. (August 22, 2013) – Two simple, non-drug treatments—aromatherapy and intravenous administration of a simple sugar solution—may offer effective new approaches to relieving nausea and vomiting after surgery, report a pair of studies in the September issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). "Aromatherapy is promising as an inexpensive, noninvasive treatment for postoperative nausea that can be administered and controlled by patients as needed," according to a research report by Dr Ronald ...

Grandmothers who care for their grandkids fulltime need help for depression and family strains, report researchers from the Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. Carol Musil, PhD, RN, FAAN, professor of nursing, recently conducted one the longest-running studies on grandmothers in various family situations, from serving as their grandkids' fulltime caregivers to those not caring for their grandchildren as a comparison. "Although we expected the primary caregiver grandmothers raising grandchildren would have more strain and depressive ...

Will there be rather warm or cold winters in Germany in the coming years? We may have a long way to go before reliable forecasts of this kind can be achieved. However, marine scientists, under the auspices of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, recently managed to successfully hindcast climate shifts in the Pacific. These shifts also have a profound effect on the average global surface air temperature of the Earth. The most recent shift in the 1990s is one of the reasons that the Earth's temperature has not risen further since 1998. The study, published ...

San Francisco, CA. (August 22, 2013) – A simple four-part program—including referral to a quit-smoking hotline and a free supply of nicotine patches—can increase the percentage of patients who quit smoking before undergoing surgery, reports a study in the September issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). The "easily implemented and inexpensive" program significantly improves preoperative smoking cessation rates, according to the new research by Dr Susan M. Lee of University of Western Ontario, London, ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (Aug. 22, 2013) – Patients receiving cranial irradiation treatment for brain cancer may find the treatment life-saving, but often suffer progressive and debilitating cognitive detriments, including spatial learning and memory deficits. The cognitive deficits are a contributing factor to the often significant adverse impacts on the surviving patients' quality of life after radiation therapy. In an effort to improve post-irradiation cognitive impairment, scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues at Neuralstem, Inc. (Rockville, ...

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Working overtime may cost you your health, according to a Kansas State University doctoral researcher. Sarah Asebedo, doctoral student in personal financial planning and conflict resolution, Edina, Minn., conducted a study using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. She and her colleagues -- Sonya Britt, assistant professor of family studies and human services and director of the university's personal financial planning program, and Jamie Blue, doctoral student in personal financial planning, Tallahassee, Fla. -- found a preliminary link between ...

This news release is available in German. In the future, carbon nanomembranes are expected to be able to filter out very fine materials. These separating layers are ultrathin, consisting of just one layer of molecules. In the long term, they could allow to separate gases from one another, for example, filtering toxins from the air. At present, the basic research is concerned with the production of nanomembranes. A research team working with Professor Dr. Armin Gölzhäuser of Bielefeld University has succeeded in developing a new path to produce such membranes. The ...

A simple kitchen sink experiment helped Northwestern University researchers discover that green tea leaves not only can be used to steep a good cup of tea, but they make an excellent antibacterial coating, too. And so can red wine, dark chocolate and cacao beans, they found. It's the powerful and healthful polyphenols at work in a new way. (Polyphenols are naturally occurring molecules found in plants whose functions include structural support and defense against bacteria and oxidative damage.) Polyphenols are sticky, and the researchers exploited this useful property, ...

New Rochelle, NY, August 22, 2013—The ability of different regions of the brain to communicate gradually breaks down with aging and in Alzheimer's disease, but there are key differences between these two processes. Some of these differences are reported in a study that compared neural networks, signaling efficiency, and disruptions in connectivity in the brains of healthy elderly subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease. The article is published in Brain Connectivity, a bimonthly peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, and is available free ...

Retirees should be masters of their own destiny, and actively manage and plan their free time to ensure a happy and fulfilling retirement. This is the advice of Wei-Ching Wang of the I-Shou University in Taiwan, leader of a study published in Springer's journal Applied Research in Quality of Life. The study found that the effective management of free time has a far greater impact on a retiree's quality of life than the amount of time the person actually has available for leisure activities. Wang and his team studied the responses of 454 Taiwanese retirees to understand ...

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 22, 2013 — UC Irvine infectious disease researchers have uncovered components of the SARS coronavirus – which triggered a major outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002-03 – that allow it to take over host cells in order to replicate. This insight is critical for a full understanding of any outbreaks caused by such viruses and may prove beneficial in the development of therapies not only for human coronavirus infections but for other pathogenic illnesses as well. Study results appear online in the July/August issue of mBio. Megan Angelini, ...

New Rochelle, NY, August 22, 2013—Risk factor modification efforts could help reduce the chance of another heart attack and death among the more than 15 million Americans with coronary heart disease. Yet some patients—especially women and minorities—leave the hospital with poorly managed risk factors. An article in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, evaluates cardiac risk factors and management strategies by age, sex, and race among 2,369 patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction. The article is available ...