ANN ARBOR, Mich. – An animal model of the human norovirus created at the University of Michigan Health System lays the groundwork for understanding the biology of the pesky virus and developing antiviral drug treatment. Well-known as the virus that impacts cruise ship vacations, norovirus leads to misery on land too. The virus spreads quickly from person to person in any closed-in space, such as schools, nursing homes, or day-care centers. "The first virus in this group was discovered in 1972 following a disease outbreak at a school in Norwalk, Ohio in 1968. Since then ...

Researchers from Aalto University and Paris Tech have placed water droplets containing magnetic nanoparticles on strong water repellent surfaces and have made them align in various static and dynamic structures using periodically oscillating magnetic fields. This is the first time researchers have demonstrated reversible switching between static and dynamic self-assembly. 'We are conducting this line of research because it opens up a way to create new responsive and intelligent systems and materials,' said Dr. Robin Ras of Aalto University, Finland. Self-assembly is ...

A new finding provides fresh hope for the millions of women worldwide with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Australian scientists have shown that a specific change, which occurs when tumours become resistant to anti-oestrogen therapy, might make the cancers susceptible to treatment with chemotherapy drugs. Seventy percent of breast cancer patients have oestrogen receptor positive cancer, and most patients respond well to anti-oestrogen therapies, for a few years at least. Within 15 years, however, 50% will relapse and eventually die from the disease. Dr Andrew ...

July 22, 2013, Shenzhen, China - The largest genomic institute of the world, BGI Shenzhen, China (hereinafter BGI), together with Reproductive & Genetic Hospital CITIC-XIANGYA (hereinafter CITIC-XIANGYA) announced today that they have successfully applied Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to detect in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos with genetic abnormalities. The successful application of preimplantation sequencing (the most advanced form of preimplantation genetic screening, PGS) opens a new chapter in the field of human assisted reproduction, providing new hopes for IVF ...

This news release is available in German. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), the central, self-governing research funding organisation in Germany, presented a position paper on the future of the German research system at its annual press conference in Berlin on 4 July 2013. Drawn up by the DFG's Executive Committee and Executive Board, the paper was the subject of intense discussion among representatives from all areas of science and the humanities and the federal and state government funding bodies at the DFG's Annual Meeting, which ...

Thiols are sulfur-containing molecules found in most proteins of the human body. Characterized by their 'garlicky' smell, they also give coffee, sweat and the spray of skunks their unique odor. Because they are so widespread in biology, medicine and materials science, thiols are ideal targets for connecting molecules like drugs or polymers together, except that they must first be fitted with a chemical group that acts like an adaptor to other molecules. One of the most potentially useful of these 'adaptors' are the alkynes, which can be extremely powerful in bioconjugation. ...

Do migrants from Eastern European countries become happier once they have settled in Western Europe? A University of Leicester sociologist has investigated this question -- and the answer might make potential migrants think twice before packing their bags. Most migrants were no happier after migration -- and migrants from Poland were significantly less happy. In a paper published in 'Migration Studies', Dr. David Bartram analyses data from the European Social Survey of more than 42,000 people to try and determine whether happiness can be gained by moving to another ...

The UK New Labour Government's ideological preoccupations included tackling deprivation, addressing anti-social behaviour and persuading young people to engage in 'positive activities'. In 2007, the report 'Aiming High for Young People' outlined policies intended to contribute to the achievement of associated goals. The Youth Sector Development Fund (YSDF) provided Civil Sector Organisations (CSOs) with the means to put the policies into practice and also aimed to build organisational capacity. Using data gathered for the evaluation of one organisation's YSDF-financed programme ...

Young female cancer patients are unhappy about the way fertility preservation options are discussed with them by doctors before starting cancer treatment, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Sheffield and The Children's Hospital, Sheffield. The pioneering study discovered that only 40 per cent of young female cancer patients were happy with the way their doctors discussed the options they had to preserve fertility, before undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy which can have a harmful effect on a patient's fertility. Researchers conducted ...

Global efforts to adapt staple foods like rice, wheat and potato to climate change have been given a major boost today as new research shows the whereabouts of their wild cousins –which could hold beneficial qualities to help improve crops and make them more productive and resilient. The analysis assesses 29* of the world's most important food crops and reveals severe threats to just over half of their wild relatives as they are not adequately saved in genebanks and not available to researchers and plant breeders for crop improvement. Climate change is predicted to cause ...

"A wave is a deformation in the surface of a liquid that moves at a speed that is independent of that liquid," the researchers explain. For example: in the waves that are formed when a rock is thrown into a pond, the water remains still while the waves move away from the center at their own speed. "In our case, what occurs is actually the opposite: the water moves very rapidly (at several meters per second), but the wave moves at a speed of zero. That is, it remains still, "frozen" in time for any observer who sees it from outside of the water," explains one of the authors ...

ANN ARBOR—Mass extinctions, like lotteries, result in a multitude of losers and a few lucky winners. This is the story of one of the winners, a small, shell-crushing predatory fish called Fouldenia, which first appears in the fossil record a mere 11 million years after an extinction that wiped out more than 90 percent of the planet's vertebrate species. The extinction that ended the Devonian Era 359 million years ago created opportunities quickly exploited by a formerly rare and unremarkable group of fish that went on to become—in terms of the sheer number of species—the ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- Young harp seals off the eastern coast of Canada are at much higher risk of getting stranded than adult seals because of shrinking sea ice cover caused by recent warming in the North Atlantic, according to a Duke University study. "Stranding rates for the region's adult seals have generally not gone up as sea ice cover has declined; it's the young-of-the-year animals who are stranding (those less than one year old)," said David Johnston, a research scientist at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment. "And it's not just the weakest pups -- those ...

High levels of arsenic in rice have been shown to be associated with elevated genetic damage in humans, a new study has found. Over the last few years, researchers have reported high concentrations of arsenic in several rice-growing regions around the world. Now, University of Manchester scientists, working in collaboration with scientists at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Kolkata, have proven a link between rice containing high levels of arsenic and chromosomal damage, as measured by micronuclei* in urothelial cells, in humans consuming rice as a staple. The ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A new poll shows 82 percent of adults support banning smoking in cars when children under 13 are riding in the vehicle. According to the latest University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, support is strong for prohibiting drivers and passengers from smoking when kids are in the car. However, only seven states nationwide have laws banning the practice. Also in this month's poll, 87 percent of adults said they'd support a ban on smoking in businesses where children are allowed. Seventy-five percent expressed ...

This news release is available in French. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 % of cases of diabetes around the world, afflicting 2.5 million Canadians and costing over 15 billion dollars a year in Canada. It is a severe health condition which makes body cells incapable of taking up and using sugar. Dr. Alexey Pshezhetsky of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center, affiliated with the University of Montreal, has discovered that the resistance to insulin seen in type 2 diabetics is caused partly by the lack of a protein that has not previously been associated ...

PITTSBURGH—A family of molecules developed at Carnegie Mellon University to break down pollutants in water is one step closer to commercial use. Study results published online in the journal Green Chemistry show that the molecules, which are aimed at removing hazardous endocrine disruptors from water sources, aren't endocrine disruptors themselves as they proved to be non-toxic to developing zebrafish embryos. Created by Carnegie Mellon green chemist Terry Collins, the molecules, called TAML® activators, provide an environmentally friendly method for breaking down toxic ...

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital in China have discovered a gene expression signature that may lead to new immune therapies for lung cancer patients. They found that NF-κB, a protein complex known to promote tumor growth, may also have the ability to boost the immune system to eliminate cancerous cells before they harm, as well as promote antitumor responses. The study appeared in the June 3 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. NF-κB is a protein complex that controls gene expression. ...

PITTSBURGH—The fingers of thousands of people who created sketches of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on their iPhones can collectively guide and correct the drawing strokes of subsequent touchscreen users in an application created by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Microsoft Research. The app compensates for the "fat finger" problem associated with touchscreens, automatically correcting a person's drawing strokes while preserving the user's artistic style. "Our goal was to make it invisible to the user, so people wouldn't even be aware the correction is taking ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Laws that allow physician-assisted death in the Pacific Northwest have provisions to protect the rights of patients, doctors and even the state, but don't consider the professionals most often on the front lines of this divisive issue – hospice workers who provide end-of-life care. The existing system, a new analysis concludes, has evolved into a multitude of different and contradictory perspectives among hospice organizations and workers, who historically have opposed physician-assisted death but are now the professionals taking care of most of the ...

CHICAGO --- It turns out the love hormone oxytocin is two-faced. Oxytocin has long been known as the warm, fuzzy hormone that promotes feelings of love, social bonding and well-being. It's even being tested as an anti-anxiety drug. But new Northwestern Medicine® research shows oxytocin also can cause emotional pain, an entirely new, darker identity for the hormone. Oxytocin appears to be the reason stressful social situations, perhaps being bullied at school or tormented by a boss, reverberate long past the event and can trigger fear and anxiety in the future. That's ...

Putnam Valley, NY. -- When melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, was used as a pre-treatment for mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) prior to their transplantation into the brains of laboratory animals to repair damage from stroke, researchers in China found that the stem cells survived longer after transplantation. Previous studies had shown that 80 percent of transplanted MSCs died within 72 hours of transplantation. By contrast, the melatonin pre-treatment "greatly increased" cell survival, said the researchers. The study appears as an early e-publication for ...

NEW YORK - Wear your lucky Yankees jersey. Hold your breath. Expect nothing less than a World Series win. Certain routines are routine for millions of baseball playoff fans desperate to meet victory. In fact, a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says fans are so deep in their traditions, they will drop brand loyalty-if it means a win. The study, written by Gita V. Johar of Columbia Business School and Eric J. Hamerman of Tulane University shows a sports fan will easily switch to a different product if the fan believes the new brand will bring about good luck ...

Putnam Valley, NY. -- The use of central nervous system fetal tissues derived from routine elective abortions to provide stem cells for transplantation procedures aimed at restoring damage done by neurodegenerative diseases is an established therapy. However, fetal tissue microbial contaminants have been known to cause brain infections in cell transplantation recipients. Now, a research team from Germany has developed a "washing" technique that decontaminates the fetal tissues from which stem cells are derived. The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal ...

Rochester, MN -- While there is an expectation that newer medical practices improve the standard of care, the history of medicine reveals many instances in which this has not been the case. Reversal of established medical practice occurs when new studies contradict current practice. Reporters may remember hormone replacement therapy as an example of medical reversal. A new analysis published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings documents 146 contemporary medical practices that have subsequently been reversed. A team of researchers led by Vinay Prasad, MD, Medical Oncology ...