The World Health Organization lists shift work as a potential carcinogen, says Erik Herzog, PhD, Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. And that's just one example among many of the troubles we cause ourselves when we override the biological clocks in our brains and pay attention instead to the mechanical clocks on our wrists. In the June 5 issue of Neuron, Herzog and his colleagues report the discovery of a crucial part of the biological clock: the wiring that sets its accuracy to within a few minutes out of the 1440 minutes per ...

CINCINNATI – As pediatric specialists become increasingly aware that surgical anesthesia may have lasting effects on the developing brains of young children, new research suggests the threat may also apply to adult brains. Researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report June 5 the Annals of Neurology that testing in laboratory mice shows anesthesia's neurotoxic effects depend on the age of brain neurons – not the age of the animal undergoing anesthesia, as once thought. Although more research is needed to confirm the study's relevance to humans, ...

ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan researchers have determined how a gene that is known to be defective in Down syndrome is regulated and how its dysregulation may lead to neurological defects, providing insights into potential therapeutic approaches to an aspect of the syndrome. Normally, nerve cells called neurons undergo an intense period of extending and branching of neuronal protrusions around the time of birth. During this period, the neurons produce the proteins of the gene called Down syndrome cell-adhesion molecule, or Dscam, at high levels. After this phase, ...

If you had a time machine that could take you anywhere in the past, what time would you choose? Most people would probably pick the era of the dinosaurs in hopes of spotting a T. rex. But many astronomers would choose the period, four and a half billion years ago, that our solar system formed. In lieu of a working time machine, we learn about the birth of our Sun and its planets by studying young stars in our galaxy. New work suggests that our Sun was both active and "feisty" in its infancy, growing in fits and starts while burping out bursts of X-rays. "By studying ...

Most skygazers recognize the Orion Nebula, one of the closest stellar nurseries to Earth. Although it makes for great views in backyard telescopes, the Orion Nebula is far from the most prolific star-forming region in our galaxy. That distinction may go to one of the more dramatic stellar nurseries like the Cat's Paw Nebula, otherwise known as NGC 6334, which is experiencing a "baby boom." "NGC 6334 is forming stars at a more rapid pace than Orion - so rapidly that it appears to be undergoing what might be called a burst of star formation," said lead author Sarah Willis ...

An expert in robotics and automation problems, especially those involving manufacturing systems, NJIT Distinguished Professor and IEEE Fellow Mengchu Zhou will have two articles published in the upcoming proceedings of the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Both papers were recently presented at this conference. "Novel Method to Simplify Supervisor for AMS Based on Petri Nets and Inequality Analysis" offers a better and more efficient way to help managers control a computer-controlled manufacturing system by using mathematical modeling tools, ...

VIDEO: This video shows typical prey behavior when predators are not confused by multiple prey in their visual field. The prey spread out as much as possible while moving around randomly. Prey... Click here for more information. Many animals – from locusts to fish – live in groups and swarm, but scientists aren't sure why or how this behavior evolved. Now a multidisciplinary team of Michigan State University scientists has used a model system to show for the first time ...

Many women get too little sleep, despite considerable evidence showing the importance of sleep to overall health. Now a new UC San Francisco study has discovered another reason why inadequate sleep may be harmful, especially to women and their hearts. The study found that poor sleep, particularly waking too early, appears to play a significant role in raising unhealthy levels of inflammation among women with coronary heart disease. The elevated inflammation affected only women, not men, even when adjusted for medical, lifestyle and socio-demographic differences, the authors ...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Peer group influences affect children much earlier than researchers have suspected, finds a new University of Maryland-led study. The researchers say the study provides a wake-up call to parents and educators to look out for undue group influences, cliquishness and biases that might set in early, the researchers say. The study appears in the May/June 2013 issue of Child Development, and is available online: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12011/abstract The researchers say their work represents a new line of research – what they ...

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered how to stop the destructive process that leads to cardiovascular disease in diabetic laboratory animals. It is well known that high blood sugar levels significantly raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. It is unclear, however, why this happens. An important part of the explanation may be NFAT, a protein activated when blood sugar is raised and which starts a chain of events that damage the blood vessels and accelerate the development of atherosclerosis. "We have now shown that it is possible to stop the atherosclerosis ...

A cheaper, more efficient technique for developing complex protein drugs from bacteria has been developed at the University of Sheffield. Using the bacterium E. coli, researchers from the University's Faculty of Engineering showed it was possible to vastly increase the efficiency of the cells producing specifically modified proteins, as well as improve its performance and stability. The modification is present in over two-thirds of human therapeutic drugs on the market and involves the addition of specific sugar groups to the protein backbone, a process termed glycosylation. Drugs ...

Health problems linked to obesity – like heart disease and diabetes – could skip an entire generation, a new study suggests. Researchers have found that the offspring of obese mothers may be spared health problems linked to obesity, while their own children then inherit them. Currently, concern about the obesity epidemic is mainly focused on the health of obese women and their children, rather than the wider family. The University of Edinburgh study has shown that moderately obese mothers can make an impact on the birth weight and diabetes risk of grandchildren, ...

Companies that claim a high level of social responsibility should lead the way in committing to greater transparency over their tax arrangements and abandoning the use of tax havens, according to new research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). The study, published in the journal Third World Quarterly, highlights the fact that many of the companies actively engaged in tax avoidance also like to assert their credentials as responsible corporate citizens. Rhys Jenkins, professor of development economics at UEA, and Peter Newell, professor of international relations ...

Researchers from South Korea, Case Western Reserve University and University of North Texas have discovered an inexpensive and easily produced catalyst that performs better than platinum in oxygen-reduction reactions. The finding, detailed in Nature's Scientific Reports online today, is a step toward eliminating what industry regards as the largest obstacle to large-scale commercialization of fuel cell technology. Fuel cells can be more efficient than internal combustion engines, silent, and at least one type produces zero greenhouse emissions at the tail pipe. Car ...

New, fast and accurate algorithm from the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, based on the mathematical formalism used to model processes accompanying interaction of light with gas planet atmospheres, is a major step towards better understanding of physical and chemical properties of materials' surfaces studied under laboratory conditions. Solar System's gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, are among the brightest objects in the night sky. We see them, because light from our star interacts with their dense atmospheres. The mathematical ...

Researchers are still fascinated by the idea of the possibility of reprogramming the cells of any tissue, turning them into cells with the capacity to differentiate into cells of a completely different type— pluripotent cells—and they are still striving to understand how it happens. A group from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by researcher Ralph P. Schneider, from the Telomeres and Telomerase Group led by María A. Blasco, publishes this week an article in Nature Communications on the discovery of a new gene called TRF1 that is essential ...

Newly published research from an international team featuring UT Arlington assistant professor Jacob Resch has reaffirmed questions about portions of the popular computerized concussion assessment tool ImPACT. When administered as it is in a clinical setting, the test possessed strong reliability on some evaluation factors. But, on other factors, it miscategorized healthy participants as impaired as much as 46 percent of the time. Authors say the study illustrates the need for multiple types of concussion assessments. The research was published online May 31 in the Journal ...

Funded by volleyball tournaments, a new study released this week shows success in pinpointing individualized treatment for women with metastatic breast cancer, according to George Mason University researchers. The Side-Out Foundation's pilot study is part of cutting-edge approach to personalized medicine that looks beyond genomic analysis alone to combine it with what some say is the next frontier in targeted therapy: proteomics. The pilot study is first of its kind to utilize novel protein activation mapping technology along with the genomic fingerprint of cancer ...

This news release is available in German. All over the world, bees are dying and insect diversity is dwindling. Only recently, both the media and scientists expressed fears that insect pollination is in decline, which jeopardises food security. The (lack of) pollination has thus become a sound argument for the protection of species and natural habitats, and organic farming. ETH-Zurich researchers from the group headed by Jaboury Ghazoul, professor of ecosystem management, set about investigating this argument by studying the influence of pollinator insects on coffee ...

The drug aflibercept (trade name: Eylea) has been approved in Germany since November 2012 for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG) the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) examined whether this new drug offers an added benefit over the current standard therapy. Such an added benefit cannot be derived from the dossier, however, as the manufacturer did not submit any suitable data for this comparison. Patients ...

Two fires in New Mexico which started within a day of each other continue to plague residents around Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Tres Lagunas Fire From the Inciweb: "Over the next few days, residents living in Gallinas Canyon and other areas east of the fire may see an increase in smoke in the late afternoon or early evening coming from the east side of the fire. This will be due to a burnout operation that may occur in the next few days east of Cow Creek and west of Forest Road 92, just east of the cluster of small spots of fire in that area in the old Viveash fire scar. ...

A consistent bedtime routine is likely key to helping people with obstructive sleep apnea adhere to their prescribed treatment, according to Penn State researchers. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the upper airway collapses during sleep. It is the most common type of sleep-disordered breathing, and chances of it occurring are greater in obese people. OSA is the second most prevalent sleep disorder among adults. The first line of treatment for sleep apnea is a noninvasive, in-home treatment called CPAP -- continuous positive airway pressure therapy. However, ...

Montreal, June 5, 2013 – When local police came calling with child porn allegations last January, former Saint John city councillor Donnie Snook fled his house clutching a laptop. It was clear that the computer contained damning data. Six months later, police have finally gathered enough evidence to land him in jail for a long time to come. With a case seemingly so cut and dry, why the lag time? Couldn't the police do a simple search for the incriminating info and level charges ASAP? Easier said than done. With computing devices storing terrabytes of personal data, it ...

A new species of tiny blenniiform fish has been discovered in the biodiversity rich waters of the southern Caribbean. Haptoclinus dropi is only around 2cm in length with a beautiful color pattern that includes iridescence on the fins. The proposed common name of the species is four-fin blenny, due to the division of the dorsal fin into four sections, which is a distinguishing feature of the genus and unique among blenniiform fishes. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys. This beautiful new species was discovered as a lucky bycatch during targeted ...

This news release is available in German. Can cloud formation, precipitation or thunderstorms be influenced by laser light irradiation? This issue has been investigated by researchers from KIT's Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Aerosol Research (IMK-AAF), Freie Universität Berlin, and the University of Geneva. The objective of the studies conducted by head of IMK-AAF Professor Thomas Leisner was to find out whether and in how far laser light and plasma can influence cloud formation. For their investigations, the researchers used ...