Brain function in adults as young as 35 may decline as their heart disease risk factors increase, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. "Young adults may think the consequences of smoking or being overweight are years down the road, but they aren't," said Hanneke Joosten, M.D., lead author and nephrology fellow at the University Medical Center in Groningen, The Netherlands. "Most people know the negative effects of heart risk factors such as heart attack, stroke and renal impairment, but they do not realize it affects cognitive ...

Universal access to modern energy could be achieved with an investment of between 65 and 86 billion US dollars a year up until 2030, new research has shown. The proposed investments are higher than previous estimates but equate to just 3-4 per cent of current investments in the global energy system. The findings, which have been presented today, 3 May, in IOP Publishing's Environmental Research Letters, also include, for the first time, the policy costs for worldwide access to clean-combusting cooking fuels and stoves by 2030. Access to electricity and clean-combusting ...

Lugano-CH, Brussels-BE, 2 May 2013 -- A test that measures the expression levels of 58 genes in oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancers can effectively differentiate between patients who are at higher and lower risk for having their cancer recur elsewhere in the body more than five years after diagnosis, researchers report. The new findings show that better individual risk prediction for women with these cancers is getting nearer, says study author Prof Michael Gnant from the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. Prof Gnant reported the findings at the 5th IMPAKT ...

University of Manchester and National University of Singapore researchers have shown how building multi-layered heterostructures in a three-dimensional stack can produce an exciting physical phenomenon exploring new electronic devices. The breakthrough, published in Science, could lead to electric energy that runs entire buildings generated by sunlight absorbed by its exposed walls; the energy can be used at will to change the transparency and reflectivity of fixtures and windows depending on environmental conditions, such as temperature and brightness. The isolation ...

VIDEO: The tiny robot flaps its wings 120 times per second using piezoelectric actuators -- strips of ceramic that expand and contract when an electric field is applied. Thin hinges of... Click here for more information. Cambridge, Mass. - May 2, 2013 - In the very early hours of the morning, in a Harvard robotics laboratory last summer, an insect took flight. Half the size of a paperclip, weighing less than a tenth of a gram, it leapt a few inches, hovered for a moment ...

A new semiconductor device capable of emitting two distinct colours has been created by a group of researchers in the US, potentially opening up the possibility of using light emitting diodes (LEDs) universally for cheap and efficient lighting. The proof-of-concept device, which has been presented today, 3 May, in IOP Publishing's journal Semiconductor Science and Technology, takes advantage of the latest nano-scale materials and processes to emit green and red light separated by a wavelength of 97 nanometres—a significantly larger bandwidth than a traditional semiconductor. Furthermore, ...

HOUSTON – (May 2, 2013) – In an age where cybersecurity is of foremost interest for governments and businesses, public and private organizations must deploy risk-intelligence governance to secure their digital communications and resources from eavesdropping, theft or attack, according to a new paper from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. The paper, "Risk-Intelligent Governance in the Age of Cyberthreats," was authored by Christopher Bronk, a fellow in information technology policy at the Baker Institute. Against the backdrop of technology experts and ...

Researchers at the Epigenetics and Cancer Biology Program at IDIBELL led by Manel Esteller, ICREA researcher and professor of genetics at the University of Barcelona, have described alterations in noncoding long chain RNA sequences (lncRNA) in Rett syndrome. These molecules act as supervisor agents responsible of 'switch on' or 'switch off' other genes in our genome that regulate the activity of neurons. The work has been published in the last issue of the journal RNA Biology. Dark genome Only 5% of our genetic material are genes that encode proteins. The remaining ...

LOS ANGELES (May 2, 2013) – Patients with increasing accumulations of coronary artery calcium were more than six times more likely to suffer from a heart attack or die from heart disease than patients who didn't have increasing accumulations, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study, conducted at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) and five other sites, suggests more frequent monitoring of patients with coronary artery calcium accumulations could help determine the risk of heart attacks and ...

HOUSTON – (May 2, 2013) – Stem cells drawn from amniotic fluid show promise for tissue engineering, but it's important to know what they can and cannot do. A new study by researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital has shown that these stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells and form electrical couplings with each other similar to those found in heart tissue. But these electrical connections alone do not prompt amniotic cells to become cardiac cells. The study led by bioengineer Jeff Jacot, who has a joint appointment at Rice and Texas Children's, ...

Two researchers affiliated with the Virginia Tech College of Engineering have published a paper which reports that hot water recirculating systems touted as "green," actually use both more energy and water than their standard counterparts. Marc Edwards, the Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, originated the efficiency study of the systems as part of an undergraduate design class six years ago. After a thorough analysis, the class concluded the claims as false, and that it "was thermodynamically ...

The story is a familiar one: most people are able to lose weight while dieting but once the diet is over, the weight comes back. Many of us can personally attest that caloric deprivation weight loss diets typically do not produce lasting weight loss. Oregon Research Institute (ORI) senior scientist Eric Stice, Ph.D., and colleagues provide results in a recent issue of NeuroImage that further our understanding of how and why most weight loss diets fail and provide a more comprehensive description of the impact of caloric restriction. Results suggest that restricting food ...

TORONTO, May 2, 2013—Prompt use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, can greatly increase the survival rates of people who suffer a cardiac arrest. Yet a new study has found that publicly registered AEDs in Toronto are not in the best positions to help victims of cardiac arrest. In fact, less than one in four of all cardiac arrests had an AED close by (within 100 metres is the required distance). The average distance to the nearest AED was closer to 300 meters. Current guidelines suggest areas associated with the highest risk of cardiac arrest should be targeted ...

Professor of Biochemistry Emad Tajkhorshid and colleagues have discovered that membrane transporters help not just sugars and other specific substrates cross from one side of a cellular membrane to the other—water also comes along for the ride. There are two main ways that molecules can cross a membrane. In passive transport, molecules are able to pass through a membrane protein called a channel (which provides a wide open pathway) to get from the high concentration side to low concentration side of the membrane. This requires no energy as the molecule flows easily down ...

The ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) Score quantifies the risk of ipsilateral breast event (IBE) and invasive IBE risk, complements both traditional clinical and pathologic factors, and helps provide a new clinical tool to improve the process of selecting individualized treatment for women with DCIS who meet the criteria, according to a study published May 2 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Most women with newly diagnosed cases of DCIS are eligible for breast conservation surgery, either with radiation treatment or without. The risk of developing IBE after ...

BETHESDA, MD, MAY 2, 2013—Progress in American scientific research and reform in American immigration law must go hand in hand, the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) declared today in a position paper that outlines four recommendations for modernizing U.S. immigration policy. "Despite having the best research and educational institutions in the world, existing US immigration laws serve as a significant hurdle for retaining the world's most promising scientists and for diversifying the US biomedical workforce and bioeconomy," the ASCB warned in a preface to its ...

Researchers have discovered the mechanism behind one of the Ebola virus' most dangerous attributes: its ability to disarm the adaptive immune system. University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston scientists determined that Ebola short-circuits the immune system using proteins that work together to shut down cellular signaling related to interferon. Disruption of this activity, the researchers found, allows Ebola to prevent the full development of dendritic cells that would otherwise trigger an immune response to the virus. "Dendritic cells typically undergo a process ...

A team of researchers led by a Boston University Biomedical Engineer has developed a new joint lubricant that could bring longer lasting relief to millions of osteoarthritis sufferers. The new synthetic polymer supplements synovial fluid, the natural lubricant in joints, and works better than comparable treatments currently available. According to Boston University Professor of Biomedical Engineering Mark W. Grinstaff, the best fluid supplement now available offers temporary symptom relief but provides inadequate lubrication to prevent further degradation of the cartilage ...

For tens of thousands of years, humans ran on bare feet. Then we developed an assortment of specialized shoes, including – particularly since the 1960s – a seemingly limitless variety of running shoes. Despite the perceived advantages of foot protection, some runners in recent years have returned to barefoot running, believing it is a more natural way to run and therefore less injurious to the feet and legs. As a result, several shoe manufacturers have produced specialized "minimalist" shoes to accommodate this, such as the Vibram FiveFingers shoes. Such shoes allow a ...

VIDEO: This video is a TRMM flyby of Tropical Cyclone Zane in May 2013. Click here for more information. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite passed over Cyclone Zane as it was approaching Queensland Australia's Cape York Peninsula and measured rainfall rates within the storm. TRMM data showed a disorganized storm with the strongest rain falling northwest of the center. Cyclone Zane, as of 12:00 UTC (10:00 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time or ...

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (MAY 2, 2013) – New research out of the Lillehei Heart Institute at the University of Minnesota shows that by turning on just a single gene, Mesp1, different cell types including the heart, blood and muscle can be created from stem cells. The study was published today in the journal Cell Stem Cell. "Previous research indicated that this gene was the "master regulator" for development of the heart, and that its activity prevented the differentiation of other cell types," said Michael Kyba, Ph.D., associate professor in the University of Minnesota ...

Boulder, Colo., USA – New Geology papers cover ancient iron oceans; the Antarctic and global climate/carbon-cycle feedbacks; evidence of catastrophic spillover from kilometer-deep bodies of water on Mars; the role of volcanic emissions in ozone depletion; "fingerprinting" San Andreas fault sandstone; a climax in Earth's mountain-building cycle; the last place on land undergoing continental breakup; garnet as a proxy for subduction zone dehydration; and evidence of migrating mammals at the Venta del Moro fossil site, Spain. Highlights are provided below. Geology articles ...

Scientists from the Smithsonian and the University of Rhode Island have found unsuspected linkages between the oxidation state of iron in volcanic rocks and variations in the chemistry of the deep Earth. Not only do the trends run counter to predictions from recent decades of study, they belie a role for carbon circulating in the deep Earth. The team's research was published May 2 in Science Express. Elizabeth Cottrell, lead author and research geologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, and Katherine Kelley at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate ...

A common cancer pathway causing tumor growth is now being targeted by a number of new cancer drugs and shows promising results. A team of researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have developed a novel method to disrupt this growth signaling pathway, with findings that suggest a new treatment for breast, colon, melanoma and other cancers. The research team has pinpointed the cancer abnormality to a mutation in a gene called PIK3CA that results in a mutant protein, which may be an early cancer switch. By disrupting the mutated signaling pathway, ...

The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to new research led by scientists at UC San Francisco (UCSF). What made the work especially promising, said principal investigator Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, was the speed at which the virus was definitively identified. The team used a new approach to gene sequencing that enabled them to completely reconstruct the virus' previously unknown genome in less than 24 hours – significantly ...