Prof. Heinrich Jaeger's research group examines materials and phenomena that appear simple at the surface, but which reveal tremendous complexity upon close examination. One such phenomenon is jamming, in which aggregates of randomly placed particles, including spheres or more complicated shapes, or even molecules, transition from fluid-like to solid-like behavior. Jamming lends itself to soft robotics, in addition to other applications as explored in a workshop at the University of Chicago last October. In recent computer simulations and experiments, Jaeger, the William ...

NEW YORK, NY (March 18, 2013) —A multicenter team of researchers, including scientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed biodegradable nanoparticles that are capable of delivering inflammation-resolving drugs to sites of tissue injury. The nanoparticles, which were successfully tested in mice, have potential for the treatment of a wide array of diseases characterized by excessive inflammation, such as atherosclerosis. The study was published ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- new study conducted by monitoring the brain waves of sleeping adolescents has found that remarkable changes occur in the brain as it prunes away neuronal connections and makes the major transition from childhood to adulthood. "We've provided the first long-term, longitudinal description of developmental changes that take place in the brains of youngsters as they sleep," said Irwin Feinberg, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the UC Davis Sleep Laboratory. "Our outcome confirms that the brain goes through a ...

PORTLAND, Ore. — Researchers have long surmised that management techniques successful in manufacturing and technology sectors may improve health care quality. However, there has been very little evidence about how these practices are disseminated in hospitals and whether they are associated with better performance. A new study led by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) health economist K. John McConnell, Ph.D., reveals manufacturing management practices, including Toyota's "Lean" methodologies, may be beneficial in helping hospitals achieve "high-quality health ...

PHILADELPHIA — The overexpression or underexpression of a newly identified set of genes related to lipid metabolism may help physicians identify whether or not a woman is at risk for hormone receptor-positive or hormone receptor-negative breast cancer and to subsequently tailor prevention strategies appropriately, according to data published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Currently, three drugs can be used to prevent breast cancer in women who are at extremely high risk for the disease," said Seema A. Khan, ...

Charlottesville, VA (March 19, 2013). Researchers at the Hennepin County Medical Center, University of Minnesota, and Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation (Minneapolis, Minnesota) report that the combined use of hyperbaric oxygen and normobaric hyperoxia therapies provides better outcomes in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) than the standard intensive neurosurgical care recommended for this injury. Full details on the effects of this combined treatment are provided in the paper "A prospective, randomized Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the effect ...

CHICAGO --- A newly identified set of genes may predict which women are at high risk for getting breast cancer that is sensitive to estrogen and, therefore, would be helped by taking drugs to prevent it, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. "We now have the possibility of predicting if a preventive drug will work for a woman at high risk of breast cancer, so that we don't expose women to the risks and side effects of this drug if it won't help them," said Seema Khan, M.D., senior author of the study, which will be published March 19, 2013 in the journal Cancer ...

CHICAGO – High-energy lower-extremity trauma (HELET) is common in modern warfare, often resulting in severe tissue damage, chronic pain, neurovascular injury and significant muscle loss, according to the new research presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). The Return to Run (RTR) program is an integrated orthotic and rehabilitation initiative designed to return high-level function to wounded warriors. It includes use of the new Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis (IDEO), a custom-fit device made from carbon ...

New York, NY (March 18, 2013)—More symptoms of depression and lower cognitive status are independently associated with a more rapid decline in the ability to handle tasks of everyday living, according to a study by Columbia University Medical Center researchers in this month's Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Although these findings are observational, they could suggest that providing mental health treatment for people with Alzheimer's disease might slow the loss of independence, said senior author Yaakov Stern, PhD, professor of neuropsychology (in neurology, psychiatry, ...

Teamwork has been fundamental in humanity's greatest achievements but scientists have found that working together has its evolutionary roots in our nearest primate relatives – chimpanzees. A series of trials by scientists found that chimpanzees not only coordinate actions with each other but also understand the need to help a partner perform their role to achieve a common goal. Pairs of chimpanzees were given tools to get grapes out of a box. They had to work together with a tool each to get the food out. Scientists found that the chimpanzees would solve the problem ...

The realisation of quantum networks is one of the major challenges of modern physics. Now, new research shows how high-quality photons can be generated from 'solid-state' chips, bringing us closer to the quantum 'internet'. The number of transistors on a microprocessor continues to double every two years, amazingly holding firm to a prediction by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore almost 50 years ago. If this is to continue, conceptual and technical advances harnessing the power of quantum mechanics in microchips will need to be investigated within the next decade. Developing ...

Better diagnosis and treatment of cancer could hinge on the ability to better understand a single cell at its molecular level. New research offers a more comprehensive way of analyzing one cell's unique behavior, using an array of colors to show patterns that could indicate why a cell will or won't become cancerous. A University of Washington team has developed a new method for color-coding cells that allows them to illuminate 100 biomarkers, a ten-time increase from the current research standard, to help analyze individual cells from cultures or tissue biopsies. The ...

Three-quarters of the DNA in evolved organisms is wrapped around proteins, forming the basic unit of DNA packaging called nucleosomes, like a thread around a spool. The problem lies in understanding how DNA can then be read by such proteins. Now, Arman Fathizadeh, a physicist at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, and colleagues have created a model showing how proteins move along DNA, in a paper just published in EPJ E. The problem is that until now, we did not clearly understand the physical mechanisms of how to "open the book" to read the genetic text ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – A group of tiny RNA molecules with a big role in regulating gene expression also appear to have a role in causing insulin resistance in woman with polycystic ovary syndrome and, perhaps, in all women, researchers report. Research in the journal Diabetes, indicates that high activity levels of a microRNA called miR-93 in fat cells impedes insulin's use of glucose, contributing to PCOS as well as insulin resistance, said Dr. Ricardo Azziz, reproductive endocrinologist and PCOS expert at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. "This ...

Researchers at the University of Southampton's Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) have created an artificial material, a metamaterial, with optical properties that can be controlled by electric signals. Photonic metamaterials are artificial materials created by precise and extremely fine structuring of conventional media using nanotechnology. They offer numerous new applications from cloaking to radically improved solar cells. However, the properties of metamaterials are usually fixed. Dr Eric Plum, Research Lecturer at the ORC, explains: "We have found a fast ...

CHICAGO – High-energy lower-extremity trauma (HELET) is common in modern warfare, often resulting in severe tissue damage, chronic pain, neurovascular injury and significant muscle loss, according to the new research presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). The Return to Run (RTR) program is an integrated orthotic and rehabilitation initiative designed to return high-level function to wounded warriors. It includes use of the new Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis (IDEO), a custom-fit device made from carbon ...

Milan, 19 March 2013 - The initial study results of the Zometa European Study (ZEUS) showed no difference in the incidence of bone metastases between the Zometa group and control arm, said Prof. Manfred Wirth during the closing and fourth plenary session of the 28th Annual EAU Congress which ends today. "There is no difference in the incidence of bone metastases and there is no difference in survival," said Wirth in his brief presentation on whether Zometa can prevent bone metastases in high risk, metastatic prostate cancer patients. The ZEUS study, supported by the EAU ...

The phenomenon of adoption has taxed the minds of evolutionary scientists since Darwin first came up with his account of natural selection. According to Richard Dawkins's description, adoption is "a double whammy. Not only do you reduce, or at least fail to increase, your own reproductive success, but you improve someone else's." So why are animals apparently so willing to take care of young that are not related to them? Franziska Schaedelin and colleagues at the Konrad Lorenz Institute of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna now shed interesting light on the ...

Milan, 19 March 2013 – Patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) carrying prostate cancer (PCa) a risk alleles are a potential target population for PCa screening and follow-up, according to a study, which was presented yesterday at the 28th Annual EAU Congress in Milan. The study aimed to evaluate the genetic predisposition of patients with BPH to developing prostate cancer, with findings suggesting that genetic testing may offer a new tool to identify BPH patients with increased risk to develop PrCa. "To our knowledge this is the first study to evaluate genetic ...

This retrospective multicenter study, which included 677 patients from 6 centres, aimed to evaluate intraoperative, early postoperative and mesh-related complications for surgical management of female pelvic organ prolapse (POP) with application of trocar guided transvaginal synthetic mesh. In the course of the study the patients underwent POP surgery from 2006 to 2010. The patients were operated for symptomatic genital prolapse POP-Q stage 2 to 4. Patients were systematically seen within 1 and 3 months and then evaluated again during the study via phone interview and ...

Milan, 19 March 2013 - Despite the high erectile dysfunction (ED) prevalence most patients receive no treatment, according to a new US study, presented at the 28th Annual EAU Congress. Undertreatment of ED continues to be common, even though the treatments have a proven efficacy and quality of life impact. "Until now, research conducted on the treatment of erectile dysfunction has been derived from surveys involving small populations," wrote the authors. "However, a comprehensive and larger patient-based study using claims data that characterises men undergoing treatment ...

Type 2 diabetes has strong hereditary tendencies and the genes we are born with cannot be changed. However, new research from Lund University in Sweden shows that we can modify the function of the genes through the epigenetic changes that take place in the course of life. Epigenetic changes are usually described as a link between heredity and environment and come about as a result of factors such as ageing, chemicals, medication, diet, exercise and drugs. Researchers have now demonstrated that half of the known genetic risk variants for type 2 diabetes can be influenced ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (Mar. 19 2013) – A team of researchers in Seoul, Korea have reported finding evidence that deer antlers - unique in that they regenerate annually - contain multipotent stem cells that could be useful for tissue regeneration in veterinary medicine. The study appears as an early e-publication for the journal Cell Transplantation, and is now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/ct0897seo. "We successfully isolated and characterized antler tissue-derived multipotent stem cells and confirmed that the isolated ...

A study published today in the journal Nature Genetics explores a new mechanism that may contribute to the development of several tumours, including Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia, a type of cancer that affects more than a thousand new patients in Spain each year. This work, led by researchers Carlos López-Otín, from the University Institute of Oncology at the University of Oviedo; Elías Campo, from the Hospital Clínic/University of Barcelona; and María Blasco, the Director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), represents a significant milestone for the ...

When it rains, untreated stormwater can sweep pollutants into coastal waters, potentially endangering public health. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have developed low-cost filtration systems that are concealed beneath sand dunes and filter out most of the bacteria that can lead to beach closures. "It was not economically feasible to use a tract of beachfront property to treat stormwater. Instead, we were able to devise a system that could be installed in an area that was not developable – underneath the dunes," says Dr. Michael Burchell, an assistant ...