BELLAGIO, ITALY (6 MAY 2013)— Cassava experts are reporting new outbreaks and the increased spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease or CBSD, warning that the rapidly proliferating plant virus could cause a 50 percent drop in production of a crop that provides a significant source of food and income for 300 million Africans. The "pandemic" of CBSD now underway is particularly worrisome because agriculture experts have been looking to the otherwise resilient cassava plant—which is also used to produce starch, flour, biofuel and even beer—as the perfect crop for helping to ...

The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) is among the world leaders in sequencing the genomes of microbes, focusing on their potential applications in the fields of bioenergy and environment. As a national user facility, the DOE JGI is also focused on developing tools that more cost-effectively enable the assembly and analysis of the sequence that it, as well as other genome centers, generates. Despite tremendous advances in cost reduction and throughput of DNA sequencing, significant challenges remain in the process of efficiently reconstructing ...

It's difficult to imagine how a degree or two of warming will affect a location. Will it rain less? What will happen to the area's vegetation? New Berkeley Lab research offers a way to envision a warmer future. It maps how Earth's myriad climates—and the ecosystems that depend on them—will move from one area to another as global temperatures rise. The approach foresees big changes for one of the planet's great carbon sponges. Boreal forests will likely shift north at a steady clip this century. Along the way, the vegetation will relinquish more trapped carbon than most ...

News of a hurricane threat sends our hearts racing, glues us to the Internet for updates, and makes us rush to the store to stock up on staples. Hawaii, fortunately, has been largely free from these violent storms in the recent past, only two having made landfall in more than 30 years. Now a study headed by a team of scientists at the International Pacific Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, shows that Hawaii could see a two-to-three-fold increase in tropical cyclones by the last quarter of this century. The study, which appears in the May 5, 2013, online ...

Adding omega-3 fatty acids did not improve a combination of nutritional supplements commonly recommended for treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a major cause of vision loss among older Americans, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The plant-derived antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin also had no overall effect on AMD when added to the combination; however, they were safer than the related antioxidant beta-carotene, according to the study published online today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Millions of ...

Improving our understanding of the human brain, gathering insights into the origin of our universe through the detection of gravitational waves, or optimizing the precision of GPS systems- all are difficult challenges to master because they require the ability to visualize highly fragile elements, which can be terminally damaged by any attempt to observe them. Now, quantum physics has provided a solution. In an article published in Nature Photonics, researchers at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO) report the observation of a highly fragile and volatile body through ...

University of Manchester scientists, writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, have shown that natural emissions and manmade pollutants can both have an unexpected cooling effect on the world's climate by making clouds brighter. Clouds are made of water droplets, condensed on to tiny particles suspended in the air. When the air is humid enough, the particles swell into cloud droplets. It has been known for some decades that the number of these particles and their size control how bright the clouds appear from the top, controlling the efficiency with which clouds scatter ...

ANN ARBOR---Thermoelectric materials can be used to turn waste heat into electricity or to provide refrigeration without any liquid coolants, and a research team from the University of Michigan has found a way to nearly double the efficiency of a particular class of them that's made with organic semiconductors. Organic semiconductors are carbon-rich compounds that are relatively cheap, abundant, lightweight and tough. But they haven't traditionally been considered candidate thermoelectric materials because they have been inefficient in carrying out the essential heat-to-electricity ...

STANFORD, Calif. - Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a group of proteins that are mutated in about one-fifth of all human cancers. The finding suggests that the proteins, which are members of a protein complex that affects how DNA is packaged in cells, work to suppress the development of tumors in many types of tissues. The broad reach of the effect of mutations in the complex, called BAF, rivals that of another well-known tumor suppressor called p53. It also furthers a growing notion that these so-called chromatin-regulatory complexes ...

A handheld diagnostic device that Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators first developed to diagnose cancer has been adapted to rapidly diagnose tuberculosis (TB) and other important infectious bacteria. Two papers appearing in the journals Nature Communications and Nature Nanotechnology describe portable devices that combine microfluidic technology with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to not only diagnose these important infections but also determine the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. "Rapidly identifying the pathogen responsible for ...

In a large, multicenter, randomized clinical trial that included persons at high risk for progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), adding the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, or both to a formulation of antioxidant vitamins and minerals that has shown effectiveness in reducing risk did not further reduce risk of progression to advanced AMD, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology ...

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered why breast cancer patients with dense breasts are more likely than others to develop aggressive tumors that spread. The finding opens the door to drug treatments that prevent metastasis. It has long been known that women with denser breasts are at higher risk for breast cancer. This greater density is caused by an excess of a structural protein called collagen. "We have shown how increased collagen in the breasts could increase the chances of breast tumors spreading and becoming more ...

May 5, 2013 — (Bronx, NY) — Cancer chemotherapy can cause peripheral neuropathy—nerve damage often resulting in pain and muscle weakness in the arms and legs. Now, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered that chemo also induces an insidious type of nerve damage inside bone marrow that can cause delays in recovery after bone marrow transplantation. The findings, made in mice and published online today in Nature Medicine, suggest that combining chemotherapy with nerve-protecting agents may prevent long-term bone marrow injury ...

UCSF scientists controlled seizures in epileptic mice with a one-time transplantation of medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) cells, which inhibit signaling in overactive nerve circuits, into the hippocampus, a brain region associated with seizures, as well as with learning and memory. Other researchers had previously used different cell types in rodent cell transplantation experiments and failed to stop seizures. Cell therapy has become an active focus of epilepsy research, in part because current medications, even when effective, only control symptoms and not underlying ...

SALT LAKE CITY, May 6, 2013 – University of Utah metallurgists used an old microwave oven to produce a nanocrystal semiconductor rapidly using cheap, abundant and less toxic metals than other semiconductors. They hope it will be used for more efficient photovoltaic solar cells and LED lights, biological sensors and systems to convert waste heat to electricity. Using microwaves "is a fast way to make these particles that have a broad range of applications," says Michael Free, a professor of metallurgical engineering. "We hope in the next five years there will be some commercial ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used for decades to reduce fires in everyday products such as baby strollers, carpeting and electronics. A new study to be presented on Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting shows that prenatal exposure to the flame retardants is associated with lower intelligence and hyperactivity in early childhood. "In animal studies, PBDEs can disrupt thyroid hormone and cause hyperactivity and learning problems," said lead author Aimin Chen, MD, PhD, assistant professor ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Regular exercise is touted as an antidote for many ills, including stress, depression and obesity. Physical activity also may help decrease violent behavior among adolescent girls, according to new research to be presented Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. Researchers from Columbia University analyzed results of a 2008 survey completed by 1,312 students at four inner-city high schools in New York to determine if there was an association between regular exercise and violence-related behaviors. "Violence ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Many high school football players say it's OK to play with a concussion even though they know they are at risk of serious injury, according to a study to be presented Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. The study of 120 high school football players in the Cincinnati area also found that one-quarter had suffered a concussion, and more than half acknowledged they would continue to play with symptoms of a concussion. "These attitudes could leave young athletes vulnerable to injury from sports-related ...

WASHINGTON, DC —Bicycle helmets save lives, and their use should be required by law. That's the conclusion of a study to be presented Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. "This study highlights the importance of regulations in the promotion of safe exercise," said lead author William P. Meehan III, MD, FAAP, director of the Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention and the Sports Concussion Clinic at Boston Children's Hospital. About 900 people die each year in bicycle crashes, three-quarters of them from head ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Many parents are putting their precious cargo at risk while driving, according to survey results that will be presented May 5 and 6 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. Researchers from the University of Michigan surveyed more than 600 parents to find out what distractions they face while driving with their children, whether they use age-appropriate child restraints and if they had ever been in a motor vehicle accident. "Lots of attention has been given to distracted teen drivers. However, our results indicate ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Newspaper articles, TV shows and books are filled with horror stories of children placed in foster care. A new study bucks that trend by showing out-of-home placements can improve the emotional health of some youths who have been maltreated by a parent. The study, led by Ann-Marie Conn, PhD, general pediatric academic fellow at University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, will be presented Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. Dr. Conn and her colleagues compared mental health problems in ...

WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly one in five children and teens found to be at risk for suicide report that there are guns in their homes, and 15 percent of those at risk for suicide with guns in the home know how to access both the guns and the bullets, according to a study to be presented Monday, May 6, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24 years in the United States, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Nearly half of youths who die by ...

May 6, 2013 /Press Release/ –– Children living near toxic waste sites in lower and middle income countries such as India, Philippines and Indonesia may experience higher blood lead levels, resulting in a loss of IQ points and a higher incidence of mental retardation, according to a study presented today by Kevin Chatham-Stephens, MD, Pediatric Environmental Health Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting on May 6 in Washington, DC. The study titled, "The Pediatric Burden of Disease from Lead Exposure ...

Meticulous attention to food safety is a good thing. As consumers, we like to hear that produce growers and distributers go above and beyond food safety mandates to ensure that healthy fresh fruits and vegetables do not carry bacteria or viruses that can make us sick. But in California's Salinas Valley, some more vigorous interventions are cutting into the last corners of wildlife habitat and potentially threatening water quality, without evidence of food safety benefits. These policies create tensions between wildlife preservation and food safety where none need exist, ...

For the first time, researchers from institutions around the country have conducted an identical series of toxicology tests evaluating lung-related health impacts associated with widely used engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). The study provides comparable health risk data from multiple labs, which should help regulators develop policies to protect workers and consumers who come into contact with ENMs. Researchers have done a great deal of toxicological research on ENMs over the past 10 years, but the results have often been difficult to interpret. This is because ENMs from ...