The most fertile bursts of star birth in the early Universe took place in distant galaxies containing lots of cosmic dust. These galaxies are of key importance to our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution over the history of the Universe, but the dust obscures them and makes them difficult to identify with visible-light telescopes. To pick them out, astronomers must use telescopes that observe light at longer wavelengths, around one millimetre, such as ALMA. "Astronomers have waited for data like this for over a decade. ALMA is so powerful that it has revolutionised ...

Stem cells and tissue-specific cells can be grown in abundance from mature mammalian cells simply by blocking a certain membrane protein, according to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their experiments, reported today in Scientific Reports, also show that the process doesn't require other kinds of cells or agents to artificially support cell growth and doesn't activate cancer genes. Scientists hope that lab-grown stem cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which have the ability to produce ...

The human body has the ability to ward off viruses by activating a naturally occurring protein at the cellular level, setting off a chain reaction that disrupts the levels of cholesterol required in cell membranes to enable viruses to enter cells. The findings, discovered by researchers in molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, hold promise for the development of therapies to fight a variety of viral infections. "Previous studies have shown that our bodies are already equipped to block viruses such as Ebola, influenza, West Nile, ...

As much as dog owners love their children, they tend to share more of themselves, at least in terms of bacteria, with their canine cohorts rather than their kids. That is just one finding of a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder that looked at the types and transfer modes of microbes from the guts, tongues, foreheads and palms (or paws) of members of 60 American families, including canines. Identifying how such bacterial communities can be affected by environmental exposure may help scientists better understand how they can be manipulated to prevent or ...

"Current wisdom says that cells are closed entities that communicate through the secretion of soluble signalling molecules. Recent findings indicate that cells can exchange more complex information – whole packages of genetic material and signalling proteins. This is an entirely new conception of how cells communicate", says Dr Mattias Belting, Professor of Oncology at Lund University and senior consultant in oncology at Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden. Exosomes are small vesicles of only 30 nm. They are produced inside cells and act as "transport vehicles" of ...

Typing on today's mobile phones and tablets is needlessly slow. One limitation is that the QWERTY layout is ill-suited for tablets and other touch-screen devices when typing with the thumbs. Two-thumb typing is ergonomically very different from typing on a physical keyboard. It has been established that normal users using a QWERTY on a touch-screen device are limited to typing at a rate of around 20 words per minute, which is slow compared to the rates achieved on physical keyboards. The researchers set out to create an alternative to QWERTY that offers substantial performance ...

A new study concludes that approximately half of the prescriptions of Tamiflu during the 2009-10 influenza pandemic went unused in England. The unused medication represents approximately 600,000 courses of Tamiflu at a cost of around £7.8 million to the UK taxpayer. The novel scientific method used in the study could help measure and improve the effectiveness of future pandemic flu strategies. The finding, published online this week in the open access scientific journal PLOS ONE, comes from the first study of its kind to use sewage water to estimate drug compliance rates, ...

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory have identified a molecule that prevents repair of some cancer cells, providing a potential new "genetic chemotherapy" approach to cancer treatment that could significantly reduce side effects and the development of treatment resistance compared with traditional chemotherapy. In healthy people, white blood cells called B cells (or B lymphocytes) are a kind of sophisticated tool kit, making antibodies against pathogens or other invaders. In the process of antibody production, B cells turn on the gene known as activation-induced cytidine ...

WASHINGTON--U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Chemistry Division scientists have developed a second generation, cost-effective polyetheretherketone (PEEK)-like phthalonitrile-resin demonstrating superior high temperature and flammability properties for use in numerous marine, aerospace and domestic applications. The resin can be used to make composite components by established industrial methods such as resin transfer molding (RTM), resin infusion molding (RIM), filament winding, prepreg consolidation, and potentially by automated composite manufacturing techniques such ...

Individuals from stigmatized groups choose to present themselves in ways that counteract the specific stereotypes and prejudices associated with their group, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "People often think of prejudice as a simple, single phenomenon — general dislike for members of other groups — but recent research suggests that there are actually multiple, distinct types of prejudice," says graduate student Rebecca Neel, who conducted the research with her advisor Steven Neuberg ...

SEATTLE – Breast cancer survivors are among the women who could most benefit from regular physical activity, yet few meet national exercise recommendations during the 10 years after being diagnosed, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Prior studies and available evidence show a strong association between physical activity and reduced mortality, extended survival and higher quality of life among breast cancer survivors. With 2.9 million breast cancer survivors living in the U.S. and another 80,000 added annually, there is considerable ...

Baltimore, MD— Eggs take a long time to produce in the ovary, and thus are one of a body's precious resources. It has been theorized that the body has mechanisms to help the ovary ensure that ovulated eggs enter the reproductive tract at the right time in order to maximize the chance of successful fertilization. New research from Carnegie's Allan Spradling and Jianjun Sun has shed light on how successful ovulation and fertilization are brought about by studying these processes in fruit flies. They found that secretions from special glands within the fruit fly's reproductive ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The workers who may have the most to gain from attending company social events may be the ones who actually get the least value from them, a new study suggests. Researchers found that, in general, workers tended to report closer relationships with their colleagues the more that they attended company social events and shared their nonwork lives with their co-workers. But that positive association between workplace sharing and closer relationships didn't occur for workers who were racially dissimilar from their colleagues – for example, the only black ...

Migraine headaches are a major cause of ill health and a reduced quality of life. Some individuals suffer from a frequent and severe migraine problem which means that they require regular medication to try and prevent them. A new review¹ of the medications, which may help to prevent episodic migraines, appears in the Journal of General Internal Medicine², published by Springer. The authors, Tatyana Shamliyan from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and her colleagues, compare published research on the drugs available to find those which offer the best ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – If you suffer a heart attack while walking down the street and are taken to the hospital quickly, your chances of survival are very good. But if you have a heart attack while already in the hospital for something else, you are 10 times more likely to die. That surprising finding comes from a study by University of North Carolina School of Medicine researchers. Their study, which is the first to systematically examine outcomes among hospital inpatients who suffer a type of heart attack called an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), was published ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Mindfulness exercises that include meditation, stretching, and acceptance of thoughts and emotions might help veterans with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder find relief from their symptoms. A new collaborative study from the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System shows that veterans with PTSD who completed an 8-week mindfulness-based group treatment plan showed a significant reduction in symptoms as compared to patients who underwent treatment as normal. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or MBCT, ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Children and teens with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use screen-based media, such as television and video games, more often than their typically developing peers and are more likely to develop problematic video game habits, a University of Missouri researcher found. "Many parents and clinicians have noticed that children with ASD are fascinated with technology, and the results of our recent studies certainly support this idea," said Micah Mazurek, an assistant professor of health psychology and a clinical child psychologist at MU. "We found that children ...

Philadelphia, PA, April 17, 2013 – Over 40,000 people die each year in the United States from influenza-related diseases. In patients whose immune systems are compromised, antiviral therapy may be life-saving, but it needs to be initiated quickly. It is therefore crucial to diagnose and type the influenza rapidly. Scientists in the Netherlands have designed and evaluated a set of molecular assays that they say are a sensitive and good alternative for conventional diagnostic methods and can produce results in one day without the need for additional equipment. The results ...

With coastal areas bracing for rising sea levels, new research indicates that cutting emissions of certain pollutants can greatly slow sea level rise this century. Scientists found that reductions in four pollutants that cycle comparatively quickly through the atmosphere could temporarily forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50 percent. The researchers focused on emissions of four heat-trapping pollutants: methane, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon. These gases and particles last anywhere from a week to a decade in the atmosphere ...

A new, pre-clinical study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center suggests that a novel drug combination could lead to profound leukemia cell death by disrupting the function of two major pro-survival proteins. The effectiveness of the therapy lies in its ability to target a pro-survival cell signaling pathway known as PI3K/AKT/mTOR, upon which the leukemia cells have become dependent. In the study, published in the journal Cancer Research, researchers combined the drug ABT-737 with another agent BEZ235. ABT-737 targets proteins known ...

Contact: Michael J. Cleveland, Ph.D. mcleveland@psu.edu 814-865-0568 The Pennsylvania State University Rose Marie Ward, Ph.D. wardrm1@miamioh.edu 513-529-2700 Miami University, Ohio Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research Parents can help their children avoid alcohol pitfalls during transition from high school to college The transition from high school to college is a particularly vulnerable time for alcohol experimentation. A new study looks at which student characteristics may enhance parent-based interventions (PBIs). Results indicate ...

Contact: Peter G. Miller peter.miller@deakin.edu.au 61-429-024-844 (Australia) Deakin University Contact: Samantha Wells swells@uwo.ca 519-858-5010 X22001 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research Negative fathering plus barroom drinking are a dangerous mix, lead to aggression A new study examines the role of the father-son relationship in male-to-male alcohol-related aggression (MMARA). Findings indicate that negative father-son relationships can play a significant role in fostering young men’s MMARA, particularly ...

Contact: Hollis C. Karoly hollis.karoly@colorado.edu 303-492-9147 University of Colorado at Boulder Contact: Susan F. Tapert stapert@ucsd.edu 858-552-7563 University of California, San Diego Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research Aerobic exercise may alleviate some of the white-matter damage caused by heavy drinking Aerobic exercise can slow cognitive decline, and decrease negative neural changes linked to aging and disease. A new study looks at the relationship between alcohol use, aerobic exercise frequency, and health of brain white matter. Findings ...

A team led by the University of Warwick has pinpointed a new type of exceptionally powerful and long-lived cosmic explosion, prompting a theory that they arise in the violent death throes of a supergiant star. These explosions create powerful blasts of high energy gamma-rays, known as gamma-ray bursts, but while most bursts are over in about a minute, this new type can last for several hours. The first example was found by astronomers on Christmas Day 2010, but it lacked a measurement of distance and so remained shrouded in mystery with two competing theories put forward ...

Understanding the molecular control of placenta formation, the organ which enables fetal growth, is critical in diagnosing and treating related pregnancy complications. A group of scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, and the University of Calgary, Canada has revealed a molecular feedback loop that governs the earliest steps of placenta formation in mice, which is known to mimic placenta formation in humans. Their findings are published April 16 in the open access journal PLOS Biology. The earliest steps of placenta formation involve the development ...