An historic fish, with an intriguing past, now has had its genome sequenced, providing a wealth of information on the genetic changes that accompanied the adaptation from an aquatic environment to land. A team of international researchers led by Chris Amemiya, PhD, Director of Molecular Genetics at the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) and Professor of Biology at the University of Washington, will publish "The African coelacanth genome provides insights into tetrapod evolution" April 18 as the cover article in Nature. The coelacanth genome was sequenced ...

Bear hunters will tell you that a good way to attract a bear is to put out bait. And in 10 states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, that's perfectly legal. Hunting dogs are another useful technique in the bear-hunter's toolkit, and 17 states say that's just fine. But who else likes bear bait? Gray wolves, that's who. And wolves that are feeling territorial about a bear bait stash can—and sometimes do—kill hunting dogs released at the bait site. Like most interactions between wildlife and human beings, wolf attacks on hunting dogs illustrate a tangled trade-off: ...

VIDEO: Mapping molecular motions -- the "magic " of chemistry revealed. Despite the enormous number of possible arrangements of atoms during a structural transition, such as occurs with changes in charge distribution... Click here for more information. TORONTO, ON – Call it the ultimate nature documentary. Scientists at the University of Toronto have recorded atomic motions in real time, offering a glimpse into the very essence of chemistry and biology at the ...

April 17, 2013 — (BRONX, NY) — Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered how the protein that blocks HIV-1 from multiplying in white blood cells is regulated. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS, and the discovery could lead to novel approaches for addressing HIV-1 "in hiding" – namely eliminating reservoirs of HIV-1 that persist in patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Cell Host & Microbe. Antiretroviral therapy can reduce blood levels of HIV-1 until ...

Federally funded safety-net clinics for the uninsured lag behind other health care providers in controlling blood pressure among the low-income patients who rely on them for care, a new Michigan State University analysis suggests. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular complications including heart disease and stroke, and is especially common and dangerous for patients with diabetes, said lead researcher Adesuwa Olomu, associate professor in the MSU Department of Medicine. In recent decades, a growing share of the 67 million ...

SEATTLE, WA, and QUEBEC CITY, QC, April 17, 2013 – IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute), a Seattle-based non-profit research organization that is a leading developer of adjuvants used in vaccines combating infectious disease, and Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG; OTCQX: MDCGF), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing highly effective and competitive vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today reported positive interim results from a Phase I clinical trial for an H5N1 Avian Influenza VLP vaccine candidate ("H5N1 ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Pain is an undeniable focal point for patients with sickle cell disease but it's not the best focus for drug development, says one of the dying breed of physicians specializing in the condition. Rather scientists need to get back to the crux of the disease affecting 1 in 500 black Americans and find better ways to prevent the hallmark sickling that impedes red blood cells' oxygen delivery, damaging blood vessel walls and organs along the way, said Dr. Abdullah Kutlar, Director of the Sickle Cell Center at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents ...

Smaller begets bigger. Such is often the case for galaxies, at least: the first galaxies were small, then eventually merged together to form the behemoths we see in the present universe. Those smaller galaxies produced stars at a modest rate; only later—when the universe was a couple of billion years old—did the vast majority of larger galaxies begin to form and accumulate enough gas and dust to become prolific star factories. Indeed, astronomers have observed that these star factories—called starburst galaxies—became prevalent a couple of billion years after the Big ...

MINNEAPOLIS – Americans with brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis (MS) who need to see a neurologist may face longer wait times or have more difficulty finding a neurologist, according to a new study published in the April 17, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The findings are being released as nearly 150 neurologists will descend on Capitol Hill next Tuesday, April 23, 2013, to encourage Congress to protect patients' access to neurologists and ensure there will be ...

Teenagers are risk-takers — they're more likely than children or adults to experiment with illicit substances, have unprotected sex, and drive recklessly. But research shows that teenagers have the knowledge and ability to make competent decisions about risk, just like adults. So what explains their risky behavior? In a new report, psychological scientists Laurence Steinberg and Jason Chein of Temple University and Dustin Albert of Duke University argue that some teens' risky behavior reflects the unique effect of peer influence on the still-developing teenage brain. Their ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Osteoarthritis, which affects at least 20 percent of adults in the United States, leads to deterioration of cartilage, the rubbery tissue that prevents bones from rubbing together. By studying the molecular properties of cartilage, MIT engineers have now discovered how the earliest stages of arthritis make the tissue more susceptible to damage from physical activities such as running or jumping. The findings could help researchers develop tests to diagnose arthritis earlier in patients at high risk for the disease and also guide engineers in designing ...

This year, astronomers around the world have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of X-ray astronomy. Few objects better illustrate the progress of the field in the past half-century than the supernova remnant known as SN 1006. When the object we now call SN 1006 first appeared on May 1, 1006 A.D., it was far brighter than Venus and visible during the daytime for weeks. Astronomers in China, Japan, Europe, and the Arab world all documented this spectacular sight. With the advent of the Space Age in the 1960s, scientists were able to launch instruments and detectors ...

Neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have taken a major step in their efforts to help people with memory loss tied to brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Using sea snail nerve cells, the scientists reversed memory loss by determining when the cells were primed for learning. The scientists were able to help the cells compensate for memory loss by retraining them through the use of optimized training schedules. Findings of this proof-of-principle study appear in the April 17 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. "Although ...

Neuroscientists from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the University of Toronto have developed an efficient and reliable method of analyzing brain activity to detect autism in children. Their findings appear today in the online journal PLOS ONE. The researchers recorded and analyzed dynamic patterns of brain activity with magnetoencephalography (MEG) to determine the brain's functional connectivity – that is, its communication from one region to another. MEG measures magnetic fields generated by electrical currents in neurons of the brain. Roberto ...

No matter how you slice it, cutting fruit into bite-sized pieces prompts children to eat more apples during lunchtime, according to a recent study by Cornell University researchers. Most people believe that children avoid fruit because of the taste and allure of alternative packaged snacks. A study by Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab researchers Brian Wansink, David Just, Andrew Hanks, and Laura Smith concluded that the size of the snack counts the most. Kids love to eat fruit in ready-to-eat bite-sized pieces, yet in most school settings, the fruit is served ...

Athens, Ga. – Many dog owners have their pets spayed or neutered to help control the pet population, but new research from the University of Georgia suggests the procedure could add to the length of their lives and alter the risk of specific causes of death. Looking at a sample of 40,139 death records from the Veterinary Medical Database from 1984-2004, researchers determined the average age at death for intact dogs—dogs that had not been spayed or neutered—was 7.9 years versus 9.4 years for sterilized dogs. The results of the study were published April 17 in PLOS ONE. ...

Ever since the appetite-regulation hormone called leptin was discovered in 1994, scientists have sought to understand the mechanisms that control its action. It was known that leptin was made by fat cells, reduced appetite and interacted with insulin , but the precise molecular details of its function —details that might enable the creation of a new treatment for obesity — remained elusive. Now, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have revealed a significant part of one of those mechanisms, identifying a protein that can interfere with the brain's ...

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Kansas State University have demonstrated a spray-on mixture of carbon nanotubes and ceramic that has unprecedented ability to resist damage while absorbing laser light.* Coatings that absorb as much of the energy of high-powered lasers as possible without breaking down are essential for optical power detectors that measure the output of such lasers, which are used, for example, in military equipment for defusing unexploded mines. The new material improves on NIST's earlier version of a spray-on ...

TORONTO, April 17, 2013 –Newspapers are paying more attention to the severity and long-term impact of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries in ice hockey than they did 25 years ago, a new study has found. They're also writing more stories about the need to act against aggression, especially at youth levels, and reporting about concussions suffered by a wide range of players, not just stars. However, newspapers are still reporting that head injuries "are just part of the game" and that hockey players should accept this occupational risk or not play, the study ...

Portable electric generators retrofitted with off-the-shelf hardware by the University of Alabama (UA) emitted significantly lower levels of carbon monoxide (CO) exhaust, according to the results* of tests conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Compared with standard portable generators, CO emissions from the prototype machines were reduced by 90 percent or more, depending on the specific hardware used and operating conditions. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), ...

Multispectral photoacoustic imaging, which combines laser optics and ultrasound imaging technologies, can reliably distinguish between benign and malignant prostate tissue, a new study indicates. Researchers at the University of Rochester looked at 42 prostatectomy specimens using the new imaging technique. Multispectral photoacoustic imaging, still in its infancy, predicted 25 out of 26 benign tissues correctly and 13 out of 16 malignant tissues correctly, said Dr. Vikram Dogra, lead author of the study. Lipids, water, oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin in the blood ...

A new minimally invasive tumor ablation technique is providing hope for liver cancer patients who can't undergo surgery or thermal ablation, a study shows. The study of 22 patients at the Universitatsklinikum Regensberg in Regensberg, Germany, found that irreversible electroporation (IRE) successfully destroyed tumor tissue in 70% of these patients. These patients were not responsive to conventional therapy or their tumor was in a location that was not suitable for standard treatment, said Dr. Philipp Wiggermann, lead author of the study. "If one considers that IRE was ...

Rome, 18 April 2013. Two studies presented at this year's EuroPRevent 2013 congress suggest that demanding physical work has a detrimental effect on an individual's risk of coronary heart disease. The first was a case-control study described by Dr Demosthenes Panagiotakos, Associate Professor of Biostatistics-Epidemiology at Harokopio University, Athens, which evaluated occupation in 250 consecutive patients with a first stroke, 250 with a first acute coronary event and 500 equally matched controls.(1) Overall, when assessed on a 9-unit scale (1 = physically demanding ...

Rome, 18 April 2013. People deemed to be "mentally vulnerable" are at a significantly increased risk of both fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease, according to results of a large population study from Denmark. The details of the study were presented today at the EuroPRevent 2013 congress in Rome. (1) The study's first author, Dr Anders Borglykke from the Research Centre for Prevention and Health
 at Glostrup University Hospital, Denmark, explained that psychosocial factors and personality traits have been consistently associated with cardiovascular disease ...

Rome, 18 April 2013. The association between road traffic and heart disease has been suggested in several studies. In 2012 a large prospective cohort study from Denmark showed that traffic noise was significantly associated with risk of heart attack - for every 10 decibel increase in noise exposure (either at the time of the attack or over the five years preceding it) there was a 12% increased risk.(1) Now, a new study presented at the EuroPRevent 2013 congress in Rome shows that long-term exposure to fine particle matter (PM) air pollution in part derived from traffic ...