COLUMBUS, Ohio – A desire for expensive, high-status goods is related to feelings of social status - which helps explain why minorities are attracted to bling, a new study suggests. Previous research had shown that racial minorities spend a larger portion of their incomes than do whites on conspicuous consumption – buying products that suggest high status. But a new study showed that whites could be induced to crave expensive, high-status products if they imagined themselves in a low-status position. These findings cast doubt on the notion that urban minorities have ...

BETHESDA, Md. (Dec. 17, 2012)—It is well known that people with Down syndrome (DS) suffer from marked muscle weakness. Even the simple tasks of independent living, such as getting out of a chair or climbing a flight of stairs, can become major obstacles. This can reduce the quality of life for those with DS and lead to a loss of independence. Now, a new study sheds light on some of the suspected causes of muscle weakness. Led by scientists from Syracuse University, a research team has investigated muscle weakness in a mouse model of DS. "If we understand the cause of ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Finding ways to diagnose cancer earlier could greatly improve the chances of survival for many patients. One way to do this is to look for specific proteins secreted by cancer cells, which circulate in the bloodstream. However, the quantity of these biomarkers is so low that detecting them has proven difficult. A new technology developed at MIT may help to make biomarker detection much easier. The researchers, led by Sangeeta Bhatia, have developed nanoparticles that can home to a tumor and interact with cancer proteins to produce thousands of biomarkers, ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Sulfur compounds in petroleum fuels have met their nano-structured match. University of Illinois researchers developed mats of metal oxide nanofibers that scrub sulfur from petroleum-based fuels much more effectively than traditional materials. Such efficiency could lower costs and improve performance for fuel-based catalysis, advanced energy applications and toxic gas removal. Co-led by Mark Shannon, a professor of mechanical science and engineering at the U. of I. until his death this fall, and chemistry professor Prashant Jain, the researchers ...

AMHERST, Mass. – Though it seems like an oxymoron, Arctic hurricanes happen, complete with a central "eye," extreme low barometric pressure and towering 30-foot waves that can sink small ships and coat metal platforms with thick ice, threatening oil and gas exploration. Now climate scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and in England report the first conclusive evidence that Arctic hurricanes, also known as polar lows, play a significant role in driving ocean water circulation and climate. Results point to potentially cooler conditions in Europe and North ...

This is a joint press release from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Laxenburg, Austria, ETH Zurich in Switzerland, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. Limiting climate change to target levels will become much more difficult to achieve, and more expensive, if action is not taken soon, according to a new analysis from IIASA, ETH Zurich, and NCAR. The new paper, published today in Nature Climate Change, explores technological, policy, and social changes that would need to take place in the near ...

Better targeted treatments for 20 per cent of renal failure patients are on the horizon following a key discovery about the role of white blood cells in kidney inflammation. In a study published today in Nature Medicine, researchers from Monash University tracked the movements of white blood cells, or leukocytes, leading to a new understanding of their behaviour in both healthy and diseased kidneys. Leukocytes play important protective roles in the body's immune system, but in some cases they cause damaging inflammation. Glomerulonephritis is an inflammatory disease ...

Blocking a single tiny blood vessel in the brain can harm neural tissue and even alter behavior, a new study from the University of California, San Diego has shown. But these consequences can be mitigated by a drug already in use, suggesting treatment that could slow the progress of dementia associated with cumulative damage to miniscule blood vessels that feed brain cells. The team reports their results in the December 16 advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience. "The brain is incredibly dense with vasculature. It was surprising that blocking one small vessel could ...

A team led by Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Cell Engineering at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, has shown for the first time the effectiveness of a new technique that could allow the development of more-specific, cell-based immune therapies for cancer. Their findings were reported online today in Nature Biotechnology. Immunotherapies — which make use of patients' own immune cells that have been augmented in the laboratory — have shown some early success in the treatment of blood cancers including certain types of leukemia. For most cancers, ...

LOS ANGELES (EMBARGOED UNTIL DEC. 16, 2012 AT 1 P.M. EST) – Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute researchers have reprogrammed ordinary heart cells to become exact replicas of highly specialized pacemaker cells by injecting a single gene (Tbx18)–a major step forward in the decade-long search for a biological therapy to correct erratic and failing heartbeats. The advance will be published in the Jan 8 issue of Nature Biotechnology and also will be available today on the journal's website. "Although we and others have created primitive biological pacemakers before, this study ...

Intense but small-scale polar storms could make a big difference to climate predictions according to new research from the University of East Anglia and the University of Massachusetts. Difficult-to-forecast polar mesoscale storms occur frequently over the polar seas, however they are missing in most climate models. Research published today in Nature Geoscience shows that their inclusion could paint a different picture of climate change in years to come. Polar mesoscale storms are capable of producing hurricane-strength winds which cool the ocean and lead to changes ...

December 16, 2012, Shenzhen, China – A research team, led by Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences and BGI, has successfully reconstructed a continuous population history of the giant panda from its origin to the present. The findings suggested whereas global changes in climate were the primary drivers in panda population fluctuation for millions of years, human activities were likely to underlie recent population divergence and serious decline. This work reveals a good example for assessing and establishing the best conservation method for other endangered ...

New research led by Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry suggests that the cognitive test used in Alzheimer's drug trials is flawed. The current standard cognitive test for the disease is the ADAS Cog. The new research, published as two studies in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, investigates the role of the test and questions its effectiveness. The studies show that the ADAS Cog is not subtle enough to properly track changes in the early stages of Alzheimer's. This is important because data from this key ...

Older people often worry about dementia and while some risks are known, for example alcoholism or stroke, the effects of illness are less clear. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care looks at illness requiring hospitalization and treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) and finds that infection or severe sepsis, neurological dysfunction, such as delirium, or acute dialysis are all independently associated with an increased risk of a subsequent diagnosis of dementia. This study was based on a random 5% of older (66 years or above) ...

A new model of the how the protein coat (capsid) of viruses assembles, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Biophysics, shows that the construction of intermediate structures prior to final capsid production (hierarchical assembly) can be more efficient than constructing the capsid protein by protein (direct assembly). The capsid enveloping a virus is essential for protection and propagation of the viral genome. Many viruses have evolved a self-assembly method which is so successful that the viral capsid can self assemble even when removed from its host ...

Turning vast amounts of genomic data into meaningful information about the cell is the great challenge of bioinformatics, with major implications for human biology and medicine. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have proposed a new method that creates a computational model of the cell from large networks of gene and protein interactions, discovering how genes and proteins connect to form higher-level cellular machinery. The findings are published in the December 16 advance online publication of Nature Biotechnology. "Our ...

PHILADELPHIA – Research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reveals that sons of male rats exposed to cocaine are resistant to the rewarding effects of the drug, suggesting that cocaine-induced changes in physiology are passed down from father to son. The findings are published in the latest edition of Nature Neuroscience. "We know that genetic factors contribute significantly to the risk of cocaine abuse, but the potential role of epigenetic influences – how the expression of certain genes related ...

A new analysis has found that loading up on snack foods may increase cancer risk in individuals with an inborn susceptibility to colorectal and other cancers. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that an eating pattern low in snack foods could help these individuals—who have a condition called Lynch syndrome—lower their risk. Lynch syndrome is an inherited condition characterized by a high risk of developing colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, and other cancers at an early age. The syndrome is ...

With a single social-media misstep, student-athletes could lose athletic eligibility or a scholarship. But that's not stopping them from using Twitter – sometimes even during games, when they may see harsh criticism of their performances from fans, according to a study by Baylor University and Clemson University researchers. While many college athletic teams prohibit student-athletes from using social media during games, some breach the rules to get a "real-time" commentary on how they are doing during the game, said Blair Browning, Ph.D., an assistant professor of communication ...

Asthmatic children in New York City neighborhoods with high rates of asthma make many more visits to the emergency room (ER) than those who live in other parts of the city. While socioeconomic factors such as lack of adequate preventive care are part of the equation (high-asthma neighborhoods tend to be lower income), new research points to a possible biological basis for the disparity. Asthmatic children living in asthma hotspots were twice as likely to experience a common symptom known as exercise-induced wheeze than were those in neighborhoods with lower asthma rates. ...

December 22 marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Srinivasa Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician renowned for somehow intuiting extraordinary numerical patterns and connections without the use of proofs or modern mathematical tools. A devout Hindu, Ramanujan said that his findings were divine, revealed to him in dreams by the goddess Namagiri. "I wanted to do something special, in the spirit of Ramanujan, to mark the anniversary," says Emory mathematician Ken Ono. "It's fascinating to me to explore his writings and imagine how his brain may have worked. It's like ...

WASHINGTON — Paying it forward - a popular expression for extending generosity to others after someone has been generous to you - is a heartwarming concept, but it is less common than repaying greed with greed, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association. "The idea of paying it forward is this cascade of goodwill will turn into a utopia with everyone helping everyone," said lead researcher Kurt Gray, PhD. "Unfortunately, greed or looking out for ourselves is more powerful than true acts of generosity." The study, published online ...

Berkeley, Calif., Dec.17,2012—Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an elegant and powerful new microscale actuator that can flex like a tiny beckoning finger. Based on an oxide material that expands and contracts dramatically in response to a small temperature variation, the actuators are smaller than the width of a human hair and are promising for microfluidics, drug delivery, and artificial muscles. "We believe our microactuator is more ...

Join the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera (Verismo Opera) as the company celebrates its 23rd season with Love, Comedy, Obsession & Murder. Artistic Director and Met Opera luminary Lucine Amara invites the public to attend an open house to learn more about Verismo Opera on Saturday, January 5, 2013, 2:00 p.m., at 44 Armory Street in Englewood, New Jersey. A snow date is scheduled for Saturday, January 12, 2:00 p.m., at the same location. Ms. Amara, Verismo Opera Music Director/Principal Conductor Anthony Morss, Chorus Director Mara Waldman, Stage Director ...

Cosmetology students at ITS Academy of Beauty schools in Fort Worth, Mesquite, Irving, Plano, Arlington, Hurst and Denton are doing their part to help folks recover from holiday spending by offering season and weekly specials. The winter specials at the award-winning cosmetology school include 50% off of perms and 40% off relaxer services. The special is good Dec. 24 through Feb. 28. For weekly specials on services and products, customers are encouraged to call the individual schools. "There is no need to sacrifice beauty after the holidays when folks can come ...