Channel Islands imprint, Liberation Publishing, is publishing its first novel, "Black Art" by Vic Tanner Davy, on 1 November 2012. A crime thriller, featuring the world's first female-to-male transsexual detective, it is about a genealogist's attempts to uncover the truth surrounding the disappearance of the grandmother of a British actress called Helen Valentine. The novel is set in the present day, but its protagonist, Arty Shaw, is a genealogist who is asked to research the disappearance of Kay Marett in 1942 so, inevitably, there is an historical element ...

When someone develops liver cancer, the disease introduces a very subtle difference to their bloodstream, increasing the concentration of a particular molecule by just 10 parts per billion. That small shift is difficult to detect without sophisticated lab equipment – but perhaps not for long. A new "lab on a chip" designed by Brigham Young University professor Adam Woolley and his students reveals the presence of ultra-low concentrations of a target molecule. As the BYU researchers report in the journal Analytical Chemistry, their experiments detected as little as a ...

Berkeley — A new, comprehensive survey of day care centers by University of California, Berkeley, researchers found that, overall, the environmental quality in child care settings was similar to other indoor environments, but that levels of formaldehyde and several other contaminants exceeded state health guidelines. Cleaning- and sanitizing-related chemicals were also present in the air, and sometimes at higher levels, than in comparable studies on homes. The study, funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), is the first detailed analysis of environmental contaminants ...

Much more must be done to develop energy efficient cars, buildings and domestic appliances to address climate change – according to new research from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia. A report published today in Nature Climate Change shows that twice as much effort is being spent on developing energy supply technologies - such as new power stations - than is spent on improving the efficiency with which energy is used. The research shows that efficient end-use technologies have the potential to contribute large emission ...

Our master circadian clock resides in a small group of about 10'000 neurons in the brain, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. However, similar clocks are ticking in nearly all cells of the body, as demonstrated by the group of Ueli Schibler, professor at the Department of Molecular Biology of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The molecular mechanisms of circadian clocks can thus be studied outside of the animals, in cultured cells. A system to study gene regulation live in single cells "Given the important role of the DBP protein in the regulation of detoxifying ...

A cell is composed of a nucleus which encloses its genetic information and the cytoplasm which is itself confined by an external membrane separating the cell from the outside world. The impermeability of the membrane and its ability to repair itself protect the cell from its environment. Although this membrane resistance is fundamental to the survival of the cell, the cell also needs to let in particles necessary for its proper functioning. The mechanism by which a small region of the cytoplasmic membrane invaginates to form a bud that will then be sectioned off to let ...

Growing evidence suggests that there may be a link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, but the physiological mechanisms by which diabetes impacts brain function and cognition are not fully understood. In a new study published in Aging Cell, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies show, for the first time, that diabetes enhances the development of aging features that may underlie early pathological events in Alzheimer's. Specifically, the Salk team found increases in two hallmarks of Alzheimer's-accumulations of amyloid beta (Abeta) and tau protein-in ...

A new computer algorithm can analyze the footwear marks left at a crime scene according to clusters of footwear types, makes and tread patterns even if the imprint recorded by crime scene investigators is distorted or only a partial print. Footwear marks are found at crime scenes much more commonly than fingerprints, writes a team from the University at Buffalo, New York, in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Granular Computing, Rough Sets and Intelligent Systems. They point out that while footprints are common they are often left unused by forensic scientists ...

The NHS should implement a non-invasive alternative to autopsies, according to a Department of Health-commissioned report by leading UK experts within the field of post-mortem cross-sectional imaging. The NHS Implementation Sub-Group of the Department of Health's Post Mortem, Forensic and Disaster Imaging Group (PMFDI) has called on the NHS to adopt post-mortem cross-sectional imaging for as an adjunct to, and under the right circumstances, a replacement for autopsies. The group, chaired by Professor Guy Rutty, Chief Forensic Pathologist to the East Midlands Forensic ...

Digital spending - the acquisition of media products in digital format - tripled from 2006 to 2010 worldwide, with the recording music sector now achieving 30% of its global sales in the digital market. The digital success of the music sector contrasts other media and content industries, which are moving at a slower pace towards digital with distribution. Only 6% of film/video, newspapers, magazines and book sales were digital, according to the Joint Research Centre's (JRC) report on "The media and content industries. A quantitative overview", which represents an important ...

At the Sixteenth International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (microTAS) to be held Oct. 28-Nov. 1, in Okinawa, Japan, University of Cincinnati researchers will present four papers, including one detailing improvements in rare cell isolation and one detailing improvements, in terms of cost and time, of common blood tests. Ian Papautsky, associate professor in UC's School of Electronic and Computing Systems (SECS), part of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and a UC team are leading these research efforts. In a paper titled ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – While powerful magnetic stimulation of the frontal lobe of the brain can alleviate symptoms of depression, those receiving the treatment did not report effects on sleep or arousal commonly seen with antidepressant medications, researchers say. "People's sleep gets better as their depression improves, but the treatment doesn't itself cause sedation or insomnia." said Dr. Peter B. Rosenquist, Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University. The finding resulted from ...

This press release is available in Spanish.U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research confirms that the time-tested practice of amending crop soils with manure also can help restore soils on damaged post-mining landscapes. Thousands of acres of land with little or no vegetation, once mined for lead and zinc, remain throughout an area of southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma. The mining activities also left behind a legacy of lead-contaminated acidic soils, toxic smelter sites, and large quantities of mine tailings called "chat." Soil ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mayo Clinic researchers are presenting new findings on the early treatment of child and adolescent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder this week at the American Academy of Childhood and Adolescent Psychiatry annual meeting in San Francisco. They include a method to get better input from parents and teachers of children who are being diagnosed with ADHD for the first time -- allowing for more effective treatment upon the first consultation. Researchers also showed how a tool can help clinicians better diagnose and treat children who have both ADHD and ...

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida have found that men with prostate cancer who receive androgen deprivation therapy may predictably suffer from fatigue if they have single nucleotide polymorphisms in three pro-inflammatory genes. The discovery highlights the importance of personalized medicine, in which therapies are tailored to a patient's genetic profile. The study appears in the October issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. "Few studies have examined the role of genes in cancer-related fatigue and none, to our knowledge, ...

(NEW YORK, N.Y., October 26, 2012) – The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), a comprehensive behavioral early intervention program that is appropriate for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as young as 12 months, has been found to be effective in improving social skills and brain responses to social cues in a randomized controlled study published online today in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. "So much of a toddler's learning involves social interaction, and early intervention that promotes attention to people and social ...

An intensive early intervention therapy that is effective for improving cognition and language skills among very young children with autism also normalizes their brain activity, decreases their autism symptoms and improves their social skills, a nationwide study has found. The researchers said the study is the first to demonstrate that an autism early intervention program can normalize brain activity. "We know that infant brains are quite malleable and previously demonstrated that this therapy capitalizes on the potential of learning that an infant brain has in order ...

MANHASSET, NY – Researchers at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that a bean commonly used in Chinese cuisine protects against the life-threatening condition sepsis. These findings are published in the current issue of Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (eCAM). It has been found that a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) protein, HMGB1, mediates inflammation. Inflammation is necessary for maintaining good health – without inflammation, wounds and infections would never heal. However, persistent and constant inflammation can damage ...

MIAMI, FL – OCTOBER 26, 2012 – Rarely tested in patients over the age of 80, a study found that drug-eluting stents exhibited some benefits over bare-metal stents, though both types of stents demonstrated a clinical benefit. Results of the XIMA trial were presented today at the 24th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium. Sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), TCT is the world's premier educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine. Patients over the age of 80 are often excluded from ...

To all intents and purposes, nothing stands in the way of titanium in terms of becoming a first-choice industrial material. It is a practically unlimited resource; it is stable and lightweight, but also extremely malleable as well as corrosion and temperature resistant. Nevertheless, this white silver lustrous metal remains in the shadows of steel, chrome, nickel and aluminum when it comes to manufacturing. The reason for this is that efficient metal forming processes such as deep drawing or hydroforming can only be used in a very limited way. "Titanium tends to adhere ...

If you're balding and want your hair to grow back, then here is some good news. A new research report appearing online in The FASEB Journal (www.fasebj.org) shows how the FDA-approved glaucoma drug, bimatoprost, causes human hair to regrow. It's been commercially available as a way to lengthen eyelashes, but these data are the first to show that it can actually grow human hair from the scalp. "We hope this study will lead to the development of a new therapy for balding which should improve the quality of life for many people with hair loss," said Valerie Randall, a researcher ...

Using regional anesthesia rather than general anesthesia reduces the need for blood transfusions in patients undergoing bilateral total knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery, in New York City. Currently, the majority of bilateral knee replacements in the United States (as well as single knee replacements) are performed under general anesthesia, and researchers say that a regional anesthesia known as neuraxial anesthesia should be promoted for these procedures. "The use of neuraxial anesthesia may not always be feasible ...

At home, in the car or with industrial processes – glass is a universal material. Its properties are so extraordinary that frequently there are no alternatives to this material. Take, for example, high-temperature fuel cells, in which layers of ceramics and metals are alternately attached to each other: to ensure no explosive hydrogen escapes, the metal and ceramic layers must be firmly bound to each other, and the seam must be sealed tight. Only glass can accomplish this type of seal – and here, we are specifically referring to solder glass. But how does glass behave at ...

Investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have accelerated the search for the bacterial genes that make the Lyme disease bacterium so invasive and persistent. The discovery could advance the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, which affects an estimated 30,000 Americans each year. The researchers have developed a new technique that allowed them to test 15 times more bacterial genes than had been evaluated in the previous 30 years to ascertain their roles in infection. Findings appeared Oct. 25 in the journal The Public Library ...

Social animals usually congregate for protection or mating or to capture bigger prey, but a University of California, Berkeley, biologist has found that the terrestrial hermit crab has a more self-serving social agenda: to kick another crab out of its shell and move into a larger home. All hermit crabs appropriate abandoned snail shells for their homes, but the dozen or so species of land-based hermit crabs – popular terrarium pets – are the only ones that hollow out and remodel their shells, sometimes doubling the internal volume. This provides more room to grow, more ...