GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida paleontologists have discovered remarkably well-preserved fossils of two crocodilians and a mammal previously unknown to science during recent Panama Canal excavations that began in 2009. The two new ancient extinct alligator-like animals and an extinct hippo-like species inhabited Central America during the Miocene about 20 million years ago. The research expands the range of ancient animals in the subtropics — some of the most diverse areas today about which little is known historically because lush vegetation prevents paleontological ...

New research from Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and the Puget Sound Blood Center (PSBC) has revealed how stresses of flow in the small blood vessels of the heart and brain could cause a common protein to change shape and form dangerous blood clots. The scientists were surprised to find that the proteins could remain in the dangerous, clot-initiating shape for up to five hours before returning to their normal, healthy shape. The study -- the first of its kind -- focused on a protein called von Willebrand factor, or VWF, a key player in clot formation. ...

(Boston) – Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have, for the first time, identified a specific group of cells in the brainstem whose activation during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is critical for the regulation of emotional memory processing. The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, could help lead to the development of effective behavioral and pharmacological therapies to treat anxiety disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias and panic attacks. There are two main stages of sleep – REM and non-REM – and both are ...

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Each year, more than 130,000 children younger than 13 are treated in U.S. emergency departments after motor-vehicle crash-related injuries. Each of these visits offer a chance to pass along tips for proper use of child passenger restraints, but a new study from the University of Michigan indicates emergency departments may not be taking advantage of those opportunities. In the study published today in Pediatric Emergency Care, more than one-third of ER physicians say they are uncertain whether their departments provide information about child passenger ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Women's issues play a major role in the health of the nation and should be a key consideration for policymakers as they design and set up the new insurance exchanges, according to a report co-authored by policy experts at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS). The report offers a checklist for the state-based health insurance exchanges, one that will help ensure that women, children and family members can get the services they need to prevent costly and debilitating medical problems. "Women often use a ...

PHILADELPHIA - Omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish may have diverse health-promoting effects, potentially protecting the immune, nervous, and cardiovascular systems. But how the health effects of one such fatty acid -- docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) -- works remains unclear, in part because its molecular signaling pathways are only now being understood. Toshinori Hoshi, PhD, professor of Physiology, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues showed, in two papers out this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ...

BETHESDA, MD – March 5, 2013 -- A team of European scientists from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD) at the University of Cologne in Germany has taken an important step closer to understanding the root cause of age-related dementia. In research involving both worms and mice, they have found that age-related dementia is likely the result of a declining ability of neurons to dispose of unwanted aggregated proteins. As protein disposal becomes significantly ...

In Africa and Thailand, communities that worked together on HIV-prevention efforts saw not only a rise in HIV screening but a drop in new infections, according to a new study presented this week at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta. The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health's Project Accept — a trial conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network to test a combination of social, behavioral and structural HIV-prevention interventions — demonstrated that a series of community efforts was able to boost the number of people tested ...

Chevy Chase, MD—In a Position Statement unveiled today, The Endocrine Society advocates that all methods for measuring estrogens, which play a crucial role in human biology, be made traceable to a common standard. In addition to the well-known role of estrogens in sexual development, these hormones, particularly estradiol, have a significant impact on the health of the skin, blood vessels, bones, muscle, kidney, liver, digestive system, brain, lung and pancreas. Studies have linked changes in estradiol levels to coronary artery disease, stroke and breast cancer. "Estradiol ...

AMHERST, Mass. – Biochemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst including assistant professor Peter Chien recently gained new insight into how protein synthesis and degradation help to regulate the delicate ballet of cell division. In particular, they reveal how two proteins shelter each other in "mutually assured cleanup" to insure that division goes smoothly and safely. Cells must routinely dispose of leftover proteins with the aid of proteases that cut up and recycle used proteins. The problem for biochemists is that the same protein molecule can be toxic garbage ...

A new report published today concludes that nearly half of Africa's wild lion populations may decline to near extinction over the next 20-40 years without urgent conservation measures. The plight of many lion populations is so bleak, the report concludes that fencing them in - and fencing humans out - may be their only hope for survival. Led by the University of Minnesota's Professor Craig Packer and co-authored by a large team of lion biologists, including Panthera's President, Dr. Luke Hunter, and Lion Program Director, Dr. Guy Balme, the report, entitled Conserving ...

In order to build and maintain cells, DNA is copied into ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules, also called transcripts. Transcripts are often like a recipe for making proteins, and a collection of all the transcripts in a cell is called a transcriptome. Pankaj Jaiswal, Assistant Professor of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University, Samuel Fox, a Postdoctoral Associate in Jaiswal's laboratory, and colleagues assembled transcriptomes of a noxious weed, Brachypodium sylvaticum, or slender false brome. The transcriptome provides an extensive genetic tool for studying ...

Antarctica's topography began changing from flat to fjord-filled starting about 34 million years ago, according to a new report from a University of Arizona-led team of geoscientists. Knowing when Antarctica's topography started shifting from a flat landscape to one with glaciers, fjords and mountains is important for modeling how the Antarctic ice sheet affects global climate and sea-level rise. Although radar surveys have revealed a rugged alpine landscape under Antarctica's two-mile-thick ice sheet, the surveys tell nothing about when the continent's deep valleys ...

Washington, D.C.—New theoretical modeling by Carnegie's Alan Boss provides clues to how the gas giant planets in our solar system—Jupiter and Saturn—might have formed and evolved. His work was published recently by the Astrophysical Journal. New stars are surrounded by rotating gas disks during the early stages of their lives. Gas giant planets are thought to form in the presence of these disks. Observations of young stars that still have these gas disks demonstrate that sun-like stars undergo periodic outbursts, lasting about 100 years, which transfer mass from the ...

Men with low-risk prostate cancer who previously had to choose between aggressive treatment, with the potential for significant side effects, and active surveillance, with the risk of disease progression, may have a new option. Focal laser ablation uses precisely targeted heat, delivered through a small insertion and guided into the prostate by magnetic resonance imaging, to burn away cancerous cells in the prostate. A small, phase 1 trial, to published early online in the journal Radiology, found that this approach, designed to treat just the diseased portion of the ...

Isolation of DNA from some organisms is a routine procedure. For example, you can buy a kit at your local pharmacy or grocery store that allows you to swab the inside of your cheek and send the sample for DNA sequencing. However, for other organisms, DNA extraction is much more problematic. Researchers at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, have developed a novel procedure that greatly simplifies genomic DNA isolation from cactus tissue. For members of the family Cactaceae, isolation of genetic material can be difficult due to the presence of polysaccharide-based ...

(Philadelphia, PA) – Some 5.8 million Americans suffer from heart failure, a currently incurable disease. But scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine have discovered a key biochemical step underlying the condition that could aid the development of new drugs to treat and possibly prevent it. "Drugs we currently use for heart failure are not very effective," explained lead investigator Walter J. Koch, PhD, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at TUSM, and Director of the Center for Translational Medicine ...

PHILADELPHIA — A series of microRNA expression signatures that may help to define progression of the precancerous condition Barrett's esophagus into esophageal adenocarcinoma was reported recently in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Once a rare cancer representing only 5 percent of all esophageal cancers in the United States, esophageal adenocarcinoma is the cancer with the fastest-rising incidence — six-fold increase in the past three decades — and currently comprises more than 80 percent of all new esophageal cancer ...

PHILADELPHIA — Visceral fat, or fat stored deep in the abdominal cavity, is directly linked to an increased risk for colon cancer, according to data from a mouse study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. "There has been some skepticism as to whether obesity per se is a bona fide cancer risk factor, rather than the habits that fuel it, including a poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle," said Derek M. Huffman, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine ...

These days the core of the Milky Way galaxy is a pretty tame place...cosmically speaking. The galactic black hole at the center is a sleeping giant. Existing stars are peacefully circling. Although conditions are favorable, there doesn't even seem to be much new star formation going on. But there is growing evidence that several million years ago the galactic center was the site of all manner of celestial fireworks. A pair of assistant professors – Kelly Holley-Bockelmann at Vanderbilt and Tamara Bogdanović at Georgia Institute of Technology – have come up with an ...

Protect your finances when you go through a divorce Article provided by Joseph Indelicato, Jr., P.C. Visit us at http://www.indelicato.com/ Financial and marital problems can be difficult to deal with, especially when you are facing both of these issues at the same time. During a divorce, many people deal with a great deal of stress that can sometimes lead to poor decision-making. The following tips can help you deal with money matters as you split from your spouse, and help ensure that your finances will be in order post-divorce. Financially protecting your ...

Creating successful non-compete agreements Article provided by The Stevenson Law Firm, PC Visit us at http://www.texashealthlawattorney.com Creating successful non-compete agreements In today's competitive market, many companies -- Fortune 500s, sole proprietors, nonprofits and more -- are taking whatever measures they can to protect the secrets of their business practices and prevent the loss of dedicated customers. If employers need to protect trade secrets, they may require employees to sign a non-compete agreement. Non-compete agreements can be helpful ...

Tips for successful co-parenting in Alabama Article provided by The Oncale Firm Visit us at http://www.thebirminghamdivorceattorney.com Although divorce signifies the end of a marriage between two people, for some couples it also signifies the beginning of a new type of relationship. For those who have children, a divorce is not the end. In most cases, the couple must continue to communicate with each other. There are many different types of relationships parents can establish in this situation. Some couples choose the sole custody route, where one parent retains ...

The best interests of a child: Tennessee's considerations Article provided by Runyon & Runyon Visit us at http://www.runyonandrunyon.com Tennessee law requires that a court consider the best interests of a child when deciding child custody and visitation matters. In making a determination for a family law matter, the court looks to several important factors. The court's ultimate goal is to make an order that does not disrupt the child's life and permits the child to maintain a relationship with both parents, if possible. Once the order is created by the court, ...

Intentionally defective grantor trusts survive the threat of extinction Article provided by Louis Pacella Law Offices Visit us at http://www.athomeplanning.com/ Intentionally defective grantor trusts have long been a staple of estate planning. They help reduce the size of a person's estate for estate tax purposes, and they also keep the amount of taxes that the beneficiaries of the trust must pay low. President Obama's 2012 budget proposal recommended changes to the law that would have eliminated the financial benefits of these trusts, causing concern around the ...