At least one-third of the species that inhabit the world's oceans may remain completely unknown to science. That's despite the fact that more species have been described in the last decade than in any previous one, according to a report published online on November 15 in the Cell Press publication Current Biology that details the first comprehensive register of marine species of the world—a massive collaborative undertaking by hundreds of experts around the globe. The researchers estimate that the ocean may be home to as many as one million species in all—likely not more. ...

New York, NY (November 15, 2012) — About 10 percent of kids born with kidney defects have large alterations in their genomes known to be linked with neurodevelopmental delay and mental illness, a new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has shown. The study was published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics. Congenital defects of the kidney and urinary tract account for nearly 25 percent of all birth defects in the US and are present in about 1 in every 200 births. Eventually, an evaluation for genomic alterations ...

This press release is available in German. When infected with influenza, the body becomes an easy target for bacteria. The flu virus alters the host's immune system and compromises its capacity to effectively fight off bacterial infections. Now, a team of immunologists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and cooperation partners has discovered that an immune system molecule called TLR7 is partly to blame. The molecule recognizes the viral genome – and then signals scavenger cells of the immune system to ingest fewer bacteria. The researchers published ...

Researchers in the voice, speech, and language branch of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of rappers when they are "freestyling" – spontaneously improvising lyrics in real time. The findings, published online in the November 15 issue of the journal Scientific Reports, reveal that this form of vocal improvisation is associated with a unique functional reallocation of brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and ...

Every taxonomist has calculated the number of existing species within their specialty and estimated the number that remain to be discovered, both through statistical models as based on the experience of each expert. According to Enrique Macpherson, researcher at the Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC, Spain), who has participated in the study: "Bringing together the leading taxonomists around the world to pool their information has been the great merit of this research". The statistical prediction is based on the rate of description for new species in recent ...

PHILADELPHIA – Fifty years ago, British researcher John Gurdon demonstrated that genetic material from non-reproductive, or somatic, cells could be reprogrammed into an embryonic state when transferred into an egg. In 2006, Kyoto University researcher Shinya Yamanaka expanded on those findings by expressing four proteins in mouse somatic cells to rewind their genetic clocks, converting them into embryonic-like stem cells called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells. In early October, Gurdon and Yamanaka were awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For baby boomers, the peak interest in health issues comes at about age 51, with a second peak coming near age 65, according to a new study. The results may help doctors and other professionals target this generation with health messages at a time when they are most receptive to hearing them, the researchers said. The study, based on a survey of Americans age 45 to 65, showed that people in their late 40s had the lowest levels of interest in health issues. Interest rose quickly, however, and peaked in the early 50s, then dropped slightly and plateaued ...

MANHASSET, NY – Researchers at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that tanshinones, which come from the plant Danshen and are highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, protect against the life-threatening condition sepsis. The findings are published in the December issue of Biochemical Pharmacology. Inflammation is necessary for maintaining good health – without inflammation, wounds and infections would never heal. However, persistent and constant inflammation can damage tissue and organs, and lead to diseases such as sepsis. Sepsis affects ...

VANCOUVER, CANADA, NOVEMBER 15, 2012 -- It's time to economically value the greenhouse gas-trapping potential of mine waste and start making money from it, says mining engineer and geologist Michael Hitch of the University of British Columbia (UBC). Hitch studies the value of mine waste rock for its CO2-sequestration potential, or "SP." He says mining companies across Canada will, in future, be able to offset CO2 emissions with so-named "SP rock," and within 25 years could even be selling emissions credits. Digging, trucking and processing make mining an energy-intensive ...

Low levels of omega-3 may be behind postpartum depression, according to a review lead by Gabriel Shapiro of the University of Montreal and the Research Centre at the Sainte-Justine Mother and Child Hospital. Women are at the highest risk of depression during their childbearing years, and the birth of a child may trigger a depressive episode in vulnerable women. Postpartum depression is associated with diminished maternal health as well as developmental and health problems for her child. "The literature shows that there could be a link between pregnancy, omega-3 and the ...

Blending religion with familism — a strong commitment to lifelong marriage and childbearing — dampens secular civic participation, according to research by a Baylor University sociologist. "Strong family and strong religion. What happens when they meet? Is that good for the larger society? It is not always as it seems," said Young-Il Kim, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow in Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion. His study — "Bonding alone: Familism, religion and secular civic participation" — is published online in Social Science Research. The findings are based on analysis ...

Starting a milk drinking habit as a child can lead to lifelong benefits, even improving physical ability and balance in older age, according to new research. A new study published in Age & Aging found an increase of about one glass of milk a day as a child was linked to a 5% faster walking time and 25% lesser chance of poor balance in older age. The researchers suggest a "public health benefit of childhood milk intake on physical function in old age" – a finding that has huge potential for adults over 65, a population expected reach more than 70 million by the year 2030, ...

The terms "black swan" and "perfect storm" have become part of public vocabulary for describing disasters ranging from the 2008 meltdown in the financial sector to the terrorist attacks of September 11. But according to Elisabeth Paté-Cornell, a Stanford professor of management science and engineering, people in government and industry are using these terms too liberally in the aftermath of a disaster as an excuse for poor planning. Her research, published in the November issue of the journal Risk Analysis, suggests that other fields could borrow risk analysis strategies ...

An Australian study reveals that people with the rare genetic disorder known as Prader-Willi Syndrome may have an impaired autonomic nervous system. This discovery opens up a new way of looking at the insatiable appetite experienced by all sufferers, as well as their very high risk of cardiovascular disease. The autonomic nervous system controls our inner organs, including our gut, heart, liver and blood vessels. It is a finely tuned, dynamic system, responding moment-by-moment to the body's needs. Researchers from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, including ...

JUPITER, FL, November 15, 2012 – For the past several years, Min Guo, an assistant professor at The Scripps Research Institute, has focused on the intricate actions of an ancient family of catalytic enzymes that play a key role in translation, the process of producing proteins. These complex enzymes are a group of fundamental molecules that make building blocks for protein production. Present in every cell, these enzymes—known as aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases (tRNA synthetases)—select the proper amino acid and assign them to transfer RNAs to make a protein in the ...

New research at the University of Adelaide has revealed a genetic link in pregnant mums - and their male partners - to pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening complication during pregnancy. Pre-eclampsia involves high blood pressure and fluid retention and can cause damage to the kidneys and liver. About 7% of pregnancies are affected by pre-eclampsia. In a paper now online in the journal Placenta ahead of print publication, the researchers say they have found a genetic variant involving the AGT2R gene, which may predispose women to pre-eclampsia. However, the genetic variant ...

VTT is developing future energy solutions in cooperation with residents of the new research hotel in Otaniemi. The hotel offers rented furnished accommodation to visiting foreign research scientists, who will move in to the new building in November. The four-storey research hotel is located at Otaranta 4 and overlooks the sea. The hotel has 52 rooms ranging from 30 to 80 square metres, with common areas and facilities on each floor. Residents' energy behaviour matters – up to a fourfold difference in consumption Research Professor Miimu Airaksinen says that the role ...

In 2010, Tycho Brahe was exhumed from his grave in Prague, an event which received extensive international media coverage. Since then, a Danish-Czech team of researchers has been working to elucidate the cause of Tycho Brahe's death. The results of this intensive work now make it possible to rule out mercury poisoning as a cause of death. For over four hundred years, Tycho Brahe's untimely death has been a mystery. He died on 24 October 1601 only eleven days after the onset of a sudden illness. Over the centuries, a variety of myths and theories about his death have arisen. ...

Research led by Queen Mary, University of London has found that having asthma is not linked to poorer scores in national school examinations. In contrast, ethnicity and social deprivation were associated with poorer educational outcomes in the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE. Long-term conditions in childhood – of which asthma is now the most common – may have a major impact on educational performance. However, in one of the world's first studies to link health, housing, benefits and educational data in over 12,000 children, researchers from Queen Mary, University ...

Cambridge, MA, November 15, 2012 – A group of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have for the first time described the structure of the active site core of topoisomerase II alpha, an important target for anti-cancer drugs. The type II topoisomerases are important enzymes that are involved in maintaining the structure of DNA and chromosome segregation during both replication and transcription of DNA. One of these enzymes, topoisomerase II alpha, is involved in the replication of DNA and cell proliferation, and is highly expressed in rapidly dividing ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Are you good at coping when life gets tough? Do people call you a straight-shooter? Will you help others without expecting anything in return? Those personality traits might do more than help you win a popularity contest. According to new University of Michigan-led neuroscience research, those qualities also might make you more likely to get pain relief from a placebo – a fake medicine. And, the researchers show, it's not just your mind telling you the sham drug is working or not. Your brain's own natural painkiller chemicals may actually respond ...

Flirting brings women and men closer. But the "social distance" ensures that they will keep a certain spatial distance from each other. Researchers under the leadership of the University of Bonn studied whether this distance can be diminished by the so-called love hormone, oxytocin. The exact opposite turned out to be true – men who were in a committed relationship even maintained a greater distance from an attractive woman when under the influence of oxytocin than their control group. The study has just been published in the renowned "Journal of Neuroscience." When people ...

Search for King Richard III press portal: http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/media-centre/richard-iii DNA testing, environmental sampling and radiocarbon dating are some of the tests being undertaken to determine whether the skeleton found in Leicester was once Richard III - and there are also plans to do a facial reconstruction. Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, of the University of Leicester's Archaeological Services, has explained the schedule for the scientific processes the skeleton is being subjected to. The complexity and rigorousness of the tests – along ...

Research by the University of Warwick indicates that vaccinating families could protect young babies against a common winter virus which can be fatal for infants under six months. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) typically leads to mild, cold-like symptoms in adults and older children but can be more serious and even fatal in infants under the age of six months as it can lead to bronchiolitis and pneumonia. The virus is commonly found all over the world. In the UK, outbreaks generally start in November or December and last four to five months, peaking over the Christmas ...

Image of the Lafayette meteorite available from pressoffice@le.ac.uk New research by the University of Leicester and The Open University into evidence of water on Mars, sufficiently warm enough to support life, has been published this week in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The study determined that water temperatures on the Red Planet ranged from 50°C to 150°C. Microbes on Earth can live in similar waters, for example in the volcanic thermal springs at Yellowstone Park, the scientists behind the research point out. The research is based on detailed ...