ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The explosive PETN has been around for a century and is used by everyone from miners to the military, but it took new research by Sandia National Laboratories to begin to discover key mechanisms behind what causes it to fail at small scales. "Despite the fact explosives are in widespread use, there's still a lot to learn about how detonation begins and what properties of the explosive define the key detonation phenomena," said Alex Tappan of Sandia's Explosives Technology Group. Explosives are typically studied by pressing powders into pellets; tests ...

A study co-led by Simon Fraser University and Purdue University has found that the intestinal enzymes responsible for processing starchy foods can be turned on and off, helping to better control those processes in people with Type 2 diabetes. The process, called "toggling," was discovered in the lab of SFU V-P Research and chemist Mario Pinto, who has designed inhibitors capable of regulating each of the four starch-digesting enzymes known as alpha-glucosidases. It could lead to several solutions for diabetics and those prone to obesity. Three of these enzymes are responsible ...

Communication of discoveries has always been a hallmark of science, yet the challenges of making significant contributions to entomology did not stop many deaf and hard of hearing people as the field grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Written by the Harry G. Lang (Professor Emeritus, National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY), a deaf scholar, and by entomologist Jorge A. Santiago-Blay (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC), this review paper reveals the fascinating stories ...

AMARILLO – Salt cedar along the waterways of the southern and eastern Panhandle is rapidly being defoliated and dying back, and one Texas A&M AgriLife Research entomologist believes he knows why. When salt cedar beetles from Uzbekistan were released in 2006 by Dr. Jerry Michels and his entomology crew in parts of Lake Meredith and the Palo Duro Canyon, it was thought they would be more prolific eaters of salt cedar than other beetle species tried before. Salt cedar displaces native vegetation and impacts the availability of water, Michels said. Numerous projects have ...

Washington, D.C.–The D.C. Department of Health (DOH) has released a study by George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services (SPHHS) indicating the high levels of marketing by antipsychotic drug manufacturers to Medicaid psychiatrists in the District of Columbia. Antipsychotics are one of the top-selling drug classes; In 2010, top antipsychotic manufacturers spent more than $25 million on marketing in Washington DC. Among 26 psychiatrists receiving at least $1000 from top antipsychotic manufacturers in 2010, 7 (27%) were Medicaid providers. Medicaid ...

CINCINNATI – Researchers have discovered a previously unknown function for a protein that could add to the expanding arsenal of potential new drugs for battling inflammation and tissue fibrosis in a number of disease processes. Scientists from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center report Sept. 27 in Developmental Cell that, a protein called TRPC6 mediates a molecular pathway critical to the body's repair processes following various forms of injury caused by disease. After injury – such as that caused by a heart attack – the TRPC6-controlled pathway prompts ...

Washington, DC (September 24, 2012) – Children ages 2-11 view an alarming amount of television shows that contain forms of social bullying or social aggression. Physical aggression in television for children is greatly documented, but this is the first in-depth analysis on children's exposure to behaviors like cruel gossiping and manipulation of friendship. Nicole Martins, Indiana University, and Barbara J. Wilson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, published in the Journal of Communication a content analysis of the 50 most popular children's shows according to ...

Atherosclerosis – the hardening of arteries that is a primary cause of cardiovascular disease and death – has long been presumed to be the fateful consequence of complicated interactions between overabundant cholesterol and resulting inflammation in the heart and blood vessels. However, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at institutions across the country, say the relationship is not exactly what it appears, and that a precursor to cholesterol actually suppresses inflammatory response genes. This precursor molecule ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have found a way to detect and eliminate potentially troublemaking stem cells to make stem cell therapy safer. Induced Pluripotent Stem cells, also known as iPS cells, are bioengineered from adult tissues to have properties of embryonic stem cells, which have the unlimited capacity to differentiate and grow into any desired types of cells, such as skin, brain, lung and heart cells. However, during the differentiation process, some residual pluripotent or embryonic-like cells may remain and cause them to grow into tumors. "Pluripotent ...

BOSTON--Flipping a newly discovered molecular switch in white fat cells enabled mice to eat a high-calorie diet without becoming obese or developing the inflammation that causes insulin resistance, report scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The researchers say the results, to be published in the Sept. 28 issue of the journal Cell, provide the first known molecular link between thermogenesis (burning calories to produce heat) and the development of inflammation in fat cells. These two processes had been previously thought to be controlled separately. Thermogenesis ...

AUDIO: An authoritative, evidence-based assessment of the state of science and technology in Canada has found that Canadian science and technology is healthy, growing and internationally respected. Over the past five... Click here for more information. Ottawa (September 27th, 2012) - An authoritative, evidence-based assessment of the state of science and technology in Canada has found that Canadian science and technology is healthy, growing and internationally respected. Over ...

Researchers of motor neuron diseases have long had a hunch that two fatal diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), might somehow be linked. A new study confirms that this link exists. "Our study is the first to link the two diseases on a molecular level in human cells," said Robin Reed, Harvard Medical School professor of cell biology and lead investigator of the study. The results will be published online in the September 27 issue of Cell Reports. ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, which has an adult onset, affects neurons that ...

Scientists may have discovered why a protein called MYC can provoke a variety of cancers. Like many proteins associated with cancer, MYC helps regulate cell growth. A study carried out by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and colleagues found that, unlike many other cell growth regulators, MYC does not turn genes on or off, but instead boosts the expression of genes that are already turned on. These findings, which will be published in Cell on Sept. 28, could lead to new therapeutic strategies for some cancers. "We carried out a highly sophisticated ...

Researchers have discovered in fruit flies a key metabolic hormone thought to be the exclusive property of vertebrates. The hormone, leptin, is a nutrient sensor, regulating energy intake and output and ultimately controlling appetite. As such, it is of keen interest to researchers investigating obesity and diabetes on the molecular level. But until now, complex mammals such as mice have been the only models for investigating the mechanisms of this critical hormone. These new findings suggest that fruit flies can provide significant insights into the molecular underpinnings ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (September 27, 2012) – For a cancer patient, over-expression of the MYC oncogene is a bad omen. Scientists have long known that in tumor cells, elevated levels of MYC's protein product, c-Myc, are associated with poor clinical outcomes, including increased rates of metastasis, recurrence, and mortality. Yet decades of research producing thousands of scientific papers on the subject have failed to consistently explain precisely how c-Myc exerts its effects across a broad range of cancer types. Until now, that is. The prevailing theory emerging from ...

Chicago (September 27, 2012)—New comprehensive guidelines for the pre- operative care of the nation's elderly patients have been issued by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Geriatrics Society (AGS). The joint guidelines—published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons—apply to every patient who is 65 years and older as defined by Medicare regulations. The guidelines are the culmination of two years of research and analysis by a multidisciplinary expert panel representing the ACS and AGS, as well as by expert representatives ...

Top box office films last year showed more onscreen smoking than the prior year, reversing five years of steady progress in reducing tobacco imagery in movies, according to a new UCSF study. Moreover, many of the top-grossing films of 2011 with significant amounts of smoking targeted a young audience, among them the PG-rated cartoon Rango and X-Men: First Class." The more smoking young people see in movies, the more likely they are to start smoking, the U.S. Surgeon General has reported. The study will be available September 27, 2012 in Preventing Chronic Disease Journal, ...

Biocomposites challenge chipboard as furniture material. Researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have developed a kitchen furniture framework material from plastic polymers reinforced with natural fibre. The new material reduces raw materials consumption by 25 per cent and the carbon footprint of production by 35 per cent. "The frames are lighter by nearly a third because they contain more air," says VTT's Research Professor Ali Harlin. "Wastage during production is also reduced. This is a generational shift that revolutionizes both manufacturing techniques ...

In experiments on mice and rats, the scientists have managed to both prevent the development of type II diabetes and reverse the progression of established disease. The study is published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, where it is described as a breakthrough in diabetes research. The findings are the result of a joint effort by Karolinska Institutet, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the Australian biopharmaceutical company CSL Limited, amongst others. "It's a great feeling to present these results," says Professor Ulf Eriksson of the Department ...

TEMPE, Ariz.-Perhaps inspired by Arizona's blazing summers, Arizona State University scientists have developed a new method that relies on heat to improve the yield and lower the costs of high-energy biofuels production, making renewable energy production more of an everyday reality. ASU has been at the forefront of algal research for renewable energy production. Since 2007, with support from federal, state and industry funding, ASU has spearheaded several projects that utilize photosynthetic microbes, called cyanobacteria, as a potential new source of renewable, carbon-neutral ...

Similar characteristics have not been observed in other constructions of the Bronze Age, with three-metre thick walls, square towers originally measuring up to seven metres, a monumental entrance and an ogival arched postern gate; a fully conserved architectural element unique in Europe in that period. The wall protected a city measuring 4 hectares located on top of a hill. With architectural elements reminiscent of people with Eastern styled military skills, its model is typical of ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean, such as the second city of Troy. The alignment ...

Scientists use simulations to test the limits of their object of study—in this case thin films of polymers—to extremes of scale. In a study¹ about to be published in EPJ E, Nava Schulmann, a researcher at Strasbourg University, France, and colleagues use a well-known model capable of providing information on heat and mechanical energy exchange between these polymer chains. They found that polymer blends confined to ultrathin two-dimensional films displayed enhanced compatibility. This was made possible by simulations using a fairly standard model, which is simple enough ...

Since the Victorian era, categorizing the natural world has challenged scientists. No group has presented a challenge as tricky as the protists, the tiny, complex life forms that are neither plants nor animals. A new reclassification of eukaryotic life forms, published in the Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, draws together the latest research to clarify the current state of protist diversity and categorization, as well as the many species that remain to be discovered. "Protists include species traditionally referred to as protozoa and algae, some fungal-like organisms, ...

A team of researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by CNIO Director María Blasco, has demonstrated in a pioneering study on mammals that longevity is defined at a molecular level by the length of telomeres. The work—which is published today in the online edition of the journal Cell Reports—opens the door to further study of these cellular components in order to calculate the rate at which cells age and thus be able to determine life expectancy for a particular organism. Chromosomes—the cellular containers holding the genetic information ...

The way the body metabolizes a commonly prescribed anti-retroviral drug that is used long term by patients infected with HIV may contribute to cognitive impairment by damaging nerve cells, a new Johns Hopkins research suggests. Nearly 50 percent of people infected with HIV will eventually develop some form of brain damage that, while mild, can affect the ability to drive, work or participate in many daily activities. It has long been assumed that the disease was causing the damage, but Hopkins researchers say the drug efavirenz may play a key role. People infected ...