JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An enzyme that could represent a powerful new tool for combating Alzheimer's disease has been discovered by researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. The enzyme — known as BACE2 — destroys beta-amyloid, a toxic protein fragment that litters the brains of patients who have the disease. The findings were published online Sept. 17 in the science journal Molecular Neurodegeneration. Alzheimer's disease is the most common memory disorder. It affects more that 5.5 million people in the United States. Despite the disorder's enormous financial and personal ...

A new University of Iowa study suggests there are two root causes of a type of diabetes associated with cystic fibrosis (CF). The findings, which already have sparked a clinical trial, may guide development of new treatments or even help prevent diabetes in patients with CF. Almost half of patients with CF will develop diabetes by age 30 and almost one quarter will develop it in their teens. In addition to the health problems caused by high blood sugar, diabetes also worsens lung disease and increases the risk of dying for people with CF. However, the underlying cause ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found identical strains of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter coli (C. coli) in both antibiotic-free (ABF) and conventionally raised pigs. This finding may indicate that these antibiotic-resistant pathogens can persist and thrive in the environment, regardless of antimicrobial usage by pork producers. Dr. Siddhartha Thakur, assistant professor of population health and pathobiology, had previously found that antibiotic-resistant C. coli, a leading cause of foodborne illness in the U.S., was present in both ABF-certified ...

New in our journals: Your city matters: San Francisco v. Boston Your home city matters for both who you are and how you feel, according to a new suite of studies. In seven studies, researchers examined the history and culture of San Francisco and Boston, as well as surveyed residents (including commuters, college students, and middle-aged residents) of each city. They found that San Francisco showed more emphasis on egalitarianism, innovation, and looser social norms, while Boston emphasizes tradition, community, and tighter social norms. As a result, for Bostonians, ...

Saturday, September 15, 2012, Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered that vitamin E may prevent cancer in patients with an under-recognized genetic disorder. Several genetic mutations are known to be present in Cowden Syndrome (CS) – a disease that predisposes individuals to several types of cancers, including breast and thyroid cancers. One type of mutation in the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) genes may be responsible for cancer development, according to research by Charis Eng, M.D., Ph.D., Hardis Chair and Director of the Genomic Medicine Institute ...

TORONTO, Sept. 17, 2012—Whether your neighbourhood is conducive to walking could determine your risk for developing diabetes, according to a new study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Researchers found this risk was particularly high for new immigrants living in low-income neighbourhoods. A new immigrant living in a less walkable neighbourhood – fewer destinations within a 10-minute walk, lower residential density, poorly connected streets – was about 50 per cent more likely to develop diabetes when compared ...

The NFL season is off and running and with it comes the proverbial hamstring injury, the torn tendon, the groin strain – injuries that players have come to expect as part of this high-energy contact sport. Far less top of mind is the rare but catastrophic cervical spine injury, but that's exactly the injury that Mercyhurst University researchers are working with Sports Medicine Concepts and the National Football League (NFL) to mitigate. One tragic example came Sept. 8 when Tulane University safety Devon Walker fractured his spine in a head-on collision with a teammate ...

A new study that identifies ways to reduce the factors that lead to an asthma attack gives hope to asthma sufferers. A UCSF researcher and his colleagues believe they have found a way to help asthma sufferers by impeding the two most significant biological responses that lead to an asthma attack. Asthma, a respiratory disorder that causes shortness of breath, coughing and chest discomfort, results from changes in the airways that lead to the lungs. It affects 18.7 million adults and 7.0 million children in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — The discovery of a new gene could lead to better bug-resistant plants. Research led by Michigan State University and appearing on the cover of this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrates that domestic tomatoes could re-learn a thing or two from their wild cousins. Long-term cultivation has led to tomato crops losing beneficial traits common to wild tomatoes. Anthony Schilmiller, MSU research assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, was able to identify a gene that is involved in one of these beneficial ...

When Kayla Dehnert tells friends and family in Northern California about life as a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital patient, she pulls out a string of beads taller than she is. "This is a learning-to-take medicine bead," Kayla explains, fingering the bumps of a bluish-lavender bead and working her way down the long strand. "This yellow bead is the change-the-bandage bead, and the tiger bead is the losing-your-hair bead." Kayla, 8, of Novato, Calif., is one of hundreds of St. Jude patients who have participated in the hospital's Legacy Bead program since its launch ...

DURHAM, N.C.— By studying how birds master songs used in courtship, scientists at Duke University have found that regions of the brain involved in planning and controlling complex vocal sequences may also be necessary for memorizing sounds that serve as models for vocal imitation. In a paper appearing in the September 2012 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers at Duke and Harvard universities observed the imitative vocal learning habits of male zebra finches to pinpoint which circuits in the birds' brains are necessary for learning their songs. Knowing ...

NASA's Hurricane Severe Storms Sentinel (HS3) Mission is in full-swing and one of the unmanned Global Hawk aircraft investigate Tropical Storm Nadine on Sept. 14 and 15, while NASA satellites continued to obtain imagery of the storm as seen from space. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a true-color image of Hurricane Nadine in the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 16 at 1345 UTC (9:45 a.m. EDT) while NASA's Global Hawk was flying around the storm. Nadine strengthened to a hurricane on Friday, Sept. 14 at 11 p.m. EDT, and weakened ...

Using ultra-low input power densities, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated for the first time how low-power "optical nanotweezers" can be used to trap, manipulate, and probe nanoparticles, including fragile biological samples. "We already know that plasmonic nanoantennas enhance local fields by up to several orders of magnitude, and thus, previously showed that we can use these structures with a regular CW laser source to make very good optical tweezers," explains, Kimani Toussaint, Jr., assistant professor of mechanical science ...

Typhoon Sanba made landfall in southern South Korea on Monday, Sept. 17 and was moving northeast bringing heavy rainfall, and gusty winds along its path. Sanba downed trees, and caused power outages, canceled flights and canceled ferries. NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Sanba on Sept. 17 after it made landfall and observed the large extent of its cloud cover from South Korea to eastern Siberia. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Sanba on Sept. 17 at 0430 UTC (12:30 a.m. EDT/1:30 p.m. local time Seoul, South Korea) and the Moderate Resolution ...

NEW YORK (Sept. 17, 2012) -- The power of taxane-based chemotherapy drugs are misunderstood and potentially underestimated, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in the September 15 issue of the journal Cancer Research. Most physicians and investigators believe that taxane chemotherapy (paclitaxel, docetaxel and cabazitaxel) just does one thing -- stop a cancer cell from dividing -- but the team of Weill Cornell scientists have revealed it acts much more powerfully and broadly, especially against prostate cancer. "Taxanes are one of the best class ...

While Tropical Storm Kristy faded into a remnant low pressure area, Lane strengthened into a hurricane. NASA's Terra satellite caught a look at both storms when it passed overhead on Sept. 16 and showed a much tighter circulation within Hurricane Lane than in weakening Tropical Storm Kristy. When NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Eastern Pacific on Sept. 16 at 18:45 UTC (2:45 p.m. EDT) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard the satellite captured Tropical Storm Kristy (at the time a tropical storm) and Hurricane Lane, located to Kristy's ...

Each year in Quebec, nearly 6000 people undergo coronary bypass surgery. Recovery is long and quality of life is greatly affected, in particular because most patients experience cognitive deficits that affect attention and memory for weeks or even months after the surgery. However, cognitive training helps to significantly reduce these postoperative complications according to a study that will be presented by Dr. Louis Bherer, PhD (Psychology), a laboratory director and researcher at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal (IUGM), an institution affiliated with ...

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln archeological team has uncovered a massive Roman mosaic in southern Turkey -- a meticulously crafted, 1,600-square-foot work of decorative handiwork built during the region's imperial zenith. It's believed to be the largest mosaic of its type in the region and demonstrates the surprising reach and cultural influence of the Roman Empire in the area during the third and fourth centuries A.D., said Michael Hoff, Hixson-Lied professor of art history at UNL and the director of the excavation. "Its size signals, in no small part, that the ...

Contrary to previous findings, new research finds no link between chronic fatigue syndrome and the viruses XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) and pMLV (polytropic murine leukemia virus). A study to be published on September 18 in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, reveals that research that reported patients with chronic fatigue syndrome carried these two viruses was wrong and that there is still no evidence for an infectious cause behind chronic fatigue syndrome. "The bottom line is we found no evidence ...

The causes of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have long eluded scientists. In 2009, a paper in the journal Science linked the syndrome—sometimes called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)—to infection with a mouse retrovirus called XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV)-related virus). Given that affected patients often have symptoms consistent with a chronic infection, this viral connection seemed plausible, and the findings were celebrated as a major achievement for a complex disease that afflicts nearly 1 million in the U.S. Another study in early 2010 published in Proceedings ...

Kelsey McBride, president of Kelsey McBride PR, officially announced today that Jayne Jones and Alicia Long, co-authors of Capitol Hell, signed on for her agency's PR services. Jayne and Alicia's brilliant debut novel, Capitol Hell, is about the dysfunctional behind the scenes happenings on Capitol Hill. This off-beat, funny novel captures and shares what it is like to be a young staffer working on The Hill. "Everybody needs a little humor during election season," Jones said. Jayne and Alicia began their political careers by working as staffers on former ...

Research shows women are less likely than men to ask for what they want. Event teaches women the skills they need to ask for their next pay raise or negotiate salary. Minneapolis, MN September 10, 2012 - Women to gather to learn how to ask for their pay raises. 100 professional women will attend a day long workshop that will teach them how to ask for a pay raise or negotiate their next salary offer. Saturday, October 13th at the new Brave New Workshop's Experimental Thinking Centre, downtown Minneapolis, 824 Hennepin Avenue. 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Women make less ...

DH Studios Inc. is excited to reveal this year's featured designers for "Extrinsic," a three-part fashion show highlighting innovative styles from all over New England. Hand-selected by Daniel Hernandez, himself, this exceptional line-up includes T*Racy Design, Tina Lang Creations, Ortega Jewelry Designs, The Kitchen Sink Bag, Sociale Collection, Eliann Couture, Beleti of New York, Julie Kontos Designs, and DRI by Adriana. Julie Kontos, RAW: Boston's "2011 Designer of the Year," will open the event with the latest from her garment collection and will ...

Don McCauley of the Free Publicity Focus Group and Danielle Hampson of eBroadcastMedia.com, founders of Book Marketing, announced today The Authors Show radio and TV weekly broadcast schedule. Book Marketing, branded as 'The Authors Marketing Powerhouse', allows authors and publishers the opportunity to upload photos, bios, book covers, video and book videos. The site also offers discussion forums, segmented special interest groups and allows for event listings. Each author can develop a personalized page. In addition the site allows for integration with Facebook and ...

Geoff Ficke, President of international Consumer Product Development and Branding Consulting firm Duquesa Marketing announced today that his group has appointed The Dolan Group to handle sales of Lori Leigh Designs Earring Chalets in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania. "The Dolan Group has a strong history of success with luxury fashion accessory and jewelry lines", noted Mr. Ficke. "Their Columbus showroom is stunning and their strong retail relationships were crucial to our decision to roll out this stunning line with ...