CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The wrinkles on a raisin result from a simple effect: As the pulp inside dries, the skin grows stiff and buckles to accommodate its shrinking size. Now, a team of researchers at MIT has discovered a way to harness that same principle in a controlled and orderly way, creating wrinkled surfaces with precise sizes and patterns. This basic method, they say, could be harnessed for a wide variety of useful structures: microfluidic systems for biological research, sensing and diagnostics; new photonic devices that can control light waves; controllable adhesive ...

This press release is available in French.MONTREAL, Canada, August 1, 2012 – Children who exhibit oppositional behavior run the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, cannabis and cocaine whilst Inattention symptoms represent a specific additional risk of nicotine addiction. Nevertheless, hyperactivity in itself does not seem to be associated with any specific risk of substance abuse or dependence. This is what researchers at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center's (UHC) Research Center and the University of Montreal concluded following a 15-year population-based ...

Scientists are reporting development of a new transparent solar cell, an advance toward giving windows in homes and other buildings the ability to generate electricity while still allowing people to see outside. Their report appears in the journal ACS Nano. Yang Yang, Rui Zhu, Paul S. Weiss and colleagues explain that there has been intense world-wide interest in so-called polymer solar cells (PSCs), which are made from plastic-like materials. PSCs are lightweight and flexible and can be produced in high volume at low cost. That interest extends to producing transparent ...

A new study raises concern about chronic exposure of workers in industry to a food flavoring ingredient used to produce the distinctive buttery flavor and aroma of microwave popcorn, margarines, snack foods, candy, baked goods, pet foods and other products. It found evidence that the ingredient, diacetyl (DA), intensifies the damaging effects of an abnormal brain protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. The study appears in ACS' journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. Robert Vince and colleagues Swati More and Ashish Vartak explain that DA has been the focus of much research ...

With the cost of putting a single new drug on the pharmacy shelves topping a staggering $1 billion, scientists are reporting development of a way to determine if an already-approved drug might be used to treat a different disease. The technique for repurposing existing medicines could cut drug development costs and make new medicine available to patients faster, they report in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Sivanesan Dakshanamurthy and colleagues explain that drug companies must limit efforts to market new drugs because the current approach is so expensive, time-consuming ...

This press release is available in German. Hot summer days cause in large cities very seldom great happiness among inhabitants. On those days the air is highly polluted with automobile and industrial emissions what makes breathing difficult and unhealthy. According to the latest calculations of Max Planck scientist Andrea Pozzer this scenario could become true for most of world population in 2050 if no counteractive measures are taken. Especially China, North India and the Middle East are expected to be affected by a drastic decrease in air quality. In 2050, the ...

(Edmonton) Male partners of breast cancer patients are likely to take a pass on spousal support groups in favour of exercise or an evening out with friends to cope with stresses associated with the disease, according to new research from the University of Alberta. Faculty of Nursing professor Wendy Duggleby said spouses of women with breast cancer have unique needs when it comes to retaining a sense of hope at a time when they provide important physical and emotional support for their partners. "There are many programs out there for women, but for men a lot of support ...

ATLANTA – An international team of researchers, including a scientist at Georgia State University, found that black men who have sex with men (MSM) are more likely to have HIV than other MSM, and that social inequalities play a major role. Examining data from nearly 200 studies in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada, the researchers found that stigma, poverty and inadequate access to health care were major factors in the disparities. The term "MSM" was used in the study, as some men who have sex with men do not identify with the terms gay or bisexual. The results ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The male response to depictions of ideal masculinity in advertising is typically negative, which has implications for advertisers and marketers targeting the increasingly fragmented consumer demographic, according to research from a University of Illinois marketing expert. Cele Otnes, a professor of advertising and of business administration who studies how marketing and advertising shapes consumption, says that men who compare themselves to the hyper-masculine or over-exaggerated male stereotypes in advertising and popular culture experience a range ...

Rockville, Md., August 1, 2012 — Two articles recently published in Malaria Journal shed new light on the quality of antimalarial medicines circulating in countries in the Amazon Basin in South America. Researchers from the Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) program, a cooperative agreement between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), in conjunction with country partners, coordinated these studies in the context of the Amazon Malaria Initiative (AMI). "Though several studies in recent years have assessed ...

Children undergoing liver transplantation are at greater risk of graft loss and death from adult organ donors who are severely obese according to research published in the August issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. The study, funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), found that pediatric donor body mass index (BMI) did not increase mortality risk in this pediatric population. Obesity is a global health concern. A 2008 report from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A comprehensive analysis of the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific Northwest coast confirms that the region has had numerous earthquakes over the past 10,000 years, and suggests that the southern Oregon coast may be most vulnerable based on recurrence frequency. Written by researchers at Oregon State University, and published online by the U.S. Geological Survey, the study concludes that there is a 40 percent chance of a major earthquake in the Coos Bay, Ore., region during the next 50 years. And that earthquake could approach the intensity of ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — By identifying a key protein that tells certain breast cancer cells when and how to move, researchers at Michigan State University hope to better understand the process by which breast cancer spreads, or metastasizes. When breast cancer metastasizes, cancer cells break away from a primary tumor and move to other organs in the body, including the lungs, liver and brain. In work published recently in the journal Cancer Research, MSU researchers Kathy Gallo and Jian Chen show a protein called MLK3 (mixed lineage kinase 3) is a critical driver of breast ...

A trio of groundbreaking publications from researchers in Northwestern University's Physical Sciences-Oncology Center (PS-OC) report important methodological advances that will enable a better understanding of how gene expression is regulated, both in normal cells and in cancer cells. This knowledge could lead to the development of more effective therapeutic agents to treat cancer patients. The three papers, published recently in the journals Nature Genetics, Nature Biotechnology and Nature, focus on nucleosomes, a basic unit of DNA packaging, and may help to uncover ...

Sprinters competing in the 2012 Olympics might assume their championship performance is the result of their fuel-efficient physiology. But a new study disproves the classic scientific view that conserving energy maximizes performance in a sprinting event. The study by biomechanics researchers Matthew W. Bundle at the University of Montana and Peter G. Weyand at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, demonstrates that metabolic economy is not an important factor for performance in events lasting 60 seconds or less. In fact, just the opposite is true. "That prevailing ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In a curious evolutionary twist, several species of a commonly studied fruit fly appear to have incorporated genetic material from a virus into their genomes, according to new research by University at Buffalo biologists. The study found that several types of fruit fly -- scientific name Drosophila -- harbored genes similar to those that code for the sigma virus, a fly virus in the same family as rabies. The authors believe the genetic information was acquired during past viral infections and passed on from fruit fly parent to offspring through many generations. The ...

DETROIT — The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has unveiled the state's Infant Mortality Reduction Plan, a strategy that includes significant recommendations developed from medical research conducted by the Perinatology Research Branch (PRB) of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health (NICHD/NIH), at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. Announced Aug. 1, the plan promotes the adoption of universal cervical length screening by ultrasound and the use of progesterone in women ...

Two common viruses known to be associated with human cancers are both present – and may even be collaborating with each other - in most male prostate cancers, a new study suggests. The research involved examination of 100 specimens of normal, malignant and benign prostate samples from Australian men. It revealed that both the human papilloma virus (HPV) and Epstein Barr virus (EBV) were present in more than half of the malignant cancers, as well as in a high proportion of benign and normal prostate samples. Details of the study, led by Associate Professor Noel Whitaker ...

URBANA - If you've consulted with a nutrition educator about how best to lose weight or manage your diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol, you may not have learned as much as you could have, said a University of Illinois professor of nutrition extension. "Only 80 percent of the dietitians we surveyed did any pre-assessment of the client's nutrition literacy, which makes it difficult for educators to target their counseling so clients can understand and act on the information they are given," said Karen Chapman-Novakofski, also a registered dietitian. Chapman-Novakofski's ...

People with mental health problems have a lower life expectancy, according to a large-scale population based study published today in the British Medical Journal. The findings may prompt further research into the way doctors treat patients with even mild psychological problems. A team of researchers from UCL (University College London) and the University of Edinburgh analysed data from over 68,000 adults aged 35 years and over who took part in the Health Survey for England from 1994 to 2004. Participants in the study had been evaluated for mental health problems using ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Concussions and even lesser head impacts may speed up the brain's natural aging process by causing signaling pathways in the brain to break down more quickly than they would in someone who has never suffered a brain injury or concussion. Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology and the U-M Health System looked at college students with and without a history of concussion and found changes in gait, balance and in the brain's electrical activity, specifically attention and impulse control, said Steven Broglio, assistant professor ...

In a new study published in the journal Vision Research, researchers at the University of Southern California show that the eyes and attention of men and women meander in distinctly different ways. The article, authored by Dr. Laurent Itti and doctoral student John Shen, challenges the way scientists generally conceive of attention, or how sensory information is prioritized. While previous study of vision and attention had disregarded individual factors such as sex, race and age, Itti and Shen demonstrated that men and women pay visual attention in different ways. Dr. ...

BETHESDA, Md. (July 31, 2012) — Cold feet—those chilly appendages that plague many people in the winter and an unlucky few all year round—can be the bane of existence for singles and couples alike. In a new study, scientists led by Selvi C. Jeyaraj of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital have identified a biological mechanism that may be responsible for icy extremities: an interaction between a series of molecules and receptors on smooth muscle cells that line the skin's tiny blood vessels. The new research, along with an accompanying editorial by Martin ...

A surgical team closes an abdominal incision, successfully completing a difficult operation. Weeks later, the patient comes into the ER complaining of abdominal pain and an X-ray reveals that one of the forceps used in the operation was left inside the patient. Why would highly skilled professionals forget to perform a simple task they have executed without difficulty thousands of times before? These kinds of oversights occur in professions as diverse as aviation and computer programming, but research from psychological science reveals that these lapses may not reflect ...

In a first-of-its-kind health campaign in Uganda, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill show that adults with HIV who had less severe infections could work more hours per week, and their children were more likely to be enrolled in school. The finding, led by Harsha Thirumurthy, Ph.D., a health economist at UNC's Gillings School of Global Public Health, not only could mean greater earning potential for people with HIV, but also a better economic outlook for entire regions—results that underscore the potential value of testing for HIV widely ...