AUGUSTA, Ga. – Communication between the brain and muscle must be strong for us to eat, breathe or walk. Now scientists have found that a protein known to be on the surface of muscle cells must be present in both tissues to ensure the conversation is robust. Scientists at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Health Sciences University have shown that without LRP4 in muscle cells and neurons, communication between the two cells types is inefficient and short-lived. Problems with the protein appear to contribute to disabling disorders such as myasthenia gravis ...

PHILADELPHIA – In the aftermath of the recent United Nations Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the focus of many industrialized nations is beginning to shift toward planning for a sustainable future. One of the foremost challenges for sustainability is efficient use of renewable energy resources, a goal that hinges on the ability to store this energy when it is produced and disburse it when it is needed. A team of researchers from Drexel University's College of Engineering have taken up this challenge and has developed a new method for quickly and efficiently ...

A team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is reporting the discovery of another moon orbiting the icy dwarf planet Pluto. The moon is estimated to be irregular in shape and 6 to 15 miles across. It is in a 58,000-mile-diameter circular orbit around Pluto that is assumed to be co-planar with the other satellites in the system. "The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls," said team lead Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif. The discovery increases the number of known moons orbiting Pluto to five. The ...

Pluto's new-found moon, visible as a speck of light in Hubble images, is estimated to be irregular in shape and between 10 and 25 kilometres across. It is in a 95 000 kilometre-diameter circular orbit around Pluto that is assumed to lie in the same plane as Pluto's other known moons. "The moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls," said Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, USA, leader of the scientific team that discovered the new moon. The Pluto team is intrigued that such a small planet can have such a complex collection ...

Hurricane Emilia reached peak intensity yesterday, July 10, when its maximum sustained winds hit 140 mph (220 kmh). Today, July 11, Emilia has weakened to a Category 2 hurricane. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Emilia during its weakening phase. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies onboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Hurricane Emilia on July 10, 2012 at 2035 UTC / 4:35 p.m. EDT when its winds had weakened down to 125 mph (205 kmh). Emilia continued weakening after Aqua passed by. On July 11 at 5 a.m. ...

Increasing the number of students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math – otherwise known as the STEM disciplines – is considered to be vital to national competitiveness in the global economy and to the development of a strong 21st century workforce. But the pipeline leading toward STEM careers begins leaking in high school, when students choose not to take advanced courses in science and math. Experts in research and policy have examined different ways to enhance and promote STEM education, but most of these efforts are focused within the four walls ...

Wednesday, July 11, 2012, Cleveland: Cleveland Clinic researchers have discovered that a naturally occurring molecule may play a role in preventing plaque buildup inside arteries, possibly leading to new plaque-fighting drugs and improved screening of patients at risk of developing atherosclerosis. Sometimes called hardening or clogging of the arteries, atherosclerosis is the buildup of cholesterol, fatty cells, and inflammatory deposits on the inner walls of the arteries, restricting blood flow to the heart. The disease can affect the arteries in the heart, legs, brain, ...

VIDEO: Working in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have used two‑photon imaging to capture the first images of a beating heart at a resolution so detailed they can... Click here for more information. Blood flow to the heart often is interrupted during a heart attack or cardiac surgery. But when blood flow resumes, the heart may still falter. That's because collateral damage can occur as blood re-enters the heart, potentially ...

In the current online issue of PLoS ONE, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say they have identified a set of laboratory-based biomarkers that can be useful for understanding brain-based abnormalities in schizophrenia. The measurements, known as endophenotypes, could ultimately be a boon to clinicians who sometimes struggle to recognize and treat the complex and confounding mental disorder. "A major problem in psychiatry is that there are currently no laboratory tests that aid in diagnosis, guide treatment decisions or help predict ...

CORAL GABLES, FL (July 11, 2012)—Emotional problems in childhood are common. Approximately 8 to 22 percent of children suffer from anxiety, often combined with other conditions such as depression. However, most existing therapies are not designed to treat co-existing psychological problems and are therefore not very successful in helping children with complex emotional issues. To develop a more effective treatment for co-occurring youth anxiety and depression, University of Miami (UM) psychologist Jill Ehrenreich-May and her collaborator Emily L. Bilek analyzed the efficacy ...

A Harvard researcher studying the evolution of drug resistance in cancer is predicting that, in a few decades, "many, many cancers could be manageable." Martin Nowak, a Harvard Professor of Mathematics and of Biology and Director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, is one of several co-authors of a paper, published in Nature, that details how resistance to targeted drug therapy emerges in colorectal cancers, and suggests a new, multi-drug approach to treatment could make many cancers manageable, if not curable, illnesses. The key, Nowak's research suggests, ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (July 11, 2012) –A research team in the Netherlands has found that cells from burn eschar, the non-viable tissue remaining after burn injury and normally removed to prevent infection, can be a source of mesenchymal cells that may be used for tissue engineering. Their study compared the efficacy of those cells to adipose (fat)-derived stem cells and dermal fibroblasts in conforming to multipotent mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) criteria. Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:5), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. ...

Putnam Valley, NY. (July 11, 2012) – A research team in the United Kingdom has found that insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) impacts cell transplantation of photoreceptor precursors by manipulating the retinal recipient microenvironment, enabling better migration and integration of the cells into the adult mouse retina. Their study is published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (21:5), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. "Photoreceptor death is an irreversible process and represents one of the largest causes of untreatable ...

Amid the growing recognition that only a small fraction of the cells and genes in a typical human being are human, scientists are suggesting a revolutionary approach to developing new medicines and treatments to target both the human and non-human components of people. That's the topic of an article, which reviews work relating to this topic from almost 100 studies, in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. Liping Zhao, Jeremy K. Nicholson and colleagues explain that human beings have been called "superorganisms" because their bodies contain 10 percent human cells and 90 ...

People are being exposed to higher levels of the substitute for BPA in cash register thermal paper receipts and many of the other products that engendered concerns about the health effects of bisphenol A, according to a new study. Believed to be the first analysis of occurrence of bisphenol S (BPS) in thermal and recycled paper and paper currency, the report appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology. Kurunthachalam Kannan and colleagues point out that growing evidence of the potentially toxic effects of BPA has led some manufacturers to replace it with ...

Scientists are reporting new evidence that a white rot fungus shows promise in the search for a way to use waste corn stalks, cobs and leaves – rather than corn itself – to produce ethanol to extend supplies of gasoline. Their study on using the fungus to break down the tough cellulose and related material in this so-called "corn stover" to free up sugars for ethanol fermentation appears in the ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Yebo Li and colleagues explain that corn ethanol supplies are facing a crunch because corn is critical for animal feed ...

Although a walkout by disgruntled activists may have grabbed headlines, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro last month did produce hundreds of individual commitments from participants with potential for having major impacts. That's the topic of the cover story of this week's Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. C&EN Senior Correspondent Cheryl Hogue explains that the Rio+20 conference brought together representatives from companies, governments, ...

Tropical Storm Daniel was once a hurricane and now a rapidly weakening tropical storm as a result of moving over cooler waters. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite provided a look at just how cool the waters are that have sapped Daniel's strength. The TRMM satellite flew above weakening tropical storm Daniel on July 10, 2012 at 0003 UTC. TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) data from that pass showed that only light to moderate rainfall (.0.78 to 1.57 inches/20 to 40 mm/hour) was occurring with the weakening storm. At NASA's ...

In the name of science, but with aim of saving lives, preventing injuries and reducing property losses, members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) spent much of the first two weeks in July setting fire to 20 abandoned townhouses on Governors Island, about a kilometer from the southern tip of Manhattan. In a series of "live burn" experiments, conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL), New York firefighters challenged the conventional wisdom on, and tested new tactics for, controlling ...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a guide to help improve the design of electronic health records for pediatric patients so that the design focus is on the users—the doctors, nurses and other clinicians who treat children. While hospitals and medical practices are accelerating their adoption of electronic health records, these records systems often are not ideal for supporting children's health care needs. Young patients' physiology is different from adults—and varies widely over the course of their growing years. Tasks that are routine ...

Paleontologist Carlos Jaramillo's group at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and colleagues at North Carolina State University and the Florida Museum of Natural History discovered a new species of fossil turtle that lived 60 million years ago in what is now northwestern South America. The team's findings were published in the Journal of Paleontology. The new turtle species is named Puentemys mushaisaensis because it was found in La Puente pit in Cerrejón Coal Mine, a place made famous for the discoveries, not only of the extinct Titanoboa, the world's ...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a proposed update to its guidelines for securing mobile devices—such as smart phones and tablets—that are used by the federal government. NIST is asking for public comment on the draft document. Mobile devices allow workers, including government employees, to work in multiple locations and to improve their efficiency. But the same features that make these devices desirable make them a security challenge. Mobile devices can easily be lost or stolen, and users may be tempted to download nonsecure apps ...

Next-generation "smart" electrical meters for residential and commercial buildings will have computerized operating systems just as laptops or mobile devices do. On July 10, 2012, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published its first-ever draft guidelines* to help utility companies test their procedures for upgrading meters securely from a remote location. The draft publication offers a generic set of testing criteria to help any utility determine whether its method of upgrading meters conforms with the security and functionality requirements in ...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the second-round draft version of its updated security standard for identity credentials in the Personal Identity Verification cards (PIV cards) that all federal employees and contractors must use. NIST is requesting comments from the public on the document, which is intended to be the last draft before the final version is published. The document is the next step toward updating Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 201, which was published in February 2005. Among its requirements are that ...

BALTIMORE, MD – As interest in concussion rates and prevention strategies at all levels continues to grow, one population that appears to have increasing head injury rates is collegiate football players. Research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Baltimore highlights that the concussion rate in three college football programs has doubled in recent years. "We monitored concussions at three service academies in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 football seasons, and saw the combined number of reports increased ...