Boulder, CO, USA – Understanding Earth's paleo-hurricane record cannot be more timely and important in a light of Hurricane Sandy, which shocked the U.S. East Coast last week. Talks in this Wednesday afternoon session at the GSA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, integrate field, lab, and model analysis of past hurricanes and future scenarios, covering a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Session co-organizer Daria Nikitina of West Chester University says that "gaining understanding of past events provides the context for future coastal vulnerability. ...

Why do our brains make more mistakes when we act quickly? A new study demonstrates how the brain follows Ben Franklin's famous dictum, "Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste." The research – conducted by Research Assistant Professor Richard Heitz and Jeffrey Schall, Ingram Professor of Neuroscience, at Vanderbilt University – has found that the brain actually switches into a special mode when pushed to make rapid decisions. The study was published Nov. 7 in the journal Neuron. "This is a question that is very basic to our experience as human beings, ...

VIDEO: This is an example of one image from each of the visual categories used in the structured SSD training (geometric shapes, Hebrew letters, textures, body postures, everyday objects, houses, and... Click here for more information. Areas of the brain in blind people can learn to process visual input through the use of sound, even after years or perhaps even lifelong blindness, according to new research reported in the November issue of the Cell Press journal Neuron. The findings ...

Ottawa, Canada (November 7, 2012) – Researchers at Dalhousie University have discovered a new technique using "computer-aided" drug design that may lead to an entirely new approach in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). "Alzheimer's is a devastating disease for which no truly disease-modifying drugs are available. Our approach is completely novel. We explore how the human body attempts to protect itself from Alzheimer's, and then we exploit this to develop an entirely new approach to therapeutics," explained Dr. Weaver, a professor at Dalhousie University, ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Rapid advances in the new and developing field of restoration sedimentology will be needed to protect the world's river deltas from an array of threats, Indiana University Bloomington geologist Douglas A. Edmonds writes in the journal Nature Geoscience. The commentary, published this week in the November issue, addresses the fact that land is disappearing from river deltas at alarming rates. And deltas are extraordinarily important: They are ecologically rich and productive, and they are home to about 10 percent of the world's population. "There's ...

CHESTNUT HILL, MA (November 7, 2012) – In a digital age where dissatisfied consumers vent their concerns through biting viral videos, nasty blog posts or negative online comments, managers need to develop strategies to soothe angry customers in person as well as online, according to a new study in the latest edition of the Journal of Service Research. In a study that explores the changing ways in which customers express their emotions, the researchers found that anger can quickly fuel negative word-of-mouth commentary to fellow consumers, family and friends, as well as ...

When a patient is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the disease has usually already progressed over several years and damage to areas such as blood vessels and eyes has already taken place. To find a test that indicates who is at risk at an early stage would be valuable, as it would enable preventive treatment to be put in place. Researchers at Lund University have now identified a promising candidate for a test of this kind. The findings have been published in the journal Cell Metabolism. "We have shown that individuals who have above-average levels of a protein called ...

A team of Brazilian physicists working with neuroscientists studying freely behaving rats have found that their neurons often act in precise coordination over time, in a study about to be published in EPJ B. These findings stem from the work of Bruno Silva, a researcher at Bahia Federal University in Salvador, and his colleagues from other universities in the Northeastern region of Brazil, and suggest that neuronal networks' memory could be explored in the future. Because neurons are connected with each other, acting as operational units in the brain, they can be considered ...

Faced with the same threat, city and country birds do not react in the same way despite being from the same species. According to a new study, urban birds have changed their anti-predator behaviour in new environments. When a bird is faced with a predator, its only objective is to escape. However, city birds do not react in the same way as their countryside counterparts, despite being from the same species. Urbanisation plays an influential role in their survival strategies. To study this phenomenon, Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo, researcher at the University of Granada ...

Fast and ultrasensitive optical systems are gaining increasing significance and are being used in a diverse range of applications, for example, in imaging procedures in the fields of medicine and biology, in astronomy and in safety engineering for the automotive industry. Frequently the challenge lies in being able to record high-quality images under extremely low light conditions. Modern photo detectors for image capture typically reach their limits here. They frequently work with light-sensitive electronic components that are based on CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide ...

Power supply is the backbone of our modern economy. Nearly every aspect of life depends on electrically-operated devices. When the flow of power stops, it is not just the lights that go out. In the supermarket, the automatic teller machines and cash registers stop working. Even telephones, radios and televisions become paralyzed. If the shortage lasts a long time the supply of hot water, gas and fuel and the functioning of respirators at intensive care units in nursing homes or at private homes is at risk. The causes of this dreadful scenario can range from natural disasters ...

Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2012 -- Common wisdom has it that if the visual cortex in the brain is deprived of visual information in early infanthood, it may never develop properly its functional specialization, making sight restoration later in life almost impossible. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in France have now shown that blind people – using specialized photographic and sound equipment – can actually "see" and describe objects and even identify letters and words. The new study by a team of researchers, led by Prof. Amir Amedi of the Edmond and ...

A new study led by researchers from the University of York suggests protected areas in East Africa are not conserving plants such as the iconic Acacia tree. Acacia, the thorny flat-topped tree that characterises the African savannas, is an important component of ecosystem diversity. However, the researchers found that the majority of Acacia biodiversity 'hotspots' receive little protection through the protected area network, which includes national parks, nature and forest reserves. The situation, they say, may be exacerbated by climate change. The results of the study, ...

Biogenic amines may be one of the factors responsible for symptoms such as headaches, gastro-intestinal disorders, shortness of breath, fall in blood pressure, and even unconsciousness and cardiac arrhythmia in severe cases. Histamine, one of the best known members of this group, can cause serious physical problems. Biogenic amines can be produced in the body by natural metabolic activities but are also ingested in larger quantities with food. They play a special role in microbiologically produced food such as wine, beer, cheese, and sauerkraut. In a joint project Johannes ...

Paleontology, with its rocks and fossils, seems far removed from the world of developmental genetics, with its petri dishes and embryos. Whereas paleontology strives to determine "What happened in evolution?", developmental genetics uses gene control in embryos to try to answer "How did it happen?" Combined, the two approaches can lead to remarkable insights that benefit both fields. In the current issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Hans Thewissen, Ingalls-Brown Professor at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED), and his colleagues review recent studies ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Climate scientists cannot attribute any single weather event — whether a drought, wildfire or extreme storm — to climate change. But extreme events, such as Hurricane Sandy, are glimpses of the types of occurrences the world could be more vulnerable to in the future. As the devastation left by Sandy continues to reverberate, decision-makers at every level are asking: How can we be better prepared? MIT researchers have developed a new tool to help policymakers, city planners and others see the possible local effects of climate change. Its regional projections ...

This press release is available in German. Months of painstaking work in the laboratory at Bielefeld University's Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) have paid off: the 15 students participating in this year's 'international Genetically Engineered Machine competition' (iGEM) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have good reason to celebrate. The goal of their project was to develop a biological filter that removes estrogen from drinking water. It was a success: they managed to produce enzymes that break down the hormone. On Monday 5 November, the competition ...

New Rochelle, NY, November 7, 2012—Premenopausal use of hormonal contraceptives may improve the cognitive abilities of women in midlife and for years afterward. This finding may have implications for prevention of declining cognitive function that occurs with advancing age and in diseases such as Alzheimer's. The beneficial effects of hormones increase the longer a woman uses them, as described in a study published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health ...

Contact: Denise Bradley denise.bradley@tevapharm.com 215-591-8974 Teva North America Teva to present new Phase III data for QNASL® Nasal Aerosol at the 2012 ACAAI Meeting Studies highlight safety and efficacy profiles in pediatric patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis, reinforce device functionality and reliability and demonstrate ocular safety profile JERUSALEM, Israel, November 6, 2012 – Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that additional data from the Phase III clinical program for QNASL® (beclomethasone dipropionate) Nasal Aerosol will be ...

HOUSTON – (Nov. 7, 2012) – Administering stem cells derived from patients' own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The results of the trial, called Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (TIME), mirror a previous related study, LateTIME, which found that such cells (called autologous stem cells) given two to three weeks after a heart attack did not improve heart function. Both TIME and LateTIME ...

New Rochelle, NY, November 7, 2012—Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a rare form of thyroid tumor, but it is also the most deadly. Newly developed evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term monitoring and follow-up care of patients with this extremely aggressive form of thyroid cancer are published in Thyroid (http://www.liebertpub.com/thy), a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers (http://www.liebertpub.com). The Guidelines, prepared by the American Thyroid Association Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Guidelines Task Force, are ...

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 7, 2012 — UC Irvine researchers have created a new stem cell-derived cell type with unique promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Dr. Edwin Monuki of UCI's Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, developmental & cell biology graduate student Momoko Watanabe and colleagues developed these cells –called choroid plexus epithelial cells – from existing mouse and human embryonic stem cell lines. CPECs are critical for proper functioning of the choroid plexus, the tissue in the brain that produces cerebrospinal fluid. ...

MAYWOOD, Il. - Loyola University Medical Center is among the centers participating in a landmark study that could lead to fewer inappropriate shocks from implanted defibrillators. Implanted defibrillators save lives by shocking hearts back into a normal rhythm. But sometimes a defibrillator can go off when it's not necessary, delivering a shock that feels like a kick in the chest. The study found that reprogramming defibrillators to be less sensitive to irregular heart rhythms reduced the number of inappropriate shocks, while also reducing mortality. The study was presented ...

(Lebanon, NH, 11/5/2012) — Dartmouth researchers have found that duration of ibuprofen use was associated with a reduced risk of bladder cancer in patients in northern New England, which has a high mortality rate of this disease. In a 2012 collaborative project with the National Cancer Institute, Margaret Karagas, PhD, co-director, Cancer Epidemiology & Chemoprevention program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and Professor of Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Richard Waddell, D.Sc, Research Assistant Professor of Medicine at ...

Vancouver researchers have discovered the cellular pathway that causes lung-damaging inflammation in cystic fibrosis (CF), and that reducing the pathway's activity also decreases inflammation. The finding offers a potential new drug target for treating CF lung disease, which is a major cause of illness and death for people with CF. "Developing new drugs that target lung inflammation would be a big step forward," says Dr. Stuart Turvey, who led the research. Dr. Turvey is the director of clinical research and senior clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute ...