September 10, 2012 (SILVER SPRING, Md.) – Scientists used genetic sequencing to discover new evidence that the first vaccine shown to prevent HIV infection in people also affected the viruses in those who did become infected. Viruses with two genetic "footprints" were associated with greater vaccine efficacy. The results were published today in the online edition of the journal Nature. "This is the first time that we have seen pressure on the virus at the genetic level due to an effective HIV vaccine," said Morgane Rolland, Ph.D., a scientist at the U.S. Military HIV ...

SALT LAKE CITY – Researchers from the University of Utah have gained new insight into the regulation of adult nerve cell generation in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates many aspects of behavior, mood, and metabolism. In the Sept. 10, 2012, issue of Developmental Cell they report that a cell-to-cell communication network known as the Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in both the production and specialization of nerve cell precursors in the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a highly complex region of the brain that controls hunger, thirst, ...

BOSTON––A molecule that targets the cell's machinery for breaking down unneeded proteins can kill multiple myeloma cancer cells resistant to the frontline drug Velcade, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found. In a study published online by the journal Cancer Cell, the investigators report that the small molecule P5091 triggered apoptosis -- programmed cell death -- in drug-resistant myeloma cells grown in the laboratory and in animals. The anti-myeloma effect was even more powerful when researchers combined P5091 with other therapies. "Velcade was one ...

MADISON – The protein GATA2 is known as a "master regulator" of blood cell development. When a mutation occurs in the gene that makes GATA2, serious blood diseases such as acute myeloid leukemia can result. Zooming in on the GATA2 gene, UW-Madison researchers and their collaborators at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered unexpectedly that a small DNA sequence drives this powerful master regulator. The sequence plays an essential role in controlling GATA2 production and generating self-renewing blood stem cells responsible for the earliest steps ...

NEW YORK (September 10, 2012) -- A new study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College shows combining two already-FDA approved drugs may offer a new and potent punch against diseases in which blood vessel growth is abnormal -- such as cancer, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and rheumatoid arthritis. Their study, published in the Sept. 11 issue of the journal Developmental Cell, is the first to show that a protein, sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor-1 (S1P1), is a key player in angiogenesis -- the growth process of new blood vessels in the body from pre-existing ...

Ottawa, Canada (September 10, 2012) − A new study just published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (APNM) reaffirms the crucial role exercise along with good nutrition play in maintaining health and fighting disease. "Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequent cancer worldwide, ranking third among all cancer-related deaths. Clinical and experimental studies have shown that physical exercise helps to prevent cancer and improving quality of life," says Dr. Luís Fernando Barbisan, a coauthor of this study and a researcher ...

The Old Testament Studies and Biblical Archaeology division of the Faculty of Protestant Theology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) this year again conducted excavations on the ancient hill of Jaffa in Israel. The recent excavations have not only shed new light on the destruction of elements of the fortification, but also unearthed evidence pointing towards the presence of an Egyptian population on the site. Historically, Jaffa, now part of the city of Tel Aviv, is the oldest port documented in world history. ...

Amsterdam, September 10, 2012 — Physics Letters B, Elsevier's flagship journal in high energy physics, announced today that the observations of the long-sought Higgs particle, hailed as one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time, have been published. The papers: "Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC" and "Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC" are freely available online on ScienceDirect. In July 2012, The European Organization for Nuclear ...

A computer is being taught to interpret human emotions based on lip pattern, according to research published in the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing. The system could improve the way we interact with computers and perhaps allow disabled people to use computer-based communications devices, such as voice synthesizers, more effectively and more efficiently. Karthigayan Muthukaruppanof Manipal International University in Selangor, Malaysia, and co-workers have developed a system using a genetic algorithm that gets better and better with ...

In a special report in The Lancet [1], researchers from Queen Mary, University of London (UK) argue that pending cases against India's patent laws threaten public health and misinterpret international intellectual property agreements. The report, which is published today (Monday), highlights legal challenges by two pharmaceutical companies, Bayer and Novartis, to key provisions of India's Patents Act. Bayer's appeal was heard last week, and the Indian Supreme Court is due to hear Novartis' appeal tomorrow (11th September). In their report, "India's patent laws under ...

A study by the University of Southampton has shown that women are having children later in life mainly because they are spending longer in education. Research by Professor Máire Ní Bhrolcháin and Dr Éva Beaujouan of the ESRC Centre for Population Change at the University reveals that finishing full-time education and training at an older average age is the main reason why people are having their first child later in life – both in Britain and in France. Professor Ní Bhrolcháin comments, "Later childbearing has been a major feature of fertility trends in recent decades, ...

Millions of us send billions of emails back and forth each day without much concern for their security. On the whole, security is not a primary concern for most day-to-day emails, but some emails do contain personal, proprietary and sensitive information, documents, media, photos, videos and sound files. Unfortunately, the open nature of email means that they can be intercepted and if not encrypted easily read by malicious third parties. Even with the PGP - pretty good privacy - encryption scheme first used in 1995, if a sender's private "key" is compromised all their previous ...

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have patented and are commercializing GaAs nanowires grown on graphene, a hybrid material with competitive properties. Semiconductors grown on graphene are expected to become the basis for new types of device systems, and could fundamentally change the semiconductor industry. The technology underpinning their approach has recently been described in a publication in the American research journal Nano Letters. The new patented hybrid material offers excellent optoelectronic properties, says Professor ...

Thieves are unlikely to appreciate this fabric, which looks innocuous but in fact incorporates a fine web of conductive threads connected to a microcontroller that detects warning signals emitted when the fabric is cut and triggers an alarm. This system can be used to protect buildings, bank vaults, and trucks against even the most wily of intruders. Vehicles parked overnight at truck stops are particularly vulnerable to attacks by thieves who slit open the canvas tarp covering the trailer while the driver is asleep and make off with the cargo. If the tarp were made from ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — More than a cancer-causing gene is needed to trigger pancreatic cancer, a study led by Mayo Clinic has found. A second factor creates a "perfect storm" that allows tumors to form, the researchers say. The study, published in the Sept. 10 issue of Cancer Cell, overturns the current belief that a mutation in the KRAS oncogene is enough to initiate pancreatic cancer and unrestrained cell growth. The findings uncover critical clues on how pancreatic cancer develops and why few patients benefit from current therapies. The findings also provide ideas about ...

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new software tool to prevent performance disruptions in cloud computing systems by automatically identifying and responding to potential anomalies before they can develop into problems. Cloud computing enables users to create multiple "virtual machines" that operate independently, even though they are all operating on one large computing platform. However, this approach can cause performance issues when a software bug, or other problem, in one virtual machine disrupts the entire cloud. Now researchers ...

Scientists at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered a subpopulation of cells that display cancer stem cell properties and resistance to chemotherapy, and participate in tumor progression. This breakthrough could lead to the development of new tests for early cancer diagnosis, prognostic tests, and innovative therapeutic strategies, as reported in Cancer Cell. Resistance to chemotherapy is a frequent and devastating phenomenon that occurs in cancer patients during certain treatments. Unfortunately, tumors that initially respond to chemotherapy eventually become ...

PHILADELPHIA--Patients of doctors who are more empathic have better outcomes and fewer complications, concludes a large, empirical study by a team of Thomas Jefferson University and Italian researchers who evaluated relationships between physician empathy and clinical outcomes among 20,961 diabetic patients and 242 physicians in Italy. The study was published in the September 2012 issue of Academic Medicine, and serves as a follow up to a smaller study published in the same journal in March 2011 from Thomas Jefferson University investigating physician empathy and its ...

A problem faced by patients seeking medical attention is often getting a clinic appointment at a time convenient to them. Conversely, cancellations and more crucially "no-shows" by patients can disrupt the day-to-day scheduling of a medical practice leading to frustration for patients and staff alike as well as affectively efficiency in a negative manner and leading to lost revenue. Raid Al-Aomar of Abu Dhabi University in United Arab Emirates and colleague Mahmoud Awad of ALHOSN University, also in Abu Dhabi have now developed a computer model that could help practice ...

Pregnant women who have had prior preterm births may avoid a subsequent early birth if given progestogens, which are natural or synthetic forms of progesterone, a female hormone that naturally increases during pregnancy, a Vanderbilt analysis shows. Women who have had prior preterm births and are given progestogens while expecting a single child show some benefit from additional hormone, Vanderbilt researchers reported in a systematic review released on Thursday in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the official publication of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, ...

Montreal, September 10, 2012 – By the time older adults are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the brain damage is irreparable. For now, modern medicine is able to slow the progression of the disease but is incapable of reversing it. What if there was a way to detect if someone is on the path to Alzheimer's before substantial and non-reversible brain damage sets in? This was the question Erin K. Johns, a doctoral student in Concordia University's Department of Psychology and member of the Center for Research in Human Development (CRDH), asked when she started her research ...

This press release is available in Spanish. A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist is showing growers how to combat whiteflies and other crop pests by using plants as storehouses for predatory insects that can migrate to cash crops and feed on the pests attacking those crops. Cindy L. McKenzie, an entomologist in the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Subtropical Insects Research Unit at Fort Pierce, Fla., has done extensive work showing how papaya, corn and ornamental peppers can serve as "banker plants" for a range of insect parasitoids and predators. ...

The decision has been taken by the German government to transform the energy system and phase out nuclear energy power. The transition process is gaining impetus but much remains to be done. During the course of which, the production of wind energy is to be dramatically expanded – not only through costly offshore facilities, but onshore as well. "There is still immense potential inland that remains to be tapped, such as in the low mountain ranges," says Tobias Klaas, scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES in Kassel. Klaas ...

AT A GLANCE Most throat infections are not caused by Group A streptococcus, or "strep," but by viruses, and therefore don't need antibiotics, according to new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). For confirmed strep infections, penicillin or amoxicillin are the antibiotic of choice, except for those who are allergic. Children who suffer from strep throat and have recurrent throat infections should not have their tonsils surgically removed for that reason alone. 15 million people see the doctor every year complaining of sore ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The suicide rate in the U.S. Army now exceeds the rate in the general population, and psychiatric admission is now the most common reason for hospitalization in the Army. These concerning trends are described by Timothy Lineberry, M.D., a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist and suicide expert for the Army, in the September edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. In the article, he also outlines steps to assess and address military suicide -- an issue he calls a major public health concern. Dr. Lineberry proposes greater use of gun locks, improving primary care for ...