North Grafton, MA, June 14, 2012 -- Researchers have unveiled a novel strategy for neutralizing unwanted molecules and clearing them from the body. The strategy employs chains of binding agents, like "beads on a string", which target two sites on one or more pathogenic molecules to neutralize their activity and promote their clearance by the body's immune system. The low-cost, easy-to-replicate tool has demonstrated applications against several different toxins, from those found in contaminated food to those used in bioterrorism, and may also prove effective in targeting ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new study proposes a communication routing strategy for the brain that mimics the American highway system, with the bulk of the traffic leaving the local and feeder neural pathways to spend as much time as possible on the longer, higher-capacity passages through an influential network of hubs, the so-called rich club. The study, published this week online in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involves researchers from Indiana University and the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands and advances ...

The ancient reserves of methane gas seeping from the melting Arctic ice cap told Jeff Chanton and fellow researchers what they already knew: As the permafrost thaws, there is a release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that causes climate warming. The trick was figuring out how much, said Chanton, the John W. Winchester Professor of Oceanography at Florida State University. The four-member team — whose findings were published in the respected journal Nature Geoscience (http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ngeo1480.html) — documented a large number ...

Sequencing the human genome was just the first step. The next challenge is of the kind that makes history: to decode the genome, and understand how the information needed to construct a human being can be packaged into a single molecule. And there are a lot more than loose ends in the way of a solution. A group of bioinformatics experts at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid have published findings which point to still unexplored coding potential within the genome. The substance responsible is chimeric RNA, formed not from one gene but from fragments ...

This press release is available in German. Finding new particles usually requires high energies – that is why huge accelerators have been built, which can accelerate particles to almost the speed of light. But there are other creative ways of finding new particles: At the Vienna University of Technology, scientists presented a method to prove the existence of hypothetical "axions". These axions could accumulate around a black hole and extract energy from it. This process could emit gravity waves, which could then be measured. Axions are hypothetical particles ...

Researchers at the University of Helsinki and the Folkhälsan Research Center, Finland, have identified the genetic cause of early-onset progressive cerebellar degeneration the Finnish Hound dog breed. The study, led by Professor Hannes Lohi, revealed a new disease mechanism in cerebellar degeneration. A mutation was identified in the SEL1L gene, which has no previous link to inherited cerebellar ataxias. This gene find is the first in canine early-onset cerebellar degeneration, and has enabled the development of a genetic test to help eradicate the disease from the breed. ...

Over the next 20 years the proportion of older people living within the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities in the UK will increase significantly. Most expect that their immediate family, particularly female family members, will provide the majority of care for them in their old age, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The research by Professor Christina Victor of Brunel University, found very few, at best five to ten per cent of the older people within these communities who were interviewed received any form of formal ...

Teaching and learning in the 21st century needs to be 'turbo-charged' by educational technology rather than using technologies designed for other purposes, according to a new report developed by the Technology-Enhanced Learning Research Programme (TEL) - a five-year research programme funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The report System Upgrade: Realising the vision for UK Education is the work of academics, industry and practitioners from across the UK. They warn that to prosper in the ...

DENVER (June 18, 2012) – While marijuana use by teens has been increasing since 2005, an analysis of data from 1993 through 2009 by economists at three universities has found no evidence to link the legalization of medical marijuana to increased use of the drug among high school students. "There is anecdotal evidence that medical marijuana is finding its way into the hands of teenagers, but there's no statistical evidence that legalization increases the probability of use," said Daniel I. Rees, a professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver. Rees co-authored ...

For aging adults, leaving the homestead and going to a retirement center or assisted living facility is a difficult decision. But for many, it is even harder when they are unable to bring their beloved pets with them. However, it seems that is not always the case nowadays. A FOX News article has revealed that more retirement communities are allowing seniors to take their pets with them. Petland Novi, a pet store, wants more retirement centers to embrace this idea because of the benefits it brings to seniors. Regency Grand, a California-based facility, provides meals, ...

VIDEO: Researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute developed an prototype automated pavement crack detection and sealing system. Click here for more information. Sealing cracks in roadways ensures a road's structural integrity and extends the time between major repaving projects, but conventional manual crack sealing operations expose workers to dangerous traffic and cover a limited amount of roadway each day. To address these challenges, the Georgia Tech Research ...

North Carolina State University researchers have shown that the "bulkiness" of molecules commonly used in the creation of gold nanoparticles actually dictates the size of the nanoparticles – with larger so-called ligands resulting in smaller nanoparticles. The research team also found that each type of ligand produces nanoparticles in a particular array of discrete sizes. "This work advances our understanding of nanoparticle formation, and gives us a new tool for controlling the size and characteristics of gold nanoparticles," says Dr. Joseph Tracy, an assistant professor ...

The legal system needs to take greater account of new discoveries in neuroscience that show how a difficult childhood can affect the development of a young person's brain which can increase the risk adolescent crimes, according to researchers. The research will be presented as part of an Economic and Social Research Council seminar series in conjunction with the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. Neuroscientists have recently shown that early adversity – such as a very chaotic and frightening home life – can result in a young child becoming hyper vigilant ...

Fans of the New York Yankees incorrectly perceive Fenway Park, home of the archrival Boston Red Sox, to be closer to New York City than is Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles, a study by New York University psychologists has found. Their research, which appears in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, shows how social categorization, collective identification, and identity threat work in concert to shape our representations of the physical world. "Sun Tzu, the Chinese military general, philosopher, and author of what is arguably the most famous book ...

VIDEO: University of Miami physics professor Josef Ashkenazi discusses supercooling with liquid nitrogen and superconductors. Click here for more information. CORAL GABLES, FL (June 18, 2012)--Researchers from the University of Miami (UM) are unveiling a novel theory for high-temperature superconductivity. The team hopes the new finding gives insight into the process, and brings the scientific community closer to achieving superconductivity at higher temperatures than currently ...

Menlo Park, Calif. — Recently analyzed data from the BaBar experiment may suggest possible flaws in the Standard Model of particle physics, the reigning description of how the universe works on subatomic scales. The data from BaBar, a high-energy physics experiment based at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, show that a particular type of particle decay called "B to D-star-tau-nu" happens more often than the Standard Model says it should. In this type of decay, a particle called the B-bar meson decays into a D meson, an antineutrino ...

Story leads this month from new articles on parenting by the norm, the link between sexism and racism, death and the supernatural, how brands shape identity and more... Parenting by the social norm For parents, it is not only important to pass on to their children values that they personally endorse but also to teach values that they think are the societal norms, according to a new study. Particularly among immigrant parents, conforming to values that they perceive as norms is important. "Intersubjective Model of Value Transmission: Parents Using Perceived Norms as ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – During this presidential election season, there will be plenty of debate between the candidates on the issues. But when it comes to childhood health concerns, a new poll shows many adults agree on the top priorities they want to see the candidates address: childhood obesity and bullying. The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health recently asked adults to name the top child health concerns that the presidential candidates should address. In a survey of more than 2,100 adults, participants selected the ...

A new study shows that the compound Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) reduces oxidative damage, a key finding that hints at its potential to slow the progression of Huntington disease. The discovery, which appears in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Huntington's Disease, also points to a new biomarker that could be used to screen experimental treatments for this and other neurological disorders. "This study supports the hypothesis that CoQ exerts antioxidant effects in patients with Huntington's disease and therefore is a treatment that warrants further study," says University ...

Chevy Chase, MD—Osteoporosis in men causes significant morbidity and mortality. Today, the Endocrine Society released clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for management of this condition in men. "Osteoporosis in Men: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline," is published in the June 2012 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society. Osteoporosis is a silent disorder characterized by reduced bone strength predisposing to increased fracture risk. Approximately 20 percent of Americans with osteoporosis ...

Amsterdam, NL, 19 June 2012 – In Huntington's disease, abnormally long strands of glutamine in the huntingtin (Htt) protein, called polyglutamines, cause subtle changes in cellular functions that lead to neurodegeneration and death. Studies have shown that the activation of the heat shock response, a cellular reaction to stress, doesn't work properly in Huntington's disease. In their research to understand the effects of mutant Htt on the master regulator of the heat shock response, HSF1, researchers have discovered that the targets most affected by stress are not the ...

WASHINGTON, June 18—When restoring damaged and faded works of art, artists often employ lasers and other sophisticated imaging techniques to study intricate details, analyze pigments, and search for subtle defects not visible to the naked eye. To refine what can be seen during the restoration process even further, a team of Italian researchers has developed a new imaging tool that can capture features not otherwise detectable with the naked eye or current imaging techniques. The system, known as Thermal Quasi-Reflectography (TQR), is able to create revealing images using ...

UPTON, N.Y. — Overturning two long-held misconceptions about oil production in algae, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory show that ramping up the microbes' overall metabolism by feeding them more carbon increases oil production as the organisms continue to grow. The findings — published online in the journal Plant and Cell Physiology on May 28, 2012 — may point to new ways to turn photosynthetic green algae into tiny "green factories" for producing raw materials for alternative fuels. "We are interested in algae because they grow ...

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), usually found in pediatric patients, is far more rare and deadly in adolescent and adult patients. According to the National Marrow Donor Program, child ALL patients have a higher than 80 percent remission rate, while the recovery rate for adults stands at only 40 percent. In current practice, pediatric and young adult ALL patients undergo different treatment regimes. Children aged 0-15 years are typically given more aggressive chemotherapy, while young adults, defined as people between 16 and 39 years of age, are treated with a round ...

Science has known about plant hormones since Charles Darwin experimented with plant shoots and showed that the shoots bend toward the light as long as their tips, which are secreting a growth hormone, aren't cut off. But it is only recently that scientists have begun to put a molecular face on the biochemical systems that modulate the levels of plant hormones to defend the plant from herbivore or pathogen attack or to allow it to adjust to changes in temperature, precipitation or soil nutrients. Now, a cross-Atlantic collaboration between scientists at Washington University ...