The prevailing model for planetary accretion, also called fractal assembly, and dating back as far as the 18th century, assumes that the Solar System's planets grew as small grains colliding chaotically, coalescing into bigger ones, colliding yet more until they formed planetesimals. The planetesimals then collided until they formed planets as varied as the Earth and Jupiter. The model assumes that this occurred in an extremely hot (as high as 1,600 degrees Celsius) environment for the inner Solar System, fostered by a dusty, two-dimensional disk post-dating the Sun. The ...

People with schizophrenia who completed 80 hours of intensive, computerized cognitive training exercises were better able to perform complex tasks that required them to distinguish their internal thoughts from reality. As described in the journal Neuron (2/22/12), a small clinical study conducted at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), tested the digital exercises as a new therapy for schizophrenia. "We predicted that in order to improve complex cognitive functions in neuropsychiatric illness, we must ...

MadCap Software, Inc. (http://www.madcapsoftware.com), the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Visual Studio and Microsoft XPS, today announced that the newest release of MadPak is now available. MadPak (http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/madpak/overview.aspx) is the industry's most comprehensive authoring suite, featuring integrated, XML-based products for complete end-to-end technical communication. The latest release of the suite offers four new product versions: MadCap Flare 8.0 for single-source, multi-channel ...

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Feb. 29, 2012) -- A rare and endangered monkey in an African equatorial rainforest is providing a look into our climatic future through its DNA. Its genes show that wild drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus), already an overhunted species, may see a dramatic population decline if the forest dries out and vegetation becomes sparser amid warming temperatures, researchers report. Looking for clues amid 2,076 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA -- genes passed down along female lineages -- researchers discovered genetic signs that coincide with the conditions that ...

Patients who had leaky mitral heart valves repaired along with bypass surgery had with healthier hearts than those who had bypass only, according to new research presented in the American Heart Association's Emerging Science Series webinar. The mitral valve separates the heart's left atrium (upper chamber) from the left ventricle (lower chamber). It has two flaps, or cusps, and if the flaps don't close properly, the valve will leak. "Many patients who need bypass surgery have mild to moderately leaky mitral valves because coronary artery disease causes the heart to enlarge ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mitochondria -- subunits inside cells that produce energy -- have long been thought to play a role in Alzheimer's disease. Now Mayo Clinic researchers using genetic mouse models have discovered that mitochondria in the brain are dysfunctional early in the disease. The findings appear in the journal PLoS ONE. The group looked at mitochondria in three mouse models, each using a different gene shown to cause familial, or early-onset, Alzheimer's disease. The specific mitochondria changes corresponded with the mutation type and included altered mitochondrial ...

MadCap Software, Inc. (http://www.madcapsoftware.com), the leader in multi-channel content authoring and a showcase company for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Visual Studio and Microsoft XPS, today announced the launch of MadCap Flare 8.0. Flare is the industry's leading technical authoring application for publishing online Help, knowledge bases, policy and procedure manuals, user manuals, and other forms of content. Only MadCap Flare lets authors create a single project and then directly publish it in multiple formats optimized for the Web, mobile devices, desktops, and print ...

HOUSTON - A drug that relieves the severe symptoms of a life-threatening bone marrow cancer called myelofibrosis also improves the survival of patients with the disease, according to a phase III clinical trial published in the March 1 edition of New England Journal of Medicine. "The Phase I/II clinical trial showed that ruxolitinib improves quality of life for many patients with myelofibrosis and now this phase III study indicates that the drug extends survival in a patient population that has lacked effective treatments," said study principal investigator Srdan Verstovsek, ...

STANFORD, Calif. — People with a blood cancer — myelofibrosis — can benefit from a drug called ruxolitinib, according to a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that included patients and researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The results of the multi-site phase-3 trial, which will be published in the March 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, led the Food and Drug Administration to approve the drug in November as treatment for people with intermediate or advanced cases of the disease. Ruxolitinib is marketed as Jakafi ...

Since 2008, Habitatter.com has been offering the highest quality in home decorating accessories. Now, they are adding some additional product lines, including kick plates, wall trim and picture frames. Greg Simerlink, owner of Habitatter.com, said, "I am very excited to introduce these new product lines. We are always striving to expand our offerings, and are looking to become one-stop shopping for all your home decor needs." To celebrate, Habitatter.com is offering 10% off their Muscle Car Accessories collection for the entire month of March. Muscle Car ...

BOSTON, MA – February 29, 2012 – TREM Rx, Inc., a biotechnology company with a proprietary technology platform for novel vaccines delivered to the skin, announced today the results of an in vivo preclinical study that shows, for the first time, that powerful cells of the immune system called TREMs (T Resident Effector Memory cells) prevalent in the skin can mediate a protective immune response that is far stronger than memory T cells that circulate in the bloodstream. The study was published in today's online edition of Nature and was led by TREM Rx scientific founder, ...

Sophia Antipolis, 1 March 2012: In a groundbreaking White Paper published today in the European Heart Journal, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has set out its perspective on the relationship between the healthcare industry and professional medical associations with regard to the funding and delivery of continuing medical education (CME). Essential in helping to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease across Europe – the ESC's over-arching mission – physicians have both a professional and ethical duty to undertake CME in order to provide the highest level ...

Blue whale vocal behavior is affected by man-made noise, even when that noise does not overlap the frequencies the whales use for communication, according to new research published Feb. 29 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The whales were less likely to emit calls when mid-frequency sonar was present, but were more likely to do so when ship sounds were nearby, the researchers report. The study was conducted in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California by Mariana Melcon and her colleagues from University of California San Diego. Blue whale vocalizations ...

Knowledge about animal diet can inform conservation strategy, but this information can be difficult to gather. A new DNA-based method, which analyzes genetic material from feces, could be a useful tool, and researchers have shown its utility to characterize the diet of snow leopards in Mongolia. The full results are reported Feb. 29 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. Analysis of DNA from 81 fecal samples showed that the leopards ate mostly Siberian ibex, followed by domestic goats and wild sheep. Most of the animals eaten were wild (79 %), with a relatively low proportion ...

Millions of years after its extinction, Triceratops is inciting controversy about how to classify the ancient animals. New analysis, published Feb. 29 in the open access journal PLoS ONE, suggests that the specimens in question should be classified into two separate groups, Triceratops and Torosaurus, and are not individuals of different ages from the same genus, as others have proposed. The researchers, led by Nicholas Longrich of Yale University, performed detailed morphological and computational analysis of 35 specimens and found evidence that Triceratops and Torosaurus ...

"We used a trick called earthshine observation to look at the Earth as if it were an exoplanet," says Michael Sterzik (ESO), lead author of the paper [1]. "The Sun shines on the Earth and this light is reflected back to the surface of the Moon. The lunar surface acts as a giant mirror and reflects the Earth's light back to us — and this is what we have observed with the VLT." The astronomers analyse the faint earthshine light to look for indicators, such as certain combinations of gases in the Earth's atmosphere [2], that are the telltale signs of organic life. This method ...

A repression of gene activity in the brain appears to be an early event affecting people with Alzheimer's disease, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found. In mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, this epigenetic blockade and its effects on memory were treatable. "These findings provide a glimpse of the brain shutting down the ability to form new memories gene by gene in Alzheimer's disease, and offer hope that we may be able to counteract this process," said Roderick Corriveau, Ph.D., a program director at NIH's National Institute of Neurological ...

Some women considering breast augmentation worry that, after having this procedure, styles will change and they will, of a sudden, be out of fashion. It is important to remember that fashions do change. Every year there are new clothing options, often in flattering shapes and colors. What is more likely is that smaller, undefined breasts actually inhibit you form wearing the latest fashions and may completely eliminate many clothing options. Style and fashion are not the same thing. Breast augmentation isn't about fashion, it's about style; your style to be specific. ...

In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, memory problems stem from an overactive enzyme that shuts off genes related to neuron communication, a new study says. When researchers genetically blocked the enzyme, called HDAC2, they 'reawakened' some of the neurons and restored the animals' cognitive function. The results, published February 29, 2012, in the journal Nature, suggest that drugs that inhibit this particular enzyme would make good treatments for some of the most devastating effects of the incurable neurodegenerative disease. "It's going to be very important ...

One year on from the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami and caused a partial meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, this month's special issue of Physics World, on the theme of "Physics and the Earth", includes an investigation by journalist Edwin Cartlidge into the latest advances in earthquake forecasting. In addition to the special issue, physicsworld.com hosts an exclusive video documentary reviewing the fundamental science behind earthquakes and assessing the current efforts that are being made around the world to forecast these ...

Victims of truck accidents often find themselves mired in a frustrating and complex legal process when trying to seek compensation. Part of this has to do with the number of parties that may be held accountable in a truck accident. The driver, the trucking company, the personnel who loaded the trailer, and even truck part manufacturers can be held responsible for damages in a truck accident depending on the circumstances. When you hire a truck accident attorney, one of the first things he or she will look for is potential violations of federal trucking laws. The Federal ...

Urgent action is needed to reduce the high concentrations of dangerous air pollutants in Europe, according to experts writing in the European Respiratory Journal today (1 March 2012). The European Respiratory Society's Environment and Health Committee are urging policymakers in Europe to introduce changes that will ensure the air that we breathe is safe and clean. The call to action comes ahead of the upcoming review of air quality legislation in the European Union (EU) before the 2013 Year of Air. In the editorial, the ERS committee argues that any new legislation ...

BOSTON, MA—Very recently, researchers discovered an important population of immune cells called memory T cells living in parts of the body that are in contact with the environment (e.g., skin, lung, GI tract). How these "resident" memory T cells are generated was unknown, and their importance with regard to how our immune system remembers infection and how it prevents against re-infection is being studied intensively. Now, a study by a Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) research team led by Xiaodong Jiang, PhD, research scientist and Thomas S. Kupper, MD, Chair of ...

(Cambridge, Mass.) -- More than 60 years ago, scientists discovered the underlying cause of sickle cell disease: People with the disorder produce crescent-shaped red blood cells that clog capillaries instead of flowing smoothly, like ordinary, disc-shaped red blood cells do. This can cause severe pain, major organ damage and a significantly shortened lifespan. Researchers later found that the disease results from a single mutation in the hemoglobin protein, and realized that the sickle shape — seen more often in people from tropical climates — is actually an evolutionary ...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29, 2012 — The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS) award-winning "Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions" podcast series describes how the seeds of the "miracle tree" can be used to produce clean drinking water. The new water-treatment process requiring only tree seeds and sand could purify and clarify water inexpensively and sustainably in the developing world, where more than 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water, scientists report. Removing the disease-causing microbes and sediment from drinking water requires technology ...