The press release
archive.

Technology20 Sep 2012

Computers get a better way to detect threats

UT Dallas computer scientists have developed a technique to automatically allow one computer in a virtual network to monitor another for intrusions, viruses or anything else that could cause a computer to malfunction. The technique has been dubbed "space travel" because it sends computer data to a world outside its home, and bridges the gap between computer hardware and software systems. "Space travel might change the daily practice for many services offered virtually for cloud providers and data centers today, and as this technology becomes more popular in a few years, ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

'Psychopaths' have an impaired sense of smell

People with psychopathic tendencies have an impaired sense of smell, which points to inefficient processing in the front part of the brain. These findings by Mehmet Mahmut and Richard Stevenson, from Macquarie University in Australia, are published online in Springer's journal Chemosensory Perception. Psychopathy is a broad term that covers a severe personality disorder characterized by callousness, manipulation, sensation-seeking and antisocial behaviors, traits which may also be found in otherwise healthy and functional people. Studies have shown that people with psychopathic ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Two bionic ears are better than the sum of their parts

Cochlear implants — electronic devices surgically implanted in the ear to help provide a sense of sound — have been successfully used since the late 1980's. But questions remain as to whether bilateral cochlear implants, placed in each ear rather than the traditional single-ear implant, are truly able to facilitate binaural hearing. Now, Tel Aviv University researchers have proof that under certain conditions, this practice has the ability to salvage binaural sound processing for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. According to Dr. Yael Henkin of TAU's Department of Communication ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Astrochemistry enters a bold new era with ALMA

Combining the cutting-edge capabilities of the ALMA telescope with newly-developed laboratory techniques, scientists are opening a completely new era for deciphering the chemistry of the Universe. A research team demonstrated their breakthrough using ALMA data from observations of the gas in a star-forming region in the constellation Orion. Using new technology both at the telescope and in the laboratory, the scientists were able to greatly improve and speed the process of identifying the "fingerprints" of chemicals in the cosmos, enabling studies that until now would ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

Abnormal carotid arteries found in children with kidney disease

A federally funded study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center has found that children with mild to moderate kidney disease have abnormally thick neck arteries, a condition known as carotid atherosclerosis, usually seen in older adults with a long history of elevated cholesterol and untreated hypertension. The findings — published online ahead of print on Sept. 13 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology — are particularly striking, the researchers say, because they point to serious blood vessel damage much earlier in the disease ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

In obesity, a micro-RNA causes metabolic problems

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have identified a key molecular player in a chain of events in the body that can lead to fatty liver disease, Type II diabetes and other metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity. By blocking this molecule, the researchers were able to reverse some of the pathology it caused in obese mice. Their ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Gamers confront copyright law, says Rutgers law scholar

CAMDEN — These days, gamers aren't just saving the virtual world, they're creating it. Video games have evolved into a fully immersive, customizable experience in which gamers not only play, but also create new content. Players are encouraged to contribute their creativity by designing their own maps, customizing characters, and adding new material to games. But user-generated content has the potential to infringe upon copyright law, which is casting a shadow on the legality of gamer authorship. Rutgers–Camden law professor Greg Lastowka is mapping the intersection ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

DNA analysis aids in classifying single-celled algae

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- For nearly 260 years -- since Carl Linnaeus developed his system of naming plants and animals -- researchers classified species based on visual attributes like color, shape and size. In the past few decades, researchers found that sequencing DNA can more accurately identify species. A group of single-celled algae -- Symbiodinum -- that live inside corals and are critical to their survival -- are only now being separated into species using DNA analysis, according to biologists. "Unfortunately with Symbiodinium, scientists have been hindered by a ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

Survival of safety-net hospitals at risk

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Many public safety-net hospitals are likely to face increasing financial and competitive pressures stemming in part from the recent Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, according to researchers at Penn State and the Harvard School of Public Health. "The issue for these hospitals going forward is that the Affordable Care Act promises to change how care for low-income and uninsured populations is funded, potentially reshaping the competitive landscape," said Jonathan Clark, assistant professor of health policy and administration, Penn ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

Virtual reality simulator helps teach surgery for brain cancer, reports Neurosurgery

Philadelphia, Pa. (September 20, 2012) – A new virtual reality simulator—including sophisticated 3-D graphics and tactile feedback—provides neurosurgery trainees with valuable opportunities to practice essential skills and techniques for brain cancer surgery, according to a paper in the September issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part ofWolters Kluwer Health. The prototype system, called "NeuroTouch," uses 3-D graphics and haptic (sense of touch) technology to ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

No 'July phenomenon' for neurosurgery patients, reports Neurosurgery

Philadelphia, Pa. (September 20, 2012) – For patients undergoing neurosurgery at teaching hospitals, there's no "July phenomenon" of increased death and complication rates when new residents start their training, reports a study in the September issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. The risk of adverse outcomes after common brain and spinal procedures are no different in July compared to any other month, according to the research by Dr. ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Playground peers can predict adult personalities

Montreal, September 20, 2012 – Even on the playground, our friends know us better than we know ourselves. New research has revealed that your childhood peers from grade school may be able to best predict your success as an adult. Lisa Serbin of the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and Alexa Martin-Storey, a recent Concordia graduate and a current post-doctoral student at the University of Texas – both members of the Concordia-based Centre for Research in Human Development – recently published a study online, which reveals that childhood peer evaluation ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Scientists uncover mechanism by which plants inherit epigenetic modifications

Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. – During embryonic development in humans and other mammals, sperm and egg cells are essentially wiped clean of chemical modifications to DNA called epigenetic marks. They are then held in reserve to await fertilization. In flowering plants the scenario is dramatically different. Germ cells don't even appear until the post-embryonic period – sometimes not until many years later. When they do appear, only some epigenetic marks are wiped away; some remain, carried over from prior generations – although until now little was known about how or to what ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Nutrient in eggs and meat may influence gene expression from infancy to adulthood

Just as women are advised to get plenty of folic acid around the time of conception and throughout early pregnancy, new research suggests another very similar nutrient may one day deserve a spot on the obstetrician's list of recommendations. Consuming greater amounts of choline – a nutrient found in eggs and meat – during pregnancy may lower an infant's vulnerability to stress-related illnesses, such as mental health disturbances, and chronic conditions, like hypertension, later in life. In an early study in The FASEB Journal, nutrition scientists and obstetricians ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Data link project provides new insight about the US R&D activities of multinational companies

Findings from the Research and Development Data Link Project showed that both parent companies of U.S. multinational companies and U.S. affiliates of foreign multinational companies devoted about three-fourths of their R&D expenditures to development activities in 2007. This newly developed information is from the Research and Development Data Link Project--a joint project of the National Science Foundation, U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis. In linking surveys from these three agencies, the Data Link Project provided more comprehensive information ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Ergonomic Nursing Pillow with Innovative Features Benefits New Moms

The Sweet Oasis nursing pillow, designed to help mothers nurse more comfortably, is now available via the web and in select baby boutiques throughout the Denver area. Designed by a breastfeeding mom, the Sweet Oasis pillow makes nursing more comfortable for mother and baby by ergonomic and secure positioning every feeding. The Sweet Oasis nursing pillow's patent-pending design, intended for nursing or bottle-feeding on the caregiver's lap, aligns baby in a healthy, inclined position; provides greater stability and safety; and washes and carries easily. Mother and ...

Read the release

Social Science20 Sep 2012

Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa, research says

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sept. 19, 2012 – A genetic mutation that occurred thousands of years ago might be the answer to how early humans were able to move from central Africa and across the continent in what has been called "the great expansion," according to new research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. By analyzing genetic sequence variation patterns in different populations around the world, three teams of scientists from Wake Forest Baptist, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, demonstrated ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

Clemson psychology professor conducts sleep research at Vienna university

CLEMSON — Clemson University psychology professor June Pilcher returned recently from Austria, where she worked with University of Vienna researchers to study ways college students' sleep habits affect how they function socially. Pilcher received a Fulbright-Freud Award to work with the Social, Cognitive, Affective and Neuroscience Unit (SCAN) at the University of Vienna. She also worked with the Sigmund Freud Museum, giving a series of talks and lectures. Pilcher participated in research with the university's SCAN unit, a center that conducts research in the fields ...

Read the release

Space20 Sep 2012

Satellite sees post-Tropical Cyclone Lane fizzle in a blanket of low clouds

Former Hurricane Lane has fizzled and its remnant circulation was spotted in a blanket of low clouds in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. NOAA's GOES-15 satellite sits in a fixed orbit over the western U.S. and captures continuous visible and infrared imagery of the western U.S. and the Eastern Pacific Ocean. On Sept. 19 at 11:45 a.m. EDT, GOES-15 captured a visible image of post-tropical Lane's remnants that appear as a small circulation center. The center was located over 1,000 miles from Baja California in an extensive field of stratocumulus clouds. Stratocumulus clouds are ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Evolution is as complicated as 1-2-3

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A team of researchers at Michigan State University has documented the step-by-step process in which organisms evolve new functions. The results, published in the current issue of Nature, are revealed through an in-depth, genomics-based analysis that decodes how E. coli bacteria figured out how to supplement a traditional diet of glucose with an extra course of citrate. "It's pretty nifty to see a new biological function evolve," said Zachary Blount, postdoctoral researcher in MSU's BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. "The first ...

Read the release

Science20 Sep 2012

Study shows how consumers shift expectations and goals

NEW YORK - September 19, 2012 - Sally and Harry are about to invest in their company's 401(k) plan. Sally chooses the best performing mutual fund, which has high risks but boasts a 25 percent year-to-date return. Harry, after considering the tradeoffs between risks and rewards, opts for a lower performing fund with an 8 percent year-to-date return. When they receive their next quarterly performance reports, both Sally and Harry discover that their funds have met their initial expectations. Are they satisfied? If not, why? And how could their levels of satisfaction be improved? One ...

Read the release

Physics20 Sep 2012

Using a laser to 'see' the smallest world

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– A multi-university team has employed a high-powered laser based at UC Santa Barbara to dramatically improve one of the tools scientists use to study the world at the atomic level. The team used their amped-up electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer to study the electron spin of free radicals and nitrogen atoms trapped inside a diamond. The improvement will pull back the veil that shrouds the molecular world, allowing scientists to study tiny molecules at a high resolution. The team, which includes researchers from UCSB, University ...

Read the release

Medicine20 Sep 2012

UGA researchers boost efficacy of drugs by using nanoparticles to target 'powerhouse of cells'

Athens, Ga. - Nanoparticles have shown great promise in the targeted delivery of drugs to cells, but researchers at the University of Georgia have refined the drug delivery process further by using nanoparticles to deliver drugs to a specific organelle within cells. By targeting mitochondria, often called "the powerhouse of cells," the researchers increased the effectiveness of mitochondria-acting therapeutics used to treat cancer, Alzheimer's disease and obesity in studies conducted with cultured cells. "The mitochondrion is a complex organelle that is very difficult ...

Read the release

Space20 Sep 2012

Johns Hopkins astrophysicist spies ultra-distant galaxy amidst cosmic 'dark ages'

With the combined power of NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes as well as a cosmic magnification effect, a team of astronomers led by Wei Zheng of The Johns Hopkins University has spotted what could be the most distant galaxy ever detected. Light from the young galaxy captured by the orbiting observatories shone forth when the 13.7-billion-year-old universe was just 500 million years old. The far-off galaxy existed within an important era when the universe began to transit from the so-called "Dark Ages." During this period, the universe went from a dark, starless ...

Read the release

Environment20 Sep 2012

The 'slippery slope to slime': Overgrown algae causing coral reef declines

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Researchers at Oregon State University for the first time have confirmed some of the mechanisms by which overfishing and nitrate pollution can help destroy coral reefs – it appears they allow an overgrowth of algae that can bring with it unwanted pathogens, choke off oxygen and disrupt helpful bacteria. These "macroalgae," or large algal species, are big enough to essentially smother corals. They can get out of control when sewage increases nitrate levels, feeds the algae, and some of the large fish that are most effective at reducing the algal buildup ...

Read the release