Athens, Ga. – For more than a century, the use of X-rays has been a prime diagnostic tool when it comes to human health. As it turns out, X-rays also are a crucial component for studying and understanding molecules, and a new approach -- just published by researchers at the University of Georgia -- may dramatically improve what researchers can learn using the technique. One of the primary ways scientists can understand molecules is to bombard their crystalline forms with X-ray beams. This allows a crystallographer to discover many things about the molecule, from the arrangement ...

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL -- Female students who were more optimistic achieved significantly higher grades than their less optimistic peers, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers. For male students, however, too much optimism led to overconfidence and less studying, resulting in lower grades. "Optimism in male students can lead to overconfidence or an attitude of 'things will work out for the best'," according to Tamar Icekson, a Ph.D. student in BGU's Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management. "So instead of studying enough ...

A health supplement used by bodybuilders could be the key to treating a life-threatening muscular dystrophy affecting hundreds of Australian children, new research shows. The amino acid L-tyrosine had a "rapid and dramatic impact" on Nemaline Myopathy (NM) in laboratory tests on mice, significantly improving symptoms of the muscle-wasting disease, medical researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) found. Trials showed that consuming L-tyrosine could significantly improve muscle strength and mobility in NM, raising the possibility it also could be effective ...

Athens, Ga. – University of Georgia researchers have discovered that two proteins come together in an unexpected way to make a carbohydrate, a chain of sugar molecules, in plant cell walls. This fundamental discovery changes the way scientists think about how plant cell walls are made and opens a new door to converting plants to biofuels and other carbon-based products. In 2006, the UGA research team, led by Debra Mohnen, a faculty member in the UGA Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, discovered GAUT1, the first protein shown to synthesize pectin, a major component ...

As the market for liquid crystal displays and other electronics continues to drive up the price of indium -- the material used to make the indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent electrodes in these devices -- scientists have been searching for a less costly and more dynamic alternative, particularly for use in future flexible electronics. Besides its high price, ITO has several drawbacks. It's brittle, making it impractical for use in flexible displays and solar cells, and there is a lack of availability of indium, which is found primarily in Asia. Further, the production ...

PHILADELPHIA — Long-term coffee consumption may be associated with a reduced risk for endometrial cancer, according to a recent study in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Edward Giovannucci, M.D., Sc.D., professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said coffee is emerging as a protective agent in cancers that are linked to obesity, estrogen and insulin. "Coffee has already been shown to be protective against diabetes due to its effect on insulin," said Giovannucci, ...

A study led by Hans Verhoef, a researcher at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and published in this week's PLoS Medicine shows that supplementing young Tanzanian children with zinc —either alone or in combination with other multi-nutrients — does not protect against malaria. Zinc helps to maintain a healthy immune system, and previous studies had shown a benefit of zinc in reducing diarrhea. Most African children are deficient in zinc, and in this study the authors wanted to investigate a possible role ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Mona Loutfy of the University of Toronto, Canada and colleagues report their study examining experiences of stigma and coping strategies among HIV-positive women in Ontario, Canada. Using focus groups, the researchers found that women attributed their experiences of stigma and discrimination to HIV-related stigma, sexism and gender discrimination, racism, homophobia and transphobia, and involvement in sex work. The coping strategies they used included resilience (at a micro level), social networks and support groups (at a meso level), and challenging ...

In this week's PLoS Medicine Taghi Yasamy from the WHO, Geneva, Switzerland and colleagues identify challenges facing good mental health research governance in low- and middle-income countries and provide suggestions for a way forward. The authors recognize the need to establish the general orientation of mental health research to deal with problems such as organizational structure, research prioritization and relatively limited capacity and resources, and to balance expensive research with assessment of services and resources using low-cost methods. The authors state: ...

In the 19th century, Francis Galton noted that certain people who were otherwise normal "saw" every number or letter tinged with a particular color, even though it was written in black ink. For the past two decades researchers have been studying this phenomenon, which is called synesthesia. In an "Unsolved Mystery" article and accompanying podcast to be published November 22 in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology, David Brang and VS Ramachandran strive to bring synesthesia into the broader fold of biology and to the scientific study of the arts through understanding ...

How does awareness influence information processing during decision making in the human brain? A new study led by Floris de Lange of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour at Radboud University Nijmegen, offers new insight into this question, and is published November 22 in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology. When making a decision, we gather evidence for the different options and ultimately choose on the basis of the accumulated evidence. A fundamental question is whether and how conscious awareness of the evidence changes this decision-making ...

DURHAM, N.C.— Surgery significantly improves short- and long-term outcomes in patients with heart failure caused by a bacterial infection known as endocarditis, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers. "About 60 percent of patients with heart failure in endocarditis undergo surgery during initial hospitalization," says Duke cardiologist Andrew Wang, M.D., senior author of the study which appears today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He believes that percentage should be higher. American College of Cardiology guidelines strongly recommend ...

For persons with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, urinary sodium excretion (a surrogate for salt intake) at higher levels or at lower levels compared to mid-range values was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events (for higher levels) or cardiovascular death and hospitalization for congestive heart failure (for lower levels), according to a study in the November 23/30 issue of JAMA. Also, higher estimated urinary potassium excretion was associated with a reduced risk of stroke. There is uncertainty regarding the optimal daily intake of sodium. Findings ...

CHICAGO – Among patients with infective endocarditis (an infection of the heart lining which may involve the heart valves) and heart failure, about two-thirds undergo valvular surgery, which is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death in the hospital and at one year, according to a study in the November 23/30 issue of JAMA. "Infective endocarditis is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Several published studies have reported in-hospital mortality of 15 percent to 20 percent and l-year mortality of 40 percent. In the United States ...

Repeatedly taking slightly too much paracetamol over time can cause a dangerous overdose that is difficult to spot, but puts the person at danger of dying. Patients may not come to hospital reporting the overdose, but because they feel unwell. This clinical situation needs to be recognized and treated rapidly because these patients are at even greater danger than people who take single overdoses. These so-called staggered overdoses can occur when people have pain and repeatedly take a little more paracetamol than they should. "They haven't taken the sort of single-moment, ...

Chapel Hill, NC – Researchers from UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center are part of a team that has identified a protein, called P-Rex1, that is key to the movement of cells called melanoblasts. When these cells experience uncontrolled growth, melanoma develops. Melanoma is one of the only forms of cancer that is still on the rise and is one of the most common forms of cancer in young adults. The incidence of melanoma in women under age 30 has increased more than 50 percent since 1980. Metastases are the major cause of death from melanoma. The team found that ...

OAKLAND, Calif., November 22, 2011 – HIV-infected patients are at increased risk for cancer as a result of both their impaired immune system and lifestyle factors, such as smoking, according to researchers at Kaiser Permanente. The study, which appears in the current issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, is among the first to directly compare the risk of cancer in HIV-infected patients with a comparison group without HIV infection, while accounting for major cancer risk factors. Of the 10 cancer types studied, six were more common in HIV patients, ...

A new study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that a group of volunteers who consumed a serving of canned soup each day for five days had a more than 1,000% increase in urinary bisphenol A (BPA) concentrations compared with when the same individuals consumed fresh soup daily for five days. The study is one of the first to quantify BPA levels in humans after ingestion of canned foods. The findings were published online November 22, 2011, in the Journal of the Medical Association (JAMA) and will appear in the November 23/30 print issue. "Previous ...

(Boston) – Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have, for the first time, identified an intracellular signaling enzyme that regulates the wake-sleep cycle, which could help lead to the development of more effective sleep aid medications. Subimal Datta, PhD, director and principle investigator at the Laboratory of Sleep and Cognitive Neuroscience at BUSM, led the study, which points to a specific enzyme inside neurons in the brain that trigger an important shift in consciousness from sleep to wakefulness and wakefulness to sleep. The results will ...

Madison, Wis. — Images of prisoners' brains show important differences between those who are diagnosed as psychopaths and those who aren't, according to a new study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers. The results could help explain the callous and impulsive anti-social behavior exhibited by some psychopaths. The study showed that psychopaths have reduced connections between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), the part of the brain responsible for sentiments such as empathy and guilt, and the amygdala, which mediates fear and anxiety. Two types ...

Hamilton, ON (Nov. 22, 2011) – For years doctors have warned that too much salt is bad for your heart. Now a new McMaster University study suggests that both high and low levels of salt intake may put people with heart disease or diabetes at increased risk of cardiovascular complications. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) today, found that moderate salt intake was associated with the lowest risk of cardiovascular events, while a higher intake of sodium was associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and other ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The U.S. government could save the economy hundreds of billions of dollars per year by 2050 by spending a few billion dollars more a year to spur innovations in energy technology, according to a new report by researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School. Achieving major cuts in carbon emissions in the process will also require policies that put a substantial price on carbon or set clean energy standards, the researchers find. The report is the result of a three-year project to develop a set of actionable recommendations to achieve "a revolution in energy ...

DALLAS -- A research team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists has identified an atypical metabolic pathway unique to some tumors, possibly providing a future target for drugs that could reduce or halt the spread of cancer. Dr. Ralph DeBerardinis, senior author of the study published Nov. 20 in Nature, likened the newly discovered pathway to traffic that is rerouted during a highway construction project. "If we hone in on this reverse pathway, then we may be able to prevent the growth of certain types of cancer," said Dr. DeBerardinis, assistant professor ...

The structural mechanism of typical mortise–tenon joints of southern Chinese traditional timber frame buildings was investigated. The investigation provides a scientific basis for the repair of these ancient buildings. The research was published in SCIENCE CHINA Technological Sciences.2011, Vol 54(7). The timber members of Chinese traditional timber buildings are connected with mortise–tenon joints, which are the core technology of Chinese and East Asian traditional timber buildings. Scientific knowledge of mortise–tenon joints is the key to understanding the structural ...

A magnetic force microscope (MFM) can determine the distribution of stray fields at a level of tens of nanometers near the surface of magnetic films, and therefore is an effective tool for observing the domain structures in magnetic grains of submicrometer size. At present, the coercivity of normal MFM cantilevers is about 0.3 kOe. Being affected by the magnetism of the measured material, the stability of these cantilevers is unsatisfactory. By applying a FePt layer, the coercivity can reach ~10 kOe. However, the accompanying high-temperature (over 750°C) annealing spoils ...