Adenoviruses can cause respiratory, eye, and intestinal tract infections, and, like other viruses, must hijack the cellular machinery of infected organisms in order to produce proteins and their own viral spawn. Now an international research team made up of scientists from Chinese and Australian universities has found a way to disrupt the hijacking process by using plasma to damage the viruses in the laboratory environment, before they come into contact with host cells. The researchers prepared solutions containing adenoviruses and then treated the samples with a low-temperature ...

Opening up a new door in synthetic biology, a team of researchers has developed a microfluidic device that produces a continuous supply of tiny lipid spheres that are similar in many ways to a cell's outer membrane. "Cells are essentially small, complex bioreactors enclosed by phospholipid membranes," said Abraham Lee from the University of California, Irvine. "Effectively producing vesicles with lipid membranes that mimic those of natural cells is a valuable tool for fundamental biology research, and it's also an important first step in the hoped-for production of an artificial ...

Microscopic-scale medical robots represent a promising new type of therapeutic technology. As envisioned, the microbots, which are less than one millimeter in size, might someday be able to travel throughout the human bloodstream to deliver drugs to specific targets or seek out and destroy tumors, blood clots, and infections that can't be easily accessed in other ways. One challenge in the deployment of microbots, however, is developing a system to accurately "drive" them and maneuver them through the complex and convoluted circulatory system, to a chosen destination. ...

Any multicellular animal, from a blue whale to a human being, poses a special challenge for evolution. Most of the cells in its body will die without reproducing; only a privileged few will pass their genes to the next generation. How could the extreme degree of cooperation required by multicellular existence actually evolve? Why aren't all creatures unicellular individualists determined to pass on their own genes? Joan Strassmann and David Queller, evolutionary biologists at Washington University in St. Louis, provide an answer in this week's issue of the journal ...

This press release is available in German. From shoals of fish to human society: social organisms need to make collective decisions. And it is not always the majority that prevails. In some cases, a small, resolute group may succeed in bending the whole community to their will. Using computer models and behavioural studies of fish, a team of scientists, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden, has discovered that uninformed individuals support the decision of the majority and may prevent a particularly determined ...

MIAMI -- For anglers and boaters who regularly travel the coasts of Florida the great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) is a common sight. Surprisingly, however, very little is known about the early life stage of this ecologically and socio-economically important coastal fish. In the journal Marine Biology, lead author Dr. Evan D'Alessandro and University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science colleagues Drs. Su Sponaugle, Joel Llopiz and Robert Cowen shed light on the larval stage of this ocean predator, as well as several other closely related species. ...

Statistical databases (SDBs) are collections of data that are used to gather and analyze information from a variety of sources. The data may be derived from sales transactions, customer files, voter registrations, medical records, employee rosters, product inventories, or other compilations of facts and figures. Because database security requires multiple processes and controls, it presents huge security challenges to organizations. With the computerization of databases in healthcare, forensics, telecommunications, and other fields, ensuring this kind of security has ...

Statins, traditionally known as cholesterol-lowering drugs, may reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza, according to a new study released online by the Journal of Infectious Diseases. It is the first published observational study to evaluate the relationship between statin use and mortality in hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection, according to Vanderbilt's William Schaffner, M.D., professor and chair of Preventive Medicine. "We may be able to combine statins with antiviral drugs to provide better treatment for ...

Your parents were right: Hard experiences may indeed make you tough. Psychological scientists have found that, while going through many experiences like assault, hurricanes, and bereavement can be psychologically damaging, small amounts of trauma may help people develop resilience. "Of course, everybody's heard the aphorism, 'Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger,'" says Mark D. Seery of the University at Buffalo. His paper on adversity and resilience appears in the December issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for ...

Are there parallel universes? And how will we know? This is one of many fascinations people hold about quantum physics. Researchers from the universities of Calgary and Waterloo in Canada and the University of Geneva in Switzerland have published a paper this week in Physical Review Letters explaining why we don't usually see the physical effects of quantum mechanics. "Quantum physics works fantastically well on small scales but when it comes to larger scales, it is nearly impossible to count photons very well. We have demonstrated that this makes it hard to see these ...

With support from the National Science Foundation, researchers from the Broad Institute and Harvard University recently developed a tool that can uncover patterns in large data sets in a way that no other software program can. Called Maximal Information Coefficient or MIC, the tool can can tease out multiple, recurring events or sets of data hidden in health information from around the globe, or in the changing bacterial landscape of the gut or even in statistics amassed from a season of competitive sports--and much more. The researchers report their findings in the Dec. ...

The trial conducted by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) shows the feasibility to deliver bevacizumab to the current chemoradiation standard without any apparent increased adverse side effects. Combining the widely used anti-cancer drug bevacizumab with standard chemoradiation therapy is safe and could prolong survival in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma, according to a new phase 2 trial published Online First in today's The Lancet Oncology. The results indicate that bevacizumab might be more effective at preventing the spread of nasopharyngeal ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – In reaction to what midwives view as the overly medicalized way hospitals deliver babies, they have created birthing rituals to send the message that women's bodies know best. The midwife experience uses these rituals to send the message that home birth is about female empowerment, strengthening relationships between family and friends, and facilitating participatory experiences that put mothers in control, with the ultimate goal of safe and healthy deliveries less focused on technological intervention. These are some of the findings from an Oregon ...

VIDEO: Brown engineers have devised an automated system that combines chemical precipitation with electrolytic techniques in a cyclic fashion to remove mixtures of trace heavy metals from contaminated water. Click here for more information. PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — An unfortunate consequence of many industrial and manufacturing practices, from textile factories to metalworking operations, is the release of heavy metals in waterways. Those metals can remain for decades, ...

A large, international team of researchers led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco has identified the gene that causes a rare childhood neurological disorder called PKD/IC, or "paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia with infantile convulsions," a cause of epilepsy in babies and movement disorders in older children. The study involved clinics in cities as far flung as Tokyo, New York, London and Istanbul and may improve the ability of doctors to diagnose PKD/IC, and it may shed light on other movement disorders, like Parkinson's disease. The culprit ...

Boulder, Colo., USA – GEOLOGY topics include an explanation for missing mid-Cenezoic sediments discovered in Lomonosov Ridge drilling; understanding position shifts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone; an analysis decoupling taxonomic and ecological severities of major mass extinctions; a Pleistocene reversal of British Columbia's Fraser River; quality comparison of land and sea fossil records; evidence of a large drop in the Gulf of Mexico's sea surface temperatures before major growth of the Antarctic ice sheet, and more. Highlights are provided below. Representatives ...

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scientists may have a way to double the efficacy and reduce the side effects of radiation therapy. Georgia Health Sciences University scientists have devised a way to reduce lung cancer cells' ability to repair the lethal double-strand DNA breaks caused by radiation therapy. "Radiation is a great therapy – the problem is the side effects," said Dr. William S. Dynan, biochemist and Associate Director of Research and Chief, Nanomedicine and Gene Regulation at the GHSU Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics. "We think this is a way to get the same amount ...

Young country crooner, Lizzie Sider, is a fresh talent that continues to gain well-deserved recognition for her musical ability, and is now featured on the Kings of A & R website! Having already performed with country music star Jamie O'Neal and recorded music with some of the top names in the industry, Lizzie Sider is the name on everyone's lips, being talked about for her natural singing talents and unmistakable down-to-earth charm. Lizzie brings an original sound to the table, injecting her music with her unique take on songwriting and her strong, beautiful vocal ...

The Invito Couture boutique of Vancouver, Canada, is pleased to announce that their entire collection of evening gowns and cocktail dresses can now be purchased online from their website, http://www.invitocouture.com. Invito Couture offers over 70 exclusive styles of high-quality dresses and gowns at affordable prices. All dresses are Italian-designed and made in Turkey. Since opening in 2009, Invito Couture's dresses were only available to shoppers who visited their boutique in Vancouver but now with the launch of the Online Shopping section of their website, shoppers ...

The gross domestic product of the United States -- that oft-cited measure of economic health -- has been ticking upward for the last two years. But what would you see if you could see a graph of gross domestic happiness? A team of scientists from the University of Vermont have made such a graph -- and the trend is down. Reporting in the Dec. 7 issue of the journal PLoS ONE, the team writes, "After a gradual upward trend that ran from January to April, 2009, the overall time series has shown a gradual downward trend, accelerating somewhat over the first half of 2011." "It ...

Today's modern business is very competitive and its promotion to a wider customer base is a tough task. However modern internet based technologies and marketing strategies are a great help and made it easier to promote a business product or service to a wider customer base efficiently and cost-effectively. A business service or product promoted in a global view would attract a higher customer attention thus increasing the customer base for a business. Larger the customer base higher the business growth. To tap into a wider customer base or enter into a global market, ...

Orange, Calif., Dec. 16, 2011 — While Road Rippers Lightning Rods, Let's Rock Elmo and the I Am T-Pain musical microphone might be sought-after gifts this holiday season, parents should ensure that their children don't risk permanent hearing damage by misusing them. Researchers from UC Irvine's Department of Otolaryngology measured the noise levels of two dozen popular toys in stores and purchased the 10 loudest for precise gauging in a soundproof booth at UC Irvine Medical Center. They found that all exceeded 90 decibels and several reached 100 or more, equivalent to ...

Author Susan Bradley is the Keynote Speaker at a Singles Convention, Friday, January 6, 2012, 7:30pm, at Servino's Ristorante, 9 Main Street, Tiburon CA 94920. Her topic is "Finding Drama-Free Love in 2012." DANCE PARTY follows, featuring current hits and oldies. "The Number One New Years Resolution for singles is to find a happy romantic relationship," says Ms. Bradley, founder and director of LovingUniversity.com. "The key to a happy relationship is that it be drama-free. Unfortunately, many singles are addicted to drama and repeatedly choose ...

In the world of insects, high risk of attack has led to the development of camouflage as a means for survival, especially in the larval stage. One caterpillar may look like a stick, while another disguises itself as bird droppings. Though crypsis may have its advantages, University of Florida researchers uncovered some of the most extensive evidence of caterpillars using another strategy previously best-known in adult butterflies: mimicry. Insects use camouflage to protect themselves by looking like inanimate or inedible objects, while mimicry involves one species evolving ...

Whether the task is flying a plane, fighting a battle, or caring for a patient, good teamwork is crucial to getting it done right. That's why team-building and training courses are big business in the U.S., and have been for decades. But lately something has changed: "There's a demand for evaluations—an emphasis on showing that team training makes a difference in safety, decision-making, communication, clinical outcomes—you name the ultimate criteria the industry has," says Eduardo Salas, an organizational psychologist at the University of Central Florida. The answer ...