Forests in the Pacific Northwest store more carbon than any other region in the United States, but our warming climate may undermine their storage potential. A new study conducted by the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station and the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington has found that, by 2040, parts of Washington State could lose as much as a third of their carbon stores, as an increasing area of the state's forests is projected to be burned by wildfire. The study—published in the July 2012 issue of the journal Ecological Applications—is ...

How quickly can new species arise? In as little as 6,000 years, according to a study of Australian sea stars. "That's unbelievably fast compared to most organisms," said Rick Grosberg, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis and coauthor on the paper published July 18 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Grosberg is interested in how new species arise in the ocean. On land, groups of plants and animals can be physically isolated by mountains or rivers and then diverge until they can no longer interbreed even if they meet again. But how does this ...

A Finnish research team together with researchers from New York, USA, has uncovered a protein structure that regulates cell signalling and the formation of blood cells. The team's results, published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, the most prestigious journal in the field, shed light on the mechanisms at play in haematological disorders and provide new opportunities for the design of disease-specific treatment. The work was carried out with funding from the Academy of Finland, the Cancer Society of Finland, National Institutes of Health and the Sigrid Jusélius ...

Boulder, Colo., USA – In Geology: researchers experience an earthquake while studying the Atacama's rubbing boulders; information from fossil mammals, such as tooth crown height, is used to track aridity patterns; calibration of the plant transpiration of an ancient terrestrial ecosystem is presented; researchers chronicle the discovery of a new chain of barrier islands in one the highest wave-energy environments on Earth; and a change in volcanic behavior at Pisciarelli, Campi Flegrei, Italy, comes to light. Highlights are provided below. Geology articles published ahead ...

Scientists have discovered the structure and operating procedures of a powerful anti-bacterial killing machine that could become an alternative to antibiotics. In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, scientists from Monash University, The Rockefeller University and the University of Maryland detail how the bacteriophage lysin, PlyC, kills bacteria that cause infections from sore throats to pneumonia and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome. Bacteriophages, viruses that specifically infect and kill bacteria using special proteins ...

Just like populations of human beings, clusters of living cells are made up of individuals possessing unique qualities. Traditional analytic techniques however evaluate cells in tissue aggregates, often overlooking single-cell nuances that can offer valuable clues concerning health and disease. ASU Senior Scientist and Professor, Deirdre Meldrum, and her colleagues at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute are pioneering a kind of miniaturized laboratory for the investigation of single cells. Known as the Cellarium, this live cell array technology will enable ...

The bird population on the University of California, Berkeley, campus has remained surprisingly diverse over the past 100 years, showing that it's possible to create a green wildlife haven within a dense urban area, researchers say. The good news comes from a survey conducted over a six-month period covering the winter of 2006-07, newly published in the May 2012 issue of the journal The Condor. The study, conducted during the non-breeding season, identified 48 separate bird species in an 84-acre portion of the 178-acre central campus. That's a greater number of species ...

With a series of papers published in chemistry and chemical engineering journals, researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have advanced the case for extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air using newly-developed adsorbent materials. The technique might initially be used to supply carbon dioxide for such industrial applications as fuel production from algae or enhanced oil recovery. But the method could later be used to supplement the capture of CO2 from power plant flue gases as part of efforts to reduce concentrations of the atmospheric warming chemical. ...

Population-wide levels of HIV virus dropped substantially between 2011 and May 2012 in a rural part of southwestern Uganda, the site of two community health campaigns led by doctors at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The campaign, which was part of the Sustainable East Africa Research in Community Health (SEARCH) Collaboration, involved free counseling, testing for HIV and other diseases, linkage to care and treatment. This comprehensive approach to ...

Charlottesville, VA (July 24, 2012). Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire have found an association between increasing the distribution of neurosurgeons throughout the United States and decreasing the risk of death from motor vehicle accidents (MVAs). The findings of their study are described in the article "Increased population density of neurosurgeons associated with decreased risk of death from MVAs in the United States. Clinical article," by Atman Desai, M.D., and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Chronic exposure to dim light at night can lead to depressive symptoms in rodents -- but these negative effects can be reversed simply by returning to a standard light-dark cycle, a new study suggests. While hamsters exposed to light at night for four weeks showed evidence of depressive symptoms, those symptoms essentially disappeared after about two weeks if they returned to normal lighting conditions. Even changes in the brain that occurred after hamsters lived with chronic light at night reversed themselves after returning to a more normal light ...

The very oldest in our society are missing out on simple heart treatments which can prolong and improve their quality of life, Newcastle heart experts say. Studying a group of people aged 87 to 89 years old, the team of researchers at Newcastle University found that a routine test in the home revealed that around a quarter of them had undiagnosed heart problems which could be treated with established and cost-effective treatments. In the study, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the team visited the homes of 376 people aged 87 to 89 years old and carried ...

The truth behind some of the world's most famous historical myths, including Homer's epic, the Iliad, has been bolstered by two researchers who have analysed the relationships between the myths' characters and compared them to real-life social networks. In a study published online today, 25 July, in the journal EPL (Europhysics Letters), Pádraig Mac Carron and Ralph Kenna from Coventry University performed detailed text analyses of the Iliad, the English poem, Beowulf, and the Irish epic, the Táin Bó Cuailnge. They found that the interactions between the characters ...

Programmed cell death (PCD) is a highly regulated process that occurs in all animals and plants as part of normal development and in response to the environment. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Plant Biology is the first to document the physiological events in the lace plant (Aponogeton madagascariensis) which occur via PCD to produce the characteristic holes in its leaves. The aquatic lace plant, endemic to Madagascar, uses PCD to generate holes in its leaves. Researchers from Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, used long-term live ...

Of 63,942 new cases of cutaneous melanoma (a form of skin cancer) diagnosed each year in Europe an estimated 3,438 (5.4%) are related to sunbed use. Sunbed users are at a 20% increased relative risk of skin cancer compared with those who have never used a sunbed. This risk doubles if they start before the age of 35 and experts warn that "tougher actions" are needed to reduce this risk. Sun exposure is the most significant environmental cause of skin cancer and sunbeds have become the main non-solar source of UV exposure in Western Europe (UV is the wavelength associated ...

Research: Use of risk assessment instruments to predict violence and antisocial behaviour in 73 samples involving 24,827 people: systematic review and meta-analysis Tools designed to predict an individual's risk of repeat offending are not sufficient on their own to inform sentencing and release or discharge decisions, concludes a study published on bmj.com today. Although they appear to identify low risk individuals with high levels of accuracy, the authors say "their use as sole determinants of detention, sentencing, and release is not supported by the current evidence." Risk ...

Research: Overdiagnosis and mistreatment of malaria among febrile patients at primary healthcare level in Afghanistan: observational study Substantial overdiagnosis and mistreatment of malaria is evident in south and central Asia, warns a study published on bmj.com today. With more than two billion people at risk of malaria in this part of Asia – larger than that of Africa - this is a major public health problem which needs to be confronted, say the authors. Malaria remains one of the most important infectious diseases of poverty. Recent global malaria treatment ...

CHICAGO --- A new class of drug developed at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows early promise of being a one-size-fits-all therapy for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury by reducing inflammation in the brain. Northwestern has recently been issued patents to cover this new drug class and has licensed the commercial development to a biotech company that has recently completed the first human Phase 1 clinical trial for the drug. The drugs in this class target a particular type of brain inflammation, ...

BOSTON (July 24, 2012, 5:00PM EST)—A study, performed in mice and utilizing post-mortem samples of brains from patients with Alzheimer's disease, found that a single event of a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can disrupt proteins that regulate an enzyme associated with Alzheimer's. The paper, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, identifies the complex mechanisms that result in a rapid and robust post-injury elevation of the enzyme, BACE1, in the brain. These results may lead to the development of a drug treatment that targets this mechanism to slow ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 25, 2012) — In a study published June 25 in the Journal of Neuroscience, a collaborative team of researchers led by Linda J. Van Eldik, director of the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, and D. Martin Watterson of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, present results showing that a new central nervous system drug compound can reduce Alzheimer's pathology in a mouse model of the disease. The drug, called MW-151, is a selective suppressor of brain inflammation and overproduction of proinflammatory molecules from glial ...

Alexandria, VA – December 21, 2012 – the purported last day of a 5,125-year cycle in the Mesoamerican calendar – has been added to an endless list of days when the world has been expected to end. But what are our real chances of being wiped out by a catastrophic event – the kind that has happened in the past and will inevitably occur again someday? In the August issue of EARTH, we explore four of the most probable global events that could change life on Earth forever. Near-Earth objects (NEOs), super-eruptions, solar storms and cataclysmic earthquakes all pose serious ...

University of Michigan heart researchers are shedding light on a safer method for steadying an abnormal heart rhythm that prevents collateral damage to healthy cells. Irregular heart rhythms, or arrhythmias, set the stage for a common, debilitating disorder called atrial fibrillation that puts adults as young as age 40 at risk for fatigue, fainting, cardiac arrest, and even death. Medications can help, but doctors also use catheter ablation in which electrical impulses are delivered to a region of the heart to disrupt the arrhythmia. However, studies show half of patients ...

For Immediate Release – July 24, 2012 – (Toronto) – An ongoing survey of Ontario students in grades 7 to 12 conducted for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that while the majority of students have healthy relationships and report overall good mental and physical health, some negative trends, especially among girls, have raised concerns. The 2011 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) Mental Health and Well-Being Report released today reveals important trends in mental and physical health and risk behaviours among Ontario students. Psychological ...

An airtight, reusable plastic bag that protects stored rice from moisture, pests, and rats, and keeps rice seeds viable, is now available to Filipino farmers in almost 200 retail stores nationwide. IRRI Super Bags reduce losses incurred after harvest that usually stem from poor storage conditions – helping prevent physical postharvest losses that can be around 15%. On top of these losses, farmers also experience loss in quality. Developed by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)'s postharvest experts in collaboration with GrainPro Inc., the IRRI Super Bag ...

Arguments over how best to train horses have raged for centuries. Two years ago, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) was even moved to ban the practice of hyperflexion as a result of a petition signed by over 40,000 people claiming that it caused the animals unnecessary discomfort. The FEI did make a distinction between hyperflexion by the use of extreme force and what it termed "low, deep and round" (LDR), which essentially achieves the same position without force. How forceful hyperflexion should be distinguished from permissible LDR training was not clearly ...