Physicists at Forschungszentrum Jülich and the universities of Kiel and Hamburg are the first to discover a regular lattice of stable magnetic skyrmions – radial spiral structures made up of atomic-scale spins – on a surface instead of in bulk materials. Such tiny formations could one day form the basis of a new generation of smaller and more efficient data storage units in the field of information technology. The scientists discovered the magnetic spirals, each made up of just 15 atoms, in a one-atomic-layer of iron on iridium. They present their results in the current ...

A new national collaboration of asthma genetics researchers has revealed a novel gene associated with the disease in African-Americans, according to a new scientific report. By pooling data from nine independent research groups looking for genes associated with asthma, the newly-created EVE Consortium identified a novel gene association specific to populations of African descent. In addition, the new study confirmed the significance of four gene associations recently reported by a European asthma genetics study. The findings, published in Nature Genetics, are a promising ...

In this month's edition of Physics World, Richard Taylor, director of the Materials Science Institute at the University of Oregon, takes a serious, objective look at a topic that critics might claim is beyond scientific understanding – crop circles. As the global crop-circle phenomenon grows alongside advances in science and technology, Taylor notes how physics and the arts are coming together to produce more impressive and spectacular crop-circle patterns that still manage to maintain their mystery. Today's crop-circle designs are more complex than ever, with some ...

Scientists on the Norwich Research Park, working with colleagues in China, have developed new techniques that will aid the application of genomics to breeding the improved varieties of crop needed to ensure food security in the future. By dissecting the complicated genome of oilseed rape they have been able to produce maps of the genome that are needed for predictive breeding. Traditional breeding involves crossing two varieties and selecting the best performing among the progeny. Predictive breeding is a more advanced technique where specific parts of the genome most ...

New York, NY—July 31, 2011—Samuel K. Sia, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia Engineering, has developed an innovative strategy for an integrated microfluidic-based diagnostic device—in effect, a lab-on-a-chip—that can perform complex laboratory assays, and do so with such simplicity that these tests can be carried out in the most remote regions of the world. In a paper published in Nature Medicine online on July 31, Sia presents the first published field results on how microfluidics—the manipulation of small amounts of fluids—and nanoparticles can ...

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Genomic Medicine (CGM), together with colleagues at Kyoto University, Tsukuba University, Harvard University, and other medical institutions have identified three new loci associated with susceptibility to adult asthma in the Japanese population. The findings appear in Nature Genetics and derive from a genome-wide study of 4836 Japanese individuals. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people suffer from bronchial asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by symptoms of wheezing, shortness of breath and coughing. In ...

How do cells know where to position themselves and where to accumulate in order to carry out their functions correctly within each organ? Researchers with the Colorectal Cancer Lab at IRB Barcelona have revealed the molecular mechanisms responsible for organizing the intestinal epithelium into distinct comportments, defined by frontiers or territories. The study, headed by Eduard Batlle, coordinator of the Oncology Programme at IRB Barcelona and ICREA Research Professor, is published in today's online version of the Journal Nature Cell Biology, part of the prestigious editorial ...

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has laid bare the mechanism behind a phenomenon called oncogene addiction in mice suffering from a form of leukemia that mimics acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in humans. Significantly, the team was able to mobilize their newly gained understanding to target "addiction" pathways in the model mice, resulting in rapid and complete eradication of the cancer, which is usually fatal and resistant to conventional chemotherapy. Oncogene addiction refers to the curious phenomenon that cancer ...

No-one likes a know-it-all but we expect to be able to catch them out: someone who acts like they know everything but doesn't can always be tripped up with a well-chosen question. Can't they? Not so. New research in quantum physics has shown that a quantum know-it-all could lack information about a subject as a whole, yet answer almost perfectly any question about the subject's parts. The work is published in Physical Review Letters. "This is something conceptually very weird," says Stephanie Wehner of the Centre for Quantum Technologies at the National University of ...

Seventy per cent of eight-month-old babies have a salt (sodium chloride) intake higher than the recommended UK maximum level, due to being fed salty and processed foods like yeast extract, gravy, baked beans and tinned spaghetti. Many are also given cows' milk, which has higher levels of salt than breast or formula milk, as their main drink despite recommendations that it should not be used in this way until babies are at least one year old. High levels of salt can damage developing kidneys, give children a taste for salty foods and establish poor eating practices that ...

Alexandria, VA — Tobacco related disease is a primary source of mortality for African American men. Recent studies suggest that "alternative" tobacco products may have supplanted cigarettes as the most common products used by young African Americans, according to new research published in the August 2011 issue of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. While the tobacco-related disease burden is higher in African American adults, prevalence rates of tobacco use among young African American teens are surprisingly lower than those reported for whites. This picture changes ...

Washington, D.C. – Colon cleansing - it's been described as a natural way to enhance well-being, but Georgetown University doctors say there's no evidence to back that claim. In fact, their review of scientific literature, published today in the August issue of The Journal of Family Practice, demonstrates that colon cleansing can cause side effects ranging from cramping to renal failure and death. The procedure, sometimes called colonic irrigation or colonic hydrotherapy, often involves use of chemicals followed by flushing the colon with water through a tube inserted ...

In an effort to reduce the radiation dose delivered by computed tomography (CT) scans, staff at a community-based hospital developed a comprehensive CT radiation dose reduction program which has allowed them to reduce the radiation dose delivered by CT scans at their facility, according to an article in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. CT is an essential tool for the accurate diagnosis of disease and injury but is associated with radiation doses higher than those of conventional X-ray imaging. Although high doses of radiation are ...

An article in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology summarizes methods for radiation dose optimization in head computed tomography (CT) scans. Head CT is the second most commonly performed CT examination, with 28 percent of the total number of CT examinations. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as the imaging modality of choice for a vast majority of brain and spinal indications. However, CT remains an integral part of modern neuroradiologic practice that can provide lifesaving information about patient management, specifically ...

(CHICAGO) – Current approaches to dietary counseling for obesity are heavily rooted in the notion of personal choice and will power – the ability to choose healthy foods and portion sizes consistent with weight loss while foregoing sweets and comfort foods. According to preventive medicine and behavioral experts at Rush University Medical Center, research supports a new counseling approach that views obesity as a result of neurobehavioral processes - ways in which the brain controls eating behavior in response to cues in the environment. The new, proposed neurobehavioral ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Whatever does not kill a plant may actually make it stronger. After being partially eaten by grazing animals, for example, some plants grow bigger and faster and reproduce more successfully than they otherwise would. In a new study, researchers report that one secret to these plants' post-traumatic triumph lies in their ability to duplicate their chromosomes – again and again – without undergoing cell division. While this process, called "endoreduplication," is not new to science, no previous study had looked at it in relation to the seemingly miraculous ...

Segun un informe publicado recientemente en la revista Lancet Infectious Diseases, investigadores britanicos han descubierto una nueva bacteria resistente a medicamentos. Estas bacterias han mutado y ahora presentan un nuevo gen--NDM-1--que las convierte en practicamente inmunes por ahora. Esa modificacion genetica altera la composicion organica de las celulas de las bacterias, y les proporciona la capacidad de resistir a los ataques de la mayoria de antibioticos que hay en el mercado actualmente. Al parecer, el NDM-1 afecta a una gran variedad de bacterias, incluida la ...

During the 1970s and 1980s, researchers and policymakers became increasingly worried about multiple consequences of acidic emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from the stacks of power stations, and eventually they were controlled. In Europe, there was much concern about the effects on Sweden's many lakes, which were found to be in some cases strikingly acidic. The Swedish government instituted a program of countering the acidification by adding thousands of tonnes of lime to the lakes. The link between emissions and acidification of lakes was never universally ...

Hampton Inn Spartanburg - North I-85, a premier Spartanburg hotel, announces a special deal for their guests to enjoy. From now through September 30, 2011 this Spartanburg SC hotel is offering the Double Your HHonors and Go Further, Faster Package. Travelers can earn Double Points or Double Miles when they book and stay at any of our property or any other participating hotel or resort. To receive the offer Hilton HHonors members must first register at www.HHonors.com/DoubleYourHHonors prior to completing any eligible stay within the Promotion Period. The Double Your HHonors ...

An interactive computer software program appears to be effective in helping patients manage their Type 2 diabetes using their mobile phones, according to a new study by University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers. The study is being published in the September issue of the journal Diabetes Care. The study, one of the first to scientifically examine mobile health technology, found that a key measure of blood sugar control – the amount of hemoglobin A1c in a person's blood – was lowered by an average of 1.9 percent over a period of one year in patients using the ...

The percent of contiguous U.S. land area experiencing exceptional drought in July reached the highest levels in the history of the U.S. Drought Monitor, an official at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said. Nearly 12 percent of the contiguous United States fell into the "exceptional" classification during the month, peaking at 11.96 percent on July 12. That level of exceptional drought had never before been seen in the monitor's 12-year history, said Brian Fuchs, UNL assistant geoscientist and climatologist at the NDMC. The ...

Don and Cindy Gifford, co-owners of The Eatery, are taking those old records off the shelf and inviting patrons of their North Beach Street family bistro to pick out some favorite records from Cindy's collection to play or to bring a favorite album or single from home. Along with grooving to The Stones, The Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, hep cats can dig in to a retro menu featuring items like Chicken Tetrazzini, wedge salads and Lazy Daisy cake. "I've got the original recipe for Lazy Daisy cakes that my mother got from a Quaker Oats box in the 70s, and Don ...

When it comes to rearing children, just about any parent will say that what works with one kid might not work with another. Parents use all sorts of strategies to keep kids from being cranky, grumpy, fearful or moody, while encouraging them to be independent and well-adjusted. But which parenting styles work best with which kids? A study by University of Washington psychologists provides advice about tailoring parenting to children's personalities. At the end of the three-year study, the psychologists found that the right match between parenting styles and the child's ...

John Sherrod, of Jump Legal Group in Columbus, Ohio, is one of Ohio's most experienced foreclosure defense attorneys. Over the past few years, on behalf of his clients, Sherrod has taken on mortgage giants including, Chase, Wells Fargo, GMAC, Citi, and Bank of America. Sherrod has been featured in interviews about foreclosure in Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, and The Columbus Dispatch. According to Sherrod, many homeowners are confused by the mixed messages they are receiving from the banks and the media. "Homeowners are told to contact their bank at the ...

The San Diego Classified website has been developed for the promotion of businesses, services, professionals and private parties' products through classified ads in San Diego. ClassifiedSanDiego.com brings competition to other classified sites, as it allows completely free and uninterrupted San Diego auctions, blog posts and personal ads not expiring for 30 days. This sets it apart from its competitors, as most others charge fees for auctions or place limits on the length a classified ad can stay on the site. The site has also utilized social media to further its Internet ...