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Science13 Apr 2012

Discovery reveals chromosomes organize into 'yarns'

WORCESTER, Mass. — Chromosomes, the molecular basis of genetic heredity, remain enigmatic 130 years after their discovery in 1882 by Walther Flemming. New research published online in Nature by the team of Edith Heard, PhD, from the Curie Institute and Job Dekker, PhD, from the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS), reveals a new layer in the complex organization of chromosomes. The scientists have shown that chromosomes fold in a series of contiguous "yarns" that harbor groups of genes and regulatory elements, bringing them in contact with each other and allowing ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Colorbok, LLC Acquires Assets from ANW/Creativity Works and Making Memories

Ann Arbor-based Colorbok, LLC, a nationally prominent creator and distributor of scrapbooking items, kids' crafts and other related products, announces the acquisition of the paper crafting business of ANW/Creativity Works and Making Memories. "We are tremendously excited to be able to work with Making Memories and ANW / Creativity Works. We feel that we will be able to drive newness into the marketplace using all of the great brands which include Making Memories, The Paper Company, Westrim, Crop In Style, Autumn Leaves and Hip in a Hurry. They are a great compliment ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Researchers identify Achilles heel of dengue virus, target for future vaccines

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A team of scientists from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt University have pinpointed the region on dengue virus that is neutralized in people who overcome infection with the deadly pathogen. The results challenge the current state of dengue vaccine research, which is based on studies in mice and targets a different region of the virus. "In the past researchers have relied on mouse studies to understand how the immune system kills dengue virus and assumed that the mouse studies would apply to people as well," said senior ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Social ties have mixed impact on encouraging healthy behaviors in low-income areas

BOSTON--In low-income, minority communities, tight-knit social connections -- with family members, friends, and neighbors -- can lead people to eat healthy and be physically active, but in some cases it may actually be an obstacle to a healthy lifestyle, according to new research by investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Harvard School of Public Health. To account for this paradox, researchers theorize that for people made vulnerable by low income and poor access to services, the demands of social responsibilities -- being a single parent or caregiver to ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff Medical Device Lawyers Investigate Wright Medical and Biomet Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants

Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff reports that recent studies on metal-on-metal hips revealed patients who have received the Wright Pro Femur, Wright Conserve Plus, Biomet Magnum and Biomet M2A hip replacement systems experience early hip failure more often than with traditional hip replacement systems. All of these hip implants are "metal on metal" hips that have recently been the subject of much controversy. Reportedly, under certain conditions, metal on metal hip replacements have been shown to produce excess metal wear debris, releasing metal particles into ...

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Space13 Apr 2012

OU astronomer and colleagues identify 12-billion-year-old white dwarf stars

A University of Oklahoma assistant professor and colleagues have identified two white dwarf stars considered the oldest and closest known to man. Astronomers identified these 11- to 12-billion-year-old white dwarf stars only 100 light years away from Earth. These stars are the closest known examples of the oldest stars in the Universe forming soon after the Big Bang, according to the OU researcher. Mukremin Kilic, assistant professor of physics and astronomy in the OU College of Arts and Sciences and lead author on a recently published paper, announced the discovery. ...

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Space13 Apr 2012

'Time machine' will study the early universe

A new scientific instrument, a "time machine" of sorts, built by UCLA astronomers and colleagues, will allow scientists to study the earliest galaxies in the universe, which could never be studied before. The five-ton instrument, the most advanced and sophisticated of its kind in the world, goes by the name MOSFIRE (Multi-Object Spectrometer for Infra-Red Exploration) and has been installed in the Keck I Telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. MOSFIRE gathers light in infrared wavelengths — invisible to the human eye — allowing it to penetrate ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Snoring Increased by Sinus Allergies and Nighttime Congestion

Are Sinus Allergies Making You Snore More and Interrupting Your Sleep? Aaaahhh spring: 'tis the season for flowers and perfect temps, and for--aacchhoo!--sinus allergies. This year warm winters across the U.S. prompted tree pollen to go into full production earlier than usual, and resulted in a robust start for sinus congestion due to allergies--which is bad news for the more than 20% of people who suffer from hay fever. While congested sinuses cause difficult breathing and misery by day, stuffiness is often worse at night. Nighttime congestion has the added ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Exotic manure is sure to lure the dung connoisseur

Although the preference of dung beetles for specific types and conditions of dung has been given substantial attention, little has been done to investigate their preference for dung from exotic mammals found on game farms or rewilding projects. In "A Comparison of Dung Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Attraction to Native and Exotic Mammal Dung," an article appearing in the latest edition of Environmental Entomology, Sean D. Whipple, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and W. Wyatt Hoback, a biology professor at the University of ...

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Environment13 Apr 2012

Buy coal? New analysis shows purchasing fossil fuel deposits best way to fight climate change

Environmental policy has historically been driven by a demand-side mindset – attempting to limit consumption of precious fossil fuels through pollution permits, taxation, and multi-national climate change treaties. However, new research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University suggests that actually buying coal, oil and other dirty fossil fuel deposits still in the ground could be a far better way to fight climate change. The new study, "Buy Coal! A Case for Supply-Side Environmental Policy," suggests that the single best policy for a multi-national ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Evolution of the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane and puzzling out the ancestral Rockies

Boulder, Colo., USA - New Geosphere science covers volcanic activity in the Lake Tahoe-Reno-Carson City area and its tie to abundant seismicity in the region; mapping of the interpreted locations of the Kern Canyon and Breckenridge faults at a level of detail never before published; a study of sediments in Reno-Verdi area, Western Nevada, that provide a record of a warmer, wetter climate featuring large mammal fossils; and answers to some of the puzzles surrounding the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Abstracts for these and other GEOSPHERE papers are available at http://geosphere.gsapubs.org/. ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Manatee hearing good enough to sense approaching motorboats

Grazing sea grass along the subtropical Florida coast, manatees would seem to have a peaceful life. But motorboats and other watercraft can injure the mammals, sometimes shattering their ribcages or leaving scars from collisions. Joe Gaspard from the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, USA, explains that many factors put manatees at risk and it isn't clear why the animals are so vulnerable to human activity. For more than 14 years, Mote research has focused on how manatees use their senses to perceive their environment in an effort to understand the factors that put manatees ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Deep sequencing of 15 samples of traditional Chinese medicines

Researchers at Murdoch University have used new DNA sequencing technology to reveal the animal and plant composition of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Some of the TCM samples tested contained potentially toxic plant ingredients, allergens, and traces of endangered animals. "TCMs have a long cultural history, but today consumers need to be aware of the legal and health safety issues before adopting them as a treatment option," Dr Bunce, research leader and Murdoch University Australian Research Council Future Fellow, said. The 15 TCM samples, seized by Australian ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

HollywoodSportsbook.eu Announces New 7 Day / 7 Plays Promotion

Hollywoodsportsbook.eu, (formerly www.hollywoodsportsbook.com) a leading online entertainment gaming site since 1997, today announced its newest weekly promotion titled 7 Days/7 Plays where they will give back 7% of any losses incurred this week to qualifying clients. Robert Evans, Hollywood's Director of Operations says "This week's new promotion is a lot of fun for players and easy to become eligible. Our players love cash back. A whole week to pick and choose who you like to wager on...Lose and still win." Hollywood's clients only have to make seven different ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Targeting glucagon pathway may offer a new approach to treating diabetes

(NEW YORK, NY, April 12, 2012) —Maintaining the right level of sugar in the blood is the responsibility not only of insulin, which removes glucose, but also of a hormone called glucagon, which adds glucose. For decades, treatments for type II diabetes have taken aim at insulin, but a new study suggests that a better approach may be to target glucagon's sweetening effect. The findings were published today in the online edition of Cell Metabolism. "What we've found is a way to reduce glucagon's influence on blood sugar without the side effects of global glucagon repression," ...

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Environment13 Apr 2012

Under climate change, winners and losers on the coral reef

As ocean temperatures rise, some species of corals are likely to succeed at the expense of others, according to a report published online on April 12 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology that details the first large-scale investigation of climate effects on corals. "The good news is that, rather than experiencing wholesale destruction, many coral reefs will survive climate change by changing the mix of coral species as the ocean warms and becomes more acidic," said Terry Hughes of James Cook University in Australia. "That's important for people who rely on the rich ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Range Rover Evoque Named World Car Design of the Year 2012

Last week, Land Rover celebrated its 25 years in North America in style at the New York International Auto Show, where its Range Rover Evoque was named World Car Design of the Year 2012. Recognizing design innovation and bold style, the accolade is the 101st global award presented to the Evoque, which is currently available at Land Rover dealerships. The 2012 Evoque emerged from a group of 46 nominated vehicles to take the World Car Design of the Year title. Open only to vehicles introduced to a major market in 2011 or early 2012, the award was ultimately determined ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Listen up, parents: For toddlers (and chimps), the majority rules

A study published online on April 12 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology offers some news for parents: even toddlers have a tendency to follow the crowd. That sensitivity isn't unique to humans either; chimpanzees also appear more likely to pick up habits if "everyone else is doing it." That conclusion comes from evidence that 2-year-olds and chimpanzees are more likely to copy actions when they see them repeated by three of their peers than if they see the same action done by one peer three times. "I think few people would have expected to find that 2-year-olds ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

UCLA-engineered stem cells seek out and kill HIV in living organisms

Expanding on previous research providing proof-of-principal that human stem cells can be genetically engineered into HIV-fighting cells, a team of UCLA researchers have now demonstrated that these cells can actually attack HIV-infected cells in a living organism. The study, published April 12 in the journal PLoS Pathogens, demonstrates for the first time that engineering stem cells to form immune cells that target HIV is effective in suppressing the virus in living tissues in an animal model, said lead investigator Scott G. Kitchen, an assistant professor of medicine ...

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Social Science13 Apr 2012

Resurfacing urban areas to offset 150 billion tons of CO2

Imagine a world where the rooftops and pavements of every urban area are resurfaced to increase the reflection of the Sun's light rays. Well, this is exactly what a group of Canadian researchers have done in an attempt to measure the potential effects against global warming. In a study published today, 13 April, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, researchers from Concordia University created this scenario to see what effect a global increase in surface reflectance would have on global temperature and our own carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. They ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Medical Insurance Provider Health-on-Line Offers Fresh Approach

The UK health insurance brand Health-on-Line offers a fresh approach to medical insurance - with low cost, simple to understand policies that customers can easily tailor to their needs with a selection of add-ons that boost cover where needed. Bournemouth based Health-on-Line -which was recently acquired by AXA PPP healthcare - provides affordable private medical insurance for individuals, with a special Business Priority Health package for enterprise customers - from sole traders right up to large group schemes. Health-on-Line have taken a fresh look at medical cover, ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Sex, tools and chromosomes

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have discovered a key tool that helps sperm and eggs develop exactly 23 chromosomes each. The work, which could lead to insights into fertility, spontaneous miscarriages, cancer and developmental disorders, is published April 13 in the journal Cell. Healthy humans have 46 chromosomes, 23 from the sperm and 23 from the egg. An embryo with the wrong number of chromosomes is usually miscarried, or develops disorders such as Down's syndrome, which is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21. During meiosis, the cell division ...

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Science13 Apr 2012

Lilitab iPad Kiosk Featured at Macy's With New NBC Reality Series "Fashion Star"

Who will win the big prize? Fans of the new reality series "Fashion Star" on NBC can hardly wait to find out. This unique design show offers merchandizing contracts to each week's winners, with a $6,000,000 contract as the grand prize. The winning designs are available the next day in stores, using the Lilitab iPad kiosk at select Macy's. Supermodel Elle Macpherson hosts the program with a panel of fashion mentors: Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie and John Varvatos. Viewers get instant gratification, and the hottest new styles, by being able to purchase their ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Research teams discover cellular system for detecting and responding to poisons and pathogens

Two Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-based research teams, along with a group from the University of California at San Diego, have discovered that animals have a previously unknown system for detecting and responding to pathogens and toxins. In three papers published in the journals Cell and Cell Host & Microbe, the investigators describe finding evidence that disruptions to the core functions of animal cells trigger immune and detoxification responses, along with behavioral changes. "Viewing many diseases through the prism of this newly discovered system will eventually ...

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Medicine13 Apr 2012

Kinase test may yield big gains for drug-resistant cancers

Chapel Hill, NC – In a paper published today in the journal Cell, a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill unveils the first broad-based test for activation of protein kinases "en masse", enabling measurement of the mechanism behind drug-resistant cancer and rational prediction of successful combination therapies. Kinases are proteins expressed in human tissues that play a key role in cell growth, particularly in cancer. Of the 518 known human kinases, about 400 are expressed in cancers, but which ones and how many are actually active in tumors has ...

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