New Rochelle, NY, May 18, 2011—Many gene therapy strategies designed to deliver a normal copy of a gene to cells carrying a disease-causing genetic mutation rely on a modified virus to transfer the gene product into affected tissues. One technology platform that is well suited for in vivo delivery of genes is based on adeno-associated viruses (AAV). As these novel therapies move closer to commercialization, so do the methods for large-scale production and efficient delivery of AAV vectors, which are documented in a series of articles published online ahead of print in ...

Want a Nissan Leaf? Join the 20,000 people on the waiting list to get one. The Chevy Volt got your eye? General Motors ramped up availability earlier this year to try and meet demand. With the latest generation of electric vehicles gaining traction, new findings from University of Delaware (UD) researchers are informing automakers' and policymakers' decisions about the environmentally friendly cars. Results of one study show the electric car attributes that are most important for consumers: driving range, fuel cost savings and charging time. The results are based on a ...

According to American Brick Company (Ambrico), the spring and summer months are generally the most popular time of the year for thin brick installation and other home and building projects. Ambrico, industry leaders in thin brick sales and installation, recently reported that as the summer months get closer, construction projects really start to heat up. While everyone from homeowners to professional builders jump to take advantage of warmer weather, the team at Ambrico is ready to help at the company's product showroom in Warren. The Ambrico showroom features the company's ...

MADISON, Wis. – Certain lichens can break down the infectious proteins responsible for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a troubling neurological disease fatal to wild deer and elk and spreading throughout the United States and Canada, according to U.S. Geological Survey research published today in the journal PLoS ONE. Like other "prion" diseases, CWD is caused by unusual, infectious proteins called prions. One of the best-known of these diseases is "mad cow" disease, a cattle disease that has infected humans. However, there is no evidence that CWD has infected humans. ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The beneficial compounds in green tea powders aren't as stable as once thought, according to a Purdue University study that will give industry guidelines on how to better store those powders. "People drink green tea for health benefits, so they want the catechins to be present," said Lisa Mauer, a professor of food science. "The instant powder beverages are becoming more popular for consumers, and it's important to know how storage can influence nutrition of your products." Catechins are the source of antioxidants thought to fight heart disease, ...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Maintaining the world's threatened animal and plant species may rest with something as simple as knowing how far a bird can fly before it must answer nature's call. Birds disperse seeds as they travel, but deforestation can mean those seeds might land where they can't sprout and grow, according to a University of Florida researcher who co-wrote a study in last month's issue of Ecology that looks at how tropical birds disperse plant seeds in Brazil's Amazon rainforest. If birds spread plant seeds in inhospitable places, the long-term consequences ...

Robert Lauri continuously creates and produces at a dizzying pace and is always offering up new harmonies for the listener. The album "Power in Heaven," a showcase for the New Age style, is now available on major download sites and it will be released soon on CD. Robert Lauri, an eclectic international musician, controls a wide variety of musical genres and the extent of his musical creativity characterizes him as a true artist. The styles differ and are continually renewed, and yet Robert Lauri always follows the same path, that of sincerity. The album ...

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers have pinpointed two genes that are amplified in the worst cases of esophageal cancer, providing data to support a new investigational treatment that targets those same genes. The study, led by Tony Godfrey, Ph.D., a research associate professor of Surgery at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at URMC, was published by the journal Clinical Cancer Research. It explores the chromosomal abnormalities that influence poor survival rates of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), the more common type of esophageal cancer which occurs ...

A fossil unearthed in China in the 1970s of a creature that died about 247 million years ago, originally thought to be a distant relative of both birds and crocodiles, turns out to have come from the crocodile family tree after it had already split from the bird family tree, according to research led by a University of Washington paleontologist. The only known specimen of Xilousuchus sapingensis has been reexamined and is now classified as an archosaur. Archosaurs, characterized by skulls with long, narrow snouts and teeth set in sockets, include dinosaurs as well as ...

Sam VanLaningham can't wait to take the Sikuliaq for a spin. When it's ready for science operations in 2014, the 261-foot research vessel will be capable of drilling Bering Strait seafloor cores in any season. VanLaningham hopes those cores will uncover mysteries about the history of climate change in Alaska. Last week, VanLaningham and several UAF scientists met with other researchers and agency representatives at the first Sikuliaq Science Workshop at Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette, Wis. At the workshop, scientists presented and discussed some of the many ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., May 18, 2011 – Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee have for the first time successfully characterized the earliest structural formation of the disease type of the protein that causes Huntington's disease. The incurable, hereditary neurological disorder is always fatal and affects one in 10,000 Americans. Huntington's disease is caused by a renegade protein "huntingtin" that destroys neurons in areas of the brain concerned with the emotions, intellect and movement. All humans have the ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Can't find anyone to exercise with? Don't despair: New research from Michigan State University reveals working out with a virtual partner improves motivation during exercise. The study led by Deborah Feltz, chairperson of MSU's Department of Kinesiology, is the first to investigate the Kohler effect on motivation in health video games; that phenomenon explains why inferior team members perform better in a group than they would by themselves. The research, to be published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, was ...

Using a new technique in which models of primitive cells are constructed from the bottom up, scientists have demonstrated that the structure of a cell's membrane and cytoplasm may be as important to cell division as the specialized machinery -- such as enzymes, DNA or RNA -- which are found within living cells. Christine Keating, an associate professor of chemistry at Penn State University, and Meghan Andes-Koback, a graduate student in the Penn State Department of Chemistry, generated simple, non-living model "cells" with which they established that asymmetric division ...

The new annual rental model is just $1,395 per author pa with full access to a secure cloud based server to facilitate full author collaboration and stakeholders' review. Luminosity's architecture means that there is a small piece of software that is installed on the author's PC. The author can work offline and not rely on a constant internet connection. When authors next go onto the internet they can sync up with the server at that time. This is ideal for authors who do not have constant high bandwidth internet access. It also fully supports those authors working individually ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 18, 2011)––Each year, kidney cancer is diagnosed in nearly 60,000 people in the U.S. Many of these patients undergo surgery to remove the affected kidney, but this procedure can be risky for the elderly and those who have other health problems. Unfortunately, the prognosis of kidney cancer patients often cannot be determined until tumor samples are surgically removed and evaluated. Now, researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have discovered that the lymphocyte count––which is routinely measured in laboratory tests––is a simple and effective prognostic ...

CHICAGO, IL (May 18, 2011)––When women with a history of breast cancer learn they have breast cancer again, one of the first questions they and their doctors ask is: Has my cancer come back, or is this a new case? Now, new data from Fox Chase Cancer Center suggest that both new and recurring cancers will differ significantly from the original tumors, regardless of how many months or years women spent cancer-free, and doctors should tailor treatment to the specific qualities of the second tumor, regardless of whether it's old or new. Anita Patt, MD, surgical oncology ...

In light of the iPhone and the iPad's growing popularity and usage among today's consumers, the demand for various applications that can be downloaded and used via iPhones and iPads has skyrocketed. There is an application for virtually every aspect of daily living: games, fitness management, business organization, social networking, health care systems, and the list go on. Thus, programmers have recognized the potential success in developing applications for the iPhone and the iPad. However, it's a fact that a lot of programmers spend hundreds of hours trying to build ...

A recently discovered enzyme drives the production of a potent form of estrogen in human breast cancer tissue, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found. The extra-strength estrogen, called estradiol, then drives the production of even more enzyme, in what may be a lethal feed-forward mechanism. Estradiol has been implicated in exacerbating tumor growth in breast cancer. The research is published in the May issue of the journal Molecular Endocrinology. Scientists had observed the increased production of an unknown protein ...

Researchers from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine have found that inhaled carbon black nanoparticles create a double source of inflammation in the lungs. Their findings were published online in the April 27 edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Martha Monick, Ph.D., UI professor of internal medicine, was lead author of the paper, "Induction of Inflammasome Dependent Pyroptosis by Carbon Black Nanoparticles," which outlined the results. Monick said researchers expected to find one level of inflammation when cells were ...

Well-known press release distribution service, 24-7PressRelease.com, recently announced its partnership with press release writing, editing and copy writing service, Prompt Proofing. 24-7PressRelease.com has a faithful following with more than 60,000 customers and is in its seventh year of business. Offering distribution packages for all price points, the press release service has a service for every business, no matter how big or small. Customers submit releases through the easy-to-use self-serve system on 24-7PressRelease.com's website, and the company's editors will ...

Expanded use of electronic medical records would substantially reduce infant mortality in the U.S., according to a study forthcoming in the Journal of Political Economy. A 10 percent increase in hospital use of basic electronic records would save 16 babies for every 100,000 live births, the study found. A complete national transition to electronic records would save an estimated 6,400 infants each year in the U.S. Many health professionals have advocated electronic records as a way to improve care and curb costs. For obstetricians, electronic records might make it ...

New research shows that African Americans with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) had a higher antibody response to influenza vaccination than European American patients. Treatment with prednisone, a history of hemolytic anemia, and increased disease flares were also linked to low antibody response in SLE patients who received the flu vaccine according to the study now available in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a peer-reviewed journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). The ACR estimates that up to 322,000 adult Americans are ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — When you suffer a heart attack, a part of your heart dies. Nerve cells in the heart's wall and a special class of cells that spontaneously expand and contract – keeping the heart beating in perfect synchronicity – are lost forever. Surgeons can't repair the affected area. It's as if when confronted with a road riddled with potholes, you abandon what's there and build a new road instead. Needless to say, this is a grossly inefficient way to treat arguably the single most important organ in the human body. The best approach would be ...

This unique opportunity is a rare event in the world of elite watch making. Brands like Cartier, Rolex, and Cuervo y Sobrinos usually never sell at such low prices. The current discounts are a limited time offer to clear inventory. Cuervo y Sobrinos Benelux was an official Cuervo y Sobrinos distributor and is now selling its surplus inventory online. Discounts range from 40% up to 50% off the official retail price. Watch lovers and collectors can now own one of these superior watches at very low prices. Cuervo y Sobrinos Benelux already has customers, watch collectors ...

PITTSBURGH, May 19 - Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have developed a mouse model of major depressive disorder (MDD) that is based on a rare genetic mutation that appears to cause MDD in the majority of people who inherit it. The findings, which were published online today in the American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics EarlyView, could help to clarify the brain events that lead to MDD, and contribute to the development of new and better means of treatment and prevention. This report also illustrates an advance ...