The stars we see today weren't always as serene as they appear, floating alone in the dark of night. Most stars, likely including our sun, grew up in cosmic turmoil — as illustrated in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The image shows one of the most active and turbulent regions of star birth in our galaxy, a region called Cygnus X. The choppy cloud of gas and dust lies 4,500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus the Swan. Cygnus X was named by radio astronomers, since it is one of the brightest radio regions in the Milky Way. (It should not be ...

Jupiter, FL - Using a blend of technologies, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have painted a new picture of how biochemical information can be transmitted through the modification of a protein. Previously, scientists believed that during the pairing of proteins and their binding partners ("ligands"), proteins modified their shape while ligands remained stable. The new study shows this one-size-fits-all solution is not entirely accurate. Instead, the situation resembles a kind of complex but carefully organized dance routine, where the ...

Scientists have revealed details of the world's most extreme deep-sea volcanic vents, 5 kilometres down in a rift in the Caribbean seafloor. The undersea hot springs, which lie 0.8 kilometres deeper than any seen before, may be hotter than 450 °C and are shooting a jet of mineral-laden water more than a kilometre into the ocean above. Despite these extreme conditions, the vents are teeming with thousands of a new species of shrimp that has a light-sensing organ on its back. And having found yet more 'black smoker' vents on an undersea mountain nearby, the researchers ...

CHICAGO – In a study in which participants had repeated measurements of lung function over 20 years, occasional and low cumulative marijuana use was not associated with adverse effects on pulmonary function, according to a study in the January 11 issue of JAMA. Exposure to tobacco smoke causes lung damage with clinical consequences that include respiratory symptoms, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. "Marijuana smoke contains many of the same constituents as tobacco smoke, but it is unclear whether smoking marijuana causes pulmonary damage similar ...

CHICAGO – A review of 16 prognostic indices used to predict risk of death in older adults in a variety of clinical settings, such as in nursing homes and hospitals, found that there is insufficient evidence to recommend the widespread use of these indices in clinical practice, according to a study in the January 11 issue of JAMA. "Failure to consider prognosis in the context of clinical decision making can lead to poor care. Hospice is underutilized for patients with nonmalignant yet life-threatening diseases. Healthy older patients with good prognosis have low rates ...

CHICAGO – Compared to individuals without dementia, persons who developed dementia subsequently had a significantly higher rate of hospital admissions for all causes and admissions for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions for which proactive care may have prevented hospitalizations, according to a study in the January 11 issue of JAMA. "Nonelective hospitalization of older people, particularly those with dementia, is not a trivial event. Among older persons without dementia, hospitalization for serious illness is associated with subsequent cognitive decline, and frail ...

CHICAGO – Patients hospitalized after a heart attack who had blood potassium levels of between 3.5 and less than 4.5 mEq/L (milliEquivalents per liter) had a lower risk of death than patients with potassium levels that were higher or lower than this range, according to a study in the January 11 issue of JAMA. Clinical practice guidelines recommend maintaining serum potassium levels between 4.0 and 5.0 mEq/L in patients after a heart attack. "Potassium homeostasis [equilibrium] is critical to prevent adverse events in patients with cardiovascular disease. Several studies ...

Astronomers have gained an important clue about a ubiquitous cosmic process by pinpointing the exact moment when gigantic "bullets" of fast-moving material were launched from the region surrounding a black hole. They made this breakthrough by using the ultra-sharp radio "vision" of the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), along with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite, to study an outburst from a system including a black hole and its companion star in 2009. Black holes in such binary-star systems can pull material from their companions. ...

SEATTLE–Compared to individuals without dementia, people who subsequently developed dementia had a significantly higher rate of hospital admissions for all causes. They also had more admissions for "ambulatory care-sensitive" conditions, for which proactive care may have prevented hospitalizations. This suggests opportunities for improving outpatient care of seniors with dementia, according to research in the January 11 Journal of the American Medical Association. "Nonelective hospitalization of older people, particularly those with dementia, is not a trivial event," ...

A worldwide study has shown that physical activity during work and leisure time significantly lowers the risk of heart attacks in both developed and developing countries. Ownership of a car and a television was linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The findings come from the INTERHEART study, a case-control study of over 29,000 people from 262 centres in 52 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, North and South America. It is published online today (Wednesday) in the European Heart Journal ...

An international team of scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Oxford in the UK, University of Sydney (Australia), Aarhus University (Denmark) and Massey University (New Zealand) based their research on the ground beetle, Anchomenus dorsalis, a well-known garden insect that feasts on slugs, aphids, moths, beetle larvae and ants. The team collected female beetles from the wild and split them into two groups in the laboratory. Half of the beetles were offered a choice of foods, some that were high in protein and some that were high in fat. The other half were not ...

It is commonly known that, much like Pavlov's dogs salivating in response to hearing the bell they associate with dinner time, smokers feel cravings and have physiological reactions to pictures they associate with smoking. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Neuroscience has shown that a smoker's cravings can also be trained to non-smoking related stimuli. Classical conditioning experiments link a neutral stimulus, such as a sound or a picture, to an event, like eating or smoking. Higher order, sometimes called second order conditioning, ...

Having a brother or sister with newly diagnosed cancer can be a distressing and difficult time for a child. While most children eventually cope, there can be a period of adjustment when their school work and social functioning suffer. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health shows that a teaching program, designed to improve the child's knowledge about their sibling's disease and to give them coping skills, was able to improve their adjustment and psychological well being in this early time period after ...

Surgeons aged between 35 and 50 years provide the safest care compared with their younger or older colleagues, finds a study published on bmj.com today. The findings raise concerns about ongoing training and motivation of surgeons during their careers. Typically, experts reach their peak performance between the ages of 30 and 50 years or after about 10 years' experience in their specialty, but few studies have measured the association between clinicians' experience and performance. So a team, led by Drs Antoine Duclos and Jean-Christophe Lifante from the University ...

With Christmas over for another year and many people feeling the pinch after overspending, it seems that the solution to their problems will be a little short term financial help. A new company called Paydayloansuk.org.uk has been set up and could help people in this sector to get themselves back on track in the short term. This provider has been set up to give customers financial help quicker than a lot of other companies. By taking customers needs and details quickly, they can help them out without delay. In most straightforward scenarios, money can be available to ...

Giving overweight or obese patients a gut hormone that suppresses appetite leads to clinically beneficial weight loss as well as reduced blood pressure and cholesterol levels, finds a study published on bmj.com today. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that is secreted from the intestine when we eat. GLP-1 based therapy was recently introduced as a new treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes because of its ability to regulate blood sugar levels. But it also suppresses food intake and appetite, making it an interesting approach in the treatment of obesity. ...

The great variation of a specific form of immune genes makes organ transplants so complicated. On the other hand, we need such a great variability in order to resist infectious diseases. This is why it also plays a major role in the selection of sexual partners. Up until now, the mechanisms for maintaining this standing genetic variation have remained an evolutionary puzzle. In a study of sticklebacks, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, together with colleagues from the Helmholtz Center for Marine Research in Kiel, have now shown ...

January 10, 2012 (PORTLAND, Ore.) — Older women who have lost more than two inches in height face an increased risk of breaking bones and dying, according to a new study published in the January issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research and funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study found that women 65 and older who lost more than two inches over 15 years were 50 percent more likely to both fracture a bone and to die in the subsequent five years, compared to women who lost less than two inches in height. "Most women do lose height as they age, ...

A UC Davis graduate student who is leading a study of the collision of galaxy clusters 5 billion light years away will discuss the team's findings today, Jan. 10, in a press briefing at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas. "A galaxy cluster is like a little universe, because it has the same matter composition as the whole universe," said William Dawson, a Ph.D. candidate in physics. "By studying this little universe, we can learn more about our own." This "little universe" is formally called DLSCL J0916.2+2951 and consists of two ...

For immediate release - January 10 - (Toronto) – In a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), people with schizophrenia showed greater brain activity during tests that induce a brief, mild form of delusional thinking. This effect wasn't seen in a comparison group without schizophrenia. The study appears in the December issue of Biological Psychiatry. "We studied a type of delusion called a delusion of reference, which occurs when people feel that external stimuli such as newspaper articles or strangers' overheard conversations are about them," ...

Handball is one of the top four sports, at least as far as the risk of injury is concerned. In particular, the jump shot frequently causes sprained ankles, tears to the ligaments connecting the bones of the foot and the lower leg. One of the goals of sports science is to minimize sporting injuries while also improving performance. To this end, many trainers and sports scientists are making increasing use of hi-tech methods, such as the computer modelling of moving joints. Virtual ankle To understand why the ankle is so prone to injury during the jump shot, a team ...

Countless mice, rats and rabbits die every year in the name of science – and the situation is getting worse. While German laboratories used some 2.41 million animals for scientific research in 2005, by 2009 this number had grown to 2.79 million. One third were destined for fundamental biology research, and the majority were used for researching diseases and developing medical compounds and devices. People demand medicines that are safe and therapies that are tolerable, but hardly anyone is happy to accept the need for animal testing. This is why scientists have spent years ...

A group of experts has prepared a report on vitamin D supplementation for menopausal women after it was revealed that Europeans have suffered an alarming decrease in their levels of this vitamin. In their opinion, the ideal would be to maintain blood levels above 30 ng/ml. Vitamin D is essential to the immune system and processes such as calcium absorption. "We believe that many diseases can be aggravated by a chronic deficiency of vitamin D," states Faustino R. Pérez-López, researcher at the University of Zaragoza. In particular, this is worse during the menopause as ...

Total Mortgage Services, LLC, a leading mortgage lender, announced today the hiring of Neil Bader as the Company's National Retail Sales Manager. To this important management position, Mr. Bader brings more than 25 years of production, leadership, and entrepreneurship within the mortgage industry. In his new role, Mr. Bader will be responsible for expanding Total Mortgage's successful retail channel, as it continues its nationwide growth. Mr. Bader will be based in Milford, Connecticut and report directly to John Walsh, President of Total Mortgage. "Neil is a focused ...

Daejeon, Republic of Korea, January 10, 2012—Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced today that its research team headed by Professor Howon Lee from the IT Convergence Research Institute has developed a technology that will make reading on smartphones and tablet PCs easier than now. The technology, called the "Smart E-book System," allows users of smartphones and tablet PCs to effortlessly flip through the pages of an e-book or cross-reference its contents, just as they would with paper-based books and magazines. Unlike conventional displays ...