HOUSTON (June 2, 2011) – The protein MeCP2 is porridge to the finicky neuron. Like Goldilocks, the neuron or brain cell needs the protein in just the right amount. Girls born with dysfunctional MeCP2 (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2) develop Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder. Too much MeCP2 can cause spasticity or developmental delay with autism-like symptoms in boys. Now, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) and Texas Children's Hospital (www.texaschildrens.org) have found that the neuron needs a steady supply of this protein for its entire existence. ...

TUCSON, Ariz. (June 2, 2011) -- In just 10 weeks, a group of University of Arizona engineering students took five crates of surplus hardware and two heavy-duty test vehicles, which didn't run, and mixed them with youthful enthusiasm, tenacity and many long hours to build two robotic vehicles that successfully drove themselves around UA's test mine. It was no easy task, and predicted by some as too big a project for a one semester course: ENGR 450/550, autonomous vehicle systems. But the naysayers didn't factor in the can-do attitude of 23 undergraduate and graduate students ...

2 players have struck it lucky at Sun Vegas Internet Casino on Monday the 30th May 2011. JK won CAD 23,373.50 playing on the video slot game Thunderstruck; CAD 21,453.50 on the 5-reel slot, Ladies Nite; and CAD 9,995.00 on the Egyptian-themed game, ISIS. Thus JK walked away with total winnings of CAD 54,822.00. Another winner, NJ, won $16,187.40 on Break Da Bank Again and $5,868.00 on Mega Moolah Summertime Progressive, giving her a total of $22,055.40. Casino Manager at Sun Vegas Casino, Austin Green, said, "Two winners in one day is what makes Sun Vegas Casino ...

New research identifies genetic mutations that cause an inherited form of cataracts in humans. The study, published online June 2 by Cell Press in the American Journal of Genetics, provides new insight into the understanding of lens transparency and the development of cataracts in humans. A cataract is a clouding of the crystalline lens in the eye. Opacity of the normally transparent lens obstructs the passage of light into the eye and can lead to blindness. Congenital cataracts (CCs) are a significant cause of vision loss worldwide and underlie about one-third of the ...

When people are depressed or anxious, they are much more likely to see their glass as half empty than half full. In tough times, evidence of that same pessimistic outlook can be seen in dogs, rats, and birds. Now, researchers reporting online on June 2 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that bees, too, share those very same hallmarks of negative emotion. "We have shown that the emotional responses of bees to an aversive event are more similar to those of humans than previously thought," said Geraldine Wright of Newcastle University. "Bees stressed by a ...

Following a spate of bookings during the last month, things are certainly looking rosier in terms of luxury yacht charter and the news regarding luxury yacht sales is similarly encouraging with an increase in numbers compared to the same period last year. Unfortunately the majority of these sales have been in the 24-35m categories, which represents the smaller end of the market, so while the volume is up the overall value of the market is somewhat down. Fortunately, however, over the last few days' negotiations have been completed with regard to a number of very large ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—June 2, 2011—Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified a drug candidate that diminishes the effects of both Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease in animal models, offering new hope for patients who currently lack any medications to halt the progression of these two debilitating illnesses. Gladstone Investigator Paul Muchowski, PhD, has identified a new compound called JM6 in experiments done in collaboration with an international team of researchers, and which are being published today in an online article in Cell. In laboratory ...

Levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are increased in response to acute inflammation, infection and tissue damage. There are also reports that CRP levels are elevated because of cancer. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research shows that elevated CRP levels are predictive of a poor prognosis for breast cancer sufferers. C-reactive protein is produced by the liver, in response to infection or injury, when stimulated by the cytokine IL-6. Tumor sites are often associated with inflammation and this inflammation contributes to tumor ...

Researchers at King's College London have identified a way of eliminating leukaemic stem cells, which could lead to new treatments that may enable complete remission for leukaemia patients. An early study in mice has shown that leukaemic stem cells can be abolished by suppressing two proteins found in the body. Leukaemic stem cells sustain the disease and are likely to be responsible for relapse, so elimination of these cells is believed to be key for achieving complete remission. These encouraging findings highlight the two proteins as potential therapeutic targets ...

Students overall performed better – and educationally disadvantaged students generally made even greater strides than everyone else – in an introductory biology course at a university where recent budget woes doubled class sizes for the course, cut lab times and reduced the number of graduate teaching assistants. The keys to success are instructors who guide learning rather than lecture, and who structure courses so students are more likely to come to class having read assignments and where they undergo intensive practice to develop critical thinking and problem solving ...

Until a decade, it was believed that differences between people were due solely to the existence of genetic changes, which are alterations in the sequence of our genes. The discoveries made during these last ten years show that beings with the same genetics like the twins and cloned animals may have different characteristics and disease due to epigenetic changes. Epigenetics involves chemical signatures that are added to DNA and proteins that package it, to regulate their activity. The more recognized epigenetic brand is DNA methylation, a process based on the addition ...

Mutations of DNA that lead to one base being replaced by another don't have to happen as single, independent events in humans and other eukaryotes, a group of Indiana University Bloomington biologists has learned after surveying several creatures' genomes. And, the scientists argue, if "point mutations" can happen in twos, threes -- even nines – large evolutionary jumps are possible, especially when problems caused by a single point mutation are immediately compensated for by a second or third. The work appears in the latest issue of Current Biology. "A similar phenomenon ...

NEW YORK — June 2, 2011 — A new study by Columbia Business School Professor Paul Ingram, Kravis Professor Business, Management and senior scholar at the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for International Business at Columbia Business School; Hayagreeva Rao, Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources, Stanford Graduate School of Business; and Qingyuan (Lori) Yue, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization, USC Marshall School of Business, found evidence of how firms engage in regulatory arbitrage and make decisions based on a state's regulatory ...

WASHINGTON (June 2, 2011) – New research suggests an effective recovery drink may already be in your refrigerator: lowfat chocolate milk. Grabbing lowfat chocolate milk after a tough workout helped give both trained and amateur athletes a post-exercise training advantage, according to three new studies presented at the American College of Sports Medicine and published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research this month. Athletes in the studies who had a post-exercise lowfat chocolate milk– with the right mix of carbs and high-quality protein – had improved ...

Last weekend saw the return of motor racing to the streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine for what is undoubtedly the sport's most prestigious and famous event, the F1 Monaco Grand Prix. This year, Fraser Yachts secured several trackside charter yachts for clients wishing to get close to the action as well as several other anchors within the bay. Following hot on the heels of the Cannes Film Festival, which drew to a close last Sunday, the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix is widely regarded as the start of the Mediterranean yacht charter season and having experienced ...

NEW YORK CITY —Scientists have identified a drug combination, when used in advanced lung cancer patients, shows a survival advantage in patients who no longer respond to existing therapies. They found that bexarotene and erlotinib can each repress the critical cell cycle regulator: cyclin D1. The drug combination also broadened the reach to include a specific subset of patients, such as those resistant due to the presence of a ras mutation in their cancer. The study was published in the June issue of Cancer Prevention Research. "Erlotinib has been found to be most effective ...

New research into drag reduction has the potential to help industries such shipping to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. Professor Derek Chan from the University of Melbourne's Department of Mathematics and Statistics said the research demonstrates a new way to minimise drag of fast moving projectiles in water. A collaboration between the University of Melbourne and the King Abdulla University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, the research was based on the 255 year-old Leidenfrost effect. The Leidenfrost effect describes the phenomenon where a liquid ...

DALLAS – June 2, 2011 – In a multicenter clinical trial, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found that higher doses of stereotactic radiation therapy requiring fewer treatments are safe and effective for patients with low-to-intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Results of the trial, available in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, showed that stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which delivers ultra-precise radiation, was effective in treating patients with localized prostate cancer in five 30-minute sessions every other day over two weeks. That compares ...

While it is already known that breast cancer cells create the conditions for their own survival by communicating their needs to the healthy cells that surround them, Australian researchers have identified a new way of turning off that cellular cross talk. They have shown that a molecule known as 'hedgehog' sits at the centre of the switchboard in breast cancer, transmitting biochemical signals between the cancer cells and healthy cells. When this conversation is blocked – or hedgehog is 'silenced' – tumours shrink and stop their spread. While the finding applies ...

A paper published online today in Science provides evidence that the Methyl-CpG-Binding Protein 2 (MeCP2) is required throughout life to maintain healthy brain function. The findings are reported from the Baylor College of Medicine lab of Huda Zoghbi, HHMI investigator and Director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute. Mutations in MeCP2 cause the autism spectrum disorder Rett Syndrome, and have been seen in some cases of classic autism, childhood schizophrenia and milder neuropsychiatric conditions such as anxiety and learning disabilities. Rett ...

June 2nd, Shenzhen, China – The recent outbreak of an E. coli infection in Germany has resulted in serious concerns about the potential appearance of a new deadly strain of bacteria. In response to this situation, and immediately after the reports of deaths, the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf and BGI-Shenzhen began working together to sequence the bacterium and assess its human health risk. BGI-Shenzhen has just completed the sequence and carried out a preliminary analysis that shows the current infection is caused by an entirely new super-toxic E. coli strain. According ...

About 20 years ago, the late Thomas Gold, in his landmark concept paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, postulated that a "deep, hot biosphere" exists in the crust of the Earth [1]. Gold suggested that this biosphere is as deep as 6󈝶 km, and is supported by geological energy sources [2]. The Earth's "deep biosphere", as we know today, should include a variety of subsurface habitats, such as aquifers and sedimentary rocks in the continental regime, and sediments and igneous rock in the marine realm. ...

Innovative UK technology is contributing to the development of a revolutionary digital stethoscope that could make it easier for GPs to spot the first signs of heart disease. With Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funding, a Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) team has developed a computer-based technology that synchronises the various sounds collected by the new stethoscope and which make up a human heartbeat. The sounds can then be analysed by an existing technique called ICA (independent component analysis), with data presented on a laptop ...

A space flight by millions of microscopic worms could help us overcome the numerous threats posed to human health by space travel. The Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) have also given experts an insight into how to block muscle degradation in the sick and elderly. The worms — from The University of Nottingham — were flown into space onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. They spent 11 days in orbit onboard the International Space Station more than 200 miles above the earth. Many of C. elegans' 20,000 genes perform the same functions as those in humans. Experts in human ...

A new study from North Carolina State University shows that talking about safer sex is a complicated process for individuals in the transgender community. The finding may help efforts to promote safer sex practices in a community facing high HIV rates – and also sheds light on broader questions related to safer sex for everyone. "The main reason for this study is the fact that we're seeing evidence of devastatingly high HIV prevalence rates in the transgender community," says Dr. Kami Kosenko, an assistant professor of communication at NC State and lead author of the ...