A clearer understanding of the Universe, its origins and maybe even its destiny is a significant step closer, thanks to new research. As part of a major international experiment called ALPHA*, based at CERN in Switzerland, researchers have helped to achieve trapping and holding atoms of 'anti-hydrogen', which has not previously been possible. The project involves physicists at Swansea University led by Professor Mike Charlton, Dr Niels Madsen and Dr Dirk Peter van der Werf and the University of Liverpool under Professor Paul Nolan, all supported by the Engineering ...

Like gangsters running a protection racket, drongos in the Kalahari Desert act as lookouts for other birds in order to steal a cut of their food catch. The behaviour, revealed in research funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) published in Evolution and reported in Nature's Research Highlights today (18 November), may represent a rare example of two species evolving from a parasitic to a mutualistic relationship. The team from the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge and Cape Town showed that victimised pied babblers gained a mitigating ...

Different techniques should be used to remove single stones that have become lodged in the distal ureter after being expelled by the kidney, depending on whether they are under or above one centimetre, according to the December issue of BJUI. Surgeons from the Department of Urology at University Federico II, Naples, Italy, believe that extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) - which uses a non-invasive acoustic pulse to break down ureteric stones - should be the treatment of first choice in patients with a stone of up to 1cm. Patients with a stone over 1cm should ...

The video games industry is leading the overall trend of transformation of digital products into e-services, according to the report "Born digital/ Grown digital – Assessing the future competitiveness of the EU video games software industry" published today by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. Online games, for example, play a major role in the digital content convergence process based on digital distribution of different types of content and the diffusion of interactive capabilities for consumers. This phenomenon is having an effect on the movie, video, ...

Scientists and engineers at the internationally acclaimed Space Research Centre at the University of Leicester are developing a conceptual motor design for a Mars 'hopping' vehicle which should lead to a greater understanding of the 'Red Planet'. Their research findings have been published this month by the Proceedings of the Royal Society A (http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/11/11/rspa.2010.0438.short?rss=1 ) Robots exploring Mars can carry scientific instruments that measure the physical and chemical characteristics of the Martian surface ...

Researchers funded by the BBSRC Crop Science Initiative have made a discovery that could instigate a paradigm shift in breeding resistance to late blight – a devastating disease of potatoes and tomatoes costing the industry £5-6 billion a year worldwide. They will share this research with industry at an event in London later today (18 November). Professor Paul Birch of the University of Dundee and his team at the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI), the University of Dundee, and the University of Aberdeen have developed a new approach to breeding resistance to the ...

Researchers have uncovered the genetic basis of remarkable broad-spectrum resistance to a viral infection that, in some parts of the world, is the most important pathogen affecting leafy and arable brassica crops including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, swede and oilseed rape. They have tested resistant plants against a range of different strains of the virus taken from all over the world and so far, no strain has been able to overcome the resistance. The research on the so-called Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV), led by Dr John Walsh of the University of Warwick and ...

The transplant community was largely unaware of sub-standard transportation practices for donor organs until a number of fatal air crashes took the lives of transplant personnel, calling attention to procurement aviation safety. A new report highlighting the need for improved safety measures in organ procurement travel appears in the December issue of Liver Transplantation, a peer-reviewed journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). In the U.S., the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) ...

OAKLAND, Calif. – Compared to women never on hormone therapy, those taking hormone therapy only at midlife had a 26 percent decreased risk of dementia; while women taking HT only in late life had a 48 percent increased risk of dementia, according to Kaiser Permanente researchers. Women taking HT at both midlife (mean age 48.7 years) and late life had a similar risk of dementia as women not on HT, according to the study which appears in the Annals of Neurology. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. Although previous research has shown that ...

A protein known to exist in the brain for more than 30 years, called 5-lipoxygenase, has been found to play a regulatory role in the formation of the amyloid beta in the brain, the major component of plaques implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers at Temple University's School of Medicine. The researchers also found that inhibitors of this protein currently used to control asthma could possibly be used to prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease. The researchers published their findings, "5-Lipoxygenase as Endogenous Modulator of Amyloid ...

Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited eye disorder characterized by progressive loss of vision that in many instances leads to legal blindness at the end stage. In a ChIP-Seq based approach, the researchers identified a key regulatory role of the transcription factor Crx (Cone-rod homeobox) in the expression of retina-specific genes and thus described an important genetic basis for visual perception. In-depth analysis of Crx mediated regulation in photoreceptors with latest technology provided by Genomatix lead then to the identification of nonsense mutations in the human ...

New stars are born in the Universe around the clock – on the Milky Way, currently about ten per year. From the birth rate in the past, we can generally calculate how populated space should actually be. But the problem is that the results of such calculations do not match our actual observations. "There should actually be a lot more stars that we can see," says Dr. Jan Pflamm-Altenburg, astrophysicist at the Argelander-Institut für Astronomie of the University of Bonn. So, where are those stars? For years, astronomers worldwide have been looking for a plausible explanation ...

The casting sessions aren't just for movie stars, but what is involved in casting decisions that can launch fashion models to fame – or at the very least – to land a job? Stephanie Sadre-Orafai, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor and socio-cultural anthropologist, spent 11 months of fieldwork at a premiere casting agency in New York to uncover the decisions that happen behind the scenes of the glossy photos and slick commercials. Her research, "Polaroids and Go-Sees: Casting Encounters, Casting Epistemologies," was presented Nov. 17 at the 109th annual meeting ...

HOUSTON – (Nov. 18, 2010) – Discovery of a fifth gene defect and the identification of 47 DNA regions linked to thoracic aortic disease are the subject of studies released this month involving researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). In both studies, the investigators have identified alterations in the genetic material or DNA that affect the ability of smooth muscle cells, which line the aorta and other blood vessels, to contract. This can lead to a weakening of the wall of the aorta, the main blood vessel leading out of the ...

Technical progress in the automobile industry is unbroken. But, the sector has still some hard nuts to crack: "Lead-free materials" is one of the challenges – hidden behind this challenge is a EU environmental directive which, based on a step-by-step plan, gradually bans all lead-containing materials and components from automotive vehicles – such as piezoelectric components. These elements are important for diesel engine injectors, for example, which control the supply of fuel to the combustion chamber. The problem: Up to now lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) is the material ...

A short push on the light switch – and the whole ceiling lights up in a uniform and pleasant color. This "illuminated sky" is not available as yet, but researchers from all over the world are working on it flat out. The technology behind this marvel is based on organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs for short. These diodes use special molecules to emit light as soon as current passes through them. Although the first OLEDs have only recently become available, they are small and expensive. A flat disk with a diameter of eight centimeters costs around Euro 250. Experts of ...

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have identified a compound that could be used to starve cancers of their sugar-based building blocks. The compound, called a glutaminase inhibitor, has been tested on laboratory-cultured, sugar-hungry brain cancer cells and, the scientists say, may have the potential to be used for many types of primary brain tumors. The Johns Hopkins scientists, are inventors on patent applications related to the discovery, caution that glutaminase inhibitors have not been tested in animals or humans, but their findings may spark new interest in the glutaminase ...

PHILADELPHIA – Cells have their own version of the cut-and-paste editing function called splicing. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have documented a novel form of splicing in the cytoplasm of a nerve cell, which dictates a special form of a potassium channel protein in the outer membrane. The channel protein is found in the dendrites of hippocampus cells -- the seat of memory, learning, and spatial navigation -- and is involved in coordinating the electrical firing of nerve cells. Dendrites, which branch from the cell body of the neuron, ...

Montreal, November 18, 2010 – Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that differs between the sexes in terms of age at onset, symptomatology, response to medication, and structural brain abnormalities. Now, a new study from the Université de Montréal shows that there is gender difference between men and women's mental ability – with women performing better than men. These findings, published recently in, Schizophrenia Research, have implications for the more than 300 000 affected Canadians. "We are the first to report sex differences in brain function of schizophrenics," ...

The Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat erupted in 1995, and an international team of researchers has studied this volcano from land and sea since then to understand the workings of andesite volcanos more completely. "To the extent that the Soufriere Hills Volcano is typical of andesitic dome building volcanoes, results from this research can be expected to apply more generally," said Barry Voight, professor emeritus of geosciences, Penn State. Voight and R. S. J. Sparks, the Channing Wills professor of geology, Bristol University, guest edited and introduced a special ...

People who contract gastroenteritis from drinking water contaminated with E. coli are at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, kidney problems and heart disease in later life, finds a study published on bmj.com today. The findings underline the importance of ensuring a safe food and water supply and the need for regular monitoring for those affected. It is estimated that E. coli O157:H7 infections cause up to 120,000 gastro-enteric illnesses annually in the US alone, resulting in over 2,000 hospitalisations and 60 deaths. However, the long term health ...

Vitamin D is somewhat of an unusual "vitamin," because it can be made in the body from sunlight and most foods do not contain vitamin D unless added by fortification. Synthesis of vitamin D in the body requires exposure to ultraviolet light and can be influenced by genetics, skin color, and sun exposure. Reports of greater than expected vitamin D insufficiency coupled with emerging evidence that higher circulating concentrations of this nutrient may protect against cardiovascular disease have prompted a renewed interest in teasing out how environment, genetics, and behavior ...

DURHAM, NC – Researchers have been stymied for years over the fact that people infected with the AIDS virus do indeed produce antibodies in response to the pathogen – antibodies that turn out to be ineffective in blocking infection. Now, scientists at Duke University Medical Center can explain why: Some of the earliest and most abundant antibodies available to fight HIV can't actually "see" the virus until after it's already invaded a healthy cell. The scientists based their conclusion on the results of a series of crystallography and biochemical experiments that revealed ...

Boston, MA – A new poll from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Knowledge Networks (KN) shows that many people with heart disease, diabetes or cancer believe the economic downturn is hurting their health and will have further negative impacts in the future. Many Americans with these illnesses face financial problems paying for medical bills in this economy. Most of these people do not believe the new national health care reform law (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010) will help them. This national poll is the first in a collaborative ...

Alcoholic drinks served in pubs should be taxed at a lower level than drinks bought from shops, says an expert in this week's BMJ. This action would deliver the health benefits associated with introducing a minimum price on alcohol, increase tax revenue for the Treasury and save pubs says Dr Nick Sheron. The author is head of clinical hepatology at the University of Southampton, a member of the Alcohol Health Alliance and an advisor for the 2010 House of Commons Select Committee Report on Alcohol. Sheron says lowering VAT for alcohol sold in pubs would solve the plight ...