Developing new drugs is a highly costly and time-consuming process. Of 20 candidates, 19 are normally rejected because they don't work or have unwanted side effects. Now a research team led by Professor Lars Baltzer at Uppsala University has produced a tiny molecular "binder" that has the potential to change this landscape radically. The study, published today in the prestigious journal Angewandte Chemie, presents the concept of a tiny polypeptide consisting of 42 amino acids to which virtually any target-seeking organic molecule can be bound. In the body it then seeks ...

WASHINGTON -- The first global simulation study of equatorial spread F (ESF) bubble evolution using a comprehensive 3D ionosphere model, SAMI3, has been demonstrated. The model self-consistently solves for the neutral wind driven dynamo electric field and the gravity driven electric field associated with plasma bubbles. Developed by Dr. Joseph Huba and Dr. Glenn Joyce at the NRL Plasma Physics Division, SAMI3 is a fully three-dimensional model of the low- to mid-latitude ionosphere. SAMI3 has been modified recently to use a sun-fixed coordinate system to eliminate rotation ...

Nutrients, vitamins, minerals – during pregnancy a woman's body needs more of them. For most nutrients this increase in demand can be covered with a balanced diet. However, mothers-to-be should ingest some nutrients in the form of tablets. Research conducted by the Chair of Nutritional Medicine at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) indicates there are knowledge gaps: According to this study, pregnant women often start taking sensible dietary supplements too late or not at all. At the same time, other micronutrients are unwittingly overdosed whose effects during ...

Researchers at the University of Warwick have developed the world's first complete High Dynamic Range (HDR) video system, from video capture to image display, that will help a range of users including: surveillance camera operators, surgeons using video to conduct or record surgery, and camera crews following a football being kicked from sunshine into shadow. The researchers will be premiering footage of the world's first ever showing of a short film shot using this new HDR technology in the WMG Digital Laboratory at the University of Warwick on Wednesday January 19 ...

Controlling blood pressure is not only a medical challenge, but a social one as well. Because patients are required to strictly adhere to a treatment plan that may include medication, dietary restrictions and regular doctor visits, the ideas of wellness and health are also powerful parts of the social reinforcement needed for behavioral change. This is especially true in the African American population, which is particularly susceptible to hypertension. Social and cultural barriers have been found to contribute to African American patients being far more likely than white ...

New research by a team of psychologists from Canada, Belgium, and the United States shows there is more than a literal truth to the saying that 'you never get a second chance to make a first impression'. The findings suggest that new experiences that contradict a first impression become 'bound' to the context in which they were made. As a result, the new experiences influence people's reactions only in that particular context, whereas first impressions still dominate in other contexts. "Imagine you have a new colleague at work and your impression of that person is not ...

Boston, Mass. — Following a successful Phase 1 study for safety, researchers at MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) today announced the beginning of a Phase 2 clinical trial testing the ability of a human monoclonal antibody they developed to prevent hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection of a donor liver in transplant patients. The first patients were enrolled in the study in December. The primary goal of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study is to test if the monoclonal antibody, designated MBL-HCV1, prevents re-infection ...

Montreal, January 18, 2011 – Does experience give seniors an edge in reacting to sudden change or are younger people quicker to respond? A new study from Concordia University shows that when a routine task is interrupted by an unexpected event, younger adults are faster at responding. Published in the Journal of Gerontology, the findings have implications for educators and for older adults in situations where performance is crucial. "When we frequently perform a task, our reactions become automatic," says Kevin Trewartha, first author and a PhD student in Concordia's ...

Key components of the ESA-led Mercury mapper BepiColombo have been tested in a specially upgraded European space simulator. ESA's Large Space Simulator is now the most powerful in the world and the only facility capable of reproducing Mercury's hellish environment for a full-scale spacecraft. The Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) has survived a simulated voyage to the innermost planet. The octagonal spacecraft, which is Japan's contribution to BepiColombo, and its ESA sunshield withstood temperatures higher than 350°C. This is a taste of things to come for the ...

Montreal, January 18, 2011 – Cyndia Charfi, a Ph. D student in biology at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), supported by her thesis supervisors, Professor Éric Rassart, and Adjunct Professor Elsy Edouard, UQAM, Department of Biological Sciences and BIOMED Research Centre, made a major breakthrough in research on B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, a disease that occurs most commonly in children. She has successfully identified a gene that may facilitate the diagnosis of this cancer, which is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of B-cells, antibody-producing ...

Privacy in the digital age is a sensitive issue for both governments and individuals, as recent news about WikiLeaks and Facebook proved. A new research project at Tel Aviv University may better educate citizens of the virtual world about their privacy -- and even help Facebook users avoid truly embarrassing moments. It's all about fine-tuning privacy settings based on user information and behavior, says Dr. Eran Toch of Tel Aviv University's Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering. His software solution, Locacino, is based on better security design, and provides ...

18 January 2011 - A recent study by Merikangas and colleagues published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) shows that only half of adolescents that are affected with severely impairing mental disorders ever receive treatment for their disorders. The researchers found that approximately one third of adolescents with any mental disorder received services for their illness (36.2%). Disorder severity was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of receiving treatment, yet only half of ...

Changes within deep regions of the brain can now be visualized at the cellular level, based on research on mice, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Published Sunday in Nature Medicine, the study used a groundbreaking technique to explore cellular-level changes over a period of weeks within deep brain regions, providing a level of detail not possible with previously available methods. The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Researchers ...

The first letter of our childhood surname determines much about our consumer behavior as grownups, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. Why are some people more likely than others to wait in line overnight to buy a just-released book or to queue up for the new iPad? "The tendency to act quickly to acquire items such as those above is related to the first letter of one's childhood surname," write authors Kurt A. Carlson (Georgetown University) and Jacqueline M. Conard (Belmont University). The authors studied how quickly adults responded to opportunities ...

When we don't feel confident about our government, we choose indirect ways of showing support, like buying U.S. based products, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Today, we can barely watch television for any length of time without hearing about verbal attacks on the government, or a given religion or education system," write authors Keisha M. Cutright (Duke University), Eugenia C. Wu (Cornell University), Jillian C. Banfield (University of Waterloo), Aaron C. Kay (Duke University), and Gavan J. Fitzsimons (Duke University). The results ...

At least one in five horses used for leisure are overweight or obese. It's a condition which can lead to laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome. The pilot study, carried out by The University of Nottingham's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, showed that rates of obesity among horses are likely to be just as high as they are among people. The results are published online on Monday 17 January 2011 in the journal Veterinary Record. The study, by third year veterinary student Helen Stephenson from Lydney in Gloucestershire, assessed the prevalence of obesity among ...

Over the last few years, researchers have used a type of brain scanning, known as functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI, to help them map changes in blood flow in the brain and to correlate this with thoughts and behavior. A new way to analyze fMRI data, which could improve is reported in the International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design. Scientists have known since the 1890s that changes in blood flow and blood oxygenation in the brain (hemodynamics) are correlated with activity in brain cells, neurons. When a neuron is active it needs more energy ...

Adding physical distance between people during negotiations may lead to more mutually beneficial outcomes, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin. Psychologist Marlone Henderson examined how negotiations that don't take place in person may be affected by distance. He compared distant negotiators (several thousand feet away) with those who are nearby (a few feet away) in three separate studies. While much work has examined the consequences of different forms of non-face-to-face communication, previous research has not examined the effects of ...

(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have for the first time shown that reduced vitamin D absorption in patients with quiescent Crohn's disease (CD) may be the cause for their increased risk for vitamin D deficiency. The findings, which currently appear on-line in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, also showed that the only way to determine absorption efficiency is to perform a vitamin D bioavailability test. Vitamin D is ingested in the diet as well as synthesized in the skin from UVB irradiation from the sun. People living in areas that ...

Scientists at The University of Nottingham have brought cancer cells back under normal control — by reactivating their cancer suppressor genes. The discovery could form a powerful new technology platform for the treatment of cancer of the breast and other cancers. Breast cancer is diagnosed in about 1.4 million women throughout the world every year, with half a million dying from the disease. A common cause of cancer is when cells are altered or mutated and the body's tumour suppressor genes are switched off. Research, published today in the Journal Molecular Cancer, ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Jan. 18, 2011 – A study from researchers in Germany showed that magnetic maneuvering of a modified capsule endoscope in the stomach of healthy volunteers under clinical conditions is safe, well-tolerated, and technically feasible. Maneuverability of the capsule within the stomach was excellent and visualization of the gastric mucosa, the inner lining of the stomach, was satisfactory in the majority of subjects. Apart from a single experiment performed with a supervising flexible gastroscope, this was the first study to use the system in the stomach of ...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered a molecule that can make brain cells resistant to programmed cell death or apoptosis. This molecule, a tiny strand of nucleotides called microRNA-29 or miR-29, has already been shown to be in short supply in certain neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. Thus, the discovery could herald a new treatment to prompt brain cells to survive in the wake of neurodegeneration or acute injury like stroke. "There is the real possibility ...

A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that women are better than men at figuring out unusual products when they're among competing items. "A lot of times when we look at how consumers respond to innovative change in a product's physical form, we fail to consider that the context where they see the product plays a major role in how they evaluate and interpret it," write authors Theodore J. Noseworthy, June Cotte, and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee (all University of Western Ontario). The researchers examined consumer reactions to innovative products, like a car ...

You are six times more likely to end up at the doctors with an acute respiratory infection (ARI) if you have recently used a bus or tram — but those who use buses or trams daily might well be somewhat protected compared with more occasional users. These are the findings of a study carried out by experts at The University of Nottingham into the relationship between public transport and the risk of catching an ARI. Their findings have been published in the online Journal BMC Infectious Diseases. Jonathan Van Tam, Professor of Health Protection in the School of Community ...

Recently published in an article of the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal, a group of researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC) at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has discovered, for the first time, a delta Scuti pulsating star that hosts a hot giant transiting planet. The study was carried out by the PhD student, Enrique Herrero, the researcher Dr. Juan Carlos Morales, the exoplanet expert, Dr. Ignasi Ribas, and the amateur astronomer, Mr. Ramón Naves. WASP-33 (also known as HD15082) is hotter, more massive than the Sun (1.5 Msun) and is located at ...