PITTSBURGH—Many video games boast life-like graphics and realistic game play, but have no connection with reality. A new online game developed by Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University researchers, however, finally shatters the virtual wall. The game, called EteRNA (http://eterna.cmu.edu) harnesses game play to uncover principles for designing molecules of RNA, which biologists believe may be the key regulator of everything that happens in living cells. But the game doesn't end with the highest computer score. Rather, players are scored and ranked based on ...

Scientists from the Agency of Science, Technology and Research/Duke-NUS Neuroscience Research Partnership (A*STAR/Duke-NUS NRP), A*STAR's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, and the National University of Singapore have made a breakthrough concerning how anxiety is regulated in the vertebrate brain. Their work, published in the journal Current Biology, sheds light on how the brain normally shuts off anxiety and also establishes the relevance of zebrafish as a model for human psychiatric disorders. The team of scientists, led by Dr Suresh Jesuthasan from the A*STAR/Duke-NUS ...

One dose of the pandemic flu vaccines used in seven European countries conferred good protection against pandemic H1N1 influenza in the 2009-10 season, especially in people aged less than 65 years and in those without any chronic diseases. These findings from a study funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and coordinated by EpiConcept, Paris, France, published in this week's PLoS Medicine, give an indication of the vaccine effectiveness for the influenza A (H1N1) 2009 strain included in the 2010-11 seasonal vaccines. The authors conducted ...

Joy Lawn from Saving Newborn Lives/Save the Children, South Africa, and an international group of colleagues used a systematic process developed by the Child Health Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) to define and rank research options to reduce mortality from intrapartum-related neonatal deaths (birth asphyxia) by the year 2015. The top one-third of the ranked research investment options was dominated by delivery and implementation research, whilst discovery (basic science) questions were not ranked highly, especially for expected reduction of mortality and inequity ...

PASADENA, Calif. (January 11, 2011) – Receiving the herpes zoster vaccine was associated with a 55 percent reduced risk of developing shingles, according to a Kaiser Permanente study of 300,000 people that appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. This retrospective study observed the outcomes of the effectiveness of the herpes zoster vaccine in a large, diverse population of men and women ages 60 years and older. Researchers found a significant reduced risk of shingles across all sub-groups -- those who are healthy as well as those ...

For men with incontinence for at least one year following radical prostatectomy, participation in a behavioral training program that included pelvic floor muscle training, bladder control strategies and fluid management, resulted in a significant reduction in the number of incontinence episodes, according to a study in the January 12 issue of JAMA. The researchers also found that the addition of biofeedback and pelvic floor electrical stimulation provided no additional benefit. "Men in the United States have a 1 in 6 lifetime prevalence of prostate cancer. Although survival ...

Vaccination for herpes zoster, a painful rash commonly known as shingles, among a large group of older adults was associated with a reduced risk of this condition, regardless of age, race or the presence of chronic diseases, according to a study in the January 12 issue of JAMA. "The pain of herpes zoster is often disabling and can last for months or even years, a complication termed postherpetic neuralgia. Approximately 1 million episodes of herpes zoster occur in the United States annually, but aside from age and immunosuppression, risk factors for this condition are ...

In a comparison of the angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) candesartan and losartan, used by patients with heart failure, candesartan was associated with a lower risk of death at 1 and 5 years, according to a study in the January 12 issue of JAMA. Angiotensin II receptor blockers reduce cardiovascular mortality and heart failure (HF) hospitalization in patients with HF with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF; a measure of how well the left ventricle of the heart pumps with each contraction). Despite variable effects of different ARBs, they have not ...

Use of a radial artery (located within the forearm, wrist and hand) graft compared with a saphenous vein (from the leg) graft for coronary artery bypass grafting did not result in improved angiographic patency (the graft being open, unobstructed) one year after the procedure, according to a study in the January 12 issue of JAMA. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is one of the most common operations performed, with a database indicating that in the United States, 163,048 patients had CABG surgery in 2008. The success of CABG depends on the long-term patency of the ...

It is becoming well accepted that, as well as too little exercise, too much sitting is bad for people's health. Now a new study has found that it is not just the length of time people spend sitting down that can make a difference, but also the number of breaks that they take while sitting at their desk or on their sofa. Plenty of breaks, even if they are as little as one minute, seem to be good for people's hearts and their waistlines. The study, which is published online today (Wednesday 12 January) in the European Heart Journal [1], is the first in a large, representative, ...

Previously, researchers thought the detection of P. acnes at the site of these infections was due to contamination from the skin. For example, an infection at a site within the body after surgery, could have been caused by bacteria transferred to an open wound from the skin during an operation. But recent research has contradicted this, suggesting P. acnes already within the body, may be the cause. Although it is often disregarded as a harmless bystander when found in blood and tissue swabs taken from patients, we should not rule out this bug in the diagnosis of disease. People ...

Washington, D.C. (January 11, 2011) -- A straightforward new way to calculate, compile, and graphically present solar radiation measurements in a format that is accessible to decision makers and the general public has been developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin. The method presents solar data in a framework that "can be used by policymakers, businesses, and the public to understand the magnitude of solar resources in a given region, which might aid consumers in selecting solar technologies, or policymakers in designing solar policies," says David ...

Washington, D.C. (January 11, 2011) -- High energy costs are one drawback of making clean water from waste effluents. According to an article in the journal Biomicrofluidics, which is published by the American Institute of Physics, a new system that combines two different technologies proposes to break down contaminants using the cheapest possible energy source, sunlight. Microfluidics – transporting water through tiny channels -- and photocatalysis -- using light to break down impurities – come together in the science of optofluidics. "These two technologies have been ...

Washington, D.C. (January 11, 2011) -- Whether the object of attention is a novel aspect of the universe or an enigmatic and distant colleague, listening is key to nearly any effort to seek understanding. And not just with your ears. Spectroscopy, the study of how atoms absorb and emit electromagnetic radiation, is like listening, too. The technique is central to a range of physics experiments and can be thought of as an attempt to filter out useful information from what various sensors and detectors often first "hear" as undifferentiated electromagnetic noise. Now, ...

Under the electron microscope, a coronavirus may resemble a spiny sea urchin or appear crownlike, (the shape from which this family of pathogens takes its name). Previously recognized as the second leading cause of the common cold in humans and for economically important diseases in many domesticated animals, a new disease form abruptly emerged as a major public health concern in 2002, when the SARS coronavirus (CoV) surfaced in Asia. The rapid spread of the virus caused significant social and economic disruption worldwide , infecting over 8000 people with Sudden Acute ...

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease caused by damage to myelin – the protective covering wrapped around the nerves of the central nervous system (CNS). Previous studies have shown that certain white blood (immune) cells, called leukocytes, infiltrate the CNS and play a significant role in causing the damage that contributes to MS symptoms. It has also been shown that these leukocytes enter the CNS with help from a family of molecules called MMPs. Using a mouse model, researchers have discovered that a molecular switch called EMMPRIN plays an important role in MS. The ...

Tampa, Fla. (Jan. 10, 2011) – Transplanting their own (autologous) bone marrow-derived stem cells into 48 patients with end-stage liver disease resulted in therapeutic benefit to a high number of the patients, report researchers publishing in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (19:11). Yet, the mechanism by which the infusion of CD34+ stem cells improves liver function remains elusive, they say. The study, carried out by a team of researchers in California and in Egypt, is now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/. According ...

A team of chemists headed by Thomas Loerting from the University of Innsbruck and Hinrich Grothe from the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) in Austria have prepared and isolated gas-phase carbonic acid and have succeeded in characterizing the gas-phase molecules by using infrared spectroscopy. The results were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. In textbooks and other media the widespread belief still prevails that stable carbonic acid cannot be produced in pure form and is practically non-existent as it immediately decomposes to ...

Small children are capable of engaging in issues concerning sustainable development.Their interests and rights must be better safeguarded in rules and policy decisions that concern the education of the youngest groups of children within the EU. This is emphasised in the report "Taking children seriously – How the EU can invest in early childhood education for a sustainable future", which was presented at a seminar in Brussels on Friday 17 December. The body behind the report is the European Panel on Sustainable Development (EPSD), an independent research-based network ...

Berkeley — It will come as no surprise to dog owners that their four-legged friends have a flair for sniffing out the excrement of other animals. Now, biologists at the University of California, Berkeley, have trained dogs to detect the scat of other critters for the greater good – to conduct more accurate surveys of wildlife. "Wildlife detection dogs have been mostly used in airports to detect contraband, including endangered species and wildlife products, but in recent years, interest has grown in using the dogs to help scientists track biological targets in natural ...

One of the challenges of gene therapy - a set of methodologies aimed at treating several nucleic acid diseases (DNA or RNA) - is to assure that this material arrives directly to the nucleus of the cell without losing a substantial amount along the way and without producing any undesired side effects. With this aim, scientists experiment with the use of different types of vectors, molecules capable of transporting genetic material to the correct place. Presently, natural "deactivated" viruses are the most commonly used vectors in clinical trials, their side effects however ...

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have developed new methods for analysing medical databases that can be used to identify diagnostic markers more quickly and to personalise medication for allergic disorders. They could also reduce the need for animal trials in clinical studies. Published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology, the study builds on data analyses of freely available medical databases representing studies of countless numbers of patients in the PubMed database, and microarray data in another major database. The use of microarrays is ...

In the winter months, the mountain ranges of central Europe attract thousands of tourists for skiing, snowboarding and other outdoor sports, but conservationists fear this annual invasion may threaten indigenous bird species, including the Capercaillie. The research, published in the journal IBIS, reveals how the growth of human recreation may be a key factor in the rapidly declining population of these iconic alpine birds. The Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), also known as the Wood Grouse, is the largest member of the grouse family and is renowned for its mating display. ...

Swedes drink less and less alcohol while at the same time the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly's sales are rising and statistics from Statistics Sweden show that alcohol consumption is on the increase. This has been the trend for a long period of time. Statistics from the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs, SoRAD, show that alcohol consumption fell continuously in the period from 2004 to 2009, whereas the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly's sales rose by 22% over the same period. The Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly's sales rose by 10% from 2008 to 2009, whereas ...

Women who have had chlamydia are at greater risk of an ectopic pregnancy because of a lasting effect of the infection. A new study provides evidence for the first time of how chlamydia can increase the risk of an ectopic pregnancy – which occurs when an embryo implants outside the womb, in the Fallopian tube. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that women who had had the sexually transmitted infection were more likely to produce a particular protein in their Fallopian tubes. Increased production of this protein – known as PROKR2 – makes a pregnancy more ...