HOUSTON – (Jan. 5, 2011) – Zinc ions released at the junction between two neurons (called a synapse) are important signals, but when too much zinc accumulates, cells become dysfunctional or die. Researchers in the Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory (http://www.thebluebirdcircle.com/Clinic/NeurogeneticsLaboratory.aspx) in the department of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered that zinc enters cells through specialized protein gates known as ZIP transporters, and removing these ZIP proteins from cells in the hippocampus (an area of ...

TUCSON, Ariz. (January 4, 2011) -- Cumbersome glaucoma tests requiring a visit to the ophthalmologist could soon be history thanks to a home test developed by an engineer at the University of Arizona. A new hand-held instrument involving a system of micro-force sensors, specially designed microchips, and math-based programmed procedures has been designed by researchers at the UA College of Engineering. The easy-to-use probe gently rubs the eyelid and can be used at home, threatening to replace painful eye drops and the need for a sterilized sensor. "You simply close ...

According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute's statistics, the mean annual temperature for the whole of Finland in 2010 was 1.3° C, which is 0.6 degrees below the long-term average. The last equally cold year took place in 1987, when the annual mean temperature was 0.1° C. The annual mean temperatures for 2010 ranged from about 5° C in Southwest Finland to about -3° C in Northern Lapland. The average precipitation for the whole country was about 560 millimetres, which is about 30 millimetres less than normally. The highest annual precipitation was measured in ...

One of Britain's best known seabirds winters on opposite sides of the Atlantic depending on whether its breeding attempt has been successful according to new research published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The findings highlight previously unsuspected links between summer breeding performance and wintering distributions of kittiwakes. The research team was led by Dr Maria Bogdanova from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) in conjunction with colleagues from CEH and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The discovery of such patterns ...

A study led by the Smoking Control Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) has confirmed that the anti-tobacco laws in Europe have a direct effect on the reduction in consumption and passive exposure to smoke. This conclusion was reached by relating the Tobacco Eurobarometer and the Tobacco Control Scale (TCS). A new study, published in the magazine Plos One, has confirmed the hypothesis that the greater the restrictions, the lower the consumption and passive exposure to smoke. The study was carried out in the 27 countries of the EU and relates the Eurobarometer ...

Philadelphia, PA, 4 January 2011 - Normally, cortical nerve cells or neurons reside in the brain's gray matter with only a few scattered neurons in the white matter, but some people with schizophrenia have a higher number of neurons in the white matter. Neuronal migration errors may arise in schizophrenia as a consequence of both genetic and environmental factors. The phenomenon of aberrant cellular localization has now been studied in detail in a paper by Yang and colleagues, published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry. Using a specialized technique that ...

Toronto – Growth is good, right? Not always. But compensation committees still tend to reward CEOs when their companies grow due to investments – even though that has been found to hurt long-term shareholder value – rather than only rewarding growth due to improved profitability, says a paper co-authored by a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. The practice sends CEOs a message to grow at all costs, while hurting chances for companies to further improve shareholder value. Still, corporate boards may not realize what they're doing, ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In the first combat-zone study of its kind, a research team led by Michigan State University found that soldiers with a positive outlook in the most traumatic situations were less likely to suffer health problems such as anxiety and depression. The study, which surveyed Army troops fighting in Iraq, could have implications for police officers, firefighters and others who regularly deal with traumatic events such as death. Training these first-responders to think in less catastrophic terms could help them better cope with distressing events and function ...

BOSTON – (January 4, 2011) With life expectancy increasing in Latin America, age-related disease has become a pressing public health concern. Results of an epidemiological study conducted by researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University and the Corporacion Ecuatoriana de Biotecnologia showed that the metabolic syndrome, a condition that increases a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, was prevalent in a low-income urban community in Ecuador and that a poor diet low in micronutrients ...

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the developed world. While a number of risk factors for atherosclerosis have been defined, scientists continue to study other possible risk factors for this disease. Recent epidemiological and experimental studies link infectious agents with the development of inflammatory atherosclerosis. A hallmark of chronic infection with the oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis is the induction of a chronic inflammatory response. P. gingivalis induces a local inflammatory response that results in oral bone destruction, which is manifested ...

When faced with decisions, we often follow our intuition—our self-described "gut feelings"—without understanding why. Our ability to make hunch decisions varies considerably: Intuition can either be a useful ally or it can lead to costly and dangerous mistakes. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that the trustworthiness of our intuition is really influenced by what is happening physically in our bodies. "We often talk about intuition coming from the body—following our gut instincts and trusting ...

New Rochelle, NY, January 4, 2011—Lowering the body temperature of patients soon after they have suffered a severe brain injury may reduce neurologic complications and improve outcomes. The safety of therapeutic hypothermia for traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been demonstrated in national studies. According to a Roundtable Discussion of renowned experts in the field, when and how it is administered should depend on the clinical condition of individual patients. The Roundtable was published online ahead of print in the new peer-reviewed journal Therapeutic Hypothermia and ...

Clues about how the human gut helps regulate our appetite have come from a most unusual source – fruit fly faeces. Scientists at the University of Cambridge are using the fruit fly to help understand aspects of human metabolism, including why pregnant women suffer from bloating and constipation, and even the link between a low calorie diet and longevity. Although scientists have known for some time that there are as many as 500 million nerve cells in our gut, the sheer complexity that this presents means that little is known about the different types of nerve cell and ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- About one-third of the human population is infected with a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, but most of them don't know it. Though Toxoplasma causes no symptoms in most people, it can be harmful to individuals with suppressed immune systems, and to fetuses whose mothers become infected during pregnancy. Toxoplasma spores are found in dirt and easily infect farm animals such as cows, sheep, pigs and chickens. Humans can be infected by eating undercooked meat or unwashed vegetables. Jeroen Saeij, an assistant professor of biology at MIT is investigating ...

Patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who are current smokers were less likely to achieve good response to methotrexate (MTX) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors than those who never smoked. The study by researchers from Sweden also found that RA patients who smoked in the past did not experience a lower response to these therapies. Results of the 10-year study appear in the January 2011 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). According to the World Health Organization ...

The presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) indicates the possibility of autoimmunity and the indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) assay on HEp-2 cells is the standard blood test (ANA-HEp-2) used to detect ANA. However, studies have shown that a "false-positive" ANA test occurs in up to 13% of healthy individuals. In such cases the test detects the presence of autoantibodies that apparently are not associated with autoimmunity. Researchers from Brazil have now uncovered distinguishing characteristics of the ANA test in healthy individuals and patients with autoimmune disease, ...

During a total eclipse of the Sun, skywatchers are awed by the shimmering corona -- a faint glow that surrounds the Sun like gossamer flower petals. This outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere is, paradoxically, hotter than the Sun's surface, but so tenuous that its light is overwhelmed by the much brighter solar disk. The corona becomes visible only when the Sun is blocked, which happens for just a few minutes during an eclipse. Now, an instrument on board NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), developed by Smithsonian scientists, is giving unprecedented views of the ...

New research found clinicians who care for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) are likely not following standard care guidelines that are based on current medical evidence. Researchers noted physicians were prescribing medications for pain and inflammation, or opting for surgical interventions rather than recommending weight loss plans or exercise programs to OA patients. Details of the this study are available in the January 2011 issue of Arthritis Care & Research, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology. A 2002 report ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers are creating a new type of solar cell designed to self-repair like natural photosynthetic systems in plants by using carbon nanotubes and DNA, an approach aimed at increasing service life and reducing cost. "We've created artificial photosystems using optical nanomaterials to harvest solar energy that is converted to electrical power," said Jong Hyun Choi, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. The design exploits the unusual electrical properties of structures called single-wall carbon nanotubes, using ...

More plant matter could be burned in coal-fired power stations if this 'green' fuel was delivered pre-roasted like coffee beans, according to researchers from the University of Leeds, UK. Many UK power stations are now burning plant matter, or biomass, as well as coal in a bid to cut their carbon footprint. Unlike fossil fuels, plants like willow, Miscanthus and poplar are a virtually carbon-neutral source of energy: the carbon dioxide emitted when they burn is absorbed during photosynthesis by the next batch of 'energy crops' planted in their place. But the environmental ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The United States doesn't have the infrastructure to meet the federal mandate for renewable fuel use with ethanol but could meet the standard with significant increases in cellulosic and next-generation biofuels, according to a Purdue University study. Wally Tyner, the James and Lois Ackerman Professor of Agricultural Economics, and co-authors Frank Dooley, a Purdue professor of agricultural economics, and Daniela Viteri, a former Purdue graduate student, used U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency data to determine that the ...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2011 — A special edition of the American Chemical Society journal, Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T), one of the world's premier environmental journals, is available now for a limited time online without charge. The special edition will be accessible free during 2011, when the world celebrates the International Year of Chemistry. Entitled "Environmental Policy: Past, Present, and Future," the special issue of ES&T recognizes closure of a "green" decade in which people became more aware of environmental issues, and society marked the 40th anniversaries ...

NEW YORK (Jan. 4, 2011) — Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine. In their study, published Jan. 4 in the online edition of Molecular Therapy and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the researchers say this novel strategy might be the first to offer cocaine addicts a fairly simple way to break and reverse their habit, and it might also be useful in treating other addictions, such as to nicotine, heroin and other opiates. ...

RICHMOND, Va. (Jan. 4, 2011) – Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have found that a significant increase of an enzyme in the blood vessels of pregnant women with preeclampsia may explain some of the symptoms associated with the condition, including hypertension, swelling and protein in the urine. The findings could lead to a treatment for pregnant women with preeclampsia, which is one of the most significant health problems in pregnancy and a leading cause worldwide of both premature delivery and of sickness and death of the mother and baby. Preeclampsia, ...

All of us may be able to breathe a little easier now that scientists from Pennsylvania have found a new therapeutic target for controlling dangerous inflammation in the lungs. A new research report in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org) suggests that blocking the activation of an enzyme called delta-protein kinase C (delta-PKC) could protect the lungs from neutrophil-mediated damage, which can result in out of control inflammation. In an animal model of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), inhibiting delta-PKC in ...