ROME (10 December 2010)—The Global Crop Diversity Trust today announced a major global search to systematically find, gather, catalogue, use, and save the wild relatives of wheat, rice, beans, potato, barley, lentils, chickpea, and other essential food crops, in order to help protect global food supplies against the imminent threat of climate change, and strengthen future food security. The initiative, led by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, working in partnership with national agricultural research institutes, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Consultative Group ...

San Antonio, Tex. -- A drug that shows promise for preventing breast cancer in postmenopausal women with an increased risk of developing the disease, appears to reduce mammographic breast density in the same group of women. Having dense breast tissue on mammogram is believed to be one of the strongest predictors of breast cancer. The preliminary analysis from the small, phase II study was presented today at the 33rd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in Texas. The ongoing study at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Cancer ...

RICHLAND, Wash. -- New high resolution images of electrode wires made from materials used in rechargeable lithium ion batteries shows them contorting as they become charged with electricity. The thin, nano-sized wires writhe and fatten as lithium ions flow in during charging, according to a paper in this week's issue of the journal Science. The work suggests how rechargeable batteries eventually give out and might offer insights for building better batteries. Battery developers know that recharging and using lithium batteries over and over damages the electrode materials, ...

Spearheaded by the University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory and funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the e-MERLIN telescope will allow astronomers to address key questions relating to the origin and evolution of galaxies, stars and planets. To demonstrate its capabilities, University of Manchester astronomers turned the new telescope array toward the "Double Quasar". This enigmatic object, first discovered by Jodrell Bank, is a famous example of Einstein's theory of gravity in action. The new image shows how the light from a quasar billions ...

BOSTON, Mass. (December 9, 2010)—A team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital, with others from the United States and Haiti, has determined that the strain of cholera erupting in Haiti matches bacterial samples from South Asia and not those from Latin America. The scientists conclude that the cholera bacterial strain introduced into Haiti probably came from an infected human, contaminated food or other item from outside of Latin America. It is highly unlikely, they say, that the outbreak was triggered ...

The technique, which they describe in the journal Science, involves rearranging the holes left by missing atoms to tune the properties of dopants – the chemical impurities that give the semiconductors in computer chips their special properties. Though the technique is currently limited to the laboratory, it could prove valuable to industry in the future, as the continued miniaturization of cell phone and computer chips makes the performance of individual atoms in a semiconductor more important. "The effect we discovered is probably already going on inside the devices ...

VIDEO: Neurologists finally have an answer to one of the most important questions about Alzheimer's disease: In a study published in Science Express, researchers show that rising brain levels of a... Click here for more information. Neurologists finally have an answer to one of the most important questions about Alzheimer's disease: Do rising brain levels of a plaque-forming substance mean patients are making more of it or that they can no longer clear it from their brains ...

In Alzheimer's disease, a protein fragment called beta-amyloid accumulates at abnormally high levels in the brain. Now researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that in the most common, late-onset form of Alzheimer's disease, beta-amyloid is produced in the brain at a normal rate but is not cleared, or removed from the brain, efficiently. In addition to improving the understanding of what pathways are most important in development of Alzheimer's pathology, these findings may one day lead to improved biomarker measures for early diagnosis as well ...

Silencing the TLR4 gene can stop the process which may lead to cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Translational Medicine carried out a series of in vitro tests which demonstrated that TLR4 plays a critical role in hyperglycaemic cardiac apoptosis, and that silencing the gene using specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) can prevent it. Wei-Ping Min, from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, worked with a team of researchers to perform the tests in cells taken from diabetic mice. He said, "We ...

Research, led by the University of Warwick, The Sainsbury Laboratory, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), has sequenced the genome of a plant disease causing organism revealing that it acts like a "stealth bomber of plant pathogens". The research has uncovered the tactics used to sneak past the plant's immune defences. That same discovery also provides tools for researchers to identify the components of the plant immune system and devise new ways to prevent disease. The research at the University of Warwick, the Sainsbury Laboratory ...

Cancer researchers have identified six gene markers present in early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that show promise in helping oncologists better identify which tumors will relapse after curative surgery, according to a study presented at the 2010 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (ISLAC) and the University of Chicago. Lung cancer is the leading ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The cocktail of hormones cascading through depressed mothers' bodies may play an important role in the development of their unborn children's brains. A higher level of depression in mothers during pregnancy was associated with higher levels of stress hormones in their children at birth, as well as with other neurological and behavioral differences, a University of Michigan-led study found. "The two possibilities are that they are either more sensitive to stress and respond more vigorously to it, or that they are less able to shut down their stress ...

New data shows that people exposed to the mineral erionite found in the gravel of road materials in North Dakota may be at significantly increased risk of developing mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer most often associated with asbestos exposure, according to research presented at the 2010 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (ISLAC) and The University of Chicago. Erionite ...

A new study shows that a combination of epigenetic therapy and molecular targeted therapy has promising results at combating advanced lung cancer according to research presented at the 2010 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is co-sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (ISLAC) and The University of Chicago. Epigenetics therapy is an approach designed to control the expression of good and bad genes ...

– Ipilimumab used in combination with paclitaxel/carboplatin for stage IIIb/IV non-small cell lung cancer showed superior results in progression free survival when compared to paclitaxel/carboplatin alone, according to research presented at the 2010 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (ISLAC) and the University of Chicago. Paclitaxel/carboplatin are commonly ...

A new study shows that a new type of targeted radiation therapy called stereotactic radiation therapy is just as good as surgery for patients aged 75 and older with early-stage lung cancer, according to research presented at the 2010 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology. This symposium is sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (ISLAC) and the University of Chicago. In this study, researchers compared two treatments ...

Patients treated by Welsh (UK) hospitals for upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding were 41% more likely die if they were admitted on a public holiday and 13% more likely if it was at the weekend, according to research in the January issue of Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Researchers who analysed the records of 22,299 people admitted a total of 24,421 times between 1999 and 2007 also found that admissions, but not death rates, were significantly influenced by social deprivation. "The higher death rates for weekend and public holiday admissions could not ...

What algorithms should an air defense system work with? Particle swarm algorithms if there are ten targets to be hit. If there are more than ten targets, greedy algorithms work best. These findings are presented by researcher Fredrik Johansson at the Informatics Research Centre, University of Skövde, in Sweden. So-called TEWA systems (Threat Evaluation & Weapon Allocation) are used to protect strategic targets from enemy attacks, such as an airfield that needs to be protected from incoming missiles. The systems discover threats, evaluates the threats, and aims the defender's ...

Georgia, US - A team of Bioengineers in the United States have modified a strain of bacteria to increase its ability to produce ethanol. The research, published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, reveals how adaptation and metabolic engineering can be combined for strain improvement, a positive development for the biofuel industry. The team focused their research on Zymomonas mobilis, a bacterium noted for its bio-ethanol producing potential. However, the team believed that ethanol production could be increased through improvement of xylose fermentation. "Zymomonas ...

College students whose parents have remained married to each other are faring better financially than their peers with divorced or remarried parents, according to new research from Rice University and the University of Wisconsin. The study, published in the December Journal of Family Issues, found that divorced parents contributed about a third of what married parents contributed to their children's education even though the divorced parents' incomes are about half as much as their married peers'; remarried parents contributed about half of what married parents contributed, ...

Halting the growth of melanoma tumors by targeting the MIC-1 protein that promotes blood vessel development in tumors may lead to better treatment of this invasive and deadly cancer, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers in The Foreman Foundation Research Laboratory. "Preventing vessels from developing in tumors is one way to stop them from growing," said lead author Gavin Robertson, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, pathology, dermatology and surgery. "However, the identity of the proteins secreted by tumors cells enabling the angiogenesis process to ...

When it comes to health care blue lights, are usually most useful on the top of ambulances but now new research led by the University of Warwick has found a way to use blue light to activate what could be a highly potent platinum-based cancer treatment. Research led by the University of Warwick, along with researchers from Ninewells Hospital Dundee, and the University of Edinburgh, have found a new light-activated platinum-based compound that is up to 80 times more powerful than other platinum-based anti-cancer drugs and which can use "light activation" to kill cancer ...

Watching a television show from a digital video recorder (DVR) gives viewers a chance to skip commercials, but new research finds that owning a DVR does not influence the demand for advertised products despite its ad-skipping feature. In fact, only a small percentage of ads were fast-forwarded by DVR users who participated in the study, and even that did not have an adverse effect on sales. The research was conducted by Jean-Pierre Dube from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Bart Bronnenberg from Tilburg University in The Netherlands and Carl Mela ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new three-drug combination used to treat the blood cancer multiple myeloma may be effective as a front-line therapy for newly diagnosed patients, according to a study led by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. The drug combination includes a novel proteasome inhibitor called carfilzomib, combined with lenalidomide and low-dose dexamethasone. This is the first study to look at carfilzomib as a front-line treatment of patients with myeloma, a type of cancer that arises in the plasma cells. Initial results of the phase I study were ...

Among a large number of Chinese men presenting with chest pain or EKG changes, sequential subjects undergoing cardiac angiography were evaluated for obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) lesions according to their reported recent alcohol intake. The study population consisted of 1,476 consecutive men 36 to 84 years of age; participants were categorized as nondrinkers, light drinkers, moderate drinkers, or heavy drinkers. Adjusted odds ratios for angiographically proved CAD for light, moderate, and heavy drinking were 1.16 (95% confidence interval 0.68 to 1.94), ...