As the last ice age was ending, about 13,000 years ago, a final blast of cold hit Europe, and for a thousand years or more, it felt like the ice age had returned. But oddly, despite bitter cold winters in the north, Antarctica was heating up. For the two decades since ice core records revealed that Europe was cooling at the same time Antarctica was warming over this thousand-year period, scientists have looked for an explanation. A new study in Nature brings them a step closer by establishing that New Zealand was also warming, indicating that the deep freeze up north, ...

Cancer immunotherapy calls for revised clinical endpoints that differ from those used for chemotherapy, according to an article published online September 8 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Unlike chemotherapy, which acts directly on tumors, cancer immunotherapies exert their effects on the immune system, which may delay or change response patterns, perhaps owing to the dynamics of the immune system itself. For example, initial tumor burden may increase due to lymphocytic infiltration, because of T-cell proliferation, which is followed by lymphocyte-induced ...

BOSTON, Mass. (September 8, 2010)‹Scientists have discovered a small molecule that helps human cells get rid of the misfolded, disfigured proteins implicated in Alzheimer¹s disease and other neurodegenerative ailments. This potential drug could have applications for other conditions as well. Cells create and discard proteins continuously, a process that relies on a balance between the speed with which new proteins are created and damaged ones destroyed. Protein destruction occurs through a sophisticated system that marks proteins for disposal by tagging them with ...

LA JOLLA, CA - September 7, 2010 –A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF), and the U. S. Naval Research Detachment in Peru has completed a study that could improve the efficacy of diagnosis and treatment strategies for drug-resistant malaria. In the new study—published online on September 9, 2010 by the journal Genome Research—the scientists analyzed the genomic features of a population of malaria parasites in Peru, identifying the genetic basis for resistance to a common antibiotic. Malaria ...

GAITHERSBURG, Md. – Using a one-of-a-kind instrument designed and built at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an international team of researchers have "unveiled" a quartet of graphene's electron states and discovered that electrons in graphene can split up into an unexpected and tantalizing set of energy levels when exposed to extremely low temperatures and extremely high magnetic fields. Published in this week's issue of Nature,* the new research raises several intriguing questions about the fundamental physics of this exciting material and reveals ...

The Johns Hopkins Children's Center top pediatrician is urging a "rethink" of a new sickle cell screening program, calling it an enlightened but somewhat rushed step toward improving the health of young people who carry the sickle cell mutation. Beginning this fall, all Division I college athletes will undergo mandatory screening for the sickle cell trait. The program, rolled out by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), is an attempt to prevent rare but often-lethal complications triggered by intense exercise in those who carry the genetic mutation yet ...

Irvine, Calif. — UC Irvine researchers have discovered that markedly depleted amounts of an omega-3 fatty acid in brain tissue samples from Alzheimer's patients may be due to the liver's inability to produce the complex fat, also contained in fish-oil supplements. Low levels of docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, have been associated with the chronic neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of Americans, but no cause had been identified. In postmortem liver tissue from Alzheimer's patients, the UCI team found a defect in the organ's ability to make DHA from shorter molecules ...

Ghent, 9 September 2010 – Factoring the planet's multi-trillion dollar ecosystem services into policy-making can help save cities and regional authorities money while boosting the local economy, enhancing quality of life, securing livelihoods and generating employment. This is the finding from a major international study, launched in a report by TEEB for Local and Regional Policy Makers, being released in Belgium, Brazil, India, Japan and South Africa. In the Framework of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union, the Flemish Ministry of Environment, Nature and ...

University Park, Pa. -- Repeal of birthright citizenship for the U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrants would expand the nation's unauthorized population by at least 5 million over the next decade, according to a new report from the Migration Policy Institute. The report's principal author is Jennifer Van Hook, professor of sociology and demographics at Penn State and non-resident fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based institute. "While some are discussing an end to birthright citizenship as a means to reduce illegal immigration," Van Hook said, "repeal of birthright ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Armed with a decade's worth of satellite data, University of Illinois atmospheric scientists have documented some surprising trends in aerosol pollution concentration, distribution and composition over the Indian subcontinent. In addition to environmental impact, aerosol pollution, or tiny particles suspended in the air, can be detrimental to human health by causing a range of respiratory problems. Aerosols can come from natural sources, such as dust and pollen carried on the wind, but the most hazardous aerosols are generated by human activity – soot ...

PHILADELPHIA –- University of Pennsylvania biologists studying human reproduction have identified what is likely the major contributing factor to the maternal age-associated increase in aneuploidy, the term for an abnormal number of chromosomes during reproductive cell division. Using naturally aging mouse models, researchers showed that this basic fact of reproductive life is most likely caused by weakened chromosome cohesion. Older oocytes, or egg cells, have dramatically reduced amounts of a protein, REC8, that is essential for chromosomes to segregate correctly ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The U.S. economy is experiencing anemic growth, yet businesses are sitting on a mountain of cash worth nearly $2 trillion, according to Federal Reserve estimates. But this trend is nothing new for firms, who have been steadily increasing their cash holdings over the past three decades, a University of Illinois business professor says. Finance professor Heitor Almeida says the fact that businesses are stuffing corporate piggy banks with spare cash for the proverbial "rainy day" is unrelated to the belt-tightening brought about by the continuing financial ...

Each year in August, the aptly named town of Twinsburg, Ohio, is the site of the largest official gathering of twins in the world. Open to all multiples — identical and fraternal twins, triplets and quads from newborns to octogenarians — the weekend's events include food, live entertainment, a golf tournament, and a twins' parade. The event also has become an important site for field research by Kevin Bowyer and Patrick Flynn of the University of Notre Dame's Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Flynn has a twin sister, making this research especially relevant ...

An article just published in the scientific journal 'Osteoporosis International' introduces a validated new model that can be used to describe the current and future burden of postmenopausal osteoporosis in different national settings. The model, published by researchers from the UK on behalf of the International Osteoporosis Foundation's Committee of Scientific Advisors, was developed and validated using Swedish data. It can be used to forecast the incidence and prevalence of fractures not only by age and calendar year, but also by BMD category. It provides a high degree ...

MIAMI — September 8, 2010 -- Operational forecasting centers produce climate predictions that provide input for important decisions regarding water management, agriculture, and energy. "Assessment of Intraseasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction and Predictability", a new report from the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, examines current capabilities for making climate predictions -- such as seasonal hurricane or longer-term drought forecasts -- and identifies opportunities for improvement. The report finds that operational forecast centers could ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — One of the antibiotics most commonly prescribed to treat adolescent acne can increase attention spans and communication and decrease anxiety in patients with fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental impairment, according to a new survey study that is the first published on parents' reports of their children's responses to treatment with the medication. Led by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute, the study examined parents' observations of their children's responses to minocycline — not the efficacy of treating patients ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Treating intensive care patients who develop life-threatening bacterial infections, or septicemia, with insulin potentially could reduce their chances of succumbing to the infection, if results of a new preliminary study can be replicated in a larger study. A paper published online ahead of print in Diabetes Care reports that insulin lowered the amount of inflammation and oxidative stress in study participants who had been injected with a common bacteria, or endotoxin, known as LPS (lipopolysaccharide). The study was conducted by University at Buffalo ...

MIAMI, FL—A research team led by Cary Pirone from the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University has identified bilirubin in the popular Bird of Paradise plant. The breakthrough study, published in the September 2010 issue of the American Society for Horticultural Science's journal HortScience, provides new insights into color production in this iconic tropical plant. Previously thought to be an "animal-only" pigment, bilirubin is best known as the yellowish hue associated with bruises and jaundice sufferers. In 2009 the FIU researchers found ...

PASADENA, Calif.—We've all heard the predictions: e-commerce is going to be the death of traditional commerce; online shopping spells the end of the neighborhood brick-and-mortar store. While it's true that online commerce has had an impact on all types of retail stores, it's not time to bring out the wrecking ball quite yet, says a team of researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Their investigations into how subjects assign value to consumer goods—and how those values depend on the way in which those goods are presented—are being published ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---In what could be a step toward higher efficiency solar cells, an international team including University of Michigan professors has invalidated the most commonly used model to explain the behavior of a unique class of materials called highly mismatched alloys. Highly mismatched alloys, which are still in the experimental stages of development, are combinations of elements that won't naturally mix together using conventional crystal growth techniques. Professor Rachel Goldman compares them to some extent to homogenized milk, in which the high-fat cream ...

St. Louis, MO, September, 8, 2010 – The government's role in improving the nation's nutrition is now firmly established with nutritional labeling for restaurant meals now mandated across the United States as part of HR 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act. An article in the September issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association explains how state and municipal labeling laws developed and how the new national law will supersede these and replace them with a uniform standard. It also addresses the American Dietetic Association's (ADA's) involvement ...

BATON ROUGE – Gregory Stone, director of LSU's WAVCIS Program and also of the Coastal Studies Institute in the university's School of the Coast & Environment, disagrees with published estimates that more than 75 percent of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident has disappeared. Stone recently participated in a three-hour flyover of the affected area in the Gulf, where he said that subsurface oil was easily visible from overhead. "It's most definitely there," said Stone. "It's just a matter of time before it makes itself known again." Readings from WAVCIS indicate ...

Athens, Ga. – What if there were a way to predict when a species was about to become extinct—in time to do something about it? Findings from a study by John M. Drake, associate professor in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology, and Blaine D. Griffen, assistant professor at the University of South Carolina, may eventually lead to such an outcome—and that is only the start. Their study also has implications for understanding drastic, even catastrophic, changes in many other kinds of complex systems, from the human brain to entire ecosystems. The paper, "Early ...

WASHINGTON—September 8, 2010—Research!America today called on Congress to take legislative action that will allow federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research to proceed, in light of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's refusal yesterday to lift his recent injunction on federally funded research using embryonic stem cells. Research!America strongly supports the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act (H.R. 4808) introduced in March 2010 by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Mike Castle (R-DE) that would allow federal funding for ethical research using human ...

In the midst of a difficult fire season in many parts of the world, the United Nations' (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization has launched a new online fire detection system that will help firefighters and natural hazards managers improve response time and resource management. The Global Fire Information Management System (GFIMS) delivers fire data from an imaging sensor aboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites to generate daily fire maps and images through a freely accessible Web interface. The system also dispatches detailed email alerts of the quantity and coordinates ...