Lupus Research Institute-funded researcher Betty Tsao, PhD, at the University of California Los Angeles has discovered that humans—males in particular—with a variant form of the immune receptor gene "Toll Like Receptor 7 (TLR7)" are at increased risk of developing the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). This breakthrough finding offers renewed hope for developing more targeted treatments. The powerful finding recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) represents additional strong evidence from human cells—as opposed ...

VIDEO: Dr. Gail Smith, a veterinary orthopedic surgeon, discusses the PennHIP method for diagnosing a dog's susceptibility to osteoarthritis. Click here for more information. PHILADELPHIA –- A study comparing a University of Pennsylvania method for evaluating a dog's susceptibility to hip dysplasia to the traditional American method has shown that 80 percent of dogs judged to be normal by the traditional method are actually at risk for developing osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia, ...

Virtual characters can behave according to actions carried out unconsciously by humans. Researchers at the University of Barcelona have created a system which measures human physiological parameters, such as respiration or heart rate, and introduces them into computer designed characters in real time. "The ultimate aim is to develop a method which allows humans to unconsciously relate with some parts of the virtual environment more intensely than with others, and that they are encouraged only by their own physiological responses to the virtual reality shown", Christoph ...

Cluster has spent a decade revealing previously hidden interactions between the Sun and Earth. Its studies have uncovered secrets of aurora, solar storms, and given us insight into fundamental processes that occur across the Universe. And there is more work to do. The aurora, those dancing lights in the polar skies, are but the visible manifestation of an invisible battle taking place above our heads. Supersonic particles from the Sun collide with our planet's magnetic field every day. Most are deflected away but some are trapped by Earth's magnetism and accelerated to ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 2, 2010 -- Engineers at Harvard University have created a millionth-scale automobile differential to govern the flight of minuscule aerial robots that could someday be used to probe environmental hazards, forest fires, and other places too perilous for people. Their new approach is the first to passively balance the aerodynamic forces encountered by these miniature flying devices, letting their wings flap asymmetrically in response to gusts of wind, wing damage, and other real-world impediments. "The drivetrain for an aerial microrobot shares ...

The Department of Computer Science and Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China, has shown that a novel dynamic memory mapping (DMM) model brings about additional flexibility to virtual resource management, leading to the feature-adjustable design of a virtual machine monitor (VMM). The study is reported in Issue 53 (June, 2010) of SCIENCE CHINA Information Sciences because of its significant research value. Memory is one of the most frequently accessed components in virtual machine (VM) systems. Because a VM's memory requirement varies according to the running applications, ...

The Key Laboratory of Applied Superconductivity, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and China Research have collaborated to reveal the heat treatment effects on the superconducting properties of Ag-doped Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 compounds. Because of its significant research value, the study is reported in issue 7 of SCIENCE CHINA Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy. Previously, our group studied the effect of adding Ag to polycrystalline Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 and found that the critical current density Jc and the irreversibility field increase markedly. ...

The State Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems, Beihang University in Beijing, has proposed an image based modeling method for inhomogeneous single-scattering participating media whose density fields may contain high frequency details [1]. This work could reduce the difficulty in capturing real-world participating media, which can be applied to 3D games, film production, virtual reality systems, etc. This study is reported in Volume 53 (June, 2010) of the Science China Information Sciences journal because of its significant research value. Realistic ...

Nurses have a responsibility to respect and support patients who use cannabis for medicinal purposes, but must stay within the law and follow professional guidance at all times, according to a research review in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing. Dr Anita Green and Dr Kay De-Vries studied more than 50 published papers, together with professional and Government guidance documents, official reports and media coverage, from 1996 to 2009. They point out that the fact that the cannabis is usually obtained illegally can have consequences for those who ...

ESA's Herschel infrared space observatory has discovered that ultraviolet starlight is the key ingredient for making water in space. It is the only explanation for why a dying star is surrounded by a gigantic cloud of hot water vapour. Every recipe needs a secret ingredient. When astronomers discovered an unexpected cloud of water vapour around the old star IRC+10216 in 2001, they immediately began searching for the source. Stars like IRC+10216 are known as carbon stars and are thought not to make much water. Initially they suspected the star's heat must be evaporating ...

People who take oral bisphosphonates for bone disease over five years may be doubling their risk of developing oesophageal cancer (cancer of the gullet), according to a new study published on bmj.com today. Oral bisphosphonates are a type of drug used to treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases and are the most commonly recommended treatment for such conditions. Case reports suggest an association between use of oral bisphosphonates for osteoporosis and increased risk of oesophageal cancer. But the evidence is limited, and no adequately large study with information ...

Interim results from the first comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of electronic health records in secondary care in England have found delays and frustration with the system, according to research published on bmj.com today. The authors, led by Professor Aziz Sheikh from The University of Edinburgh (and which included researchers from The London School of Economics and Political Science, The School of Pharmacy and The University of Nottingham), say experiences from the first-wave implementation site "indicate that delivering improved healthcare through nationwide ...

Scientists have built a clearer picture of how lengthy strands of DNA are concertinaed when our cells grow and divide, in a discovery could help explain how cell renewal can go wrong. Scientists have identified thousands of proteins that play a key role in compacting DNA – a crucial process by which DNA is shortened up to 10,000 times to fit inside cells as they split into two. Researchers hope the findings could shed light on what happens when this packaging process fails and cells divide abnormally – which can lead to cancer or cause developing embryos to miscarry. Scientists ...

Biophysicists in Bochum have discovered a diode for protons: just like the electronic component determines the direction of flow of electric current, the "proton diode" ensures that protons can only pass through a cell membrane in one direction. Water molecules play an important role here as active components of the diode. The researchers led by Prof. Dr. Klaus Gerwert (Chair of Biophysics at the RUB) were able to observe this through a combination of molecular biology, X-ray crystallography, time-resolved FTIR spectroscopy and biomolecular simulations. They report in the ...

For severe migraine sufferers, psychological treatments build on the benefits of drug therapy, according to a new study1 by Elizabeth Seng and Dr. Kenneth Holroyd from Ohio University in the US. Their comparison of the effects of various treatment combinations for severe migraine – drug therapy with or without behavioral management – shows that those patients receiving the behavioral management program alongside drug therapy are significantly more confident in their ability to use behavioral skills to effectively self-manage migraines. And surprisingly, the increase in ...

A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly 2,000 years ago. The research, led by Emory University anthropologist George Armelagos and medicinal chemist Mark Nelson of Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is in the current issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology. "We tend to associate drugs that cure diseases ...

A new study from the Center for Interdisciplinary Chronobiological Research at the University of Haifa has found an additional link between Light At Night (LAN) and cancer. This research joins a series of earlier studies carried out at the University of Haifa that also established the correlation. "High power light bulbs contribute more to 'environmental light pollution', which the study has shown is a carcinogenic pollution," notes Prof. Abraham Haim, who headed the study. Earlier studies in which Prof. Haim has participated at the University of Haifa, have shown that ...

A team of McGill chemists have discovered that a technique known as photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy could be used to identify the composition of pigments used in art work that is decades or even centuries old. Pigments give artist's materials colour, and they emit sounds when light is shone on them. "The chemical composition of pigments is important to know, because it enables museums and restorers to know how the paints will react to sunlight and temperature changes," explained Dr. Ian Butler, lead researcher and professor at McGill's Department of Chemistry. Without ...

Amsterdam, 2 September, 2010 - Elsevier announced today the publication of four important position statements from the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) in the journal Maturitas (http://www.maturitas.org/) on common management problems in the post-reproductive health of women. The statements cover the management of the menopause in the context of obesity, epilepsy, endometriosis and premature ovarian failure. Each statement has summary recommendations as a quick aid for the busy clinician. "The expanding ageing female population means that clinicians ...

Oaxaca, Mexico (3 September 2010)—With governments across Latin America preparing to implement a new financial mechanism aimed at mitigating climate change by curbing carbon emissions from the destruction of tropical forests, experts gathering here today warned against a "one-size-fits-all" approach, calling instead for flexible, balanced solutions to the thorny dilemmas surrounding this new mechanism. Among the experts' chief worries is that the wealthy and powerful could capture many of the benefits, largely at the expense of rural communities, including indigenous groups. ...

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 2 – A survey of emergency medical services (EMS) agencies from across the country found wide variation in perceptions of workplace safety culture—providing a tool that might point to potential patient safety threats, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The study, to be published in the October/December issue of Prehospital Emergency Care and now available online, analyzed survey results from 61 EMS agencies in the U.S. and Canada. Researchers adapted a survey used in other health care settings to measure paramedic ...

Washington, DC -- Bold and coordinated leadership at the federal level is essential to create secure, long-term, sustainable biomedical research funding policies based on strategic priorities, say the authors of a commentary about America's fledgling biomedical research framework published in this week's The Journal of the American Medical Association. In "A New Research and Development Policy Framework for the Biomedical Research Enterprise," by Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD, of Georgetown University Medical Center and Elaine R. Rubin, PhD, of Association of Academic Health ...

The September cover story of the nation's leading cancer journal, "Cancer Research," features a new study from The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, that links capsaicin, a component of chili peppers, to skin cancer. While the molecular mechanisms of the cancer-promoting effects of capsaicin are not clear and remain controversial, The Hormel Institute has shown a definite connection to formation of skin cancer through various laboratory studies. Ann Bode, professor in the institute's Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Section, led the research team on this ...

BETHESDA, MD, SEPT 2, 2010⎯The old joke is a joke no more. In a special September issue of the ASCB's online journal, CBE—Life Sciences Education (CBE-LSE), the adage that biology is for science students who don't do math is laid to rest forever. "Bio-math" or "math-bio" is in the future for students of both disciplines, say the contributors of seven essays and 17 research articles on new ways to integrate mathematical thinking into biology education and introduce biological problems into math learning. "The national scientific and academic community has issued ...

MANHATTAN, KAN. -- People who believe that fate and chance control their lives are more likely to be superstitious -- but when faced with death they are likely to abandon superstition altogether, according to a recent Kansas State University undergraduate research project. The project, led by Scott Fluke, a May 2010 K-State bachelor's graduate in psychology, Olathe, focuses on personality traits that lead to superstition. Fluke received a $500 Doreen Shanteau Undergraduate Research Fellowship in 2009 to work with the team of Russell Webster, graduate student in psychology, ...