Eurek Alert News - Breaking News

A shipment of seed sent by the Agricultural Research Service earlier this month to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway included a wild Russian strawberry that an expeditionary team braved bears and volcanoes to collect.

Materials scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have designed a way to harvest small amounts of waste energy and harness them to turn water into usable hydrogen fuel.

Millions of people in both the developing and developed world may benefit from new immune-system research findings that identify a cell population that fights off parasitic infections but also causes allergies and asthma.

A presentation by Google at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference in San Diego on March 24 will examine the technologies that will emerge in the next three to four years to power warehouse-scale computing data centers, upon which companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook and many more are increasingly relying.

When cells move about in the body, they follow a complex pattern similar to that which amoebae and bacteria use when searching for food, a team of Vanderbilt researchers have found.

R-rated movies portray violence and other behaviors deemed inappropriate for children under 17 year of age. A new study finds one more reason why parents should not let their kids watch those movies: adolescents who watch R-rated movies are more likely to try alcohol at a young age.

The hippocampus, a part of the brain essential for memory, has long been known to "replay" recently experienced events. Previously, replay was believed to be a simple process of reviewing recent experiences in order to help consolidate them into long-term memory. However, U research shows the phenomenon of memory replay is much more complex, cognitive process that may help an animal maintain its internal representation of the world, or its cognitive map.

Diabetics, under the gun to better manage their disease by controlling their food intake and weight, may find themselves in the sticky wicket of needing treatment that makes them hungry, researchers said.

Getting children involved in finding ways to become more physically active can not only make them more aware of local recreational opportunities, but can even help increase their own physical activity. That's the result of a study examining the role of seven national parks in contributing to the health of today's youth. The study was conducted by researchers from a variety of disciplines at North Carolina State University and other US universities and funded by the National Park Service.

During weight loss, bones are being remodeled -- breaking down old bone and forming new bone -- at an accelerated rate. As a result, bone density is reduced, causing increased fragility. In a new study, University of Missouri researchers found that weight-bearing exercise, in this case, fast walking or jogging, did not prevent the increased bone turnover caused by weight loss.

Dr. Joel Hirsch and Prof. Bernard Attali of Tel Aviv University are investigating the cause and effects of Sudden Cardiac Arrest syndrome. This team is hot on the trail of understanding how a multi-gene syndrome, one of the causes for SCA, operates inside the body. Once they figure out how the disorder operates and describe its molecular system in detail, they hope to develop a drug or therapy to stop this condition before it strikes.

According to a study recently completed by an LSU group charged with conducting studies on improving hurricane crisis communication in coastal communities, many families have a well-developed hurricane response plan of their own but have little faith in the preparation developed at higher government levels.

Rhesus monkey babies born to mothers who had the flu while pregnant had smaller brains and showed other brain changes similar to those observed in human patients with schizophrenia, a study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found.

An experimental thyroid drug reduces cholesterol without the troublesome side effects experienced by some people on statins, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. An international team of investigators at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, the Karolinska University Hospital and Institute, and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research tested a substance called Eprotirome in patients with high cholesterol.

French medical researchers from the AP-HP (Henri Mondor Hospital and Avicenne Hospital) and Inserm (Unit 738 "Models and methods for therapeutic evaluation of chronic illnesses" and CIC 202, at Tours) have recently demonstrated the effectiveness of a new molecule in the fight against lice. Faced with the emergence of increasing resistance to conventional treatments by these parasites, this new medication represents a real therapeutic alternative which is effective in 95 percent of cases.

Early detection is key to more effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of cognitive impairment, and new research shows that a test developed at the University of Tennessee is more than 95 percent effective in detecting cognitive abnormalities associated with these diseases.

Take a bunch of fast-moving electrons, place them in orbit and then hit them with the shock waves from a solar storm. What do you get? Killer electrons. That's the shocking recipe revealed by ESA's Cluster mission.

Diet and aerobic exercise are highly effective for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, but not for obese subjects that have developed the disease when very young. A study at the IRB Barcelona and Trinity College in Dublin demonstrates that obese subjects between 18 and 25 years of age carry mitochondrial proteins and genes that work abnormally and that these anomalies contribute to generating insulin resistance and a reduced response to physical exercise.

Good science involves formulating a hypothesis and testing whether this hypothesis is compatible with the scientist's observations. Researchers in the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt together with the University of Glasgow have shown that this is what the brain does as well. A study shows that it takes less effort for the brain to register predictable as compared to unpredictable images.

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the launch of a new quarterly journal, Journal of Family Business Strategy. The journal aims to be a primary publication outlet for academics and scholars in the field of family business strategic issues and the first issue is now available on ScienceDirect.

Scrutinizing a single molecule for more than a few milliseconds used to require effectively "stapling" it down, inhibiting its normal behavior. Now, using a technique recently developed in their lab, Stanford chemists have for the first time confined a protein (one involved in photosynthesis), observed its behavior for more than a second and learned things about it that could influence solar energy technology and biofuels.

Medical Research Council scientists at the University of Leicester have made a new advance in understanding how the body fights certain types of cancer and other disease such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

A German-Spanish research group, split between the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching and the Institute of Photonic Sciences, is using the principles of an iconic quantum mechanics thought experiment -- Schrödinger's superpositioned cat -- to test for quantum properties in objects composed of as many as one billion atoms, possibly including the flu virus.

Vimpat demonstrated significantly greater seizure reduction versus placebo whenadded to other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).The absence of significant pharmacokinetic drug interactions, as demonstrated in thisand other Vimpat studies, may allow for ease of Vimpat use as add-on therapy.

Contrary to what many parents think, video games are not a determining factor in obtaining a good academic result, according to a research carried out at the Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression at the UGR. Its author analyzed a sample of 266 participants aged between 11 and 16, together with their corresponding parents.

As shifts change in a hospital, outgoing physicians must "hand off" important information to their replacements in a brief meeting. But a new study of this hand-off process finds that the most important information is not fully conveyed in a majority of cases, even as physicians rate their communication as successful.

Mandated increases in the production of maize-derived ethanol will lead to land-use changes that boost carbon dioxide emissions enough to make the fuel a worse environmental option than burning gasoline, according to an analysis published in the March issue of BioScience. The new analysis refines the conclusion of a controversial estimate that was published by Timothy Searchinger and colleagues in 2008.

Repair proteins appear to efficiently scan the genome for errors by jumping like fleas between DNA molecules, sliding along the strands, and perhaps pausing at suspicious spots, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Essex and the University of Vermont who tagged the proteins with quantum dots to watch the action unfold. The findings are available today in Molecular Cell.

Computer programs have been able to predict which of three short films a person is thinking about, just by looking at their brain activity. The research, conducted by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL (University College London), provides further insight into how our memories are recorded.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) afflicts a large number of younger minority adults receiving medical care in settings that serve the uninsured and under-insured (settings collectively known as the health care safety net). Poor, minority adults with moderate to severe CKD are also two to four times more likely to progress to kidney failure than non-Hispanic whites. These are the findings from a study published online in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Total knee replacement (TKR) successfully relieves pain and improves function in patients with advanced knee arthritis, according to a study presented today at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

New evidence suggests that researchers can tell which memory of a past event a person is recalling from the pattern of their brain activity alone.

In the far northern reaches of the Arctic, day versus night often doesn't mean a whole lot. During parts of the year, the sun does not set; at other times, it's just the opposite. A new study reported online on March 11 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, shows that Arctic reindeer have come up with a solution to living under those extreme conditions: They've abandoned use of the internal clock that drives the daily biological rhythms in other organisms.

A Monash University research team has shown how PEGylated Polylysine dendrimers, a new type of nano-sized drug delivery system, can be altered to target either the lymphatic system or the bloodstream, which may improve the treatment of particular types of diseases.

Queensland Institute of Medical Research scientists have identified a new link between strong period pain experienced in adolescence and early adulthood and the risk of endometriosis.

No longer found in 90 percent of its previously occupied habitat, the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog is further threatened by cumulative impacts of a changing climate, introduced non-native trout and site fidelity habits, hampering the breeding success of this imperiled frog. USDA FS Pacific Southwest Research Station research underscores the need to incorporate the site fidelity habits of this frog when designing restoration strategies for its continued existence.

New research from Vanderbilt University reveals for the first time how our brains coordinate two different types of attention and why we may be temporarily blinded by surprises.

The Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) has analyzed the first whole genome sequences of a human family of four. The findings of a project funded through a partnership between ISB and the University of Luxembourg was published online today by Science on its Science Express website. It demonstrates the benefit of sequencing entire families, including lowering error rates, identifying rare genetic variants and identifying disease-linked genes.

An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health confronted a troubling fact that pregnant women currently have limited access to clinicians and facilities able and willing to offer a trial of labor after previous cesarean delivery because of so-called VBAC bans. The panel affirmed that a trial of labor is a reasonable option for many women with a prior cesarean delivery. But many women are not offered this option.

A thyroid-hormone-like substance that works specifically on the liver reduces blood cholesterol with no serious side effects. This according to a clinical trial conducted by researchers from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet, amongst other centers, published today in the top-ranking scientific periodical the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Board of Directors of the American Association of Anatomists (AAA) has approved a set of guidelines to govern programs accepting the donation of bodies for education and biomedical research. The guidelines cover the minimum requirements that should be met by any Willed Body Program.

Patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery experience changes in their urine composition that increase their risk of developing kidney stones, research from UT Southwestern Medical Center investigators suggests.

Distant galaxy clusters mysteriously stream at a million miles per hour along a path roughly centered on the southern constellations Centaurus and Hydra. A new study led by Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., tracks this collective motion -- dubbed the "dark flow" -- to twice the distance originally reported.

A group of computer scientists have found a way to tame multiprocessor computers, which behave in wildly unpredictable ways even as the systems become widespread in the industry.

The low that forecasters were watching for development yesterday, March 9, strengthened into Tropical Storm Hubert, and is already making landfall in eastern Madagascar.

According to new findings, owning a video-game system may hamper academic development in some children. Boys who received a video-game system immediately had significantly lower reading and writing scores after four months than boys receiving a video-game system at the end of the experiment. Further analysis revealed that the time spent playing video games may link the relationship between owning a video-game system and reading and writing scores.

Tropical cyclones typically don't form in the Southern Atlantic because the waters are usually too cool. However, forecasters at the Naval Research Laboratory noted that a low pressure system off the coast of Brazil appeared to have tropical storm-force winds yesterday.

Since 2004, University at Buffalo anthropologist Ezra Zubrow has worked intensively with teams of scientists in the Arctic regions of St. James Bay, Quebec, northern Finland and Kamchatka to understand how humans living 4,000 to 6,000 years ago reacted to climate changes.

High school and college students who understand the geological age of the Earth (4.5 billion years) are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a University of Minnesota study published in the March issue of the journal Evolution.

A study on the past extinction of large mammals in India by the Wildlife Conservation Society, Duke University, and other groups has found that country's protected area system and human cultural tolerance for some species are key to conserving the subcontinent's tigers, elephants, and other large mammals.

The gift of "seeing ourselves as others see us" comes in handy when judging how we've made a first impression. Yet many come away with little or no clue about how that first impression was perceived. A new study suggests confidence is a key indicator of how well we've assessed impressions left behind.

Current drugs used to treat heart failure and irregular heartbeat have limited effectiveness and have side effects. New basic science findings from a University of Iowa and Vanderbilt University study suggest a way that treatments could potentially be refined so that they work better and target only key heart-related mechanisms.

Discovery of an antibiotic's capacity to improve cell function in laboratory tests is providing movement disorder researchers with leads to more desirable molecules with potentially similar traits, according to University of Alabama scientists co-authoring a paper publishing March 10 in the journal Disease Models & Mechanisms.

A naturally occurring class of plant hormones called cytokinins has been found to help increase cotton yields during drought conditions.

Fifty years after the first laser sparked a technological revolution, the "light fantastic" continues to impact people's daily lives -- by playing DVDs, speeding Internet connections, and performing intricate surgery. As the golden anniversary of the announcement of the first laser approaches on July 7th, Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine, takes a special look at the past, present, and exciting future of this amazing invention.

Physicians may be able to safely lower the platelet dosage in transfusions for cancer and bone-marrow transplant patients without risking increased bleeding, according to new research involving UT Southwestern Medical Center and 28 other medical institutions.

Scientists have leaped over a major hurdle in efforts to begin commercial production of a form of carbon that could rival silicon in its potential for revolutionizing electronics devices ranging from supercomputers to cell phones. Called graphene, the material consists of a layer of graphite 50,000 times thinner than a human hair with unique electronic properties. Their study appears in ACS' Nano Letters, a monthly journal.

Scientists in Texas are reporting development of a first-of-its-kind cloth that releases nitric oxide gas -- an advance toward making therapeutic socks for people with diabetes and a wrap to help preserve organs harvested for transplantation. The study is in ACS' Chemistry of Materials, a bi-weekly journal.

People in seven European countries have positive attitudes toward a new eco-friendly toilet that could substantially reduce pollution problems and conserve water and nutrients, scientists in Switzerland are reporting. Their article, which calls on authorities to give wider support for the innovative toilet technology, is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

In a finding that may speed efforts to conserve oil and intensify the search for alternative fuel sources, scientists in Kuwait predict that world conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014 -- almost a decade earlier than some other predictions. Their study is in ACS' Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly journal.

A clinical research trial of a new treatment to restore brain cells damaged by stroke has passed an important safety stage, according to the UC Irvine neurologist who led the effort.

A study published in the March issue of "The Leading Edge" examines series of small earthquakes occurring near the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport between Oct. 30, 2008, and May 16, 2009.

Is it time for all community-based doctors to turn to e-prescribing to cut down on the number of medication errors? According to Rainu Kaushal and colleagues from the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, electronic prescriptions can dramatically reduce prescribing errors -- up to seven-fold. Their study of the benefits of e-prescribing in primary care practices appears online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, published by Springer.

Researchers from TU Delft in the Netherlands discovered that the bacterium Cupriavidus basilensis breaks down harmful by-products which are produced when sugars are released from wood. They also managed to incorporate the degradation process in bacteria which are in common industrial use. This breakthrough does away with the need to resort to costly and environmentally unfriendly methods for removing by-products, thereby boosting the appeal of waste wood as a sustainable resource for biochemicals and biofuels.

A 10-year effort by a URI scientist to develop transgenic rainbow trout with enhanced muscle growth has yielded fish with what have been described as six-pack abs and muscular shoulders that could provide a boost to the commercial aquaculture industry.

Exposure to news media has long been thought to help create a more informed and politically educated citizenry, but a new University of Georgia study finds that media exposure did little to correct a significant misperception during the most recent presidential campaign.

A team of physicists headed by Christian Roos and Rainer Blatt from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences realize a quantum walk in a quantum system with up to 23 steps. It is the first time that this quantum process using trapped ions is demonstrated in detail.

A study of extinction patterns of 25 large mammal species in India finds that improving existing protected areas, creating new areas, and interconnecting them will be necessary for many species to survive this century.

New research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators may change neutropenia treatment for all childhood cancer patients.

University of Missouri researcher Todd VanPool believes pottery found throughout the North American Southwest comes from a religion of peace-seeking women in the violent, 13th-century American Southwest. These women sought to find a way to integrate newly immigrating refugees and prevent the spread of warfare that decimated communities to the north.

Women's responsiveness to the second-line breast cancer drug fulvestrant may depend on whether the cancer cells are expressing two key proteins, Indiana University Bloomington scientists report in this month's Cancer Biology & Therapy.

Shahriar Koochekpour, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, led research that has discovered, for the first time, a genetic mutation in African-American men with a family history of prostate cancer who are at increased risk for the disease. Dr. Koochekpour identified an inheritable genetic defect in the receptor for the male hormone, androgen (testosterone), that may contribute to the development of prostate cancer and its progression.

To get life-threatening diseases under control, patients in the intensive care unit usually are administered many medications at the same time. Even for experts, it is difficult to keep track of the variety of possible side effects and interactions. The team headed by Dr. Thilo Bertsche, director of the cooperation unit for clinical pharmacy at Heidelberg University Hospital, has now shown that physicians can reduce serious events resulting from drug interactions by about half with the help of the "AiDKlinik" drug information system.

A puzzle that has baffled scientists for centuries -- why some birds appear to be male on one side of the body and female on the other -- has been solved by researchers.The research, which involved studying rare naturally occurring chickens with white (male) plumage on one side and brown (female) plumage on the other, sheds new light on the sexual development of birds.

While physicians strive to set realistic expectations for patients undergoing knee and hip joint replacements, a new study reported by Hospital for Special Surgery researchers reveals that doctor and patient expectations are sometimes not aligned.

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new analytical method that opens the door to faster processing of large amounts of information, with applications in fields as diverse as the military, medical diagnostics and homeland security.

Researchers at the University of Utah and other institutions have sequenced for the first time the entire genome of a family, enabling them to accurately estimate the average rate at which parents pass genetic mutations to their offspring and also identify precise locations where parental chromosomes exchange information that creates new combinations of genetic traits in their children.

The domestication of animals and plants is the most important technological innovation during human history. This genetic transformation of wild species has occurred as humans have used individuals carrying favorable gene variants for breeding purposes. In the current issue of Nature an international team led by researchers at Uppsala University has revealed some of the secrets underlying the remarkable development of the domestic chicken.

Only half of all patients at high risk of heart disease are given correct targets for lowering their cholesterol levels according to a study of 25,250 patients published on Thursday March 11 in the European Heart Journal. The study investigated how primary care doctors assessed their patients' risk factors and other health problems when deciding on cholesterol-lowering targets, and although the research focused on German doctors and their patients, the authors believe that it reflects a similar picture in the rest of Europe.

People whose "bad" cholesterol and risk of future heart disease stay too high despite cholesterol-lowering statin therapy can safely lower it by adding a drug that mimics the action of thyroid hormone.

While general relativity describes well the behavior of the solar system, Einstein's theory of gravity and spacetime has not been tested on cosmological scales. Now, a team that includes UC Berkeley physicist Uros Seljak has analyzed data on 70,000 galaxies to show that the theory is so far the best description of the universe, at least out to 3.5 billion light years from Earth. Specifically, theories without dark matter do not fit the observations.

In a surprise with implications for air quality, researchers have found thatchemistry involving airborne chloride, thought to be restricted to seaspray, occurs at similar rates in air above Boulder, Colo., nearly 900 milesaway from any ocean.

Managing the young generation of workers -- sometimes called GenY, GenMe, or Millennials -- is a hot topic, covered in the popular press and discussed in numerous books and seminars. However, most of these discussions are based on perceptions and anecdote rather than hard data, partially because no one had established that GenY differed in work values from previous generations.

Complete Genomics Inc., a third-generation human genome sequencing company, today announced that the Institute for Systems Biology employed Complete Genomics' human genome sequencing service to sequence a family quartet to determine the depth of genetic information possible in analyzing a full family's sequence, and to verify the gene responsible for Miller syndrome, a rare craniofacial disorder. Results from this collaboration were published online today in Science Express.

Tears in the shoulder's rotator cuff, a common sports injury, are painful and restricting. New research shows an approved therapy for osteoporosis, Forteo, may speed healing and improve patient outcomes, according to a preliminary study from Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

A Perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine calls for change in the way researchers and pharmaceutical companies collect and report adverse symptom information in clinical trials submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, and how the FDA represents this information on drug labels.

It's time to re-think how patients are selected for cardiac catheterization, say doctors at Duke University Medical Center, after reporting in a new study that the invasive procedure found no significant coronary artery disease in nearly 60 percent of chest pain patients with no prior heart disease.

Scientists have gained new insight into why a relatively short-term hearing deprivation during childhood may lead to persistent hearing deficits, long after hearing is restored to normal. The research, published by Cell Press in the March 11 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that, much like the visual cortex, development of the auditory cortex is quite vulnerable if it does not receive appropriate stimulation at just the right time.

New research provides exciting insight into the molecular mechanisms associated with addiction and relapse. The study, published by Cell Press in the March 11 issue of the journal Neuron, uncovers a crucial mechanism that facilitates motivation for alcohol after extended abstinence and opens new avenues for potential therapeutic intervention.

Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. James Lupski came to the end of a personal quest earlier this year when the Baylor Human Genome Sequencing Center sequenced his complete genome and identified the gene involved in his own form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, which affects the function of nerves in the body's limbs, hands and feet. At the same time, the finding opened a new door showing that genome information has clinical importance.

About four out of every 10 cells in the brain are so-called oligodendrocytes. These cells produce the all-important myelin that coats nerve tracts, ensuring fast, energy-efficient transmission of nerve impulses.Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have now identified a molecular master switch that catalyzes these cells' transition to mature, myelin-making mavens.

Aided by ultrasound guidance, treating tumors with extreme heat or moderate heat may provide a possible therapeutic option, according to early research presented at the second AACR Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research.

Breast cancer continues to rise in Iraq, and scientists have established the Iraqi National Cancer Research Program to better understand the underlying molecular and environmental causes in an effort to curb the incidence of cancer.

Scientists may have uncovered a mechanism for resistance to paclitaxel in ovarian cancer, microRNA-31, suggesting a possible therapeutic target for overcoming chemotherapy resistance.

Seaweed extract may eventually emerge as a lymphoma treatment, according to laboratory research presented at the second AACR Dead Sea International Conference on Advances in Cancer Research.

Over the years, all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motocross motorcycles have gained popularity and marketed as toys to consumers.

Approximately 21 million visits were made to physicians' offices due to back problems in 2006. While countless adults experience back pain and stiffness, many suffer from serious spine and back conditions -- including injury, herniated discs and the deterioration of the vertebrae. Three new studies presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons detail advances in back care and treatment options for specific back and spine conditions.

Throwing arm injuries are on the rise in Little League and other youth baseball programs. After these injuries occur, many players are out for the season; others require surgery and must refrain from play for an even longer duration; still others sustain injuries so severe that they cause permanent damage and are unable to continue playing baseball.

Bisphosphonate treatments, proven to enhance bone density and reduce fracture incidence in post-menopausal women, may adversely affect bone quality and increase risk of atypical fractures of the femur when used for four or more years, according to preliminary research presented today at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

To grow larger, solid tumors require a network of blood vessels to nourish them. Chemotherapy exploits these vessels to deliver toxic drugs, but is inefficient if the drugs cannot pass quickly enough from the bloodstream into the tumor. A new study in Disease Models and Mechanisms describes a way of transiently making the tumor blood vessels leakier, allowing more efficient drug uptake. This work may ultimately enhance delivery of chemotherapies into tumor tissue.