Eureka! Science Alerts

EurekAlert! - Breaking News

• One more step on the path to quantum computers
  Researchers around the world are working on the development of quantum computers that will be vastly superior to present-day computers. Here, the strong coupling of quantum bits with light quanta plays a pivotal role. Professor Rudolf Gross, a physicist at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, and his team of researchers have now realized an extremely strong interaction between light and matter that may represent a first step in this direction.
  
  
• Reading terrorists minds about imminent attack
  Imagine technology that allows you to get inside the mind of a terrorist to know how, when and where the next attack will occur. That may not be as far-fetched as it sounds. Northwestern brain wave research suggests that if the lab test had been employed in the real world with the same type of outcome, law enforcement officials ultimately may be able to confirm details about an attack that emerges from terrorist chatter.
  
  
• Effective inducing systems of hepatic differentiation from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells
  Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent non-hematopoietic cells capable of differentiating into hepatocytes. Valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, has recently exhibited profound therapeutic activity in preclinical tumor test. A research group in China investigated the induction of hepatic differentiation of mouse bone marrow MSCs (mBM-MSCs) by VPA. Direct evidences have been shown that the usefulness of VPA in the trans-differentiation of mBM-MSCs into hepatocytes both in vitro and in vivo.
  
  
• Some like it hot: How to heat a 'nano bathtub' the JILA way
  Researchers at JILA have demonstrated the use of infrared laser light to quickly and precisely heat the water in "nano bathtubs" -- tiny sample containers -- for microscopy studies of the biochemistry of single molecules and nanoparticles.
  
  
• Reforestation projects capture more carbon than industrial plantations, reveals new research
  Australian scientists researching environmental restoration projects have found that the reforestation of damaged rainforests is more efficient at capturing carbon than controversial softwood monoculture plantations. The research, published in Ecological Management & Restoration, challenges traditional views on the efficiency of industrial monoculture plantations.
  
  
• Oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may protect women against brain aneurysms
  Results from a new study suggest that oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may yield additional benefit of protecting against the formation and rupture of brain aneurysms in women. The findings from this first-of-its-kind study by a neurointerventional expert from Rush University Medical Center were presented at the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery 7th annual meeting.
  
  
• 30 million women to benefit from health reform law
  Thirty million women will benefit from the new health reform law over the next decade, either through new or strengthened insurance coverage, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. The law will stabilize and reverse the growing exposure to health costs that women now experience by subsidizing health insurance for up to 15 million currently uninsured women, and strengthening existing coverage for 14.5 million women who are considered underinsured.
  
  
• Body of evidence: New fast, reliable method to detect gravesoil
  Finding bodies buried by someone who wanted them to stay undiscovered can be difficult. However a new technique developed by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, can reliably detect biochemical changes in a decomposing cadaver.
  
  
• Study finds diet and alcohol alter epigenetics of breast cancer
  Researchers from Brown University and the University of California have shown that the epigenetic profiles of breast tumors are related to patient diet and alcohol use as well as tumor size.
  
  
• Nano 'pin art': NIST arrays are step toward mass production of nanowires
  Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have cultivated many thousands of nanocrystals in what looks like a pinscreen or "pin art" on silicon, a step toward reliable mass production of semiconductor nanowires for millionths-of-a-meter-scale devices such as sensors and lasers.
  
  
• Vanishing bile duct syndrome secondary to anti-retroviral therapy in HIV
  Vanishing bile duct syndrome (VBDS) is an important cause of jaundice, and results from destruction of bile ducts in the liver. However, this syndrome is rare in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Nevirapine, an anti-retroviral that is being increasingly used, was implicated as the cause of VBDS in a patient described in a recent report.
  
  
• Breaking the language barrier: NIST tests language translation devices for US troops
  In recent tests evoking visions of the universal translator on "Star Trek," NIST evaluated three two-way, real-time, voice-translation devices designed to improve communications between the US military and non-English speakers in foreign countries.
  
  
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate pancreatic cancer
  In an effort to develop new therapies for pancreatic cancer, models of this disease must be created and characterized. A recent study from United States found that advanced magnetic resonance imaging methods could be used to differentiate living from dead tumor cells in a rabbit model of pancreatic cancer, thus providing a more in-depth understanding of this model of pancreatic cancer as well as the imaging methods employed.
  
  
• Emerging E. coli strain causes many antimicrobial-resistant infections in US
  A new, drug-resistant strain of E. coli is causing serious disease, according to a new study, now available online, in the Aug. 1, 2010, issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
  
  
• Transforaminal steroid injection for lumbar radicular pain proves superior to placebo
  A recent study from Australian researchers determined that transforaminal injection of steroids was a viable alternative to surgery for lumbar radicular pain due to disc herniation. Full details of the study appear in the August issue of Pain Medicine, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, and the International Spine Intervention Society.
  
  
• Kinked nanopores slow DNA passage for easier sequencing
  In an innovation critical to improved DNA sequencing, a markedly slower transmission of DNA through nanopores has been achieved by a team led by Sandia National Laboratories researchers.
  
  
• Research of cell movements in developing frogs reveals new twists in human genetic disease
  Mutations in a gene known as "Fritz" may be responsible for causing human genetic disorders such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome, University of Texas at Austin developmental biologist John Wallingford and Duke University human geneticist and cell biologist Nicholas Katsanis have found.
  
  
• Do soy isoflavones boost bone health?
  Scientists already know much about the more than 200 bones that make up your body. But mysteries remain regarding the exact role that many natural compounds in foods might play in strengthening our skeletons. Those compounds include estrogen-like substances known as soybean isoflavones.
  
  
• New 'armor' developed to avoid infection from AIDS virus
  The doors are closing on the AIDS virus. A study by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas has developed a method of attack against the AIDS virus The method involves creating a prevention system, i.e. an "armor" in the cells that are likely to be infected and thus impede, de facto, the virus from accessing them and starting to act on their immunological system.
  
  
• New theory of why midcontinent faults produce earthquakes
  A new theory developed at Purdue University may solve the mystery of why the New Madrid fault, which lies in the middle of the continent and not along a tectonic plate boundary, produces large earthquakes such as the ones that shook the eastern United States in 1811 and 1812.
  
  
• A potential chemotherapeutic drug to treat hepatocellular carcinoma
  A research team from China investigated the effect of galangin on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. They found that galangin mediates apoptosis through a mitochondrial pathway, and may be a potential chemotherapeutic drug for the treatment of HCC.
  
  
• Pilot study supports adolescent diabetes patients through personalized text messages
  Jennifer Dyer, M.D., M.P.H., an endocrinologist at Nationwide Children's Hospital, has developed and completed a pilot study that uses weekly, customized text messages to remind adolescent diabetes patients about their personal treatment activities. At the conclusion of the study, Dr. Dyer found an increase in overall treatment adherence and improved blood glucose levels.
  
  
• How to detect malnutrition in patients effectively?
  Malnutrition is a common problem in patients with cancer and is associated with a poor outcome. The assessment of nutritional status and its evaluation plays an important role in tailoring nutritional support. A study from South Korea evaluates the relationships between objective and subjective nutritional assessment of gastric cancer patients and suggests that a specific tailored nutritional assessment is needed for accurate measurement of the nutritional status of gastric cancer patients.
  
  
• 'Path of mental illness' follows path of war, 20 years after conflict ends
  Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health assessed the geographical distribution of the long-term burden of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a region of Liberia and report that the prevalence of PTSD remains high nearly two decades after the principal conflict there and five years after war in Liberia ended entirely. Particularly interesting was the geographic distribution of PTSD. Investigators found that certain villages in the region had a much higher prevalence of PTSD than did others.
  
  
• CD74 serves as a survival receptor on colon epithelial cells
  CD74 is a protein expressed by cells of the immune system. A research group in Israel finds that CD74 is expressed on colon epithelial cells of mice, as well as on a malignant cell line from mouse colon. Stimulation of CD74 leads to a signaling cascade resulting in cell survival. Thus, CD74 is a survival receptor in health and disease.
  
  
• From the heart: How cells divide to form different but related muscle groups
  Using the model organism Ciona intestinalis, commonly known as the sea squirt, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have uncovered the origins of the second heart field in vertebrates.
  
  
• New study: Tools that assess bias in standardized tests are flawed
  Overturning more than 40 years of accepted practice, new research proves that the tools used to check tests of "general mental ability" for bias are themselves flawed. This key finding challenges reliance on such exams to make objective decisions for employment or academic admissions even in the face of well-documented gaps between mean scores of white and minority populations.
  
  
• New approach to Alzheimer's therapy
  Researchers from the German Centre for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich have shown that the ADAM10 protein can inhibit the formation of beta-amyloid, which is responsible for Alzheimer's disease. ADAM10 acts like a pair of molecular scissors to cut the protein from which beta-amyloid is formed, effectively preventing the formation of beta-amyloid. This makes ADAM10 a key molecule in Alzheimer's therapy.
  
  
• Clinical trials can be improved by managing the learning curve
  Researchers at Duke University Medical Center looked for a learning curve phenomenon in the data record of a large, multi-site clinical trial. Their findings point to ways to improve the quality of future trials through better training and simulation exercises.
  
  
• Intervention effort cuts HIV incidence among female sex workers
  A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Mexico has found that even a modest behavioral intervention program averaging just 35 minutes can measurably reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in the US-Mexico border region -- and that the program succeeds at comparatively little expense.
  
  
• Reality TV, cosmetic surgey linked, says Rutgers-Camden researcher
  Research by a Rutgers-Camden psychologist suggests that teens fond of reality TV programs are more likely to join the millions who go under the knife each year. For bodies -- and minds -- still in development, these drastic decisions could have implications way after prom.
  
  
• Discovered: Audubon's first engraving of a bird
  In 1824, John James Audubon (1785-1851), the eminent American artist, created a drawing of a running grouse for use in the design for a New Jersey bank note. Although the artist mentions the drawing and the resulting engraved paper money in two separate diary entries, no one has ever been able to locate or identify such an illustration. Until now.
  
  
• To make one happy, make one busy
  A new study in Psychological Science found that people who have something to do, even something pointless, are happier than people who sit idly.
  
  
• A new ground zero for prostate cancer
  A type of prostate cell that has been largely ignored by cancer researchers can trigger malignant prostate cancer. The studies provide researchers with a new tool for exploring the genetic changes that lead to prostate cancer. The advance may help in developing new treatments for the disease, which causes some 32,000 deaths in the United States annually.
  
  
• Rocks on Mars may provide link to evidence of living organisms roughly 4 billion years ago
  A new article in press of the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters unveils groundbreaking research on the hydrothermal formation of clay-carbonate rocks in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. The findings may provide a link to evidence of living organisms on Mars, roughly 4 billion years ago in the Noachian period.
  
  
• Researchers study benefits of white button mushrooms
  Agricultural Research Service-funded scientists have conducted an animal-model and cell-culture study showing that white button mushrooms enhanced the activity of critical cells in the body's immune system.
  
  
• Study finds respiratory symptoms more reliable indicator of H1N1, not fever alone
  New research shows that individuals with mild H1N1 infection may go undetected using standard diagnostic criteria, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The study concludes that coughing or other respiratory symptoms are more accurate in determining influenza infection than presence of a fever.
  
  
• Signs of reversal of Arctic cooling in some areas
  Parts of the Arctic have cooled clearly over the past century, but temperatures have been rising steeply since 1990 also there. This is the finding of a summer temperature reconstruction for the past 400 years produced by tree rings from regions beyond the Arctic Circle. German and Russian researchers analysed tree growth using ring width of pine from Russia's Kola Peninsula and compared their findings with similar studies from other parts of the Arctic.
  
  
• Study finds black carbon implicated in global warming
  Increasing the ratio of black carbon to sulfate in the atmosphere increases climate warming, suggests a study conducted by a University of Iowa professor and his colleagues and published in the July 25 issue of the journal Nature Geoscience.
  
  
• Small increases in vaccine cost can cause large gaps in protection
  Public immunization efforts may be much more sensitive than previously realized to small changes in the perceived costs or risks of vaccination, scientists at Harvard University report this week. In some cases, the spread of vaccine avoidance via social networks can make the difference between a minor, localized outbreak and an epidemic four times as large.
  
  
• New pathway to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases
  Sanford-Burnham researchers uncover new clues about the cause of brain cell death in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases.
  
  
• Western diet link to ADHD
  A new study from Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research shows an association between ADHD and a "Western-style" diet in adolescents. The research findings have just been published online in the international Journal of Attention Disorders. Leader of Nutrition studies at the Institute, Associate Professor Wendy Oddy, said the study examined the dietary patterns of 1,800 adolescents from the long-term Raine Study and classified diets into "Healthy" or "Western" patterns.
  
  
• Male breast cancer in family leads to high perception of risk, low likelihood of genetic counseling
  People with a family history of male breast cancer perceive themselves to be at higher risk of developing the disease than do patients with a family history of female breast cancer; however those with male breast cancer in their families are less likely to know about or seek genetic testing than those with a family history of female breast cancer, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Louisville's James Graham Brown Cancer Center.
  
  
• Empa grows 'sea urchin'-shaped structures
  Empa researchers have succeeded in growing sea-urchin shaped nanostructures from minute balls of polystyrene beads using a simple electrochemical process. The spines of the sea urchin consist of zinc oxide nanowires. The structured surface should help increasing the efficiency of photovoltaic devices.
  
  
• Rutgers study finds male modesty a turn off for women (and men)
  A Rutgers researcher who explored the consequences for men (and women) when they acted modestly in job interviews found that "modest" males were less liked, a sign of social backlash. Modesty was viewed as a sign of weakness, a low-status character trait for males that could adversely affect their employability or earnings potential. Modesty in women, however, was not viewed negatively nor was it linked to status.
  
  
• Brain potentials reveal spectator effect
  The neurological responses caused by observing somebody else playing a game have been uncovered. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience found differing responses for neutral observers, compared to those who wished the player to fail and those who wanted to see the player succeed.
  
  
• Graphene under strain creates gigantic pseudo-magnetic fields
  By putting the right kind of strain onto a patch of graphene, Berkeley Lab researchers have created pseudo-magnetic fields far stronger than the strongest magnetic fields ever sustained in a laboratory. This finding opens a new window on a source of important applications and fundamental scientific discoveries going back over a century.
  
  
• Behind the secrets of silk lie high-tech opportunities
  Tougher than a bullet-proof vest yet synonymous with beauty and luxury, silks spun by worms and spiders are a masterpiece of nature whose properties have yet to be fully replicated in the laboratory. But scientists have begun to unravel the secrets of silk. Tufts biomedical engineers report that silk-based materials have been transformed from commodity textile to a growing web of high tech applications.
  
  
• Memory's master switch
  A new study led by Dr. Inna Slutsky of Tel Aviv University describes GABA (γ-Aminobutyric acid), a natural molecule that occurs in the brain, which could be the main factor in regulating how many new memories we can generate. The understanding of these mechanisms might lead to the development of new memory enhancers and new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
  
  
• A leap forward in addiction awareness and control
  A study by a team of researchers at Bangor University has designed and tested two programs that help problem drinkers curb their alcohol abuse. The study shows positive results after drinkers have followed either the Alcohol Attention-Control Training Program or the Life Enhancement and Advancement Program.