|  Researchers find essential brain circuit in visual development  | A study in mice reveals an elegant circuit within the developing visual system that helps dictate how the eyes connect to the brain. The research has implications for treating amblyopia, a vision disorder that occurs when the brain ignores one eye in favor of the other. | Read More » New tool enhances the search for genetic mutations  | Scientists have developed a new software tool known as DeNovoGear, which uses statistical probabilities to help identify mutations and more accurately pinpoint their source and their possible significance for health. | Read More » Researchers discover how inhibitory neurons behave during critical periods of learning  | We've all heard the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." For years, neuroscientists have struggled to understand how the microcircuitry of the brain makes learning easier for the young, and more difficult for the old. New findings show how one component of the brain's circuitry -- inhibitory neurons -- behave during critical periods of learning. | Read More » Scientists analyze the effects of ocean acidification on marine species  | Ocean acidification (OA) could change the ecosystems of our seas even by the end of this century. Biologists have assessed the extent of this ominous change. They compiled and analyzed all available data on the reaction of marine animals to OA. While the majority of investigated species are affected, the respective impacts are very specific. | Read More » Rattling ions limit heat flow in materials used to reduce carbon emissions  | A new study has found a way to suppress the thermal conductivity in sodium cobaltate so that it can be used to harvest waste energy. | Read More » Ocean fish acquire more mercury at depth  | Mercury accumulation in the ocean fish we eat tends to take place at deeper depths, in part because of photochemical reactions that break down organic mercury in well-lit surface waters, according to new research. More of this accessible organic mercury is also being generated in deeper waters. | Read More » Epilepsy drug dosage linked to specific birth defects  | New medical research has given pregnant women with epilepsy new hope of reducing their chance of having a baby with physical birth defects. | Read More » Cocaine use linked to new brain structures: Possible mechanism for drug-seeking behavior in humans identified  | Mice given cocaine showed rapid growth in new brain structures associated with learning and memory, according to a research team. The findings suggest a way in which drug use may lead to drug-seeking behavior that fosters continued drug use, according to the scientists. | Read More » Combination of two imaging techniques allows new insights into brain function  | The ability to measure brain functions non-invasively is important both for clinical diagnoses and research in neurology and psychology. Two main imaging techniques are used: positron emission tomography (PET), which reveals metabolic processes in the brain; and activity of different brain regions is measured on the basis of the cells' oxygen consumption by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A direct comparison of PET and MRI measurements was previously difficult because each had to be performed in a separate machine. Scientists have now successfully combined both methods. | Read More » Strongest clues to date for causes of schizophrenia  | A new genome-wide association study estimates the number of different places in the human genome that are involved in schizophrenia. In particular, the study identifies 22 locations, including 13 that are newly discovered, that are believed to play a role in causing schizophrenia. | Read More » How the brain remembers pleasure: Implications for addiction  | Key details of the way nerve cells in the brain remember pleasure are revealed in a new study. The molecular events that form such "reward memories" appear to differ from those created by drug addiction, despite the popular theory that addiction hijacks normal reward pathways. | Read More » Key protein accelerates diabetes in two ways  | The same protein tells beta cells in the pancreas to stop making insulin and then to self-destruct as diabetes worsens, according to a new study. | Read More » Potential molecular defense against Huntington's disease  | Huntington's disease experts have discovered that glutathione peroxidase activity improves symptoms in models of the neurodegenerative disorder. | Read More » Explanation for strange magnetic behavior at semiconductor interfaces  | Researchers report the first-ever theoretical explanation for some strange semiconductor behavior that was discovered in 2004. | Read More » Novel way gene controls stem cell self-renewal  | Stem cell scientists have discovered the gene GATA3 has a role in how blood stem cells renew themselves, a finding that advances the quest to expand these cells in the lab for clinical use in bone marrow transplantation, a procedure that saves thousands of lives every year. | Read More » Scientists pinpoint 105 additional genetic errors that cause cystic fibrosis  | Of the over 1,900 errors already reported in the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis (CF), it is unclear how many of them actually contribute to the inherited disease. Now a team of researchers reports significant headway in figuring out which mutations are benign and which are deleterious, accounting for 95 percent of the variations found in patients with CF. | Read More » Researchers uncover new biological target for combating Parkinson's disease  | Researchers have brought new clarity to the picture of what goes awry in the brain during Parkinson's disease and identified a compound that eases the disease's symptoms in mice. Their discoveries also overturn established ideas about the role of a protein considered key to the disease's progress. | Read More » Foldable micro electric car, Armadillo-T, unveiled  | Looking for a parking space for hours at a busy shopping mall or being stuck on roads jammed with cars releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide are all-too-familiar scenes for city dwellers. A group of researchers in South Korea recently developed a possible solution to such problems: a foldable, compact electric vehicle that can be utilized either as a personal car or part of the public transit system to connect major transportation routes within a city. | Read More » Biphasic electrical stimulation: A strategy may bring hope to spinal cord injury patients  | Transplantation stem cells is a potential clinical therapy for repair of spinal cord injury. However, transplanted cells are especially vulnerable due to a lack of sufficient growth factors at the transplant site. A new study demonstrates that biphasic electrical stimulation (BES) prevents growth factor-deprived apoptosis through the BDNF-PI3K/Akt signaling in neural stem cells. The findings may guide future efforts to stem cell-based transplantation therapy. It also raises hope that BES may one day be used to restore spinal cord injury. | Read More » Insight into marine life's ability to adapt to climate change  | A study into marine life around an underwater volcanic vent in the Mediterranean, might hold the key to understanding how some species will be able to survive in increasingly acidic sea water should anthropogenic climate change continue. | Read More » Carbon-sequestering ocean plants may cope with climate changes over the long run  | A year-long experiment on tiny ocean organisms called coccolithophores suggests that the single-celled algae may still be able to grow their calcified shells even as oceans grow warmer and more acidic in Earth's near future. The study stands in contrast to earlier studies suggesting that coccolithophores would fail to build strong shells in acidic waters. | Read More » Shopping in high heels could curb overspending  | When shopping for a big ticket item, such as a television, there is a checklist of things you should always do: Read reviews, compare prices and wear high heels. A new study finds that consumers experiencing a heightened sense of balance are more likely to weigh the options and go with a product that falls in the middle of the high-end, low-end scale. | Read More » Antisense oligoneucleotide corrects striatal transcriptional abnormalities and protects function in Huntington's disease mice  | Findings from postmortem studies of the brains of Huntington's Disease (HD) patients suggest that transcriptional dysregulation may be an early step in the pathogenesis of HD before symptoms appear. Other studies report transcriptional alterations in the brains of some mouse models of HD. A new study has found transcriptional changes in mouse striatum which correlate with progressive motor and psychiatric deficits and, most importantly, reports for the first time, that an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) may be used therapeutically to both correct striatal transcriptional abnormalities and improve motor and behavioral problems. | Read More » New screening strategy may catch ovarian cancer at early stages  | A new screening strategy for ovarian cancer appears to be highly specific for detecting the disease before it becomes lethal. If verified in an ongoing clinical trial, it could potentially help save the lives of thousands of women each year in the United States alone. There currently are no established screening strategies for ovarian cancer. The disease often causes no specific symptoms and is difficult to detect in the early stages when it is most responsive to treatment. Therefore, ovarian cancer is highly lethal because most women have advanced disease when they are diagnosed. | Read More » Creating plants that make their own fertilizer  | Since the dawn of agriculture, people have exercised great ingenuity to pump more nitrogen into crop fields. Farmers have planted legumes and plowed the entire crop under, strewn night soil or manure on the fields, shipped in bat dung from islands in the Pacific or saltpeter from Chilean mines and plowed in glistening granules of synthetic fertilizer made in chemical plants. No wonder biologist Himadri Pakrasi's team is excited by the project they are undertaking. If they succeed, the chemical apparatus for nitrogen fixation will be miniaturized, automated and relocated within the plant so nitrogen is available when and where it is needed -- and only then and there. | Read More » Nitric oxide can regulate gene expression  | Scientists have discovered a new role for nitric oxide, a gas molecule crucial for cellular signaling and health. Researchers found that nitric oxide plays an important role in epigenetics -- heritable alterations in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in DNA sequence. | Read More » Changing river chemistry affects Eastern US water supplies  | Human activity is changing the basic chemistry of large rivers in the Eastern US, with potentially major consequences for urban water supplies and aquatic ecosystems, a new study has found. | Read More » Sweaty palms and racing heart may benefit some negotiators  | The idea of having to negotiate over the price of a new car sends many into the cold sweats, but new research suggests that sweaty palms and a racing heart may actually help some people in getting a good deal. | Read More » Climate change: Ocean acidification amplifies global warming  | Scientists have demonstrated that ocean acidification may amplify global warming through the biogenic production of the marine sulfur component dimethylsulphide (DMS). Ocean acidification has the potential to speed up global warming considerably, according to new research. | Read More » Researchers design and build the world's smallest autopilot for micro aircraft  | Researchers have designed, built and tested the world's smallest open source autopilot for small unmanned aircraft. A smaller – and lighter – autopilot allows these small flying robots to fly longer, fit into narrower spaces or carry more payloads, such as cameras. That makes them more suitable to be used in for example rescue operations. | Read More » Women at increasing risk of kidney stones, related ER visits  | The risk of women developing kidney stones is rising, as is the number of cases being seen in US emergency departments, while the rate of hospitalization for the disorder has remained stable. | Read More » Through four years' training, college football players gain strength and size  | From freshman through senior year, college football players achieve significant increases in strength and size, reports a study. | Read More » NASA's Spitzer telescope celebrates 10 years in space  | Ten years after a Delta II rocket launched NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, lighting up the night sky over Cape Canaveral, Fla., the fourth of the agency's four Great Observatories continues to illuminate the dark side of the cosmos with its infrared eyes. | Read More » Why do haters have to hate? Newly identified personality trait holds clues  | New research has uncovered the reason why some people seem to dislike everything while others seem to like everything. Apparently, it's all part of our individual personality -- a dimension that researchers have coined "dispositional attitude." | Read More » Earlier peak for Spain's glaciers  | Over much of the planet, glaciers were at their greatest extent roughly 20,000 years ago. But according to geologists, that wasn't true in at least one part of southern Europe. Due to local effects of temperature and precipitation, the local glacial maximum occurred considerably earlier, around 26,000 years ago. | Read More » Physicist disentangles 'Schrodinger's cat' debate  | A physicist that the answer to the long-running debate of quantum measurement lies in the phenomenon of nonlocality. | Read More » Video games do not make vulnerable teens more violent  | Do violent video games such as "Mortal Kombat," "Halo" and "Grand Theft Auto" trigger teenagers with symptoms of depression or attention deficit disorder to become aggressive bullies or delinquents? No, according to new research. | Read More » Skin cell defect is surprising allergy trigger: Skin and food allergies can be result of skin cell 'glue' deficiency  | A structural defect in skin cells can contribute to allergy development, including skin and food allergies, traditionally thought primarily to be a dysfunction of the immune system. | Read More » New approach to remedying childhood visual disorders  | By discovering the role of key neurons that mediate an important part of vision development, neurobiologists have revealed a new approach to correcting visual disorders in children who suffer from early cataracts or amblyopia, also known as lazy eye. | Read More » UCLA researchers invent portable device for common kidney tests  | A lightweight and portable device conducts kidney tests and transmits data through a cellphone attachment may significantly reduce the need for frequent office visits by diabetes patients and others with chronic kidney ailments. This device, can determine levels of albumin -- a protein commonly found in blood that is a sign of danger when found in urine -- and transmit the results within seconds. | Read More » New minimally invasive technique for melanoma  | Surgical oncologists are now using laparoscopic procedure to remove lymph nodes, cutting chance of infection and reducing recovery time in half. | Read More » Insight into the origin of the genetic code  | An analysis of enzymes that load amino acids onto transfer RNAs -- an operation at the heart of protein translation -- offers new insights into the evolutionary origins of the modern genetic code, researchers report. | Read More » Preschoolers who stutter do just fine emotionally and socially, study finds  | Stuttering may be more common than previously thought, but preschool stutterers fair better than first thought, a new study has found. | Read More » Worldwide ban on flame retardant  | The flame retardant HBCD may no longer be produced or used. This was decided by representatives from over 160 countries in late May at a UN conference on chemicals in Geneva. HBCD was formerly used as a flame retardant for plastics, electronics and textiles, and especially for insulation panels in buildings. | Read More » | |
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