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Hermit crabs socialize to evict their neighbors
Transforming America by redirecting wasted health care dollars
Pinning protein could answer provocative cancer question
Stay-at-home transcription factor prevents neurodegeneration
Scientists have now developed a high-performance material by mixing iron and selenium
The law of hydrodynamics governing the way internally driven systems behave could explain their complex structure
Study finds elevated levels of formaldehyde, other contaminants, in day care centers
Scientists decode 'software' instructions of aggressive leukemia cells
Where Does a 500-Pound Sea Lion Spit?
Engineers study how to improve high-speed rail ties against freezing, thawing conditions
Antidepressant Eases Radiation-Related Mouth Pain in Head, Neck Cancer

Hermit crabs socialize to evict their neighbors

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 12:57 PM PDT

Social animals usually congregate for protection or mating or to capture bigger prey, but a University of California, Berkeley, biologist has found that the terrestrial hermit crab has a more self-serving social agenda: to kick another crab out of its shell and move into a larger home.

Transforming America by redirecting wasted health care dollars

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 12:49 PM PDT

The respected national Institute of Medicine estimates that $750 billion is lost each year to wasteful or excessive health care spending. This sum includes excess administrative costs, inflated prices, unnecessary services and fraud — dollars that add no value to health and well-being.

If those wasteful costs could be corralled without sacrificing health care quality, how might that money be better spent?

Pinning protein could answer provocative cancer question

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 11:49 AM PDT

Answers are often elusive in the fight against cancer, and Rice University chemist Zachary Ball is hoping to pin one down — with pins made of single atoms. The work, which aims to create a drug that’s effective against an “undruggable” protein, is one of the first 50 proposals funded under the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Provocative Questions Project.

Stay-at-home transcription factor prevents neurodegeneration

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 11:22 AM PDT

A study in The Journal of Cell Biology shows how a transcription factor called STAT3 remains in the axon of nerve cells to help prevent neurodegeneration. The findings could pave the way for future drug therapies to slow nerve damage in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

Scientists have now developed a high-performance material by mixing iron and selenium

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 11:02 AM PDT

Physicists describe how they have synthesized a new material that belongs to the iron-selenide class of superconductors, called LixFe2Se2(NH3)y, in a paper about to be published in EPJ B. The work was carried out by Ernst-Wilhelm Scheidt from the University of Augsburg and colleagues. This material displays promising superconducting transition temperatures of 44 Kelvins (K) at ambient pressure, thus improving upon traditional copper-based high-temperature superconductors.

The law of hydrodynamics governing the way internally driven systems behave could explain their complex structure

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 10:58 AM PDT

Physicists use hydrodynamics to understand the physical mechanism responsible for changes in the long-range order of groups of particles. Particularly, Aparna Baskaran of Brandeis University, Massachusetts, USA, and Cristina Marchetti of Syracuse University, New York, USA, focused on ordered groups of elongated self-propelled particles. They studied the breakdown of long-range order due to fluctuations that render them unstable and give rise to complex structures, in a study about to be published in EPJ E.

Study finds elevated levels of formaldehyde, other contaminants, in day care centers

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 09:26 AM PDT

A new, comprehensive survey of day care centers by University of California, Berkeley, researchers found that, overall, the environmental quality in child care settings was similar to other indoor environments, but that levels of formaldehyde and several other contaminants exceeded state health guidelines. Cleaning- and sanitizing-related chemicals were also present in the air, and sometimes at higher levels, than in comparable studies on homes.

Scientists decode 'software' instructions of aggressive leukemia cells

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 09:21 AM PDT

A team of national and international researchers, led by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists, have decoded the key "software" instructions that drive three of the most virulent forms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). They discovered ALL's "software" is encoded with epigenetic marks, chemical modifications of DNA and surrounding proteins, allowing the research team to identify new potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Where Does a 500-Pound Sea Lion Spit?

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 09:09 AM PDT

Anywhere it wants. OK, they don’t really expectorate. So Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) saliva expert Douglas Granger has done a bit of improvisation.

Now, few humans would drool at the chance to swab the inside of a quarter-ton sea lion’s mouth. There's the fishy breath, naturally. And did we mention the canine teeth? Gumdrops and lollipops it isn't.

Engineers study how to improve high-speed rail ties against freezing, thawing conditions

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 08:28 AM PDT

A Kansas State University-led research project is helping high-speed rail systems handle the stress of freezing and thawing weather conditions.

The university's Kyle Riding, assistant professor of civil engineering, is leading a three-year study that looks at the freeze-thaw durability of concrete railroad ties. The research is essential to developing safe and durable high-speed rail systems.

Antidepressant Eases Radiation-Related Mouth Pain in Head, Neck Cancer

Posted: 29 Oct 2012 08:25 AM PDT

An oral rinse of the antidepressant doxepin significantly eased pain associated with oral mucositis in patients receiving radiation therapy for cancers of the head and neck, a study led by Mayo Clinic found. The findings were presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting in Boston.