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Origin of ultra-fast manipulation of domain walls discovered
Here’s looking at you: using just one eye to determine a partner’s attractiveness
Study investigates genetic variants' role in increasing Parkinson's disease risk
Researchers find mechanism of opiate addiction is completely different from other drugs
Hi-fi single photons
Nonprescription medication abuse underestimated
Weather-Making High-Pressure Systems Predicted to Intensify
Maths sheds light on what a delay in getting pregnant means for a couple’s prospects of having a baby
Methadone reduces the risk of HIV transmission
Improving confidence keeps breast cancer survivors exercising
Non-native Plants Show a Greater Response Than Native Wildflowers to Climate Change
Urban Coyotes Could be Setting the Stage for Larger Carnivores to Move Into Cities

Origin of ultra-fast manipulation of domain walls discovered

Posted: 06 Oct 2012 07:14 AM PDT

An international team of researchers has found at the free electron laser FLASH a surprising effect that leads in ferromagnetic materials to a spatially varying magnetization manipulation on an ultrafast timescale. This effect could be the key to further miniaturization and performance increase of magnetic data storage devices. From Mainz, the group of Professor Dr. Mathias Kläui from the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and in particular Felix Büttner, a member of the Graduate School of Excellence "Materials Science in Mainz", were involved.

Here’s looking at you: using just one eye to determine a partner’s attractiveness

Posted: 06 Oct 2012 06:20 AM PDT

In a study published in Biology Letters this week, researchers have discovered a unique mechanism used by the Gouldian finch in making the crucial choice of life partner: mate choice with just one eye.

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder for these songbirds, who use just their right eye and the left side of their brain in mate choice. The research, conducted at Macquarie University, provides the first demonstration of visual mate choice lateralization in any animal.

Study investigates genetic variants' role in increasing Parkinson's disease risk

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 02:59 PM PDT

Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) investigators have led the first genome-wide evaluation of genetic variants associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). The study, which is published online in PLOS ONE, points to the involvement of specific genes and alterations in their expression as influencing the risk for developing PD.

Jeanne Latourelle, DSc, assistant professor of neurology at BUSM, served as the study's lead author and Richard H. Myers, PhD, professor of neurology at BUSM, served as the study's principal investigator and senior author.

Researchers find mechanism of opiate addiction is completely different from other drugs

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 12:16 PM PDT

Chronic morphine exposure has the opposite effect on the brain compared to cocaine in mice, providing new insight into the basis of opiate addiction, according to Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers. They found that a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is increased in cocaine addiction, is inhibited in opioid addiction. The research is published in the October 5 issue of Science.

Hi-fi single photons

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 12:11 PM PDT

A trade-off between photon source settings and detector specific requirements allows the generation of high-fidelity single photons

Nonprescription medication abuse underestimated

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 12:04 PM PDT

Nonprescription medications are just as likely a cause of poisoning as prescription drugs, according to a new study by Timothy Wiegand, M.D. from the University of Rochester Medical Center in the US and colleagues. Their work, which analyzes the data from the second annual report of the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC), is published online in Springer's Journal of Medical Toxicology.

Weather-Making High-Pressure Systems Predicted to Intensify

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 11:45 AM PDT

High-pressure systems over oceans, which largely determine the tracks of tropical cyclones and hydrological extremes in much of the northern hemisphere, are likely to intensify this century, according to a Duke University-led study published online this week in Nature Geoscience.

Maths sheds light on what a delay in getting pregnant means for a couple’s prospects of having a baby

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 10:52 AM PDT

A new mathematical method can help to predict a couple’s chances of becoming pregnant, according to how long they have been trying.

The model may also shed light on how long they should wait before seeking medical help.

For example, the researchers have found that, if the woman is aged 35, after just six months of trying, her chance of getting pregnant in the next cycle is then less than 10 per cent.

Methadone reduces the risk of HIV transmission

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 09:44 AM PDT

Methadone reduces the risk of HIV transmission in people who inject drugs (PWID), as reported by an international team of researchers in a paper published today in the online edition of the British Medical Journal (bmj.com). This team included Dr. Julie Bruneau from the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) and the Department of Family Medicine at the Université de Montréal.

Improving confidence keeps breast cancer survivors exercising

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 09:40 AM PDT

More than 40 percent of older breast cancer survivors are insufficiently active after leaving a supervised program. But new research shows that those women who developed behavioral skills such as self-confidence and motivation during their program were far more likely to continue exercising on their own.

Regular exercise may reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence and breast cancer-related mortality, experts say, making it crucial to effectively target breast cancer survivors who do not engage in regular physical activity for interventions.

Non-native Plants Show a Greater Response Than Native Wildflowers to Climate Change

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 08:40 AM PDT

Warming temperatures in Ohio are a key driver behind changes in the state’s landscape, and non-native plant species appear to be responding more strongly than native wildflowers to the changing climate, new research suggests.

This adaptive nature demonstrated by introduced species could serve them well as the climate continues to warm. At the same time, the non-natives’ potential ability to become even more invasive could threaten the survival of native species already under pressure from land-use changes, researchers say.

Urban Coyotes Could be Setting the Stage for Larger Carnivores to Move Into Cities

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 07:47 AM PDT

About five miles from Chicago O’Hare International Airport, scientists have located the smallest known coyote territory ever observed. For at least six years, a coyote community has maintained its existence within about a third of a square mile.