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A burst of activity in the middle of the Milky Way
Gene switch important in cancer discovered
U.S. Hispanics at High Risk for Cardiovascular Disease
Kids Consume More Soda and Calories When Eating Out
Electrical characteristics of printed products determined in a snap
Laser-Light Testing of Breast Tumor Fiber Patterns Helps Show Whose Cancer is Spreading
The Knowing Nose: Chemosignals Communicate Human Emotions
2001-02 drought helped to shift Rocky Mountain pine beetle outbreak into epidemic
Older adults who are frail more likely to be food insufficient
Spinal Cord Injury Puts Patients at High Risk of Life-Threatening Cardiovascular Events
Researchers identify unexpected bottleneck in the spread of herpes simplex virus
Daily Multivitamin Use Does Not Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Men
NASA'S Fermi Measures Cosmic 'Fog' Produced by Ancient Starlight
Computers "Taught" To ID Regulating Gene Sequences
Stirred, Not Shaken, Lake Mixing Experiment Shows Promise
New England Accountable Care Group Selects Gold Standard Drug Database
Prenatal Testosterone Levels Influence Later Response to Reward
Consortium Identifies Promising Treatment for Inherited Form of Kidney Disease
After Long-Ago Mass Extinction, Global Warming Hindered Species’ Recovery
New communication systems would allow vehicles to 'talk' with roadways

A burst of activity in the middle of the Milky Way

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 05:41 AM PST

As black holes go, Sagittarius A* is relatively low-key. The black hole at the center of our galaxy emits very little energy for its size, giving off roughly as much energy as the sun, even though it is 4 billion times as massive.

However, astronomers have observed that nearly once a day, the black hole rouses to action, emitting a brief burst of light before settling back down. It’s unclear what causes such flare-ups, and scientists have sought to characterize these periodic bursts in order to better understand how black holes evolve.

Gene switch important in cancer discovered

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 05:32 AM PST

Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Helsinki in Finland have shown that the 'switches' that regulate the expression of genes play a major role in the development of cancer. In a study, published in Science, they have investigated a gene region that contains a particular single nucleotide variant associated with increased risk for developing colorectal and prostate cancers - and found that removing this region caused dramatic resistance to tumour formation.

U.S. Hispanics at High Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 02:00 PM PST

Hispanics and Latinos living in the U.S. are highly likely to have several major cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and smoking, according to a new, large-scale study. Risks vary among the diverse Hispanic/Latino groups, but individuals who were born in the U.S. are more likely to have multiple risk factors.

The findings are reported in the Nov. 7 issue of JAMA.

Kids Consume More Soda and Calories When Eating Out

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 01:55 PM PST

Children and adolescents consume more calories and soda and have poorer nutrient-intake on days they eat at either fast-food or full-service restaurants, as compared to days they eat meals at -- or from -- home.

Electrical characteristics of printed products determined in a snap

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 01:53 PM PST

The pilot production environment of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and PrintoCent, the community of printed electronics, in Oulu is being complemented with roll-to-roll testing equipment. The equipment is used for testing the electrical characteristics of printed electronics products, enabling the measurement of the conductivity of printed components. Data can thus be collected on the functionality of, for example, OLED screens and organic solar panels.

Laser-Light Testing of Breast Tumor Fiber Patterns Helps Show Whose Cancer is Spreading

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 01:48 PM PST

Using advanced microscopes equipped with tissue-penetrating laser light, cancer imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have developed a promising new way to accurately analyze the distinctive patterns of ultra-thin collagen fibers in breast tumor tissue samples and to help tell if the cancer has spread.

The Knowing Nose: Chemosignals Communicate Human Emotions

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 11:02 AM PST

Many animal species transmit information via chemical signals, but the extent to which these chemosignals play a role in human communication is unclear. In a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researcher Gün Semin and colleagues from Utrecht University in the Netherlands investigate whether we humans might actually be able to communicate our emotional states to each other through chemical signals.

2001-02 drought helped to shift Rocky Mountain pine beetle outbreak into epidemic

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 10:58 AM PST

A new University of Colorado Boulder study shows for the first time that episodes of reduced precipitation in the southern Rocky Mountains, especially during the 2001-02 drought, greatly accelerated development of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

Older adults who are frail more likely to be food insufficient

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 10:54 AM PST

A national study of older Americans shows those who have limited mobility and low physical activity – scientifically categorized as “frail” – are five times more likely to report that they often don’t have enough to eat, defined as “food insufficiency,” than older adults who were not frail.

The nationally representative study of more than 4,700 adults older than age 60 in the United States uses data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The results are online today in the British Journal of Nutrition.

Spinal Cord Injury Puts Patients at High Risk of Life-Threatening Cardiovascular Events

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 10:49 AM PST

Spinal cord injury (SCI) can disrupt the body's sensitive signaling mechanisms that control blood pressure, breathing, and oxygen delivery to the heart and other organs during changes in body position. Cardiovascular (CV) disease is a leading cause of illness and death following SCI, and changes in baroreflex sensitivity—the body's ability to detect and respond to changes in blood pressure—may be predictive of a CV event.

Researchers identify unexpected bottleneck in the spread of herpes simplex virus

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 10:36 AM PST

New research suggests that just one or two individual herpes virus particles attack a skin cell in the first stage of an outbreak, resulting in a bottleneck in which the infection may be vulnerable to medical treatment.

Daily Multivitamin Use Does Not Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Men

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 10:27 AM PST

Approximately one-third of Americans take a daily multivitamin, but little is known about a multivitamin's long-term affect on chronic diseases. Now, new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that daily multivitamin use does not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in men. A similar BWH study, announced last month, found daily multivitamin use can reduce a man's risk of cancer by 8 percent. The cardiovascular disease findings will be presented Nov.

NASA'S Fermi Measures Cosmic 'Fog' Produced by Ancient Starlight

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 10:24 AM PST

Astronomers using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have made the most accurate measurement of starlight in the universe and used it to establish the total amount of light from all of the stars that have ever shone, accomplishing a primary mission goal.

Computers "Taught" To ID Regulating Gene Sequences

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 10:16 AM PST

Johns Hopkins researchers have succeeded in teaching computers how to identify commonalities in DNA sequences known to regulate gene activity, and to then use those commonalities to predict other regulatory regions throughout the genome. The tool is expected to help scientists better understand disease risk and cell development.

The work was reported in two recent papers in Genome Research, published online on July 3 and Sept. 27.

Stirred, Not Shaken, Lake Mixing Experiment Shows Promise

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 09:53 AM PST

The question is simple: can a lake be cleansed of a pernicious invader by simply raising the water temperature?

The answer so far: maybe, maybe not.

New England Accountable Care Group Selects Gold Standard Drug Database

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 09:48 AM PST

Elsevier’s Gold Standard, a leading drug information provider, announced today that the Northern New England Accountable Care Collaborative, LLC (NNEACC), composed of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, MaineHealth and Dartmouth College, has selected the Gold Standard Drug Database to deliver current and accurate drug data and drug decision support.

Prenatal Testosterone Levels Influence Later Response to Reward

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 08:03 AM PST

New findings led by Dr. Michael Lombardo, Prof. Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues at the University of Cambridge indicate that testosterone levels early in fetal development influence later sensitivity of brain regions related to reward processing and affect an individual’s susceptibility to engage in behavior, that in extremes, are related to several neuropsychiatric conditions that asymmetrically affect one sex more than the other.

Consortium Identifies Promising Treatment for Inherited Form of Kidney Disease

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 07:57 AM PST

A drug therapy shows promise for treating an inherited form of kidney disease called autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), Mayo Clinic researchers say. The medication, tolvaptan, slowed the pace of kidney cyst growth over the three years of the study. The phase three clinical trial results were being presented today at the American Society of Nephrology annual meeting and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

After Long-Ago Mass Extinction, Global Warming Hindered Species’ Recovery

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 07:51 AM PST

Researchers have discovered why plants and animals had a hard time recovering from the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history 250 million years ago.

The reason: global warming.

Because of environmental consequences of rising temperatures, those species that survived the extinction didn’t fully recover for 5 million years.

New communication systems would allow vehicles to 'talk' with roadways

Posted: 05 Nov 2012 07:44 AM PST

Someday, your auto and the roadway will be in constant communication and able to suggest route changes to avoid accidents, construction, and congestion; coordinate your vehicle with signal lights, other vehicles, and lane markers; and let you know where you can park. Right now, a fleet of instrumented vehicles are testing these systems on two instrumented test beds – one in Northern Virginia and one in Southwestern Virginia.