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Simple mathematical formula describes human struggles
Rapid evolution of novel forms: Environmental change triggers inborn capacity for adaptation
Ethanol blends carry hidden risk
First In-human Trial of Endoxifen Shows Promise as Breast Cancer Treatment
Optogenetics as good as electrical stimulation
New test facilitates diagnosis of autism in adults
Partially Blocking Blood Vessels Energy Source May Stop Cancer Progression, Blindness, and Other Conditions
Surprise- Duck-billed Dinosaurs Had Fleshy Cocks Comb
Compound Dramatically Reduces Joint Inflammation

Simple mathematical formula describes human struggles

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 06:57 AM PST

Would you believe that a broad range of human struggles can be understood by using a mathematical formula? From child-parent struggles to cyber-attacks and civil unrest, they can all be explained with a simple mathematical expression called a "power-law."

In a sort of unified theory of human conflict, scientists have found a way to mathematically describe the severity and timing of human confrontations that affect us personally and as a society.

Rapid evolution of novel forms: Environmental change triggers inborn capacity for adaptation

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 05:01 AM PST

In the classical view of evolution, species experience spontaneous genetic mutations that produce various novel traits—some helpful, some detrimental. Nature then selects for those most beneficial, passing them along to subsequent generations.

Ethanol blends carry hidden risk

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 04:53 AM PST

Blending more ethanol into fuel to cut air pollution from vehicles carries a hidden risk that toxic or even explosive gases may find their way into buildings, according to researchers at Rice University.

Those problems would likely occur in buildings with cracked foundations that happen to be in the vicinity of fuel spills. Vapors that rise from contaminated groundwater can be sucked inside, according to Rice environmental engineer Pedro Alvarez. Once there, trapped pools of methane could ignite and toxic hydrocarbons could cause health woes, he said.

First In-human Trial of Endoxifen Shows Promise as Breast Cancer Treatment

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 04:46 AM PST

A Phase I trial of endoxifen, an active metabolite of the cancer drug tamoxifen, indicates that the experimental drug is safe, with early evidence for anti-tumor activity, a Mayo Clinic study has found. The findings indicate that Z-endoxifen, co-developed by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), may provide a new and better treatment for some women with estrogen positive breast cancer and, in particular, for those women who do not respond to tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors.

Optogenetics as good as electrical stimulation

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 04:27 AM PST

Brown researchers have shown that optogenetics — a technique that uses pulses of visible light to alter the behavior of brain cells — can be as good as or possibly better than the older technique of using small bursts of electrical current. Optogenetics had been used in small rodent models. Research reported in Current Biology has shown that optogenetics works effectively in larger, more complex brains.

New test facilitates diagnosis of autism in adults

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 10:27 AM PST

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a new screening tool to facilitate the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in adults. The test is presented in the scientific journal Molecular Autism and is unique in that researchers have, as part of their evaluation, compared the group diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder with psychiatric patients.

Partially Blocking Blood Vessels Energy Source May Stop Cancer Progression, Blindness, and Other Conditions

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 10:07 AM PST

Inhibiting the formation of new blood vessels is a common strategy for treating a range of conditions such as cancer, inflammatory diseases, and age-related macular degeneration. Unfortunately, drug inefficiency, resistance, and relapse have limited the success of this approach. Now new research publishing online December 12 in the Cell Press journal Cell Metabolism reveals that targeting the metabolism of blood vessels may be a way around these shortcomings.

Surprise- Duck-billed Dinosaurs Had Fleshy Cocks Comb

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 10:01 AM PST

A rare, mummified specimen of the duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosauraus regalis described in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 12 shows for the first time that those dinosaurs' heads were adorned with a fleshy comb, most similar to the roosters' red crest.

Compound Dramatically Reduces Joint Inflammation

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 09:57 AM PST

An experimental compound synthesized and developed by scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has the capacity to significantly reduce joint inflammation in animal models of rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects more than two million Americans.

The study was published recently online ahead of print by the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.