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Why antisocial youths are less able to take the perspective of others
Ambient air pollution significantly reduces physical activity
A New Cell Type is Implicated in Epilepsy Caused by Traumatic Brain Injury
Osmotic power: a next generation renewable energy source
Researchers Model a Key Breaking Point Involved in Traumatic Brain Injury
Cellular Alchemy: Study Shows How to Make Insulin-Producing Cells from Gut Cells
Scientists Create Most Detailed Picture Ever of Membrane Protein Linked to Learning, Memory, Anxiety, Pain and Brain Disorders
Two-dimensional material, Tungsten diselenide shows promise for optoelectronics
How convincing is the apparent association between red meat consumption and colorectal cancer?
New cellular mechanism represses immune reaction in type I-diabetes

Why antisocial youths are less able to take the perspective of others

Posted: 11 Mar 2014 07:46 AM PDT

Adolescents with antisocial personality disorder inflict serious physical and psychological harm on both themselves and others. However, little is yet known about the underlying neural processes. Researchers at the University of Leiden and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development have pinpointed a possible explanation: Their brain regions responsible for social information processing and impulse control are less developed.

Ambient air pollution significantly reduces physical activity

Posted: 11 Mar 2014 07:35 AM PDT

Community levels of air pollution significantly reduce physical activity levels in Americans according to a new study published in PLOS One. The association of air pollution with physical inactivity was particularly strong in normal weight individuals as opposed to obese people. The study, carried out by researchers in the Uniformed Services University and The Unites States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, correlated levels of airborne pollutants including particulate matter and ozone with leisure-time physical inactivity in adult Americans.

A New Cell Type is Implicated in Epilepsy Caused by Traumatic Brain Injury

Posted: 11 Mar 2014 07:13 AM PDT

Traumatic brain injury is a risk factor for epilepsy, though the relationship is not understood. A new study in mice, published in Cerebral Cortex, identifies increased levels of a specific neurotransmitter as a contributing factor connecting traumatic brain injury (TBI) to post-traumatic epilepsy. The findings suggest that damage to brain cells called interneurons disrupts neurotransmitter levels and plays a role in the development of epilepsy after a traumatic brain injury.

Osmotic power: a next generation renewable energy source

Posted: 11 Mar 2014 05:22 AM PDT

Osmosis, a vital biological process, is finding its way to the clean and renewable energy technology. Of particular interest is osmotic power, or salinity gradient power, which is when energy is generated due to a difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river water. A typical method of harnessing this energy is through a special process called pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), which requires a specific type of membrane.

Researchers Model a Key Breaking Point Involved in Traumatic Brain Injury

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 02:29 PM PDT

Even the mildest form of a traumatic brain injury, better known as a concussion, can deal permanent, irreparable damage. Now, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania is using mathematical modeling to better understand the mechanisms at play in this kind of injury, with an eye toward protecting the brain from its long-term consequences.

Cellular Alchemy: Study Shows How to Make Insulin-Producing Cells from Gut Cells

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 02:24 PM PDT

Destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas is at the heart of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. “We are looking for ways to make new beta cells for these patients to one day replace daily insulin injections,” says Ben Stanger, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Scientists Create Most Detailed Picture Ever of Membrane Protein Linked to Learning, Memory, Anxiety, Pain and Brain Disorders

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 11:36 AM PDT

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and Vanderbilt University have created the most detailed 3-D picture yet of a membrane protein that is linked to learning, memory, anxiety, pain and brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and autism.

Two-dimensional material, Tungsten diselenide shows promise for optoelectronics

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 08:18 AM PDT

A team of MIT researchers has used a novel material that’s just a few atoms thick to create devices that can harness or emit light. This proof-of-concept could lead to ultrathin, lightweight, and flexible photovoltaic cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs), and other optoelectronic devices, they say.

How convincing is the apparent association between red meat consumption and colorectal cancer?

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 08:08 AM PDT

Nutritional recommendations in European countries including the UK, France and the Nordic countries specify limiting consumption of red and processed meat and switching to lean meat. These recommendations are largely based on concerns that consumption of red and processed meat is associated with cancer, in particular colorectal cancer.

New cellular mechanism represses immune reaction in type I-diabetes

Posted: 10 Mar 2014 07:48 AM PDT

Direct contact between different types of immune cells protects tissues from being attacked by the immune defence, according to a new study by researchers from Karolinska Institutet and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, increase the knowledge of type I diabetes and other disorders caused by harmful immune reactions and may ultimately lead to therapies that regenerate the damaged tissue.