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Quantum control protocols point to better computations
Memory declines faster in years closest to death; mental activity best protection
Spontaneous gene glitches linked to autism risk with older dads
Vanderbilt Researchers Help Reveal Complex Role of Genes in Autism
Study Finds a Link Between Injectable-Contraceptive Use and an Increased Risk of Breast Cancer in Younger Women
Scientists Find Increased ApoE Protein Levels May Promote Alzheimer’s Disease
Piceatannol - Red wine, grapes compound could help block fat cell formation
Sexually abused boys at risk for more unsafe sex: UBC research
Some “improved cookstoves” may emit more pollution than traditional mud cookstoves
Greening up the blue dye in jeans, police uniforms and the red, white & blue
FPPDB - An imaging agent for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease
Carbon nanotubes can double growth of cell cultures important in industry
Defying conventional wisdom, water can float on oil
A cannibalistic galaxy with a powerful heart

Quantum control protocols point to better computations

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 08:38 PM PDT

A protocol for controlling quantum information pioneered by researchers at UC Santa Barbara, the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience in Delft, the Netherlands, and the Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University could open the door to larger-scale, more accurate quantum computations. Their findings, in a paper titled "Decoherence-protected quantum gates for a hybrid solid-state spin register," are published in the current issue of the journal Nature.

Memory declines faster in years closest to death; mental activity best protection

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 01:17 PM PDT

New research finds that a person's memory declines at a faster rate in the two- and-a-half years before death than at any other time after memory problems first begin. A second study shows that keeping mentally fit through board games or reading may be the best way to preserve memory during late life. Both studies are published in the April 4, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Spontaneous gene glitches linked to autism risk with older dads

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 01:10 PM PDT

Researchers have turned up a new clue to the workings of a possible environmental factor in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs): fathers were four times more likely than mothers to transmit tiny, spontaneous mutations to their children with the disorders. Moreover, the number of such transmitted genetic glitches increased with paternal age. The discovery may help to explain earlier evidence linking autism risk to older fathers.

Vanderbilt Researchers Help Reveal Complex Role of Genes in Autism

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:51 AM PDT

Mutations in hundreds of genes involved in wiring the brain may contribute to the development of autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

That is one of the rather daunting conclusions of a paper published in the current issue of the journal Nature by a multi-institutional team that included researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Study Finds a Link Between Injectable-Contraceptive Use and an Increased Risk of Breast Cancer in Younger Women

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:42 AM PDT

The first large-scale U.S.-based study to evaluate the link between an injectable form of progestin-only birth control and breast cancer risk in young women has found that recent use of a year or more doubles the risk. The results of the study, led by breast cancer epidemiologist Christopher I. Li, M.D., Ph.D., of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, are published online ahead of the April 15 print issue of Cancer Research.

Scientists Find Increased ApoE Protein Levels May Promote Alzheimer’s Disease

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:23 AM PDT

Scientists at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes have enhanced the understanding of how a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease keeps young brains healthy, but can damage them later in life — suggesting new research avenues for treating this devastating disease.

Piceatannol - Red wine, grapes compound could help block fat cell formation

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 10:04 AM PDT

Piceatannol, a compound found in red wine, grapes and other fruits, and similar in structure to resveratrol, is able to block cellular processes that allow fat cells to develop, opening a door to a potential method to control obesity, according to a Purdue University study.

Kee-Hong Kim, an assistant professor of food science, and Jung Yeon Kwon, a graduate student in Kim's laboratory, reported in this week's issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry that the compound piceatannol blocks an immature fat cell's ability to develop and grow.

Sexually abused boys at risk for more unsafe sex: UBC research

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:47 AM PDT

Young males who have been sexually abused are five times more likely to cause teen pregnancy compared to those with no abuse history, according to University of British Columbia research.

Sexually abused boys are also three times more likely to have multiple sexual partners and twice as likely to engage in unprotected sex.

Some “improved cookstoves” may emit more pollution than traditional mud cookstoves

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:38 AM PDT

The first real-world, head-to-head comparison of “improved cookstoves” (ICs) and traditional mud stoves has found that some ICs may at times emit more of the worrisome “black carbon,” or soot, particles that are linked to serious health and environmental concerns than traditional mud stoves or open-cook fires. The report, which raises concerns about the leading hope as a clean cooking technology in the developing world, appears in ACS’ journal Environmental Science &Technology.

Greening up the blue dye in jeans, police uniforms and the red, white & blue

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:38 AM PDT

Efforts are underway to develop a more environmentally friendly process for dyeing denim with indigo, the storied "king of dyes," used to the tune of 50,000 tons annually to color cotton blue jeans and hundreds of other products. That effort is the topic of an article in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN). C&EN is the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society.

FPPDB - An imaging agent for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:35 AM PDT

Scientists are reporting development and initial laboratory tests of an imaging agent, FPPDB, that shows promise for detecting the tell-tale signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the brain — signs that now can’t confirm a diagnosis until after patients have died. Their report appears in the journal ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.

Carbon nanotubes can double growth of cell cultures important in industry

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:27 AM PDT

A dose of carbon nanotubes more than doubles the growth rate of plant cell cultures — workhorses in the production of everything from lifesaving medications to sweeteners to dyes and perfumes — researchers are reporting. Their study, the first to show that carbon nanotubes boost plant cell division and growth, appears in the journal ACS Nano.

Defying conventional wisdom, water can float on oil

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:22 AM PDT

Defying thousands of years of conventional wisdom, scientists are reporting that it is possible for water to float on oil, a discovery they say has important potential applications in cleaning up oil spills that threaten seashores and fisheries. Their report appears in ACS’ journal Langmuir.

A cannibalistic galaxy with a powerful heart

Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:15 AM PDT

The elliptical galaxy Centaurus A at visible, far-infrared and x-ray wavelengths. In visible light the galaxy appears as a ball of stars, with a thick lane of dust running across it. The far-infrared light shows the glow from jets of material emanating from near the black hole in the galaxy’s core. Also visible is a twisted disc of dust, the remnants of a galaxy that was swallowed up in the galaxy’s distant past, and two clumps of dust in the top-left and bottom-right corners.