Engineers are developing a tiny sensor that could be used to detect minute quantities of hazardous gases, including toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents, much more quickly than current devices.
Acrylamide is a chemical formed when frying, roasting, grilling or baking carbohydrate-rich foods at temperatures above 120°C. Acrylamide is thus found in a number of foods, such as bread, crisps, French fries and coffee. Tobacco smoking also generates substantial amounts of acrylamide. Research findings show a positive association between an increased acrylamide-haemoglobin level and the development of breast cancer after adjustment for smoking behavior.
Probiotics, such as yogurt drinks containing live bacteria, have a tangible effect on the metabolism, according to the results of a new study. The research is the first to look in detail at how probiotics change the biochemistry of bugs known as gut microbes, which live in the gut and which play an important part in a person's metabolic makeup.
Astronomers have produced a scientific gold mine of detailed, high-quality images of nearby galaxies that is yielding important new insights into many aspects of galaxies, including their complex structures, how they form stars, the motions of gas in the galaxies, the relationship of "normal" matter to unseen "dark matter," and many others.
Researchers have shown why a protein known as cyclin D1may be the Achilles heel for breast tumors that are estrogen receptor positive -- which is the most common type of breast cancer.
Smiling affects how we speak, to the point that listeners can identify the type of smile based on sound alone, according to a new study. The research, which also suggested that some people have "smilier" voices than others, adds to the growing body of evidence that smiling and other expressions pack a strong informational punch and may even impact us on a subliminal level. It's believed that some 50 different types of smiles exist, ranging from triumphant ones to those that convey bitterness.
Depression is one of the most common forms of psychopathology. Studies suggest that the neurotransmitter dopamine may play a role in the risk for depression. Early negative interpersonal environments (i.e., rejecting parents) have also been implicated. New research investigated whether a gene associated with dopamine interacted with maternal parenting style to predict episodes of depression.
Scientists have successfully switched the mouse Prx1 gene regulatory element with the Prx1 gene regulatory region from a bat -- and although these two species are separated by millions of years of evolution -- the resulting transgenic mice displayed abnormally long forelimbs.
Children whose mothers are chronically stressed during their early years have a higher asthma rate than their peers, regardless of their income, gender or other known asthma risk factors.
Many researchers have tried to create a mathematical model of how cells pack together to form tissue, but most models have many different complicated factors, and no model is universal. Now researchers have created a functional equation to show how cells pack together to create the eyes of Drosophila, better known as the fruit fly. They hope that the pared-down equation can be applied to different kinds of tissues, leading to advances in regenerative medicine.
New research suggests that certain microRNAs might help doctors identify adult acute-leukemia patients who are likely to respond poorly to therapy. The findings showed that both the leukemia cells and their normal counterparts had similar kinds of microRNA, but that the two groups differed in the levels of miRNAs present. The study should improve the understanding of acute myeloid leukemia and could lead to new therapies for patients with few treatment options.
If you like a restaurant first time around, you're likely to go back, aren't you? Well the same goes, more or less, for tsetse flies, as researchers have recently demonstrated. Tsetse flies, which transmit the trypanosome that causes sleeping sickness in humans and its equivalent in animals, primarily feed on the blood of various animals, such as ruminants, reptiles and humans. However, flies that fed on a given species first time around tend to return to the same species over the next couple of days, rather than changing hosts.
The overall survival rate from cancer now is lower in older adolescents and young adults with cancer than in younger children, in part because of a lack of access to clinical trials nationally for the older age group, according to a new study.
Throughout the tropics, ants and Acacia trees live together in intricate interdependent relationships that have long fascinated scientists. Now researchers are reporting that in Africa, this plant-insect teamwork depends on the very antagonist it is intended to ward off: Africa's big browsing mammals.
