Jerusalem, June 4, 2013 -- The first amphibian to have been officially declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has been rediscovered in the north of Israel after some 60 years and turns out to be a unique "living fossil," without close relatives among other living frogs.
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To increase their share of leadership positions, women are expected to tick a range of boxes – usually demonstrating improved negotiation skills, networking strengths and the ability to develop a strategic career ladder. "But even these skills are not enough," maintains Professor Isabell Welpe of TUM's Chair for Strategy and Organization. "They ignore the fact that there are stereotypes that on a subconscious level play a decisive role in the assessment of high achievers. Leaders should be assertive, dominant and hard-lined; women are seen as mediators, friendly, social."
A research team from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the University of Edinburgh and IBM's TJ Watson Research Center has revealed a major breakthrough in the modelling of water that could shed light on its mysterious properties.
Water is one of the most common and extensively studied substances on earth. It is vital for all known forms of life but its unique behaviour has yet to be explained in terms of the properties of individual molecules.
The development of structured synthetic materials with unusual electromagnetic properties, so-called metamaterials, promises to provide access to special physical effects of great technological interest. Metamaterials have already been fabricated that have a negative refractive index for electromagnetic waves – bending them in the opposite sense to light waves entering water, for instance – which opens up completely novel opportunities for the manipulation of light. One of these makes it possible, in principle, to create cloaking devices that seem to make objects disappear.
In animal cells, DNA molecules are normally restricted to the cell nucleus and the mitochondria. When DNA appears outside these organelles – in the so-called cytosol - it most probably originates from a bacterial pathogen or a DNA virus. This is why cytosolic DNA triggers a strong response by the innate immune system. However, various types of insult can also lead to the release into the cytosol of the cell's own DNA. In this case, the resulting immune response may precipitate an autoimmune disease.
CSIRO scientists have developed a test to identify unsafe stem cells. It is the first safety test specifically for human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) – as published today in the international journal Stem Cells.
SYDNEY: Catching the attention of females in a darkened rainforest amid a blur of windblown vegetation is no easy task.
But male Anolis lizards on the island of Jamaica have evolved an ideal visual technique - very rapid extension and retraction of a large, coloured pouch under their throats, combined with quick bobbing of their heads to warn off any other rival suitors.
Now the mystery of why their close relatives on the neighbouring island of Puerto Rico do not adopt the same strategy to advertise their ownership of a territory has been solved.
Despite the clear arguments for controlling parasitic infections, we know surprisingly little about the developmental processes in parasitic nematodes. A good model system for research is provided by Oesophagostomum dentatum, a roundworm which infects the large intestines of pigs, slowing the animals' growth and leading to significant economic losses. A number of chemicals are available to help keep the parasite in check but the worms are growing increasingly resistant to their use and so there is a substantial need for new methods of treatment.
The moth genus Monema is represented by medium-sized yellowish species. The genus belongs to the Limacodidae family also known as the slug moths due to the distinct resemblance of their caterpillars to some slug species. Some people know this family as the cup moths, the name derived from the peculiar looking, hard shell cocoon they form.
In a pair of distinct but complementary papers, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues illuminate the functional importance of a relatively new class of RNA molecules. The work, published online this week in the journal Nature, suggests modulation of "enhancer-directed RNAs" or "eRNAs" could provide a new way to alter gene expression in living cells, perhaps affecting the development or pathology of many diseases.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (June 4, 2013) – More evidence has surfaced that supports the war on smoking, especially if smokers have an infant in their household. A study published today in the June issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), found that infants with a family history of allergic disease with lower respiratory tract infections, who are exposed to secondhand smoke are at risk for longer hospital stays.
HOUSTON - MET protein levels correlate strongly with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype, a treatment-resistant type of colorectal cancer and may be used as a surrogate biomarker, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
The study results, which compared MET protein expression with protein/gene expression of EMT markers and evaluated impact on survival, were released today at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Alexandria, VA — The American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck SurgeryFoundation on Tuesday published a new Clinical Practice Guideline on "Improving VoiceOutcomes after Thyroid Surgery" to recognize the importance of the patient's voice and thepotential impact thyroid surgery can have on it.
Boston, Mass. – After receiving an organ transplant, patients must follow a regimented medication routine to maintain the health of their graft (transplanted organ). Failure to do so, known as non-adherence (NA), can result in life-threatening illness. NA has long been a concern among adolescent patients, but a new study from Boston Children's Hospital demonstrates the problem may be more serious than previously understood.
Employers have to pay around £4,000 more a year to employ a member of staff who smokes compared to a non-smoking employee, finds research published online in the Tobacco Control journal.
US researchers found that several factors including absenteeism, smoking breaks and healthcare costs result in a greater cost to the employer for having a smoker on staff and this cost could help inform their workplace tobacco policies.