Body

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Endometriosis, the invasive displacement of uterine tissue into surrounding organs, affects at least 10 percent of women. The disease, which is often misdiagnosed, can cause severe pain and infertility, but very little is known about how it arises.

Grasshoppers may be small, but the damages they are causing to the U.S. agriculture industry are anything but. Every year, they feed on crops and on rangelands needed for raising livestock, costing landowners millions of dollars. Although they pose a major threat, grasshopper populations play a positive role in cycling nutrients from decomposing plant matter back into the soil. A new method to investigate their feeding patterns could be the key to a better understanding of the impact of grasshoppers on plant communities.

LA JOLLA, CA—February 5, 2014—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have invented a new method for designing artificial proteins, and have used it to make key ingredients for a candidate vaccine against a dangerous virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a significant cause of infant mortality. The virus has been resistant to current vaccine-design strategies.

It was climate that killed many of the large mammals after the latest Ice Age. But what more specifically was it with the climate that led to this mass extinction? The answer to this is hidden in a large number of sediment samples from around the Arctic and in the gut content from permafrozen woolly rhinos, mammoth and other extinct ice age mammals.

A new research paper from the labs of University of Notre Dame researchers Holly Goodson and Mark Alber helps resolve an ongoing debate about the assembly of a subcellular network that plays a critical role in cell function and disease.

NASA's Aqua satellite spotted two storms in one image in the Southern Pacific Ocean as Tropical Cyclone Edna brushes by New Caledonia and an extra-tropical storm lingers west of New Zealand.

New Caledonia warnings were still in effect on February 5 as Edna continues moving along the southwestern part of the island. An Amber Alert was in effect for the whole southern province as well as the community of Canala and a Yellow Alert was in effect for the rest of the territory.

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – February 5, 2014) St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led a study showing that mutations in a gene responsible for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disrupt the RNA transport system in nerve cells. The findings appear in the current issue of the scientific journal Neuron and offer a new focus for efforts to develop effective treatments.

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. – February 5, 2014 – The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has issued "Guidelines for safety in the gastrointestinal endoscopy unit." The purpose of this new guideline is to present recommendations for endoscopy units in implementing and prioritizing safety efforts and to provide an endoscopy-specific guideline by which to evaluate endoscopy units.

WASHINGTON — States that decriminalized marijuana saw dramatic increases in children requiring medical intervention, although the overall number of unintentional marijuana exposures among children remained low. The Annals of Emergency Medicine study of call volume to U.S. poison centers from January 2005 through December 2011 will be published online today ("Association of Unintentional Pediatric Exposures with Decriminalization of Marijuana in the U.S.").

Potential side effects of many of today's therapeutic drugs can be downright frightening — just listen carefully to a drug commercial on TV. These effects often occur when a drug is active throughout the body, not just where and when it is needed. But scientists are reporting progress on a new tailored approach to deliver medicine in a much more targeted way. The study on these new electronically controlled drugs appears in the journal ACS Nano.

In the rare case that New Year's revelers have a bottle of leftover bubbly, they have no way to tell if it'll stay good until they pop the cork and taste it at the next celebration. But now scientists are reporting a precise new way for wineries — and their customers — to predict how long their sparkling wines will last. The study appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — For years, researchers have been investigating how mutations of a gene called Indy (for "I'm Not Dead Yet") affect metabolism, life span, and reproductive fitness in both mammals and fruit flies. So far mutations in Indy have been studied experimentally only in the lab. No longer. A new study reports that a particularly important variation of the gene with much the same life-governing consequences has actually been widespread among fruit flies, judging by lines gathered from the wild across the entire globe for 60 years.

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death globally due to e.g. arteriosclerosis. The cause is increased cholesterol. There is therefore a considerable need for an effective method of treatment against increased cholesterol. Now, Danish researchers have made a discovery that may change the picture of how it must be treated.

Our cells produce thousands of proteins but more than one-third of these proteins can fulfill their function only after migrating to the outside of the cell. While it is known that protein migration occurs with the help of various 'nanomotors' that push proteins out of the cell, little is known about their precise mechanical functioning. New research by Anastassios Economou (KU Leuven) and his team reveals the inner workings of one such nanomotor, called SecA, with new clarity.

This news release is available in German.