Body

As human beings, we all know that we are going to die some day. Most of us deal with this knowledge by trying to live meaningful lives, but people with low self-esteem tend not to see their lives as particularly meaningful. Now, research suggests that touch may help people with low self-esteem in confronting their own mortality.

"Even fleeting and seemingly trivial instances of interpersonal touch may help people to deal more effectively with existential concern," explains psychological scientist and lead researcher Sander Koole of VU University Amsterdam.

Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have joined with an international team to engineer and measure a potentially important new class of nanostructured materials for microwave and advanced communication devices. Based on NIST's measurements, the new materials—a family of multilayered crystalline sandwiches—might enable a whole new class of compact, high-performance, high-efficiency components for devices such as cellular phones.*

Using a simple urine test, researchers can now identify young people with type 1 diabetes at risk of heart and kidney disease. The new research, funded by JDRF, Diabetes UK, and the British Heart Foundation (BHF), was published today, 06 November, in the journal Diabetes Care.

Long term results of the randomized phase III EORTC intergroup trial 40983 were recently reported in The Lancet Oncology. The observed 4.1% difference in overall survival at five years for patients with initially resectable liver metastases from colorectal cancer was not significant for perioperative chemotherapy with FOLFOX4 (folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) compared with surgery alone.

Researchers from the Biological clues of the invasive and metastatic phenotype group of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) led by Isabel Fabregat have discovered the relationship between the TGFb signalling pathways and CXCR4 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) . The cytokine TGFb is dependent of CXCR4 to induce tumor cell migratory ability.

The results of the study are published in the online edition of the journal Hepatology.

Dual function of TGFb

Ottawa (November 6, 2013) – A new expert panel report, by the Council of Canadian Academies, on ocean science capacity in Canada has found that, with no single organization responsible for managing ocean research in Canada, scientists face challenges in coordinating activities and pooling resources.

The expert panel report, Ocean Science in Canada: Meeting the Challenge, Seizing the Opportunity, is an evidence-based assessment of the current state of ocean science in Canada and addresses issues such as human capacity, infrastructure, funding, and scientific collaboration.

12-15 years of development and millions of dollars are typically the costs, when companies develop a new anti-cancer drug. Therefore all short cuts to a treatment are welcome. Researchers at Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, University of Copenhagen, recently discovered such a potential short cut.

A strategic report from the European Science Foundation examines the key scientific questions for human stem cell research in the context of the rapidly emerging field of regenerative medicine. In parallel to the potential new treatments for incurable diseases resulting from stem cell research, heated ethical and legal debates have arisen across the world.

A project by Griffith University's Smart Water Research Facility has discovered that using 'smart' water meters to identify leaks in and around the home can result in significant savings.

Project Leader, Associate Professor Rodney Stewart, said the benefits are more than just household savings. There are also wider environmental and economic issues at stake.

"Reducing the amount of water lost through leaks has further implications for both energy consumption and treatment costs," Associate Professor Stewart said.

Scientists have puzzled for centuries over how and why multicellular organisms evolved the almost universal trait of using single cells, such as eggs and sperm, to reproduce. Now researchers led by University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences postdoctoral fellow William Ratcliff and associate professor Michael Travisano have set a big piece of that puzzle into place by applying experimental evolution to transform a single-celled algae into a multicellular one that reproduces by dispersing single cells.

Wild blueberries are a rich source of phytochemicals called polyphenols, which have been reported by a growing number of studies to exert a wide array of protective health benefits. A new study by researchers at the University of Maine adds to this growing body of evidence.

This new research, published today in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, shows that regular long-term wild blueberry diets may help improve or prevent pathologies associated with the metabolic syndrome, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

BOSTON, Nov. 6, 2013 – The number of HIV positive men who have sex with both men and women is likely no higher than the number of HIV positive heterosexual men, according to a U.S.-based analysis by University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers. The finding challenges a popular assumption that bisexual men are responsible for significant HIV transmission to their female partners.

BOSTON -- Having sex can be fun; and talking about sex can be fun. Talking about sexually transmitted infections with a sexual interest, however, is a totally different matter, according to new research from Indiana University's Center for Sexual Health Promotion.

The study, to be discussed Nov. 6. during the American Public Health Association's annual meeting, found a disconnect between the public health messages that promote STI testing as a way to prevent STIs such as HIV and chlamydia and the conversations -- or lack of them -- occurring in bedrooms.

Which females do male lizards find to be the sexiest? Tracy Langkilde, an associate professor of biology at Penn State University, and Lindsey Swierk, a graduate student in Langkilde's lab, tackle this question by examining the mating behavior and blue-color patterns of fence lizards in Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi. The results of their research, which offer a snapshot into the evolution of male-female differences, will be published in the early online edition of The Royal Society journal Biology Letters on 6 November 2013.

Scientists have discovered that bacteria found in a traditional Japanese pickle can prevent flu. Could this be the next superfood?

The research, which assesses the immune-boosting powers of Lactobacillus brevis from Suguki – a pickled turnip, popular in Japan – in mice that have been exposed to a flu virus, is published today (06 November) in the SfAM journal, Letters in Applied Microbiology.