news 2013

A social network designed in 2006 by a young Yale professor to link Hispanic scientists now boasts more than 6,500 members and has not only spurred research collaborations, but has increased interest in science among Hispanic students, particularly those of Puerto Rican descent, a new paper claims.

University of Washington For us writers in the UW News office , the year's end gives us some time to think about the big research news stories of the year. Those that drove up page views, flooded our servers (thank you UW web team for keeping us afloat!), and generated interesting reader responses in the comments section.

How do we come to recognize expertise in another person and integrate new information with our prior assessments of that person's ability? The brain mechanisms underlying these sorts of evaluations-which are relevant to how we make decisions ranging from whom to hire, whom to marry, and whom to elect to Congress-are the subject of a new study by a team of neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

26 Dec 2013 Researchers from Arthritis Research UK Centre for Genetics and Genomics at The University of Manchester have helped discover a further 42 genetic markers associated with rheumatoid arthritis in the largest international study to date on the topic. Scientists in 38 separate institutions across seven countries contributed data from their own studies so that a much more powerful single combined analysis could be performed that examined over 10 million genetic markers in over 100,000 individuals, 29,880 of whom have rheumatoid arthritis.

Scientists from across the world have "scanned the horizon" in order to identify potentially significant medium and long-term threats to conservation efforts.

Researchers create largest evolutionary 'timetree' of land plants to investigate traits that permit survival in cold climates MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (12/22/2013) —A team of researchers studying plants has assembled the largest dated evolutionary tree , using it to show the order in which flowering plants evolved specific strategies, such as the seasonal shedding of leaves, to move into areas with cold winters.

Media coverage of star's double mastectomy falls short on the science, which could influence the public's medical decisions, say UAlberta researchers. Angelina Jolie joins her husband Brad Pitt for a film premiere June 2, 2013, her first public appearance after undergoing a preventive double mastectomy.

20 Dec 2013 Scientists from The University of Manchester - part of Manchester Cancer Research Centre believe they have discovered a new way to make chemotherapy treatment more effective for pancreatic cancer patients. Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer with poor prognosis and limited treatment options and is highly resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Stanford engineers are working to create a flu vaccine that could be produced more quickly and offer broader protection than what is available today. Every year the approach of flu season sets off a medical guessing game with life or death consequences. There are many different strains of flu and they vary from year to year, so each season health authorities must make an educated guess and tell manufacturers which variants of the flu their vaccines should target.

New research has solved a mystery as to why some birds choose not to reproduce, and instead help to guard the nests of their close relatives. This occurs in about nine percent of all bird species. The University of Melbourne collaborated in a study led by ANU and Cambridge University. The findings showed non-breeders helped drive off birds like cuckoos, which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.

New research has found some birds choose not to reproduce so they can guard the nests of their close relatives. "One of the mysteries of evolutionary biology is why, in about nine per cent of bird species, some individuals choose to forgo reproduction and help others raise young," says Dr Naomi Langmore of the ANU Research School of Biology.

Even as it works to promote education on campus and around the globe, Yale University is dedicated to advancing knowledge about the natural world, human society, disease, and dysfunction - the better to develop new technologies and better approaches to help address the important issues facing humankind.

An international team led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet has identified a new gene related to the Van der Woude syndrome, the most common syndrome with cleft lip and palate. The study is published in the scientific periodical American Journal of Human Genetics and can lead the way to improved genetic diagnostic of individuals and families with orofacial clefts.

Scientists have used supporting cells of the central nervous system, glial cells, to regenerate from damaged cells the healthy and functional neurons that are critical for transmitting signals in the brain, shown in green in this image in the brain of a mouse with Alzheimer's disease. The red areas are the red-stained nuclei of neuron cells.

University of Washington TB-causing bacteria appear to mask their identity to avoid recognition by infection-killing cells in the upper airways. The bacteria call up more permissive white blood cells in the deeper regions of the lungs and hitch a ride inside them to get into the host's body. These findings are reported Dec.

Researchers map cell's complex genetic interactions to fix damaged DNA Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in The Netherlands and United Kingdom, have produced the first map detailing the network of genetic interactions underlying the cellular response to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Mating is the kiss of death for certain female worms Posted December 19, 2013; 02:00 p.m. by Catherine Zandonella, Office of the Dean for Research The presence of male sperm and seminal fluid causes female worms to shrivel and die after giving birth, Princeton University researchers reported this week .

Scientists have used supporting cells of the central nervous system, glial cells, to regenerate from damaged cells the healthy and functional neurons that are critical for transmitting signals in the brain, shown in green in this image in the brain of a mouse with Alzheimer's disease. The red areas are the red-stained nuclei of neuron cells.

Metabolism was lost in the shadows of cancer research for decades but has recently been reclaiming some of the spotlight. Now, Mina Bissell, Distinguished Scientist with Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division and a leading authority on breast cancer, has shown that aerobic glycolysis - glucose metabolism in the presence of oxygen - is not the consequence of the cancerous activity of malignant cells but is itself a cancerous event.

The most complete sequence to date of the Neanderthal genome, using DNA extracted from a woman's toe bone that dates back 50,000 years, reveals a long history of interbreeding among at least four different types of early humans living in Europe and Asia at that time, according to University of California, Berkeley, scientists.