Differences in growth factor (GF) signaling may cause the poor prognosis in some breast cancer cases. A new study, published in the open access journal BMC Medical Genomics, suggests that some estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers respond poorly to tamoxifen because of increased GF signaling. Continue Reading »
At a recent physics seminar at the Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Fermilab physicist Pat Lukens of the CDF experiment announced the observation of a new particle, the Omega-sub-b (Ωb). The particle contains three quarks — two strange quarks and a bottom quark (s-s-b). It is an exotic relative of the much more common proton and has about six times the proton’s mass. Continue Reading »
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have zeroed in on the genes responsible for changing flower color, an area of research that began with Gregor Mendel’s studies of the garden pea in the 1850’s.
In an article published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, two researchers document their studies of the evolution of columbine flowers in North America. They studied red columbines pollinated by hummingbirds, and white or yellow columbines pollinated by hawkmoths. They believe that a color shift from red to white or yellow has happened five times in North America. Continue Reading »
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have successfully edited the genome of human- induced pluripotent stem cells, making possible the future development of patient-specific stem cell therapies. Reporting in Cell Stem Cell, the team altered a gene responsible for causing the rare blood disease paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH, establishing for the first time a useful system to learn more about the disease. Continue Reading »
Computers do not spell the demise of literacy — in fact, they may help to create one of the most literate and engaged generations the world has seen.
Carl Whithaus, associate professor of writing at UC Davis, will make that argument during a session on June 20, at UC Davis, part of a four-day Computers & Writing 2009 conference sponsored by the University Writing Program at UC Davis. Continue Reading »
Researchers are reporting the first use of a fundamentally new approach in the quest to snare the Holy Grail of the lighting industry: An LED (light-emitting diode) — those ultra-efficient, long-lived light sources — that emits pure white light. The new approach yielded what the scientists describe as the most efficient and stable source of pure white light ever achieved. The advance could speed the development of this next-generation technology for improved lighting of homes, offices, displays, and other applications, they say. Continue Reading »
Coral reefs throughout the Caribbean have been comprehensively ‘flattened’ over the last 40 years, according to a disturbing new study by the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The collapse of reef structure has serious implications for biodiversity and coastal defences – a double whammy for fragile coastal communities in the region. Continue Reading »
In places where young women outnumber young men, research shows the hemlines rise but the marriage rates don’t because the young men feel less pressure to settle down as more women compete for their affections.
But when those men reach their 30s, the reverse is true and proportionately more older men are married in areas where women outnumber men. Continue Reading »
Nanoparticle films are no longer a delicate matter: Vanderbilt physicists have found a way to make them strong enough so they don’t disintegrate at the slightest touch.
In the last 25 years, ever since scientists figured out how to create nanoparticles – ultrafine particles with diameters less than 100 nanometers – they have come up with a number of different methods to mold them into thin films which have a variety of interesting potential applications ranging from semiconductor fabrication to drug delivery, solid state lighting to flexible television and computer displays. Continue Reading »
A new PTB measuring system offers the possibility of measuring the absorbed dose in the direct environment of the irradiated tumour.
During radiation therapy, the physicians try to keep the dose in the tumour as high as possible to destroy as many cancer cells as possible. To avoid the damaging of healthy tissue, it is becoming more and more important to check the exact amount of the dose. Continue Reading »