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MU Researcher Studies How Infants Compare Quantities

By Guest PostDecember 5, 2010Scienceability to quantify, baby einstein, cheerios, child, infants, kristy vanmarle, liquid, non-cohesive substances, opaque, parents, psychologists, researcher, sand, tracking and quantifying objects, two substances, university of missouri, water

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Parents are often amazed at how fast their child grows and develops. New research at the University of Missouri has determined that the ability to quantify – even things that are hard to quantify, such as liquid – may develop much sooner than most parents realize.

University of Missouri researcher Kristy vanMarle, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science, has determined that contrary to what previous studies have shown, infants are able to quantify non-cohesive substances – like sand, water, or even Cheerios – as early as 10 months. As long as the difference between the two substances is large enough, vanMarle has found that infants will choose the larger amount, especially when it comes to food. (more…)

GPS Not Working? A Shoe Radar May Help You Find Your Way

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2010Technologyglobal positioning system, gps signal, inertial measurement units, portable radar sensor, radar system

The prevalence of global positioning system (GPS) devices in everything from cars to cell phones has almost made getting lost a thing of the past. But what do you do when your GPS isn’t working? Researchers from North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) have developed a shoe-embedded radar system that may help you find your way. (more…)

Biodiversity Loss: Detrimental to Your Health

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2010Environment, Healthanimal extinctions, biodiversity, disease emergence, ecologist, ecosystems, felicia keesing, forests, global biodiversity, hantavirus, Health, infectious diseases, josh rosenthal, lyme disease, pathogens, plant, sam scheiner, species loss, transmission, west nile virus, wildlife

*Infectious diseases on the rise as species disappear*

Plant and animal extinctions are detrimental to your health.

That’s the conclusion of a paper published in this week’s issue of the journal Nature by scientists who studied the link between biodiversity and infectious diseases. (more…)

UCLA Scientists Discover Mechanism that Transforms Healthy Cells into Prostate Cancer

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2010Health, Scienceanimal models, bmi-1, cancer, cancer growth, healthy cells, hormone-withdrawal therapy, malignant cells, owen witte, prostate cancer, prostate cancer cells, prostate stem cells, protein, pten tumor suppressor gene, repair injured cells, rita lukacs, self-renewal activity

Dr. Owen Witte, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Image credit: University of California

A protein that is crucial for regulating the self-renewal of normal prostate stem cells, which are needed to repair injured cells or restore normal cells killed by hormone-withdrawal therapy for cancer, also aids the transformation of healthy cells into prostate cancer cells, researchers at UCLA have found.

The findings, by scientists with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA, may have important implications for controlling cancer growth and progression.

Results from the three-year study, done in primary cells and in animal models, were published Dec. 2 in the early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Cell Stem Cell.

The protein, called Bmi-1, is often up-regulated, or turned on, in prostate cancer. It has been associated with higher-grade cancers and is predictive of poor prognosis, according to previous studies. However, its functional roles in prostate stem cell maintenance and prostate cancer have been unclear, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Owen Witte, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. (more…)

IBM Delivers New Software to Advance Security Analysis

By Guest PostDecember 4, 2010Technologyanalysis capabilities, cac/pki, developers, federal security protocol, hybrid analysis scanning, ibm, ibm rational appscan portfolio, ibm research, ibm security solutions, ounce labs, secure applications, software, steve robinson, string analysis, watchfire corp, web application, web-based applications, x-force trend report

*Organizations can now use multiple analysis techniques simultaneously to discover potential software vulnerabilities*

ARMONK, N.Y., – 03 Dec 2010: IBM today announced new software and analysis capabilities that provide a more efficient and accurate way to help organizations design, build and manage secure applications.

The new software consolidates software vulnerability analysis and reporting into a single view across the enterprise. Developers can now assess security threats across the entire software development lifecycle, enabling global development teams to easily identify and test security exposures, and help reduce the risks and costs associated with security and compliance concerns. (more…)

U-M Researchers Identify Protein Essential for Cell Division in Blood-forming Stem Cells

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2010Scienceampk, blood-forming stem cells, cell death, cell therapies, cellular metabolism, chromosomes, daisuke nakada, daughter cells, degenerative diseases, energy production, lkb1, normal cell division, protein, protein kinase, sean morrison, stem cell biology, stem cell function, stem cells, thomas saunders, tumor suppressor

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— University of Michigan researchers have discovered that a protein known to regulate cellular metabolism is also necessary for normal cell division in blood-forming stem cells. Loss of the protein results in an abnormal number of chromosomes and a high rate of cell death.

The finding demonstrates that stem cells are metabolically different from other blood-forming cells, which can divide without the protein, Lkb1. This metabolic difference could someday be used to better control the behavior of blood-forming stem cells used in disease treatments, said Sean Morrison, director of the U-M Center for Stem Cell Biology, which is based at the Life Sciences Institute. (more…)

Listing of Rare Hawaiian Coral Species Called into Question

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2010Naturealgae, blue rice coral, coral biodiversity, coral reef, coral skeleton, discovery, diverse habitats, ecosystems, endemic, genetic groups, hawaii institute of marine biology, hawaiian reef coral, hawaiian species, himb, invertebrate species, m dilatata, m flabellata, m patula, marine animals, montipora, planet, rob toonen, sandpaper rice coral, zac forsman

Close up of Montipora patula (Sandpaper Rice Coral). Image credit: Zac Forsman

Researchers at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), an organized research unit in the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology have made a remarkable new discovery.

Coral reef ecosystems are one of the most diverse habitats on the planet, providing habitat for a wide variety of marine animals. Unfortunately, coral reefs and their associated fish, algae, and invertebrate species are in worldwide decline. In 2009, 83 rare corals were petitioned to be listed under the United States Endangered Species Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service is currently reviewing the status of the coral on the petition. If the listing is granted, it will afford higher protection and designate critical habitat for these corals. But are all the ‘species’ on this list really species?

A challenge to the evaluation is that coral “species” definitions are presently based on the coral skeleton, which can be so variable that it is often difficult to distinguish between groups. All 83 species on the petition can be found in the United States with 9 corals found in Hawai‘i. Identifying which of the corals on this list are endemic (unique to each region), rare, or at risk of extinction, may prove difficult because it is not clear which corals interbreed. (more…)

comScore Reports October 2010 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2010Technologyamericans, android, apple, Comscore, comscore mobilens, digital world, google android, Microsoft, mobile subscribers, motorola, nokia, oems, original equipment manufacturers, os, rim, Samsung, smartphone, smartphone operating system, Social networking sites, u.s. mobile phone industry

*Smartphones Now Used by 1 in 4 U.S. Mobile Subscribers*

RESTON, VA, December 3, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending October 2010. The report ranked the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the U.S. according to their share of current mobile subscribers ages 13 and older, and reviewed the most popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone. The October report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.2 percent market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 35.8 percent market share. (more…)

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