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Zinc’s Role in the Brain

*Research gives insight into 50-year-old mystery – zinc important for learning and memory

TORONTO, ON – Zinc plays a critical role in regulating how neurons communicate with one another, and could affect how memories form and how we learn. The new research, in the current issue of Neuron, was authored by Xiao-an Zhang, now a chemistry professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), and colleagues at MIT and Duke University.

Researchers have been trying to pin down the role of zinc in the brain for more than fifty years, ever since scientists found high concentrations of the chemical in synaptic vesicles, a portion of the neuron that stores neurotransmitters. But it was hard to determine just what zinc’s function was. (more…)

Study: Delays in Video Calls May Not Always Hurt Communication

Technology

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study reveals how the delay computer users sometimes experience when making video calls over the internet can actually help communication in some circumstances, even though it is frustrating in many others.

Researchers found that when two strangers first talked about an emotionally charged topic over a video connection with a one-second delay, they actually reported less frustration than did those who talked with no delay. (more…)

Worms Among First Animals To Surface After K-T Boundary Extinction Event, CU-Led Study Finds

Science

A new study of sediments laid down shortly after an asteroid plowed into the Gulf of Mexico 65.5 million years ago, an event that is linked to widespread global extinctions including the demise of big dinosaurs, suggests that lowly worms may have been the first fauna to show themselves following the global catastrophe. (more…)

Clinical Trial Uncovers Potential ‘Functional Cure’ for HIV/AIDS

Health

Data shows Correlation between New Therapeutic Approach, Viral Load Reduction

Data from a clinical trial involving UCLA researchers suggest that a new therapy may potentially serve as a “functional cure” for HIV/AIDS.

The therapy, called SB-728-T, involves the modification of both copies of a patient’s CCR5 gene, which encodes the major co-receptor used by HIV to infect immune system cells.

In the Sangamo BioSciences’ phase 1 trial, SB-728-T was given to HIV patients who were on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) but were considered to be “non-responders” — that is, their CD4+ T-cell levels, a key measure of immune system health, remained low. The patients’ HAART therapy was interrupted when they received the SB-728-T therapy. (more…)

Battle between the Placenta and Uterus could Help Explain Preeclampsia

Science

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European Engagement on Entertainment Sites Grows 10 Percent in the Past Year

Technology

*comScore Releases Overview of European Internet Usage for August 2011*

LONDON, UK, 11 October 2011 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of internet usage in Europe, showing 372.1 million unique visitors went online in August 2011 for an average of 25.4 hours per person. This release highlights internet usage in 49 European markets aggregated under the European region and provides individual reporting on 18 markets. Among the reportable markets, the United Kingdom showed the highest engagement with users spending an average of nearly 35 hours online in the past month, up 1.5 hours from the previous month. (more…)

IBM STUDY: Digital Era Transforming CMO’s Agenda, Revealing Gap in Readiness

Technology

Most chief marketers admit they are not sufficiently plugged into real-time conversations about their brands
CMOs struggling to prove the return on marketing investments

ARMONK, N.Y. – 11 Oct 2011: A new IBM study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers from 64 countries and 19 industries reveals that the majority of the world’s top marketing executives recognize a critical and permanent shift occurring in the way they engage with their customers, but question whether their marketing organizations are prepared to manage the change. (more…)

Smarter Toxins Help Crops Fight Resistant Pests

Science

*A slight change in molecular structure introduced by genetic engineering gives crop-protecting proteins called Bt toxins a new edge in overcoming resistance of certain pests, a UA-led team of researchers reports in Nature Biotechnology.*

One of the most successful strategies in pest control is to endow crop plants with genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short, which code for proteins that kill pests attempting to eat them.

But insect pests are evolving resistance to Bt toxins, which threatens the continued success of this approach. In the current issue of Nature Biotechnology, a research team led by UA Professor Bruce Tabashnik reports the discovery that a small modification of the toxins’ structure overcomes the defenses of some major pests that are resistant to the natural, unmodified Bt toxins. (more…)