Florida Atlantic University received U.S. patent no. 10/822,496, “Promoting Cardiac Cell Differentiation,” based on an invention which induces and restores cardiac muscle function.

The invention was discovered by FAU researcher and vice president for research, Dr. Larry F. Lemanski and his postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Chi Zhang. Their research has focused on understanding the mechanisms that regulate myocardial (heart muscle mass) cell differentiation and myofibrillogenesis (the process by which proteins in the heart are changed into heart muscle cells) in the developing heart. From their findings, these researchers hope to repair myocardial deficiencies in the human heart which are caused by either congenital heart defects or heart attacks.

A University of Leicester mathematician has been working with scientists in Japan and The Netherlands to develop a new technique that produces accurate mathematical models of the actual behaviour of nerve (neural) cells. Developing such models requires detailed information about the dynamics of components responsible for the spike generation in the cell.

The main barrier between mathematical modelling and reality is that the most of intrinsic variables of living cell are not available for direct observation. Dr Ivan Tyukin and his colleagues developed a method for automatic reconstructing of hidden variables describing the cell dynamics using only the recordings of evoked electric activity of the cell.

Positive selection in human evolution plays a role in genes associated with schizophrenia, according to a new study in the Sept. 2007 edition of Proceedings of the Royal Society B. It found that genes believed to be linked to schizophrenia are more likely to show evidence of natural selection than those not associated with the disorder.

“Schizophrenia has a huge impact on health and reproduction, yet it persists at a high frequency in the human population. This is something of a paradox from an evolutionary perspective,” said East Carolina University biologist Kyle Summers, who conducted the research with colleagues Bernard Crespi from Simon Fraser University (Canada) and Steven Dorus from the University of Bath (United Kingdom).

Sonia Garel intend to tackle one of the great mysteries of neurobiology - how the brain is built up during embryonic development. There have long been fundamental unanswered questions relating both to the wiring of the brain during growth, and how evolution drove forward the sophisticated neural circuitry associated with mammals.

Garel will focus on two key processes involved in development of neural circuitry in the forebrains of young mammals as they grow. One of these processes concerns the formation of connections between neurons, the nerve cells of the brain.

These connections are needed to process sensory information, execute motor functions, and provide the network for cognitive abilities.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found nearly 350 genes related to female fertility. Their research may open the door to much wider study in the poorly understood field of infertility.

“This study gives us a way to begin to understand the causes of female infertility,” said Dr. Diego Castrillon, assistant professor of pathology and senior author of a study appearing in the September issue of the journal Genetics. “It gives us a much more complete list of candidate genes to explore. Before, we didn’t even know where to look.”

The study was done in mice, “but at the molecular level, ovarian biology is very similar in mice and humans,” Dr. Castrillon said.

An international team of astronomers wants to answer the question, "Will the world end with a bang or a whimper?"

Using an array of telescopes around the globe, a team of 23 researchers led by Italian astronomer Dr. Roberto Silvotti of the Observatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte in Naples has spent seven years investigating the pulses of the star V391 Pegasi. This international collaboration has resulted in the discovery of a new planet — Peg V392b – the oldest planet known so far in the universe.

Prof. Elia Leibowitz, of Tel Aviv University's School of Physics and Astronomy was a member of the team. To date, astronomers around the world have discovered more than 200 planets outside our solar system, but Prof.