BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Using virtual tissue technology, researchers at Indiana University have identified a potential new drug target in the fight against polycystic kidney disease, an illness with no effective FDA-approved treatment that affects 200,000 people per year in the United States.

The study appears in the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell. It reveals that errors in how cells stick together give rise to two forms of kidney cysts.

These cysts can cause an adult kidney -- normally about the size of a fist and weighing less than a pound -- to grow to the size of a football that weights 20 to 30 pounds. Currently, only dialysis or a kidney transplant can delay death from the disease.

ANN ARBOR --If the United States responds to Zika the way it did to Ebola -- and early indications are that in many ways it is -- the country can expect missteps brought about by a lack of health care coordination and a lot of political finger pointing, according to an analysis by the University of Michigan.

Scott Greer of the U-M School of Public Health and colleagues studied the U.S. response to Ebola and found a fragmented system with no clear leadership, and considerable "strategic politicization" due to the outbreak's arrival during a midterm election year.

A program to improve orthopedic surgery residents' communication skills with older adults is having a positive impact, according to a new study. The program at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) seeks to enhance third-year residents' interactions with older adults by sensitizing the residents to their needs and dispelling negative misconceptions.

A study discussing the results of the Hospital for Special Surgery program was presented at the Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors meeting on June 24, 2016 in Seattle.

Good communication skills are an important attribute for all physicians, yet patient surveys nationwide have shown that these skills are often lacking. It can be an even greater challenge for doctors when the patient is an older adult.

(Washington, DC) - Humans have a natural drive to reduce physical effort in nearly every activity, including using language. Instead of saying "goodbye", we often say "bye", getting the same message across with half the syllables. The ways that effort-reduction affect human language have been the subject of extensive research in the field of linguistics, though the overwhelming focus has been on spoken languages. By studying this effect in sign languages, two linguists from Swarthmore College have discovered a new way in which language is shaped by our innate drive to make physical activity easier.

Continuing their research into potential ingredients for human-safe pesticides, Drexel University researchers recently found an artificial sweetener that, while harmless for male fruit flies, proved particularly lethal for females.

Past research conducted by Drexel College of Arts and Sciences' Sean O'Donnell, PhD, professor and associate department head of Biodiversity, Earth & Environmental Science (BEES) and Daniel Marenda, PhD, an associate professor of Biology, indicated that erythritol, an artificial sweetener in name-brand products like Truvia, is poisonous to fruit flies.

GAINESVILLE, FL - Producers of container-grown landscape plants often use fertilizers to ensure that consumers take home healthy, vigorous plants. This "residual fertilizer" adds value to plants by extending the benefits beyond the greenhouse. A new study recommends the best fertilizer strategies to give plants staying power and add value for consumers.

In a study of older women with newly diagnosed stage I to III breast cancer, approximately one in five lost the ability to complete some of the basic tasks necessary for independent living within one year of initiating treatment. The study also found that a simple survey can help identify which women are at risk of such functional decline. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Washington, DC-- Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars. They're stars' dim, low-mass siblings and they fade in brightness over time. They're fascinating to astronomers for a variety of reasons, but much about them remains unknown. New work from a Carnegie-led team reports the distances of a number of brown dwarfs, as well as low-mass stars, in The Astronomical Journal.

Brown dwarfs are too small to sustain the hydrogen fusion process that powers stars. Their temperatures can range from nearly as hot as a star to as cool as a planet, and their masses also range between star-like and giant planet-like. They are of particular interest to scientists because they can offer clues to star-formation processes.

Artificial intelligence (AI) developed by a University of Cincinnati doctoral graduate was recently assessed by subject-matter expert and retired United States Air Force Colonel Gene Lee - who holds extensive aerial combat experience as an instructor and Air Battle Manager with considerable fighter aircraft expertise - in a high-fidelity air combat simulator.

The artificial intelligence, dubbed ALPHA, was the victor in that simulated scenario, and according to Lee, is "the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible AI I've seen to date."

Vaccination with the anthrax capsule--a naturally occurring component of the bacterium that causes the disease--completely protected monkeys from lethal anthrax infection, according to a study published online this week in the journal VACCINE. These results indicate that anthrax capsule is a highly effective vaccine component that should be considered for incorporation in future generation anthrax vaccines.