University of Oregon biologists studying a common ocean-dwelling worm have uncovered potentially fundamental insights into the evolutionary origin of genetic mechanisms, which when compromised in humans play a role in many forms of cancer.

Their research, appearing in the July issue of the journal Developmental Cell, also increases the visibility of a three-year effort at the UO to promote use of the bristle worm Platynereis dumerilii as a model organism for the study of evolutionary origins of cell types and animal forms.

The marine worm develops by a stereotypic pattern of asymmetric cell divisions generating differently sized embryonic cells.

According to a pilot study, pomegranate juice was found to have beneficial effects on erectile dysfunction (ED), a disorder that affects 1 in 10 men worldwide and 10 to 30 million men in the United States alone.

ED can be caused by several factors, including arterial plaque, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, nerve damage, endocrine imbalance or depression. Ultimately, ED is a condition that affects the blood flow to the penis during sexual stimulation.

The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover pilot study examined the efficacy of pomegranate juice versus placebo in improving erections in 61 male subjects.

Researchers have come a step closer to understanding the incredible targeting system of human vision, namely how the brain and eye team up to spot an object in motion and follow it, a classic question of human motor control. The study shows that two distinctly different ways of seeing motion are used — one to catch up to a moving object with our eyes, a second to lock on and examine it.

“Without the ability to lock our eyes onto a moving target, something called smooth pursuit, athletes cannot ‘keep their eye on the ball,’ and a person walking down the street cannot examine the facial expression or identity of a passerby,” said Jeremy Wilmer, postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences and lead author of the study.

Jules Verne is the first of five ATVs ESA plans to use to send cargo to the Station. The development, production and launch of the first vehicle have cost over 11 years around 1.3 billion Euros. Each of the following ATVs assembly and launch will cost just over 300 million Euros. In this way Europe will pay for utilisation of the ISS, which includes conducting scientific experiments and astronaut missions.

'ATV is much more that a spaceship', emphasises ATV Project Manager John Ellwood with justified pride. 'It is a cargo ship, a laboratory, a rocket and two spacecrafts all in one.

Research has uncovered alarming evidence that high Arctic ponds, many which have been permanent bodies of water for thousands of years, are completely drying out during the polar summer. These shallow ponds, which dot the Arctic landscape, are important indicators of environment change and are especially susceptible to the effects of climate change because of their low water volume.

Marianne Douglas, Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Science and Director of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute at the University of Alberta, and John Smol, Professor of Biology at Queen’s University, studied these unique Arctic ponds for the past 24 years, collecting detailed data such as water quality and water levels from approximately 40 ponds.

On school days, teen boys who play video games appear to spend less time reading and teen girls who play video games appear to spend less time doing homework than those who do not play video games, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Overall, video game players did not spend less time than non-video game players interacting with parents and friends.

“The rapid growth of video game popularity has generated concern among practitioners, parents, scholars and politicians,” according to background information in the article.