The enzyme Dicer processes RNA transcripts, cutting them into short segments that regulate the synthesis of specific proteins. An Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich team has shown that Dicer promotes the development of atherosclerosis, thus identifying a new drug target.

Infants aged between 5 and 7 months hold the representation of color categories in their brain, even before the acquisition of language, according to a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Sapir-Wharf hypothesis claims that languages define our perceptions. This belief is widely accepted in various fields of study including psychology, linguistics and anthropology. Color perception is also considered to be subject to this theory, since colors are called by their names in daily communications. 

Though smoking has declined dramatically in America, it is still quite high in Asia. Yet there is hope, in that younger Chinese teenage boys are less likely to start smoking than those in previous generations.

The trend is significant because nearly one third of the world's smokers live in China. Two-thirds of Chinese men become daily smokers before they turn 25, with the vast majority starting the habit when they were between 15 and 20. By contrast, fewer than 4 percent of females in China smoke, which is why females were not included in the study.

Fibres from the Australian native spinifex grass are being used to improve latex that could be used to make condoms as thin as a human hair without any loss in strength.

Working in partnership with Aboriginal traditional owners of the Camooweal region in north-west Queensland, the Indjalandji-Dhidhanu People, researchers from The University of Queensland have developed a method of extracting nanocellulose -- which can be used as an additive in latex production -- from the grass.

Professor Darren Martin from UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) said the spinifex nanocellulose significantly improved the physical properties of latex.

Planes flying between Europe and North America will be spending more time in the air due to the effects of climate change, a new study has shown.

By accelerating the jet stream -- a high-altitude wind blowing from west to east across the Atlantic -- climate change will speed up eastbound flights but slow down westbound flights, the study found. The findings could have implications for airlines, passengers, and airports.

This is a flight time infographic (c) University of Reading. Credit: University of Reading

A higher nurse to patient ratio is linked to a reduced risk of inpatient death, finds a study of staffing levels in NHS hospitals, published in the online journal BMJ Open.

In trusts where registered (professionally trained) nurses had six or fewer patients to care for, the death rate was 20 per cent lower than in those where they had more than 10.

Policies geared towards substituting registered nurses with healthcare support workers (healthcare assistants and nursing auxiliaries) should at the very least be reviewed, conclude the researchers

Previous research suggests that the nurse to patient ratio has some bearing on outcomes, but few studies have taken account of the impact of other members of medical staff.