Clark Science Center - Smith College

Elderly In Long-term Care Setting Suffer Depression More Than Those Cared For...
Elderly in a long-term care setting are more likely to be prescribed antidepressants and to self-report depression compared to those in a home-health care setting, according to a study. The study of 272 elders, with an average age of 81, examined how often patients reported feeling depressed and wer...

New Gas Sensors For Monitoring Carbon Dioxide Sinks
A novel gas sensor system makes it possible to monitor large areas cost-effectively the first time. The patented gas sensor is based on the principle of diffusion, according to which certain gases pass through a membrane faster than others. Using a tube-like sensor it is possible to measure an avera...

When Statins Aren't Enough: New Trial Drug Points To Better Management Of Cor...
Despite widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, a significant number of cardiac patients continue to suffer heart attacks and stroke. Researchers theorize that high levels of an enzyme found in coronary plaques may be to blame, by making plaques more likely to rupture and block blood flow. The...

Piecing Together The Next Generation Of Cognitive Robots
European researchers are making progress on piecing together a new generation of machines that are more aware of their environment and better able to interact with humans. While building robots with anything akin to human intelligence remains a far off vision, making them more responsive would allow...

New Cancer Gene Found
Scientists have identified a new gene that causes cancer. The gene and its protein, both called RBM3, are vital for cell division in normal cells. In cancers, low oxygen levels in the tumors cause the amount of this protein to go up dramatically. This causes cancer cells to divide uncontrollably, le...

What's Bugging Locusts? It Could Be They're Hungry -- For Each Other
Since ancient times, locust plagues have been viewed as one of the most spectacular events in nature. In seemingly spontaneous fashion, as many as 10 billion critters can suddenly swarm the air and carpet the ground, blazing destructive paths that bring starvation and economic ruin. What makes them ...

Molecular Espionage Shows A Single HIV Enzyme's Many Tasks
Using ingenious molecular espionage, scientists have found how a single key enzyme, seemingly the Swiss army knife in HIV's toolbox, differentiates and dynamically binds both DNA and RNA as part of the virus' fierce attack on host cells.

Cable Driven Robot Assists Patients With Neurological Disorders
Scientists have invented a unique robotic device to assist with the physical rehabilitation process of patients suffering from neurological damages to their upper extremities such as those due to stroke or Parkinson's disease. They designed and built the device to aid physical therapists and their p...

'Dancing' Hair Cells Are Key To Humans' Acute Hearing
Researchers have found that an electrically powered amplification mechanism in the cochlea of the ear is critical to the acute hearing of humans and other mammals. The findings will enable better understanding of how hearing loss can result from malfunction of this amplification machinery due to gen...

Koalas Under Threat From Climate Change
New research shows increased temperatures and carbon dioxide levels are a threat to the Australian national icon, the koala. Biologists have been researching the effects of carbon dioxide increases and temperature rises on eucalypts. They have shown in the laboratory that increases in carbon dioxide...

Asthma Inhaler Misuse Widespread Among Anti-social Teens
Nearly one out of four teens who use an asthma inhaler say their intent is to get high. Findings from a new study identified high levels of asthma inhaler misuse among anti-social youths, who displayed higher levels of distress and were more likely to abuse other substances.

Priority Regions For Threatened Frog And Toad Conservation In Latin America
Nearly 35% of all amphibians are now threatened of extinction raising them to the position of the most endangered group of animals in the world. Decline of amphibian populations and species is ongoing due to habitat loss, fungal disease, climate shift and agrochemical contaminants. These impacts are...

Genetic 'Tag Team' Keeps Cells On Cycle
By surveying the activity of thousands of genes at several different time points, researchers have uncovered new evidence that a network of influential genes act as a kind of genetic tag team to orchestrate one of the most fundamental aspects of all life: the cell cycle.

Do Antidepressants Enhance Immune Function?
Infection with human immunodeficiency virus, which leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is an epidemic of global concern. The functioning of natural killer (NK) cells, which are a major element of the innate immunity system and are involved in the body's first line of defense against infecti...

Tiny Electronics: Contact Through Silver Particles In Ink
Conductor paths in sensor systems have to be correctly "wired." Now, instead of using obtrusive connecting wires, researchers print the conductor paths. The connections thus produced are thinner, and the sensor delivers more accurate measurements.

Skin Flaps Deliver Cancer-fighting Therapy, Study Reveals
Using gene therapy, plastic surgeons have delivered cancer fighting proteins through skin flaps placed on cancerous tumors on rats with a 79 percent reduction in tumor volume, according to a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

How 'Horse Tranquilizer' Stops Depression
Researchers have shown exactly how the anaesthetic ketamine helps depression with images that show the orbitofrontal cortex -- the part of the brain that is overactive in depression -- being 'switched off'. Ketamine, an anaesthetic that is popular with doctors on the battlefield and also with vets b...

Nitrates In Vegetables Protect Against Gastric Ulcers, Study Shows
Fruits and vegetables that are rich in nitrates protect the stomach from damage. This takes place through conversion of nitrates into nitrites by the bacteria in the oral cavity and subsequent transformation into biologically active nitric oxide in the stomach. This also means that antibacterial mou...

New Evidence From Earliest Known Human Settlement In The Americas
New evidence from the Monte Verde archaeological site in southern Chile confirms its status as the earliest known human settlement in the Americas and provides additional support for the theory that one early migration route followed the Pacific Coast more than 14,000 years ago.

Superbug Genome Sequenced: Steno Has Remarkable Capacity For Drug Resistance
The genome of a newly-emerging superbug, commonly known as Steno, has just been sequenced. The results reveal an organism with a remarkable capacity for drug resistance. The research was carried out by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge and the University of Bristol.