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Brain activity reflects differences in types of anxiety
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – All anxiety is not created equal, and a research team at the University of Illinois now has the data to prove it. The team has found the most compelling evidence yet of differing patterns of brain activity associated with each of two types of anxiety: anxious apprehension (verbal rumination, worry) and anxious […]
Engineered protein effective against Staphylococcus aureus toxin
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A research team led by the University of Illinois has developed a treatment for exposure to enterotoxin B, a noxious substance produced by the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium. The team engineered a protein, which was successfully tested in rabbits, that could one day be used to treat humans exposed to the enterotoxin. S. […]
Study of protein folds offers insight into metabolic evolution
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Researchers at the University of Illinois have constructed the first global family tree of metabolic protein architecture. Their approach offers a new window on the evolutionary history of metabolism. The study appears this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Their work relies on established […]
Soy estrogens and breast cancer: Researcher offers overview
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Are soy products healthy additions to a person’s diet, safe alternatives to hormone-replacement therapy or cancer-causing agents? The answer, according to University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor William Helferich, is, “It depends.” He reviews the science linking breast cancer, soy and dietary supplements that contain soy phytoestrogens this month […]
Researchers at Illinois explore queen bee longevity
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The queen honey bee is genetically identical to the workers in her hive, but she lives 10 times longer and – unlike her sterile sisters – remains reproductively viable throughout life. A study from the University of Illinois sheds new light on the molecular mechanisms that account for this divergence. The study […]
Mechanoluminescence event yields novel emissions, reactions
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a new study of mechanoluminescence revealed extensive atomic and molecular spectral emission not previously seen in a mechanoluminescence event. The findings, which appear online this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, also include the first report of gas phase chemical reactions […]
New technique will produce a better chromosome map
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a simple and economical technique for imaging and mapping fruit fly chromosomes. This new approach will enable them to construct the first accurate map of the chromosomes and tease out the secrets hidden in their stripes. Their work appears online May 6 in advance […]
Culture sculpts neural response to visual stimuli, new research indicates
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Researchers in Illinois and Singapore have found that the aging brain reflects cultural differences in the way that it processes visual information. This study appears this month in the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience. This paper and another published by the same group in 2006 are the first to demonstrate that […]
Psychology professor elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Renée Baillargeon, the University of Illinois Alumni Distinguished Professor of Psychology, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced today. She and the other 226 newly elected fellows will be honored at the annual Induction Ceremony on Oct. 6 at academy headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. Other […]
Research group gets $7 million to pursue new antibiotic agents
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The National Institutes of Health has awarded $7 million to a team of researchers from the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin to discover, engineer and produce a promising – yet little explored – class of antibiotic agents. The research will look for alternatives to standard antibiotics, which are losing […]
Hot flashes: Studies explore the role of genes, obesity and alcohol
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Many women in the menopausal transition experience hot flashes: unpredictable, sometimes disruptive, periods of intense heat in the upper torso, neck and face. Although generations of physicians have prescribed hormones to reduce these symptoms, very little research has focused on the underlying causes of hot flashes. Three new studies explore the role […]
Study of planarians offers insight into germ cell development
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The planarian is not as well known as other, more widely used subjects of scientific study – model creatures such as the fruit fly, nematode or mouse. But University of Illinois cell and developmental biology professor Phillip Newmark thinks it should be. As it turns out, the tiny, seemingly cross-eyed flatworm is […]