Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory
UPTON, NY -- When asked to inhibit their response to a "cocaine-cues" video, active cocaine abusers were, on average, able to suppress activity in brain regions linked to drug craving, according to a new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory.
UPTON, NY -- An experiment has confirmed that spinons, particle-like magnetic excitations, can be confined in a magnetic insulator similar to the way elementary quarks are confined within individual protons and neutrons. The finding, in a well-described magnetic system, may offer new ways to explore Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory that describes the fundamental interactions of quarks.
UPTON, NY -- How much difference can a tenth of a nanometer make? When it comes to figuring out how proteins work, an improvement in resolution of that miniscule amount can mean the difference between seeing where atoms are and understanding how they interact.
UPTON, NY ? Parts of the brain involved in monitoring behaviors and emotions show different levels of activity in cocaine users relative to non-drug users, even when both groups perform equally well on a psychological test. These results ? from a brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S.
UPTON, NY -- New details of the composition and structure of a needlelike protein complex on the surface of certain bacteria may help scientists develop new strategies to thwart infection. The research, conducted in part at the U.S.
UPTON, NY -- By creating a "family tree" of genes expressed in one form of woody plant and a less woody, herbaceous species, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have uncovered clues that may help them engineer plants more amenable to biofuel production.
A second, small-scale clinical trial of a proposed addiction treatment originally investigated at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has produced favorable results in the treatment of long-term addiction to methamphetamine and/or cocaine, with no visual side effects in any of the 30 patients enrolled. ''We now have additional clinical data to back up our belief that GVG can be used safely and effectively to treat people suffering from drug addiction.'' The Vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl GABA, or GVG) research was conducted in collaboration with doctors from the New York University School of Medicine and the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research at a national addiction treatment center in Mexicali.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and their collaborators have discovered that a short, organic chain molecule with dimensions on the order of a nanometer (a billionth of a meter) conducts electrons in a surprising way: It regulates the electrons' speed erratically, without a predictable dependence on the length of the wire. This information may help scientists learn how to use nanowires to create components for a new class of tiny electronic circuits.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a key mechanism in the brains of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dementia. The study is the first to document decreases in the neurotransmitter dopamine in those with the condition, and may lead to new, more effective therapies. HIV dementia is a type of cognitive decline that is more common in the later stages of HIV infection.
Scientists have produced the first molecular-scale images of DNA binding to an adenovirus enzyme -- a step they believe is essential for the virus to cause infection. The images show how binding to DNA may stimulate the enzyme and are already being used to design new antiviral drugs to block this interaction. ''We were quite surprised to see that DNA actually stimulated the activity of the enzyme,'' said Brookhaven National Laboratorybiologist Walter Mangel. ''If we can block this interaction, we should be able to prevent the virus from replicating, and thereby thwart infection.'' Adenoviruses cause respiratory, gastrointestinal, and eye infections, including highly contagious viral pink eye. Some adenovirus eye infections lead to blindness.
In research that could lead to more accurate weather forecasts and climate models, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory say a physical limit on the number of cloud droplets that grow big enough to form drizzle paradoxically makes drizzle form faster. That's because those few droplets that cross the drizzle ''barrier'' readily collect enough surrounding droplets to fall -- instead of staying stuck in the clouds competing for a limited water supply and never getting quite big enough.
A research group led by a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has discovered a simple relationship that mathematically links the properties of a class of high-temperature superconductors, materials that, below a certain temperature, conduct electricity with no resistance. This new, unexpected law applies to superconductors with very different structures and compositions, and may provide clues to understanding the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity.
Because diet and nutrition are vital aspects of healthy human beings, scientists have begun studying the brain's potential influence and role in formulating a healthy diet and curbing obesity. In a study from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., researchers assessed the effects of food presentation on the brain. The study could help researchers assess the root, chemical causes of eating disorders and obesity.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have found evidence to prove why adding a small amount of calcium to a common high-temperature superconductor significantly increases the amount of electric current the material can carry. This research may be a first step toward developing commercial applications for high-temperature superconducting materials. The results appear in the May 15, 2004 issue of Physical Review Letters.
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom and Tohoku University in Japan, have discovered evidence supporting a possible mechanism for high-temperature superconductivity that had previously appeared incompatible with certain experimental observations. The finding, which hinges paradoxically on what the scientists observed in a particular material that loses its superconductivity for a special composition of atoms, is bound to be controversial in this dynamic field.
