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Public Release: 9-May-2008
Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting
Study supports reason for concern in childhood and adolescent obesity
Study findings presented at the May 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting indicate that childhood and adolescent obesity negatively impacts vascular endothelial function, which relates to cardiac health.
Contact: Pam Barber/Mary Ellen Fiorino
614-355-0495
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Public Release: 9-May-2008
New technique determines the number of fat cells remains constant in all body types
The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and '60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human's body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells.
Contact: Anne Stark
stark8@llnl.gov
925-422-9799
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Public Release: 9-May-2008
Scientists endure Arctic for last campaign prior to CryoSat-2 launch
An international group of scientists has swapped their comfortable offices for one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet to carry out a challenging field campaign that is seen as the key to ensuring the data delivered by ESA's ice mission CryoSat will be as accurate as possible.
Contact: Malcolm Davidson
malcolm.davidson@esa.int
31-715-655-957
European Space Agency
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Nature
CSHL scientists are part of consortium that sequences platypus genome
By any account, the platypus is an odd creature. It's got a broad, rubbery bill that brings to mind a duck...but it swims more like a beaver...yet it lays eggs and can inject poisonous venom, like a reptile. No wonder it was considered an elaborate hoax by scientists who examined the first specimen pelt shipped to England from the colony of New South Wales in 1799.
Contact: Jim Bono
bono@cshl.edu
516-367-8455
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Fungal Genetics and Biology
Bread mold may hold secret to eliminating disease-causing genes
A University of Missouri scientist, along with a collaborative research team, has examined a new mechanism in the reproductive cycle of a certain species of mold. This mechanism protects the organism from genetic abnormalities by "silencing" unmatched genes during meiosis (sexual reproduction). The finding could have implications for higher organisms and may lead to precise "targeting" of unwanted genes, such as those from the HIV virus.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Bryan E. Jones
jonesbry@missouri.edu
573-882-9144
University of Missouri-Columbia
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Current Biology
What's bugging locusts?
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 do it?
In a word, cannibalism.
Princeton University, Royal Society of London, Australian Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Contact: Kitta MacPherson
kittamac@princeton.edu
609-258-5729
Princeton University
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Interfaces
Federal polar bear research critically flawed, says study in INFORMS journal
Research done by the US Department of the Interior to determine if global warming threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be used to justify listing the polar bear as an endangered species, according to a study being published later this year in Interfaces, a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.
The Interior Department has been ordered to make a determination by May 15.
Contact: Barry List
barry.list@informs.org
443-757-3560
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Games for Health
Computer game's high score could earn the Nobel Prize in medicine
Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to idle pursuits. This week researchers at the University of Washington will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries through a competitive protein-folding computer game.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Microsoft Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Nvidia Corp., Intel Corp.
Contact: Hannah Hickey
hickeyh@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Oncogene
New cancer gene found
Researchers at the OU Cancer Institute have identified a new gene that causes cancer. The ground-breaking research appears in Nature's cancer journal Oncogene.
National Institutes of Health, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
Contact: Diane Clay
diane-clay@ouhsc.edu
405-271-2323
University of Oklahoma
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Nature
Model successfully predicts large river system fish diversity
While scientists have developed methods to predict aspects of fish diversity in specific river locations, a model to understand what factors may drive a comprehensive suite of fish biodiversity patterns in a large and complex system of rivers has been elusive.
Now a group of researchers reports success using a so-called "neutral model" to study fish diversity in the sprawling Mississippi-Missouri River System.
James S. McDonnell Foundation
Contact: Ellen Ternes
eternes@umd.edu
301-405-4627
University of Maryland
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics
Optics Express
New technique measures ultrashort laser pulses at focus
Lasers that emit ultrashort pulses of light are used for numerous applications, but the quality of the results is limited by distortions caused by lenses and other optical components that are part of the experimental instrumentation. Researchers have developed a system that tells researchers what types of aberrations are present, which allows them to create the desired pulse at the focus that's free of distortions.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Abby Vogel
avogel@gatech.edu
404-385-3364
Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
Public Release: 8-May-2008
PLoS Genetics
New study shows how genes control blood proteins important to health
A new study shows how genes control levels of many blood proteins implicated in disease. The findings are the result of an international collaboration between scientists at the University of Exeter, the National Institute on Aging, and the Tuscany and Florence Health Agencies. Details, published May 9 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, determine how many of the key proteins within our blood are under genetic control, showing that diet and lifestyle are not the only factors influencing its makeup.
Contact: Mary Kohut
mkohut@plos.org
415-568-3457
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 8-May-2008
PLoS Computational Biology
New cost-effective means to reconstruct virus populations
Researchers from the United States and Switzerland have developed mathematical and statistical tools for reconstructing viral populations using pyrosequencing, a novel and effective technique for sequencing DNA. They describe their findings in an article published May 9 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology.
Contact: Evie Browne
ebrowne@plos.org
01-223-463-336
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 8-May-2008
International Journal of Management Practice
Programmed death boosts business
As credits crunch, recession bites and business struggle to stay primed, researchers in Spain suggest that a more surgical approach to management and business practice is needed if a company is to survive. Writing in the International Journal of Management Practice from Inderscience Publishers, the team explains how businesses could take a cue from nature to them restructure.
Contact: Fernando Fernández-González
fgfernando@msn.com
Inderscience Publishers
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Chilean volcano captured blasting ash
Chile's Chaiten Volcano is shown spewing ash and smoke (centre left of image) into the air for hundreds of km over Argentina's Patagonia Plateau in this Envisat image acquired on May 5, 2008.
Contact: Mariangela D'Acunto
mariangela.dacunto@esa.int
39-069-418-0856
European Space Agency
Public Release: 8-May-2008
IFAT 2008
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 average gas concentration value over a certain distance without influencing or distorting conditions in the measuring environment.
Contact: Tilo Arnhold
presse@ufz.de
49-341-235-1635
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Nature
Scientists identify key roadblock to gene expression
For the first time, research has made possible a detailed map of how the building blocks of chromosomes, the cellular structures that contain genes, are organized in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. The work identifies a critical stop sign for transcription, the first step in gene expression, and has implications for understanding how the AIDS virus regulates its genes.
National Institutes of Health, Penn State University
Contact: Barbara K. Kennedy
science@psu.edu
814-863-4682
Penn State
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Molecular Cell
Previously unseen switch regulates breast cancer response to estrogen
A tiny modification called methylation on estrogen receptors prolongs the life of these growth-driving molecules in breast cancer cells. Most breast cancers contain estrogen receptors, which enable them to grow in the presence of the hormone estrogen. Their presence can determine whether tumors will respond to the estrogen-blocking drug tamoxifen. The finding will help researchers sort out how mutations change the estrogen receptor's function and allow some breast cancers to resist tamoxifen.
National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society
Contact: Vince Dollard
vdollar@emory.edu
404-778-4580
Emory University
Public Release: 8-May-2008
PLoS Pathogens
Tomato stands firm in face of fungus
Scientists at the University of Amsterdam have discovered how to keep one's tomatoes from wilting -- the answer lies at the molecular level. The story of how the plant beat the pathogen, and what it means for combating other plant diseases, is published May 9 in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens.
Contact: Mary Kohut
mkohut@plos.org
415-568-3457
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Science
Virus mimics human protein to hijack cell division machinery
Viruses are masters of deception, duping their host's cells into helping them grow and spread. A new study has found that human cytomegalovirus can mimic a common regulatory protein to hijack normal cell growth machinery, disrupting a cell's primary anti-cancer mechanism.
National Institutes of Health, Wisconsin Partnership for a Healthy Future, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, American Heart Association
Contact: Robert Kalejta
rfkalejta@wisc.edu
608-265-5546
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Science
Surprising discovery: Multicellular response is 'all for one'
It has been widely assumed that, in single-celled organisms, each cell perceives its environment -- and responds to stress conditions -- individually. Likewise, it had been thought that cells in multicellular organisms respond the same way, but Northwestern University scientists discovered otherwise. In studies of the worm C. elegans, they found that authority is taken away from individual cells and given to two specialized neurons to sense temperature stress and organize an integrated molecular response for the entire organism.
NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH/National Institute on Aging, Huntington's Disease Society of America Coalition for the Cure, Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation
Contact: Megan Fellman
fellman@northwestern.edu
847-491-3115
Northwestern University
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Science
Justice in the brain: Equity and efficiency are encoded differently
Which is better, giving more food to a few hungry people or letting some food go to waste so that everyone gets a share? A study appearing this week in Science finds that most people choose the latter, and that the brain responds in unique ways to inefficiency and inequity.
Contact: Diana Yates
diya@uiuc.edu
217-333-5802
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Journal of Clinical Investigation
JCI online early table of contents: May 8, 2008
This release contains summaries, links to PDFs and contact information for the following newsworthy papers to be published online, May 8, 2008, in the JCI, including: How slow growth as a fetus can cause diabetes as an adult; New gene linked to sudden irregular heartbeats; It’s a fix: the protein p21Cip1 helps repair damaged blood vessels; Two receptors affecting blood pressure are inextricably linked; and others.
American Society for Clinical Investigation
Contact: Karen Honey
press_releases@the-jci.org
215-573-1850
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Journal of Clinical Investigation
How slow growth as a fetus can cause diabetes as an adult
Intrauterine growth retardation results in a baby having a low birth weight and has been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. It has been suggested that IUGR alters the expression of key genes during fetal development and that this affects disease susceptibility later in life. Evidence to support this hypothesis and indicating that the changes in gene expression are permanent has now been generated using a rat model of IUGR.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Karen Honey
press_releases@the-jci.org
215-573-1850
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Public Release: 8-May-2008
Journal of Clinical Investigation
Study offers novel insight into cardiac arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death
A new study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital provides much-needed insight into the molecular mechanisms that cause arrythmia, or irregular heartbeat, and how it triggers sudden cardiac death, one of the nation's leading killers.
Contact: Jessica Collins Grimes
jgrimes2@lifespan.org
401-432-1328
Lifespan
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