The premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. http://www.eurekalert.org en-us Copyright 2008 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fri, 09 May 2008 15:21:01 EDT EurekAlert! http://www.eurekalert.org/images/logo.gif http://www.eurekalert.org The premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 20 webmaster@eurekalert.org Designer labels have a lot of cachet, a principle that's equally true in fashion and physics. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nsf-dip050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nsf-dip050908.php Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have discovered how an antibiotic works to modulate the activity of a neurotransmitter that regulates brain functions, which eventually could lead to therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, epilepsy, stroke, dementia and malignant gliomas. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/vcu-rum050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/vcu-rum050908.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nch-ssr050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nch-ssr050908.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dlnl-ntd050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dlnl-ntd050908.php Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis working with diabetic mice have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells long thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes. They caught the immune cells, known as dendritic cells, "red-handed": they were carrying insulin and fragments of insulin-producing cells known as beta cells. This can be the first step in a misdirected immune system attack that destroys the beta cells, causing diabetes. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/wuso-sco050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/wuso-sco050908.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/esa-sea050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/esa-sea050908.php New evidence, more questions. That's the thumbnail of the first new data reported in 10 years from Monte Verde, the earliest known human settlement in the Americas. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nsf-abm050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nsf-abm050908.php New research on the Antennae Galaxies using the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows that this benchmark pair of interacting galaxies is in fact much closer than previously thought -- 45 million light-years instead of 65 million light-years. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/eic-tag050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/eic-tag050908.php In companies that are slated to be shut down, productivity increases during the phase-out period itself. When management is busy dealing with matters other than daily operations, employees shoulder a greater responsibility for their work -- and efficiency is enhanced. According to business economist Magnus Hansson at Örebro University in Sweden, this shows that it is possible to boost productivity considerably without investing. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/src-prw050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/src-prw050908.php The University of Leicester is leading on a national study to calculate the number of adults with autism, it has been announced today. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uol-uol050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uol-uol050908.php Although the range of uses has broadened, Internet remains primarily an information and communication resource: 88 percent use e-mail while 82 percent access the web to search for information. Entertainment use is likewise on the increase, as evidenced by the number of users who download music (53 percent) or films and videos (44 percent) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/fb-sbf050908.php Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/fb-sbf050908.php As controversy swirls about proper clinical use of opioids and other potent pain medications, research reported at the American Pain Society annual meeting shows that, contrary to widespread beliefs, less than 3 percent of patients with no history of drug abuse who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain will show signs of possible drug abuse or dependence. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/aps-rfp050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/aps-rfp050808.php For low-back pain patients and their doctors, the American Pain Society said today it is expanding its evidence-based, clinical practice guideline on diagnosis and treatment of chronic low back pain to include recommendations on surgery and other interventional treatments. The expanded guideline was previewed today in a symposium at the APS Annual Scientific Meeting. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/aps-aps050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/aps-aps050808.php Investigations continue into the cause of a mysterious illness that has killed thousands of bats since March 2008. At more than 25 caves and mines in the northeastern US, bats exhibiting a condition now referred to as "white-nosed syndrome" have been dying. The US Geological Survey recently issued a Wildlife Health Bulletin, advising wildlife and officials throughout the US to lookout for the condition known as "white-nose syndrome" and to report suspected cases of the disease. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/usgs-dbi050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/usgs-dbi050808.php Designer labels have a lot of cachet -- a principle that's equally true in fashion and physics. The future of nuclear physics is in designer isotopes -- the relatively new power scientists have to make specific rare isotopes to solve scientific problems and open doors to new technologies, according to Bradley Sherrill, a University Distinguished Professor of physics and associate director for research at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/msu-mih050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/msu-mih050808.php Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/cums-sfl050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/cums-sfl050808.php A new method of magnetic resonance imaging, much faster, more selective -- able to distinguish even among different target molecular species -- and many thousands of times more sensitive, has been developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley. The new technique has the capacity to choose among targets by slight adjustments in temperature. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dbnl-wuf050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dbnl-wuf050808.php Applied scientists at Harvard University in collaboration with researchers from the German universities of Jena, Gottingen, and Bremen, have developed a new technique for fabricating nanowire photonic and electronic integrated circuits that may one day be suitable for high-volume commercial production. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/hu-sdm050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/hu-sdm050808.php When it comes to using distiller's grains in finishing rations of High Plains cattle, a Texas AgriLife Research scientist says the type of grain used makes all the difference.Dr. Jim MacDonald, AgriLife Research beef nutritionist at Amarillo, said there's been some skepticism about using distiller's grains in this region. Distiller's grains are a by-product of ethanol processing that can be used for animal feed. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/tau--fma050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/tau--fma050808.php Noting that many physicians across the country who lead small practices are at a business breaking point, David M. Dale, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians testified today before the House Small Business Committee. Dr. Dale emphasized that practices are medicine's small businesses, where much of their revenue is tied directly to Medicare's flawed reimbursement rates and formulas. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/acop-asm050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/acop-asm050808.php Now that the genome of humans and many other organisms have been sequenced, biologists are turning their attention to discovering how the many thousands of structural and control genes -- the "worker bees" of living cells that can turn genes on and off -- function. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/fsu-mlr050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/fsu-mlr050808.php The pigment-binding protein CP29, one of the "minor" light-harvesting proteins in green plants, has been identified as a valve that permits or blocks the critical release of excess solar energy during photosynthesis. Furthermore, it has been proposed that the opening and closing of this valve can be controlled by raising or lowering ambient pH levels. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dbnl-bri050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dbnl-bri050808.php Explanation on why injury to joint cartilage escalates the risk of developing of osteoarthritis. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-sim050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-sim050808.php Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that strikes children between the ages of newborn to 16 years. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-sae050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-sae050808.php Obesity is a leading risk factor for osteoarthritis, a painful and disabling joint disease. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-opf050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-opf050808.php A common, incurable joint disease, osteoarthritis is the leading cause of disability in elderly people. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-cum050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-cum050808.php Many important electronic devices used by people today would be impossible without the use of ceramics. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-mch050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-mch050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/cshl-csa050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/cshl-csa050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-bmm050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-bmm050808.php 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 drug darapladib may offer a way to fight that risk, according to new research led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uops-wsa050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uops-wsa050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pu-wbl050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pu-wbl050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ifor-fpb050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ifor-fpb050808.php Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered that mice lacking an enzyme that contributes to Alzheimer disease exhibit a number of schizophrenia-like behaviors. The finding raises the possibility that this enzyme may participate in the development of schizophrenia and related psychiatric disorders and therefore may provide a new target for developing therapies. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/jhmi-hrd050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/jhmi-hrd050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uow-cgh050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uow-cgh050808.php People with diagnosed diabetes are nearly twice as likely to have arthritis, and the inactivity caused by arthritis hinders the successful management of both diseases, according to a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is one of the first studies of its kind to look at the relationship between arthritis and diabetes and the outcomes associated with physical activity. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/af-nra050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/af-nra050808.php Shire today presented the results of a phase III pivotal study in which VYVANSE demonstrated significant improvements in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms in adults and met all safety and efficacy endpoints. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pn-pip050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pn-pip050808.php Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, new research concludes. The study can help scientists improve computer models and determine if Earth's southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica's potential impact on global sea-level rise. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ncfa-ni7050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ncfa-ni7050808.php The first national study of Asians living in the United States shows that for some individuals, strong ties to their ethnicity can guard against the negative effects of racism. For others, strong ties to ethnicity can actually make the negative effects of discrimination worse. And the mental health effects of such discrimination may shift over a lifetime as Asian-Americans continue to examine their ethnic ties, say researchers. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/apa-rdh050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/apa-rdh050808.php The newest version of the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation model from the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory will provide researchers with even more tools to evaluate and compare the environmental impacts of new transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dnl-ngm050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/dnl-ngm050808.php Radiologists can, with confidence, recommend a six-month follow-up diagnostic mammogram rather than an immediate biopsy for patients with "probably benign" breast lesions, a new study emphasizes. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/arrs-sfd050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/arrs-sfd050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/haog-ngs050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/haog-ngs050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoo-ncg050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoo-ncg050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-msp050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-msp050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ps-sik050708.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ps-sik050708.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/giot-ntm050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/giot-ntm050808.php Infection with human immunodeficiency virus, which leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is an epidemic of global concern. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/e-dae050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/e-dae050808.php 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 the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asop-sfd050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asop-sfd050808.php Wouldn't it be nice if our doctors could predict accurately whether we would respond to a particular medication? http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/e-iat050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/e-iat050808.php How does light pass through a tiny hole? For the first time, Dr. Aurele Adam and Professor Paul Planken of Delft University of Technology have succeeded in mapping this process properly. Their research also promises a significant improvement in Terahertz microscopy in the long term, a potentially interesting new imaging technique, and Terahertz microspectroscopy, a technique for identifying tiny quantities of substances using light. Their findings are published in this week's Optics Express. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/duot-tdd050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/duot-tdd050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/plos-ncm050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/plos-ncm050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/plos-nss050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/plos-nss050808.php Researchers investigated whether yield, weed suppression, and profit characteristics of low-external-input farming systems could match or exceed those of conventional farming systems. Yields and profits were similar or higher in the LEI systems as in the conventional system, and lower herbicide inputs did not lead to increased weed problems. The results suggest that large reductions in agrichemical use can be compatible with high crop yields and profits. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asoa-kyp050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asoa-kyp050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/esa-cvc050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/esa-cvc050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ip-pdb050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ip-pdb050808.php A number of elite tombs from Ancient Egypt are now accessible to all thanks to the launch of the Mastabase. The Mastabase is a CD-ROM containing descriptions and hieroglyphic inscriptions of scenes of daily life from 337 Mastaba tombs. This resource will make research into these elite tombs a lot easier. On May 13, 2008, Dutch Egyptologist René van Walsem will officially present the MastaBase in Leiden. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nofs-eet050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nofs-eet050808.php An increasing number of mayors in Guatemala are of Indian origin. Dutch researcher Elisabet Rasch went to find out what this development means and discovered that there is much more to building a multicultural democracy than electing Indian mayors and presidents. This is due to the enormous range of interpretations of identity: there is no such thing as "the" Indian. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nofs-tin050808.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nofs-tin050808.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/eu-pus050708.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/eu-pus050708.php Teenagers and young adults across Europe drink and take drugs as part of deliberate sexual strategies. Findings published today in BioMed Central's open access journal, BMC Public Health, reveal that a third of 16-35 year old males and a quarter of females surveyed are drinking alcohol to increase their chances of sex, while cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis are intentionally used to enhance sexual arousal or prolong sex. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/bc-ypa050708.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/bc-ypa050708.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/plos-tsf050708.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/plos-tsf050708.php Young women would accept age-based screening for the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia, but would want this test to be offered to everyone, rather than to people "singled out" according to their sexual history. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/bc-tts050708.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/bc-tts050708.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uow-vms050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uow-vms050608.php According to a new policy analysis led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of California, Berkeley, the most common HIV prevention strategies -- condom promotion, HIV testing, treatment of other sexually transmitted infections, vaccine and microbicide research, and abstinence -- are having a limited impact on the predominantly heterosexual epidemics found in Africa. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/hsop-msi050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/hsop-msi050608.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nu-sdm050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nu-sdm050608.php Therapist-assisted walking rehabilitation showed greater improvements in walking ability in ambulatory stroke survivors compared to robotic-assisted therapy. Post-stroke patients in both groups improved their walking ability, but the amount of improvement in the physical therapist-assisted group was greater. Robotic devices may be best reserved for acute stroke patients who have no ability to walk on their own. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/aha-ssw050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/aha-ssw050608.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoia-jit050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoia-jit050608.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/joci-joe050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/joci-joe050608.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/joci-hsg050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/joci-hsg050608.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/l-son050608.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/l-son050608.php 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/vu-nef050208.php Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/vu-nef050208.php Depressed people may have far fewer of the receptors for some of the brain's "feel good" stress-response chemicals than non-depressed people, new research shows. And even among depressed people, the numbers of these receptors can vary greatly -- and may be linked with the severity of their symptoms and response to treatment. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uomh-ddb050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uomh-ddb050708.php RapidArc is the next-generation of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) offering radiation delivery up to eight times faster than conventional IMRT. The first US patient to be given the new therapy is an Alabama man with early-stage prostate cancer whose treatment started May 6. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoaa-ufi050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoaa-ufi050708.php Telehealth, using telecommunication technology to deliver health care, is increasingly being used to improve the delivery and availability of health care services to patients. A University of Missouri researcher found that patients who received a telehealth intervention from care providers had significantly delayed hospital readmission rates when compared to patients who received traditional care. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-pwc050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-pwc050708.php Anti-obesity drugs that work by blocking brain molecules similar to those in marijuana could also interfere with neural development in young children, according to a new study from MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/miot-mss050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/miot-mss050708.php Shire today announced findings from new data analysis that was conducted to examine treatment differences with DAYTRANA (methylphenidate transdermal system) between boys and girls 6 to 12 years with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The findings from the analysis reaffirmed that DAYTRANA has an established safety profile and effectively controlled ADHD symptoms in both boys and girls for the duration of the study. Results presented today at a national scientific medical meeting in Washington, D.C. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pn-nas050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pn-nas050708.php Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company,presented today at a major scientific meeting findings from analyses ofpivotal trial results of an investigational once-daily medication, INTUNIV (guanfacine extended release), a selective alpha-2A-agonist. The data demonstrated that INTUNIV showed significant efficacy in reducing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms for patients taking the medication when compared to patients taking placebo at all measured time points up to 24 hours postdose. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pn-sin050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/pn-sin050708.php Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uonc-tmo050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uonc-tmo050708.php Add university research to the long list of human activities contributing to global warming. Hervé Philippe, a Université de Montréal professor of biochemistry, is a committed environmentalist who found that his own research produces 44 tons of CO2 per year. The average American citizen produces 20 tons. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-urc050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-urc050708.php Graduating senior Jeffery Martin has put his basic knowledge of sugars to exceptional use by creating a lab-on-a-chip device that builds complex, highly specialized sugar molecules, mimicking one of the most important cellular structures in the human body -- the Golgi Apparatus. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/rpi-uhs050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/rpi-uhs050708.php Can speaking another language slow the aging process in the mind? http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/afot-tau050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/afot-tau050708.php The curious discovery of the duck-billed, egg-laying, otter-footed, beaver-tailed, venomous platypus in Australia in 1798 convinced British scientists that it must be a hoax. Sketches of its appearance were thought to be impossible. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nsf-pgd050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nsf-pgd050708.php Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, new research concludes. The study can help scientists improve computer models and determine if Earth's southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica's potential impact on global sea-level rise. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ncfa-cmo050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ncfa-cmo050708.php Color Doppler ultrasound, not CT, should be the first imaging examination for adult patients with suspected acute appendicitis, a new study emphasizes. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/arrs-ufn050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/arrs-ufn050708.php In 2000, the widely used pesticide methy bromide was classified as an ozone-depleting substance, and in 2005 MB was banned in the United States and all European Union countries. In response to the need for safe and effective alternatives to methyl bromide, researchers at the Instituto Tecnologico Agrario de Castilla y Leon in Valladolid, Spain, undertook a 3-year project to study new methods of weed control in strawberry nurseries. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asfh-ato050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asfh-ato050708.php St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators 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 genetic mutation or overdose of drugs such as aspirin. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/sjcr-sjf050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/sjcr-sjf050708.php Staff at University of Minnesota Extension have published results of a survey that concludes that the majority of backyard gardeners get their planting and plant information informally -- most often from friends, neighbors and local garden centers. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asfh-otb050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asfh-otb050708.php For children of divorce, what happens after their parents split up may be just as important to their long-term well-being as the divorce itself. A new study found that children who lived in unstable family situations after their parents divorced fared much worse as adults on a variety of measures compared to children who had stable post-divorce family situations. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/osu-ads050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/osu-ads050708.php Scientists who compared recorded Antarctic temperatures and snowfall accumulation to predictions by major computer models of global climate change offer both good and bad news. The models' predictions covering the last 50 years broadly follow the actual observed temperatures and snowfall for the southernmost continent, although the observations are very variable. That's the good news. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/osu-gcm050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/osu-gcm050708.php As the popularity of sunflowers grows among commercial growers and everyday gardeners, scientists are looking for new supplements and growing methods to enhance production and quality of this celebrated annual. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asfh-seo050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/asfh-seo050708.php For the first time, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified genetic components of dendritic cells that are key to asthma and allergy-related immune response malfunction. Targeting these elements could result in more effective drugs to treat respiratory disorders. While dendritic cells are vital to immune response, the Pittsburgh study goes further to describe a pathway that allergens use to act directly on dendritic cells to initiate the allergic cascade. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uops-isp050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uops-isp050708.php High gasoline prices could lead to a dramatic saving in US greenhouse-gas emissions. Two new studies of US car sales show that high fuel prices are turning consumers off SUVs and onto smaller, fuel-efficient cars. Meanwhile an economist is predicting that the fuel costs will also lead to car owners driving less to save money. Both these changes in consumer behavior could result in a huge drop in the country's carbon emissions. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ns-hfp050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ns-hfp050708.php Decades after most countries stopped using the insecticide DDT, frozen stores of the chemical are now dripping out of melting Antarctic glaciers -- and into penguins. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ns-pet050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/ns-pet050708.php Retinas in newborn mice appear perfectly fine without any help from tiny bits of genetic material called microRNAs except for one thing -- the retinas do not work. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uof-mae050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uof-mae050708.php New scientific evidence suggests that deep inside the planet Mercury, iron "snow" forms and falls toward the center of the planet, much like snowflakes form in Earth's atmosphere and fall to the ground. The movement of this iron snow could be responsible for Mercury's mysterious magnetic field. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoia-ih050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoia-ih050708.php Obesity may increase adults' risk for having dementia, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Their analysis of published obesity and dementia prospective follow-up studies over the past two decades shows a consistent relationship between the two diseases. The results are published by the International Association for the Study of Obesity in the May 2008 issue of Obesity Reviews. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/jhub-olt050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/jhub-olt050708.php By surveying the activity of thousands of genes at several different time points, researchers at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy 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. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/du-gt050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/du-gt050708.php Research led by Iowa State University limnologist John Downing finds that ponds around the globe could absorb as much carbon as the world's oceans. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/isu-pft050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/isu-pft050708.php Matthias Beller and his team at the Leibniz Institute of Catalysis in Rostock have succeeded in the controlled extraction of hydrogen from formic acid without the need for a high-temperature reforming process. This room-temperature hydrogen source can be directly introduced into fuel cells. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-pff050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/w-pff050708.php 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. The Swedish researcher Joel Petersson has described the process, which also means that antibacterial mouthwashes can be harmful for the stomach. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uu-niv050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uu-niv050708.php Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society found that the black bears that become habituated to human food and garbage may not be learning these behaviors exclusively from their mothers, as widely assumed. Bears that steal human food sources are just as likely to form these habits on their own or pick them up from unrelated, "bad influence" bears. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/wcs-wbs050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/wcs-wbs050708.php Scientists at the University of Konstanz in Germany and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have demonstrated an ultrafast laser that offers a record combination of high speed, short pulses and high average power and that could boost the sensitivity of astronomical tools searching for other Earthlike planets as much as 100 fold. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nios-rlm050708.php Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/nios-rlm050708.php