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 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:00:00 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 Data from a new study suggests that individuals who engage in compassion meditation may benefit by reductions in inflammatory and behavioral responses to stress that have been linked to depression and a number of medical illnesses. The study's findings are published online and in the medical journal Psychoneuroendocrinology. Charles L. Raison, MD, clinical director of the Mind-Body Program, Emory University's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is a lead author on the study. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/eu-cmm100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/eu-cmm100708.php As medicine undergoes rapid transformation, North American leaders in continuing medical education have joined together to transform CME itself. Their goal is to see that physicians have the best professional development resources available throughout their careers to translate new research into better patient care. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/mc-mcc100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/mc-mcc100708.php All US agencies with counterterrorism programs that collect or "mine" personal data -- such as phone, medical and travel records or Web sites visited -- should be required to systematically evaluate the programs' effectiveness, lawfulness, and impacts on privacy, says a new report from the National Research Council. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/naos-acp100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/naos-acp100708.php When a group is without a leader, you can often count on a narcissist to take charge, a new study suggests. Researchers found that people who score high in narcissism tend to take control of leaderless groups. Narcissism is a trait in which people are self-centered, exaggerate their talents and abilities and lack empathy for others. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/osu-npm100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/osu-npm100708.php Oncologists at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla are hoping to stave off the relentless march of advanced lung cancer by treating patients with a novel kind of cancer vaccine. While many vaccines attempt to pump up the immune system to fight off a cancer, the new vaccine, Lucanix, is genetically engineered to also trick the cancer into turning off its immune system-suppressing activities. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--nlc100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--nlc100708.php University of Utah researchers have developed a magnetic resonance imaging-based method for detecting and quantifying injury to the wall of the heart's left atrium in patients who have undergone a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. The results of the study are published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uouh-nia100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uouh-nia100708.php Based on results of a landmark study, researchers at Mayo Clinic's Florida campus see a future in which virtual biopsies will eliminate the need to remove colon polyps that are not cancerous or will not morph into the disease. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/mc-mce100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/mc-mce100708.php Ambitious government environmental objectives for the electricity sector are only possible at a high price. This is one of the conclusions of researcher Hans Rödel, who is to receive his Ph.D .at TU Delft in the Netherlands on Thursday, Oct. 9. He recommends a combination of different modern generation technologies, CO2 capture and storage, the use of biomass and the recycling of waste heat. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/duot-ess100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/duot-ess100708.php Researchers from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center in Providence, R.I. presented exciting new research today at the National Institute of Mental Health Annual International Research Conference on the Role of Families in Preventing and Adapting to HIV/AIDS. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/l-nro100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/l-nro100708.php The real world is three-dimensional. That's true even in the laboratory, where scientists have to grow cells to study how they develop and what happens when their growth is abnormal. More and more laboratories are seeking to develop three-dimensional cell culture systems that allow them to test their new techniques and drugs in a system that more closely mimics the way in which cells grow. However, a big sticking point is the cost of commercial media for growing such cultures. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bcom-ews100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bcom-ews100708.php The diagnosis of asthma in a young child may well be more challenging to pediatricians than previously appreciated, according to a review of research and clinical experience literature by Howard Eigen, M.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children appearing in the October 2008 issue of Clinical Pediatrics. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/iu-waa100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/iu-waa100708.php An atomic resolution view of an enzyme found only in the eye is providing clues about how the enzyme is activated. The enzyme, PDE6, is critical to the way light entering the retina is converted into signals to the brain. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uow-avs100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uow-avs100708.php Astronomers studying new images of a nearby galaxy cluster have found evidence that high-speed collisions between large elliptical galaxies may prevent new stars from forming, according to a paper to be published in a November 2008 issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/yu-ssf100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/yu-ssf100708.php Burnham Institute for Medical Research today announced that scientists have created a peptide that binds to Bcl-2, a protein that protects cancer cells from programmed cell death, and converts it into a cancer cell killer. The research, which was published as the featured article in the Oct. 7 edition of Cancer Cell, may lead to new cancer treatments. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bi-brt100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bi-brt100708.php Researchers have identified a gene variant that causes a potentially fatal human heart rhythm disorder called sinus node disease. While the newly discovered gene variant is rare, the study provides insight into cellular mechanisms that regulate sinus node function and identifies an unanticipated new pathway for developing future therapies to regulate more common forms of sinus node disease. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoi-spi100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoi-spi100708.php Scientists have identified one of the genes implicated in age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of blindness in developed countries. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wt-gfi100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wt-gfi100708.php When it comes to understanding the effectiveness and safety of using herbal therapies with other drugs, much is unknown. Now, a University of Missouri researcher will study how black cohosh -- an herbal supplement often used to relieve hot flashes in menopausal women -- interacts with tamoxifen, a common drug used to treat breast cancer. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-hmt100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-hmt100708.php The Stowers Institute's Rong Li Lab has characterized a mechanism that allows for asymmetrical cell division during meiosis in oocytes. By tracking chromosome movement in live mouse oocytes, the team discovered that chromosomes can recruit to their vicinity a protein called formin-2. This protein allows the oocyte to retain the majority of the cytoplasm -- a requirement for embryonic development after fertilization -- while the other daughter cell (called a polar body) resulting from the asymmetric division gets only a minimal amount and subsequently dies. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/sifm-rll100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/sifm-rll100708.php The Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications, in the celebration of its 20th anniversary, organized a meeting whit a group of international experts to discuss the environmental future of the planet on the Oct. 2-3. The work of both days is summarized in the Declaration of Barcelona 2008: Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uadb-bd2100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uadb-bd2100708.php Even occasional cigarette smoking can impair the functioning of your arteries, according to a new University of Georgia study that used ultrasound to measure how the arteries of young, healthy adults respond to changes in blood flow. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uog-seo100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uog-seo100708.php The 2008 ozone hole -- a thinning in the ozone layer over Antarctica -- is larger both in size and ozone loss than 2007 but is not as large as 2006. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/esa-2oh100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/esa-2oh100708.php This week undergraduate and graduate students in an advanced computer security course at Rice University in Houston are learning hands-on just how easy it is to wreak havoc on computer software used in today's voting machines. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ru-hsa100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ru-hsa100708.php Psychologists from the University of Toronto have developed a personality inventory that can predict who will excel in academic and creative domains, even when respondents are trying hard to fake their answers. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uot-uot100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uot-uot100708.php Human blood serum contains antibodies to tumor-associated Thomsen-Friedenreich and Tn antigens but their role in cancer protection remains unclear. The research group in Estonia performed the follow-up study of TF- and Tn-antibody level in cancer patients. Their results indicate that surgery raised the antibody level in most patients, especially with low-differentiated tumors and in early stage. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-wit100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-wit100708.php Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury is a serious complication and unavoidable problem in liver surgery. The most important consequence of this pathological process is multiple organ failure with a high mortality rate. Steroid therapy suppresses liver injury. A group from Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital investigated the protective effects of prednisolone on ischemia-induced liver injury. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-wcp100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-wcp100708.php They investigated the effects of ethanol on the IGF-I system with the involvement of JNK1/2 activity and ADH by using each chemical inhibitor in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. The results indicate that ethanol inducedp-JNK1/2 activation is associated with the IGF-I system and cell viability in hepatocytes. Furthermore, alcohol dehydrogenase is involved in the relationship between ethanol-induced inactivation of p-JNK1/2 and the changes of the IGF-I system and cell viability. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-wi100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-wi100708.php A team of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found a way to genetically enhance the scent of flowers and implant a scent in those that don't have one. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/thuo-sod100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/thuo-sod100708.php Microscopic colitis is a chronic diarrheal disease with normal colonoscopic but abnormal histopathologic features. It is a disease with two subtypes of similar clinical but different histological features: Lymphocytic colitis, which is characterized by pronounced colonic mucosal lymphocyte infiltration. Collagenous colitis, which is characterized by increased subepithelial collagenous band thickness. A group from Turkey investigated the prevalence and demography of microscopic colitis in patients with diarrhea of unknown etiology and normal colonoscopy in Turkey. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-aes100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wjog-aes100708.php A robot designed by the Industrial Systems Unit at Fatronik-Tecnalia for the Airbus aeronautics company has been chosen, amongst more than 100 enterprises worldwide, for competition in the prestigious international Strategic Manufacturing Awards 2008, in the category of Innovation. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ef-rdb100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ef-rdb100708.php Researchers at the University of Århus, Risø-DTU and the University of Copenhagen stand jointly behind new data, just published in Nature Materials, that describes properties of thermoelectric materials, which is of great importance for their practical application. In the long term the new knowledge can be used to develop motors that are more fuel-efficient and for more environmentally friendly cooling methods. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc-nka100708.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc-nka100708.php The National Institutes of Health has awarded $4 million to a group of Philippine and American scientists led by Oregon Health & Science University to aid in the discovery of new molecules and biofuels technology from marine mollusks for development in the Philippines. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ohs-ddb100608.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ohs-ddb100608.php Analysis of data from 38 studies that enrolled more than 2.7 million women -- the largest of its kind -- by researchers at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and the University of Santiago de Compostela reveals that regular use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is associated with a 12 per cent relative risk reduction in breast cancer compared to nonusers. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uobc-lro100608.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uobc-lro100608.php A simulated gastrointestinal system is helping scientists test contaminated soil for its potential to harm humans. The method is likely to save time and money for people hoping to repurpose land with an industrial past. Most testing for potential arsenic exposure is conducted in recognition of a dirty little secret of modern life: Humans unknowingly eat a little bit of soil each day. For children who might play on contaminated soil and ingest dirt, the testing is considered particularly important. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/osu-ssg100608.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/osu-ssg100608.php Health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society today released a report that lists 12 pathogens that could spread into new regions as a result of climate change, with potential impacts to both human and wildlife health and global economies. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wcs-dr100608.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wcs-dr100608.php Fatty foods may not be the healthiest diet choice, but those rich in unsaturated fats -- such as avocados, nuts and olive oil -- have been found to play a pivotal role in sending this important message to your brain: stop eating, you're full. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--uss100608.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--uss100608.php A protein that enables nerve cells to communicate with each other plays a key role in controlling the developing nervous system. Research into how that protein helps precise connections to form among nerve cells may provide a basis for eventual treatments for patients who suffer injuries to their nervous system, including spinal cord injury. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/chop-pst100608.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/chop-pst100608.php Australians with mental illness smoke at four times the rate of the general population, says a new study from the University of Melbourne. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-mis100508.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-mis100508.php A critical care specialist at Johns Hopkins who has reviewed recent studies of intensive care unit (ICU) patients and data from the Johns Hopkins Hospital concludes that the routine use of deep sedation and bed rest in ICU patients may be causing unnecessary and long-term physical impairment and poor quality of life after hospital discharge. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jhmi-gmj100308.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jhmi-gmj100308.php The drug tamoxifen does not prevent or treat estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, but it can make the disease easier to find, researchers report in the Oct. 1 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uotm-tct100308.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uotm-tct100308.php Intensive Care Unit doctors seeking to balance the complex needs of their patients and the patients' families may make an imperfect compromise, withdrawing life support systems over a prolonged period of time. This practice is much more common than previously believed, and is also surprisingly associated with higher satisfaction with care-at least among surviving family members. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ats-wol100308.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ats-wol100308.php About two-thirds of children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) -- snoring or obstructive sleep apnea -- have some degree of cognitive deficit, but the severity of the cognitive deficit has been notoriously difficult to correlate to the severity of the SDB, suggesting that other important issues may be at play, or that the right factors were simply not being measured. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ats-nlo100308.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ats-nlo100308.php Despite the long-held belief by many doctors that discussing end-of-life issues with patients increases the patients' emotional distress, such conversations can actually lead to improved quality of life -- both for patients and their loved ones, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers and colleagues have found. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/dci-shb100308.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/dci-shb100308.php An analysis of previous research indicates there is a lack of sufficient evidence that circumcision reduces the risk of human immunodeficiency virus infection or other sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men, according to an article in the Oct. 8 issue of JAMA. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-cna100208.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-cna100208.php Use of a class of medications for treating an enlarged prostate, known as 5-α reductase inhibitors, are not associated with an increased hip fracture risk, according to a study in the Oct. 8 issue of JAMA. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-uom100208.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-uom100208.php Terminally-ill patients who had end-of-life discussions with physicians were not more likely to experience emotional distress, received less aggressive medical care in their final week of life and had a better quality of life near death, compared to patients who did not have these discussions, according to a study in the Oct. 8 issue of JAMA. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-edw100208.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-edw100208.php A comparison of two diagnostic methods used to detect deep vein thrombosis (DVT; a blood clot in a deep vein in the leg or thigh) of the lower extremities indicates that a simpler method, with wider availability, has rates of DVT detection that are equivalent to a more complex method, according to a study in the Oct. 8 issue of JAMA. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-sdm100208.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jaaj-sdm100208.php Also in the Oct. 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute are a proposed study design aimed at improving biomarker development, a meta-analysis examining the association between nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use and breast cancer, an animal study that deciphers the role of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in malignant pleural effusion, and a study of the risk factors associated with male breast cancer. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jotn-ait100208.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jotn-ait100208.php Women at elevated risk of breast cancer who had been randomly assigned to tamoxifen treatment and then developed estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer were diagnosed earlier than women who had been randomly assigned to take a placebo and then developed ER-negative disease, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jotn-tca100208.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jotn-tca100208.php Older and younger patients with renal cancer derive similar benefit from sorafenib therapy and tolerate the drug equally well, according to a study published online Oct. 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jotn-orc100208.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jotn-orc100208.php The following articles are featured in the Oct. 8 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience: "SAP97 and Dendritic Branching"; "Endocytosis-Related Proteins in Neuronal Polarity"; "Security at the Calyx of Held" and "Subtype Specificity of an Allosteric mAChR Agonist." http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/sfn-ntf100108.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/sfn-ntf100108.php Moderate consumption of red wine may decrease the risk of lung cancer in men, according to a report in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/aafc-rwm100108.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/aafc-rwm100108.php By killing off "angry" immune cells that take up residence in obese fat and muscle tissue, researchers have shown that they can rapidly reverse insulin resistance in obese mice. The findings suggest that treatments aimed at specific subsets of the so-called macrophage cells might offer a very effective new anti-diabetic therapy, according to the researchers. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cp-ki093008.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cp-ki093008.php A fatty acid found in abundance in olive oil and other "healthy" unsaturated fats has yet another benefit: it helps keep the body satisfied to prolong the time between meals. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cp-ooi093008.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cp-ooi093008.php Temple University researchers are trying to pinpoint the factors that affect how much food a child eats, to stave off unhealthy relationships with food later in life. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tu-hac092608.php Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tu-hac092608.php Results presented at 2008 Joint Annual Meeting argue in favor of a "sick earth" mechanism for most extinctions, rather than external event like asteroid strike http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uosc-eba100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uosc-eba100608.php Infants born more than one week past their due dates have a higher risk of both impaired health and death, according to two new studies by authors from the University of California's San Francisco and Berkeley campuses. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--ppr100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--ppr100608.php NASA's Cassini spacecraft is scheduled to fly within 16 miles of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Oct. 9 and measure molecules in its space environment that could give insight into the history of the solar system. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-cfo100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-cfo100608.php A young child arrives at the emergency room after several days of abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea and is sent home with a diagnosis of viral gastritis and treatment for the symptoms. The child seems better for a while, only to return to the ER with worse symptoms and a ruptured appendix, a life-threatening complication of appendicitis. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jhmi-hce100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jhmi-hce100608.php A new NASA study shows that the rising frequency and intensity of arctic storms over the last half century, attributed to progressively warmer waters, directly provoked acceleration of the rate of arctic sea ice drift, long considered by scientists as a bellwether of climate change. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/nsfc-nsf100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/nsfc-nsf100608.php In the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, two articles authored by Mayo researchers address the issue of how to balance the risks and benefits associated with Multiple myeloma treatments. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/mc-mre100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/mc-mre100608.php This one's for the birds. A study by biologists at Washington University in St. Louis shows that the more diverse a bird population is in an area, the less chance humans have of exposure to West Nile Virus. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wuis-sbd100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wuis-sbd100608.php A research study funded by JDRF suggests that a common intestinal bacteria may provide some protection from developing type 1 diabetes. The findings provide an important step towards understanding how and why type 1 diabetes develops in people, and may lead to potential cures. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jdrf-jfs100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/jdrf-jfs100608.php An NIH team led by Drs. Francis Collins and Elizabeth Nabel finds an anti-cancer drug can reverse cardiovascular disase in mice with progeria. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/nhgr-adp100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/nhgr-adp100608.php The chemical and biological aspects of cellular self-organization are well-studied; less well understood is how cell populations order themselves biomechanically -- how their behavior and communication are affected by high density and physical proximity. Bioengineers and physicists at the University of California, San Diego, in a paper published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have begun to address these fundamental questions. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--usd100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--usd100608.php Scientists have found lichens can give insight into nitrogen air pollution effects on Sierra Nevada and San Bernardino mountain ecosystems, and protecting them provides safeguards for less sensitive species. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ufsp-lfa100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/ufsp-lfa100608.php There is often a lack of adequate communication between health care providers and those facing terminal conditions, according to a series of articles in the latest issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences (Vol. 63, No. 3). http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tgso-unc100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tgso-unc100608.php A screening program for colon cancer in patients starting ten years prior to Medicare eligibility, at age 55 instead of Medicare's 65, would save at least two dollars for every dollar spent, according to a new study presented at the American College of Gastroenterology's 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/acog-csb100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/acog-csb100608.php The Global Mammal Assessment project results announced todayat the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain, include at least seven Texas species on the globally threatened list.The species of mammals from Texas that are classified as under some level of threat are commonly known as Mexican long-tongued bat, Mexican long-nosed bat, Myotis sodalis, robust cottontail, desert pocket gopher, Texas kangaroo rat, and banner-tailed kangaroo rat. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tau--stm100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tau--stm100608.php A new study reveals that the general appearance of a neighborhood is the single most important factor affecting how satisfied residents are about the area where they live. But beyond general appearance, people living in different neighborhoods may be looking at distinct factors when making their overall evaluations. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/osu-spd100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/osu-spd100608.php The first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. The two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/nsfc-nsr100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/nsfc-nsr100608.php HHMI researchers have devised an ingenious way to the scan fetal DNA present in the mother's blood to determine whether the fetus' cells contain extra chromosomes associated with several types of severe birth detects, including Down syndrome. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/hhmi-nbt100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/hhmi-nbt100608.php Most glaciers in every mountain range and island group in Alaska are experiencing significant retreat, thinning or stagnation, especially glaciers at lower elevations, according to USGS research. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/usgs-mag100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/usgs-mag100608.php Researchers at Boston University are developing a new generation of wireless communications based on visible light instead of radio waves. This capability would piggyback data communications capabilities on low-power light emitting diodes or LEDs to create "smart lighting." This technology would also be more secure and faster than current network technology -- all over existing power lines with low power consumption, high reliability and no electromagnetic interference. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bu-bup100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bu-bup100608.php What does a mixture of two different kinds of cells have in common with a mixture of oil and water? The same basic force causes both mixtures to separate into two distinct regions. That is the conclusion of a new 3-D computer model of the cell sorting process produced by researchers at Vanderbilt University and at the University of Waterloo. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/vu-std100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/vu-std100608.php Using precise microscopes, University of Missouri researchers are dissecting coronary microvessels and testing which proteins are responsible for inflammation that causes blood-vessel dysfunction. By identifying the proteins that play important roles in blood-vessel dysfunction, they hope to develop new treatments for blood-vessel dysfunction in people with type 2 diabetes. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-pii100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-pii100608.php New research by the University of Warwick reveals that many credit card customers become fixated on the level of minimum payments given on credit card bills. The mere presence of a minimum payment is enough to reduce the actual amount many people choose to pay on their bills, leading to further interest payments. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uow-rfc100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uow-rfc100608.php A research team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is clarifying a previously unappreciated way that cellular processes are disrupted in cancer. Following upon previous work showing that a splicing factor called SF2/ASF can induce tumors in cell cultures, the team now shows that the same splicing factor induces changes in proteins in a pathway called PI3K-mTOR well known for its involvement in cancers. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cshl-csh100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cshl-csh100608.php Michigan State University plant scientists have discovered another piece of the genetic puzzle that controls how plants respond to high temperatures. That may allow plant breeders to create new varieties of crops that flourish in warmer, drier climates. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/msu-msf100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/msu-msf100608.php Girls who don't share a common language may have more difficulty adjusting socially than boys, according to surprising new Michigan State University research looking at language acquisition among young children. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/msu-msg100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/msu-msg100608.php Combined results from two Phase 3 studies presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando, Fla., demonstrated that TAK-390MR resulted in higher healing rates than lansoprazole among patients with more severe grades of erosive esophagitis. TAK-390MR combines dexlansoprazole with a Dual Delayed Release formulation, designed to provide two separate releases of drug for extended duration of acid suppression. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wp-tip100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wp-tip100608.php Leave it to hypothesized gravity to weigh down what physicists have thought for 30 years. If theoretical physicists, led by the University of Oregon's Stephen Hsu, are right, the idea that nature's forces merge under grand unification has grown fuzzy. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoo-fot100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoo-fot100608.php Several mamalogists at Chicago's Field Museum participated in the IUCN survey of the world's mammals, using the Museum's extensive mammal collections for reference. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/fm-fmp100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/fm-fmp100608.php Researchers at Wake Forest University are using nanotechnology to search for new cancer-fighting drugs through a process that could be up to 10,000 times faster than current methods. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wfu-nsp100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/wfu-nsp100608.php A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, suggests that use of oral vitamin D supplements bolsters production of a protective chemical normally found in the skin, and may help prevent skin infections that are a common result of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--ovd100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoc--ovd100608.php Investing in Canada's public health system is the best way to improve it, rather than privatization, writes Dr. Marcia Angell, a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cmaj-pch100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/cmaj-pch100608.php An international team of researchers, probing how a yeast cell senses its cellular environment and makes decisions about whether or not to express a gene, finds the process of transcribing noncoding RNAs is required for the eventual production of the protein-encoding RNA. The transient synthesis of these noncoding RNAs serves to unfurl the tightly wound DNA, essentially loosening the structure to allow for gene expression. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bc-egt100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/bc-egt100608.php Researchers have found, in a previously identified gene, a variation that likely contributes to one in five cases of isolated cleft lip. It's the first time a genetic variant has been associated with cleft lip alone, rather than both cleft lip and palate. The study provides insight on a previously unknown genetic mechanism and could eventually help with diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cleft lip, which affects more than five million people worldwide. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoi-sfg100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uoi-sfg100608.php Researchers have discovered what promises to be the on-off switch behind several major diseases. In today's Nature Medicine, scientists from Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, the Université de Montréal and the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale in France report how the GPR91 receptor contributes to activate unchecked vascular growth that causes vision loss in common blinding diseases. These findings could also have wide-ranging and positive implications for brain tissue regeneration. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-rch100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uom-rch100608.php Researchers have developed a low-cost, high-resolution imaging system that can be attached to a helicopter to create a complete and detailed picture of an area devastated by a hurricane or other natural disaster. The resulting visual information can be used to estimate the number of storm refugees and assess the need for health and humanitarian services. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/giot-pis100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/giot-pis100608.php A special supplement of the Oct. 15 journal Cancer for the first time details guidelines for low- and middle-income countries to implement breast cancer programs to detect and treat the most common disease among women worldwide."Guidelines for International Breast Health and Cancer Control -- Implementation" developed by the Breast Health Global Initiative outlines a tiered system of resource allocation -- based on countries' overall economic status and availability of resources -- toward early detection, diagnosis, treatment and developing an overall breast health program. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/fhcr-iob100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/fhcr-iob100608.php With the US Supreme Court due to review a series of lower court rulings that restrict the Navy's use of sonar in submarine detection training exercises off the coast of Southern California, George Mason University professor Chris Parsons discusses the links between mass strandings and military exercises worldwide in a paper published by the Marine Pollution Bulletin. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/gmu-ups100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/gmu-ups100608.php A multi-institutional study led by researchers at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has found that using chemotherapy alone and delaying or avoiding cranial radiation altogether can be effective in treating pediatric patients with unresectable or progressive low-grade glioma. The study was presented Sunday at the 40th Annual International Society of Pediatric Oncology Meeting in Berlin, Germany. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uotm-psf100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uotm-psf100608.php Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered that the EBNA1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus disrupts structures in the nucleus of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, thereby interfering with cellular processes that normally prevent cancer development. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uot-uot100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uot-uot100608.php A Brazilian palm berry, popular health food though little research has been done on it, now may have its purported benefits better understood.In the first research involving people, the acai berry has proven its ability to be absorbed in the human body when consumed both as juice and pulp. That finding, by a team of Texas AgriLife Research scientists, was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tau--rsb100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/tau--rsb100608.php During October and November 2008, some 150 scientists from 40 institutions in eight nations -- including scientists from the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory -- will take part in an international field experiment designed to make observations of critical components of the climate system of the southeastern Pacific. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/dnl-bst100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/dnl-bst100608.php An international team of researchers from the William Harvey Research Institute at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry with Chris Cheeseman at the University of Alberta in Canada and Kelle Moley at the University of Washington in the US, have shown that the SLC2A9 gene, which encodes a glucose transporter, is also a high-capacity urate transporter, and thus possibly a new drug target for gout. Their findings are published in this week's PLoS Medicine. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/qmuo-rdt100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/qmuo-rdt100608.php A study of 236 pregnant women has found that listening to relaxing music for just 30 minutes a day can significantly reduce psychological stress during pregnancy. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/w-sms100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/w-sms100608.php One of the smallest seals -- the Caspian -- has joined a growing list of mammal species in danger of extinction. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uol-flb100608.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uol-flb100608.php A study released at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Orlando found that a new therapeutic treatment, when delivered endoscopically and used in combination with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, improved survival rates in patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. Cancer of the esophagus often has a poor survival rate. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/acog-ntt100508.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/acog-ntt100508.php Could there be a link between high levels of air pollution and the risk of appendicitis? New research presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Orlando, suggests a novel connection. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/acog-apm100508.php Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/acog-apm100508.php