- 01-05-2008 - Top Science News Stories from Firstscience.com

UM gets only US lab for WiMAX next generation wireless apps
1 May 2008
COLLEGE, Md. -- The University of Maryland will be the home to North America's first, and the world's second, laboratory endorsed by the WiMAX Forum and dedicated to creating applications for WiMAX, a next generation technology for Web and...

Iowa State-ConocoPhillips collaboration advances 26 research projects in first year
1 May 2008
Robert Horton, a Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture at Iowa State University, is part of an eight-year, $22.5 million research program supported by ConocoPhillips. Horton is one of... Click here for more...

Oxygen depletion: A new form of ocean habitat loss
1 May 2008
Scientists confirm computer model predictions that oxygen-depleted zones in tropical oceans are expanding, possibly because of climate change Janet Sprintall (standing, fourth from left) aboard an April 2007 CLIVAR cruise aboard...

Scripps Oceanography Research pegs ID of red tide killer
1 May 2008
Bacteria gang up on algae, quashing red tide blooms A cell of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum. Click here for more information. Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have...

National Inventors Hall of Fame welcomes 2008 inductees
1 May 2008
Inventors of Bose audio technologies, the LED, wrinkle-free cotton among those recognized Akron, OH (May 1, 2008) — On May 2 & 3, 2008, the National Inventors Hall of Fame welcomes its 36th class of inductees. Receiving the honor for...

Environmental fate of nanoparticles depends on properties of water carrying them
1 May 2008
Nanomaterials in the environment Laboratory equipment used to study the transport and retention of C60 nanoparticles in water. Click here for more information. The fate of carbon-based nanoparticles spilled into...

Healthy lifestyles become a political affair
1 May 2008
EuroAspire and EuroAction results to be presented Heart disease is the number one killer in Europe, taking over 2 million lives every year1, yet it is a preventable condition. Some segments of the population such as women and young athletes are...

Study raises questions about prostate cancer therapies targeting IGF-1
1 May 2008
SEATTLE – Therapies under development to treat prostate cancer by inhibiting the ability of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) to activate its target receptor could have unexpected results especially if a major tumor suppressor gene...

Rutgers research partner Stemcyte, Inc., expands to New Jersey
1 May 2008
Collaborative research environment triggers move of umbilical cord stem cell company NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Officials from Rutgers University and state government today welcomed StemCyte, Inc., to the Garden State. One of the factors in...

Stanford researchers synthesize compound to flush HIV out of hiding
1 May 2008
...out of hiding and into the crosshairs Any hunter will tell you that when your quarry goes into hiding, you have to flush it out to get a good shot at it. Such is the case with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Though antiretroviral...

A consistent, worldwide association between short sleep duration and obesity
1 May 2008
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – A study published in the May 1 issue of the journal SLEEP is the first attempt to quantify the strength of the cross-sectional relationships between duration of sleep and obesity in both children and adults....

Women whistleblowers suffer more discrimination, INFORMS-published study suggests
1 May 2008
Women who alert authorities to their organizations’ wrongdoing perceive they suffer more retaliation than do men, reports an initial study published in the current issue of Organization Science, a journal of the Institute for Operations...

Carnegie Mellon technique accelerates biological image analysis
1 May 2008
Will improve automated high-throughput screening techniques PITTSBURGH—Researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Lane Center for Computational Biology have discovered how to significantly speed up critical steps in an automated...

Spiraling nanotrees offer new twist on growth of nanowires
1 May 2008
MADISON – Since scientists first learned to make nanowires, the nano-sized wires just a few millionths of a centimeter thick have taken many forms, including nanobelts, nanocoils and nanoflowers. But when University of Wisconsin-Madison...

'Dynamic duo' develops framework for Earth's inaccessible interior
1 May 2008
The image is shown from space, centered over the Pacific Ocean, with a cut-away displaying anomalous heterogeneities in the mantle of the Earth: red and blue regions depict zones where... Click here for more...

Wakame waste
1 May 2008
Composting polluted seaweed Bacteria that feed on seaweed could help in the disposal of pollutants in the world's oceans, according to a new study by researchers in China and Japan. The discovery is reported in the International Journal of...

Dwarf cloud rat rediscovered after 112 years
1 May 2008
Filipino-Field Museum discovery will fuel more research The greater dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys melanurus) was rediscovered in April 2008 -- 112 years after the first and only time it had ever been seen by scientists. Cloud...

Early treatment of stomach infection may prevent cancer
1 May 2008
PHILADELPHIA – Based on research using a new mouse model of gastritis and stomach cancer, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that prompt treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections reverses...

FSU geochemist challenges key theory regarding Earth's formation
1 May 2008
Munir Humayun with an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer in the new Plasma Analytical Facility in the Geochemistry section of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. Click here for more...

Nature paper describes technique for extracting hierarchical structure of networks
1 May 2008
Networks -- used throughout the sciences in the study of biological, technological, and social complexity -- can often be too complex to visualize or understand. In a May 1 Nature paper, “Hierarchical structure and the prediction of...

Male seahorses are nature's Mr. Mom, Texas A&M researchers say
1 May 2008
COLLEGE STATION – Male seahorses are nature’s real-life Mr. Moms – they take fathering to a whole new level: Pregnancy. Although it is common for male fish to play the dominant parenting role, male pregnancy is a complex...

Montana State University research reaches Supreme Court of India
1 May 2008
BOZEMAN, Mont. -- Montana State University research about pollution in the Ganges River has reached the Supreme Court of India, producing some optimism among MSU scientists who study the 1,500-mile river. "It's nice to know that our work is...

Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, May 2008
1 May 2008
To arrange for an interview with a researcher, please contact the Communications and External Relations staff member identified at the end of each tip. For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to...

The National Association of School Nurses selects SAGE to publish its journal
1 May 2008
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, and Singapore (May 2, 2008) –SAGE, the world’s fifth largest journals publisher, will publish the Journal of School Nursing (JOSN) and the NASN Newsletter for the National Association of School...

Global warming linked to caribou-calf mortality
1 May 2008
Fewer caribou calves are being born and more of them are dying in West Greenland as a result of a warming climate. Click here for more information. Fewer caribou calves are being born and more of them are dying in...

New research on hearing health underscores the importance of better hearing and speech month
1 May 2008
Studies discuss cochlear implants, middle ear infections and bone-anchored hearing aids Alexandria, Va. - Three studies published in the May 2008 edition of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery reveal substantial new findings in several...

Astronomers discover new type of pulsating white dwarf star
1 May 2008
Discovery helps solve riddle of where the carbon white dwarfs come from, and what happens to their hydrogen and helium The image shows the changes in light output over time of the first-discovered pulsating carbon white dwarf...

The sweet world of soil microbiology
1 May 2008
Educators use candy to teach the concepts of soil microbiology in the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education Using classroom, hands-on activities can help instructors to communicate difficult scientific concepts and stimulate...

The 'choking game,' psychological distress and bullying
1 May 2008
Ontario teens continue to exhibit troubling behavior Ontario’s youth are experiencing a different kind of high -- approximately seven percent (an estimated 79,000 students in grades 7 to 12) report participating in a thrill-seeking...

Shire to present ADHD treatments scientific data at American Psychiatric Assoc. Meeting
1 May 2008
PHILADELPHIA – May 1, 2008 – Shire plc (LSE: SHP, NASDAQ: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it will present key scientific data on its Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)...

Go Speed Racer! Revving up the world's fastest nanomotors
1 May 2008
Green lines show results of "racing, " where images a, b, c, and d represent the tracks left by various types of speeding nanomotors. The winner is "c, " a "catalytic nanomotor "... Click here for more...

Study in 7,000 men and women ties obesity, inflammatory proteins to heart failure risk
1 May 2008
Obesity-related inflammation also pegged as catalyst in metabolic syndrome Heart specialists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere report what is believed to be the first wide-scale evidence linking severe overweight to prolonged inflammation of heart...

New method for processing rape evidence could eliminate crime-lab backlogs
1 May 2008
With approximately 250,000 items of sexual assault evidence mired in three- to 12-month backlogs awaiting analysis in U.S. forensic laboratories, there is an alarming nationwide need for a time-efficient way to get this work done, according to...

Biomarker predicts malignancy potential of HG-PIN lesions in the prostate
1 May 2008
PHILADELPHIA – Men whose prostate cancer screenings show high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HG-PIN) may find themselves in limbo, “stuck” between diagnoses – they are told prostate cancer has not yet...

Obesity worsens impact of asthma
1 May 2008
Obesity can worsen the impact of asthma and may also mask its severity in standard tests, according to researchers in New Zealand, who studied lung function in asthmatic women with a range of body mass indexes (BMIs). This is the first...

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols features classic approaches for analyzing chromosomes
1 May 2008
Spread polytene chromosomes of salivary glands from a Drosophila larva were triple-stained with fluorescently tagged antibodies to Heat Shock Transcription Factor (red), RNA Polymerase II (green), and P-TEFb kinase...

Global warming affects world's largest freshwater lake
1 May 2008
Lake Baikal in Siberia had been thought resistant to climate change The vessel, "Mikhail Kozhov, " was used to conduct research on Lake Baikal. Click here for more information. Russian and American scientists have...

Researchers develop new ultrasensitive assay to detect most poisonous substance known
1 May 2008
City of Hope and California Department of Public Health collaborate on discovery DUARTE, Calif. -- Scientists at City of Hope and the California Department of Public Health have developed a new ultrasensitive assay to detect botulinum...

The technology to make 'Speed Racer' cars
1 May 2008
The new movie, 'Speed Racer,' opens nationally on May 9. Students from UC's top-ranked design program have been working for weeks to create their own 'Speed Racer' concepts The opening of the new “Speed Racer” movie coming out...

Americans hard to contain on potted plant expenditures
1 May 2008
Container gardening has grown to a more than $1.3 billion annual business in the US. A variety of plants can be mixed to create different effects. A new study indicates... Click here for more information. COLLEGE...

Highlights from the May 2008 Journal of the American Dietetic Association
1 May 2008
The May 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association contains articles and research studies you may find of interest. Below is a summary of some of this month’s articles. For more information or to receive a copy of a...

Study shows power of police and fire officers as injury-prevention messengers
1 May 2008
Better training for officers who give interviews could improve media's coverage of risk factors and prevention for injuries, accidents and fires ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Nearly every night, on nearly every TV station in the country, the local...

Woody and aquatic plants pose greatest invasive threat to China
1 May 2008
China has fewer invasive plants than the United States, but a comparison suggests China could catch up in coming decades Although China currently has fewer invasive woody plants than the United States, China’s potential for invasion by...

Managing risk in an increasingly hazardous world
1 May 2008
Mark Abkowitz holding a copy of his new book on risk management. Click here for more information. NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If you have a nagging feeling that life is getting increasingly hazardous, you may be...

Studies test new approaches to islet transplantation
1 May 2008
Researchers from 11 medical centers in the United States, Canada, Sweden, and Norway have begun testing new approaches to transplanting clusters of insulin-producing islets in adults with difficult-to-control type 1 diabetes. The clinical...

Genetic breakthrough explains dangerously high blood glucose levels
1 May 2008
Discovery brings promise of 'personalized medicine' closer to reality This release is available in French. Canadian, French and British researchers have identified a DNA sequence that controls the variability of blood glucose levels in people....

Researchers explore altruism's unexpected ally -- selfishness
1 May 2008
Binghamton, N.Y. -- Just as religions dwell upon the eternal battle between good and evil, angels and devils, evolutionary theorists dwell upon the eternal battle between altruistic and selfish behaviors in the Darwinian struggle for...

UF scientists discover compound that could lead to new blood pressure drugs
1 May 2008
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers have identified a drug compound that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function and — in a remarkable finding — prevents damage to the heart and kidneys...

JCI online early table of contents: May 1, 2008
1 May 2008
EDITOR'S PICK: Would tricyclic antidepressants help those with inflammatory bowel disease? It is thought that intestinal inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease are exacerbated by depression. New data, generated by Stephen...

Discovery has implications for heart disease
1 May 2008
Study identifies new mechanism linking activation of key heart enzyme and oxidative stress -- 2 processes implicated in heart disease A study, led by University of Iowa researchers, reveals a new dimension for a key heart enzyme and sheds light...

World first: researchers develop completely automated anesthesia system
1 May 2008
'McSleepy' hopes to revolutionize anesthesia practice This release is available in French. Researchers at McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) have performed the world’s first totally automated administration...

Instant messaging -- a new language?
1 May 2008
OMG! LOL. TTYL. For many adults over the age of 30, the former groupings of letters would seem incoherent, but for a newer generation of technologically-savvy young adults it can say a lot. “Instant messaging, or IM, is not just bad...

Geotimes: Venturing to Venus
1 May 2008
Alexandria, VA – What can be gained from a new mission to Earth’s twin planet" In the latest issue of “Geotimes” magazine, the mysteries of Venus are explored. Venus is closer to Earth than Mars, yet little is known...

Antidepressant found to alleviate symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome in adolescents
1 May 2008
Researchers at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA have found that low-dose antidepressant therapy can significantly improve the overall quality of life for adolescents suffering from irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS. The syndrome affects 6...

Reduced emergency room visits for elderly patients attributed to 'virtual' health care team approach
1 May 2008
Rush University Medical Center presents findings at American Geriatrics Society's Annual Scientific Meeting Elderly patients suffering from chronic illnesses who receive ‘virtual’ care from a team of medical experts linked together...

In a global economy, trust is a critical commodity
1 May 2008
MU professor finds organizational trust is the key to marketing collaboration COLUMBIA, Mo. –In the global economy, corporate collaboration is becoming a necessity, making trust critical to the success of joint business ventures. A...

New study shows race significant factor in death penalty cases
1 May 2008
University of Denver sociology professor studies DA's cases in Harris County, Texas DENVER— New research by Scott Phillips, associate professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Denver, finds that in Harris County, TX the...

Birdsongs give insights into learning new behaviors
1 May 2008
Young songbirds babble before they learn to sing CAMBRIDGE, MA--Young songbirds babble before they can mimic an adult’s song, much like their human counterparts. Now, in work that offers insights into how birds—and perhaps...

Searching the heavens
1 May 2008
A new space mission, due to launch this month, is going to shed light on some of the most extreme astrophysical processes in nature - including pulsars, remnants of supernovae, and supermassive black holes. It could even help us comprehend the...

Flower power may bring ray of sunshine to cancer sufferers
1 May 2008
A mini-protein found in sunflower seeds could be the key to stopping tumors spreading in prostate cancer patients, according to QUT researchers The grants came from Queensland Cancer Research, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the National...

Largest study to date finds benefits of ICDs in children
1 May 2008
Inappropriate shocks can be a problem for some More and more children with congenital heart disease are receiving implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) to maintain proper heart rhythm. ICDs were first introduced for adults in the...

Princeton University survey finds 'pain gap'
1 May 2008
Those with lower incomes and less education are in pain more often, researchers say A novel study that attempts to paint the most accurate and detailed description yet of how Americans experience pain has found that a significant portion of the...

Limitations of charcoal as an effective carbon sink
1 May 2008
There has been greatly increasing attention given to the potential of ‘biochar’, or charcoal made from biological tissues (e.g., wood) to serve as a long term sink of carbon in the soil. This is because charcoal is carbon-rich and...

Young children rely on one sense or another, not a combination, studies find
1 May 2008
Unlike adults, children younger than eight can’t integrate different forms of sensory input to improve the accuracy with which they perceive the world around them, according to a pair of studies reported online in Current Biology, a...

High blood pressure still sneaking past doctors, Stanford study shows
1 May 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - Despite the well-known dangers of high blood pressure, major shortfalls still exist in the screening, treatment and control of the disease even when patients are getting a doctor's care, according to a study from the...

Trends in heart mortality reversing in younger women
1 May 2008
Coronary heart disease mortality in younger women could be on the rise, according to findings in the open access journal, BMC Public Health, published by BioMed Central. High levels of smoking, increasing obesity and a lack of exercise could...

Computer programs help drug abusers stay abstinent, Yale researchers find
1 May 2008
New Haven, Conn - Drug abusers who used a computer-assisted training program in addition to receiving traditional counseling stayed abstinent significantly longer than those who received counseling alone, a Yale University study has...

May 2008 Ophthalmology highlights
1 May 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Three studies in the May 2008 issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, shed new light on important eye health issues: the role of antioxidant supplements, the relationship of visual...

US honor for professor Jerry Adams
1 May 2008
The National Academy of Sciences of the United States has announced that WEHI’S Professor Jerry Adams has been elected a member of this prestigious organization of scientists and engineers. The NAS citation notes that he was elected in...

Sleep duration related to having the metabolic syndrome
1 May 2008
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – A study published in the May 1 issue of the journal SLEEP is the first known to report that short and long sleepers are more likely to have metabolic syndrome, or a combination of medical disorders that increase the...

Harmful blood glucose levels linked to defective gene
1 May 2008
A genetic mutation that can raise the amount of glucose in a person's blood to harmful levels is identified today in a study in the journal Science. High levels of blood glucose increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and early death,...

Study finds TV portrayals of mental health professionals influence willingness to seek therapy
1 May 2008
AMES, Iowa -- Network television programming might suggest that America is fascinated with the idea of psychological counseling. Frasier Crane and his brother, Niles, both practiced psychiatry on their popular NBC sitcom "Frasier." Mob boss...

Haunted by hallucinations: Children in the PICU traumatized by delusions
1 May 2008
Nearly one in three children admitted to pediatric intensive care will experience delusions or hallucinations, which put them at higher risk for post-traumatic stress symptoms, according to a new study of children’s experiences in a...

A significant difference in the sleep disturbances among Alzheimer patients, caregivers
1 May 2008
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – A study published in the May 1 issue of the journal SLEEP finds that sleep disturbances among Alzheimer patients vary significantly from those of their family caregivers, and that, surprisingly, poor sleep in either...

Female jumping spiders find ultraviolet B rays 'sexy'
1 May 2008
A report publishing online on May 1st in the journal Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press, provides the first evidence of an animal using ultraviolet B (UVB) rays to communicate with other members of its species. In a series of mate...

Phase of clock gene expression in human leukocytes correlates with habitual sleep timing
1 May 2008
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – The phase of clock gene expression in leukocytes, assessed in the absence of the masking effects of light-dark and sleep-wake cycles, correlates with habitual sleep timing, according to a study published in the May 1...

Link between sleep fragmentation and daytime napping in older adults
1 May 2008
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – Deficiencies in nighttime sleep are associated with daytime napping in older adults, according to a study published in the May 1 issue of the journal SLEEP. Suzanne E. Goldman, PhD, of Vanderbilt University Medical...

Remote monitoring improves heart failure patients' health, may reduce hospital readmissions
1 May 2008
American Heart Association meeting report A remote monitoring program can improve the condition of heart failure patients who are mobile and may reduce hospital readmissions, according to a pilot study reported at the American Heart...

Drug-resistant tuberculosis on the increase in the UK
1 May 2008
Research: Increasing antituberculosis drug resistance in the UK: Analysis of national surveillance data A changing population structure and ongoing migration have increased cases of drug resistant tuberculosis, according to a study published on...

Would tricyclic antidepressants help those with inflammatory bowel disease?
1 May 2008
It is thought that intestinal inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease are exacerbated by depression. New data, generated by Stephen Collins and colleagues at McMaster University Medical Center, Canada, have characterized a...

Legalizing the production of opium for medical use is neither viable or necessary
1 May 2008
Proposals to legalise the production of opium in Afghanistan for medical use are unworkable and unnecessary, says the Minister of State for Africa, Asia, and the United Nations in an editorial in this week’s BMJ. Writing in response to...

Does it matter that medical graduates don't get jobs as doctors?
1 May 2008
In 2007, 1300 UK medical graduates were unable to secure training places, and this shortfall looks set to be repeated this year. But is this a betrayal of students’ expectations or is this inevitable if patients are to get the best...