- 08-05-2008 - Top Science News Stories from Firstscience.com

Federal polar bear research critically flawed, says study in INFORMS journal
8 May 2008
Deficient forecasting methodology casts doubt on threat to polar bear population, say authors Research done by the U.S. Department of the Interior to determine if global warming threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be...

Everything's coming up corals
8 May 2008
University of Miami's Coral Laboratory wins an unprecedented number of NSF Fellowships; accolades VIRGINIA KEY, Fla. – Two University of Miami (UM) students have received prestigious Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science...

NIH awards LIAI major grant to test safety of new smallpox treatment
8 May 2008
Treatment could be the nation's first line of defense against terrorist smallpox outbreak SAN DIEGO – (May 8, 2008) The La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI) has received a $7.1 million grant from the National Institutes...

KAUST announces inaugural Global Research Partnership center grants
8 May 2008
Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (April 30, 2008) — King Abdullah University of Science and Technology’s (KAUST) Global Research Partnership (GRP) today announced its grants to four interdisciplinary scientific research centers...

ASNTR awards go to Parkinson's Disease research and patient advocate at May meeting
8 May 2008
Neuroscientist Paul M. Carvey, Ph.D., recieves Bernard Sanberg Memorial Award Tampa, Fla. (May 8, 2008) – The American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR) has awarded The 2008 Bernard Sanberg Memorial Award for Brain Repair to...

PNNL, WSU to advance biomass research in new facility
8 May 2008
Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory partner to address dependence on imported oil and advance higher education RICHLAND, Wash. – Washington State University and the Department of Energy’s Pacific...

Keck Futures Initiative awards $1M for 15 research projects
8 May 2008
Research will explore topics ranging from engineering solutions to extend human healthspan to developing socially assistive robotics for physical and cognitive health WASHINGTON -- The National Academies Keck FUTURES INITIATIVE announced today...

New technique measures ultrashort laser pulses at focus
8 May 2008
Georgia Tech physics professor Rick Trebino and graduate student Pam Bowlan test their system that measures instrumentation aberrations and allows researchers to create desired distortion-free pulses at the focus. Click here...

Joint ESA/NASA team wins international award
8 May 2008
The Ulysses mission operations team has won an international award in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the success and scientific productivity of the joint ESA/NASA observatory mission, now orbiting the poles of the Sun. The...

Computer game's high score could earn the Nobel Prize in medicine
8 May 2008
Foldit's logo invites people around the world to "solve puzzles for science. " Click here for more information. Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to rescuing princesses or protecting the...

Newest GREET model updates environmental impacts
8 May 2008
ARGONNE, Ill. (May 8, 2008) – The newest version of the Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory will provide researchers...

New evidence from earliest known human settlement in the Americas
8 May 2008
Provides support for coastal migration theories 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...

Scientists demonstrate method for integrating nanowire devices directly onto silicon
8 May 2008
Fabrication technique could yield low-cost, scalable nanowire photonic and electronic circuits The basic structure of the nanowire devices is based on a sandwich geometry in which a nanowire (n-type zinc oxide) is placed between...

Warming up for magnetic resonance imaging
8 May 2008
Higher temperatures yield tunable, supersensitive Hyper-CEST MRI In xenon biosensors, the xenon atoms are temporarily held inside cryptophane cages. Attached linkers include a group to render the sensor soluble plus a targeting...

Berkeley researchers identify photosynthetic dimmer switch
8 May 2008
Graham Fleming (center) shown here with Tae Ahn (left) and Yuan-Chung Cheng, post-doctoral researchers in his group, were among the co-authors of a paper in the journal Science that... Click here for more...

CSHL scientists are part of consortium that sequences platypus genome
8 May 2008
CSHL team separately reports findings about mammalian evolution gleaned from comparative study of small-RNA function in platypus By any account, the platypus is an odd creature. It’s got a broad, rubbery bill that brings to mind a...

NCAR installs 76-teraflop supercomputer for critical research on climate change, severe weather
8 May 2008
Tom Bettge Click here for more information. BOULDER--The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has taken delivery of a new IBM supercomputer that will advance research into severe weather and the future of...

Model successfully predicts large river system fish diversity
8 May 2008
Controversial 'neutral model' used 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...

Made-to-order isotopes hold promise on science's frontier
8 May 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. --- 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...

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announces $5M TETF investment in UTHSC-H trauma research
8 May 2008
Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst announced on May 6 a $5 million investment through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) to The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to launch a new trauma research center led by U.S. Army...

Can business save the planet?
8 May 2008
New book calls for 'positively responsible' businesses to lead sustainable change Oxford May 8, 2008 – In their new book, Positively Responsible (http://www.positivelyresponsible.com/) authors Erik Bichard and Cary Cooper CBE look at how...

Taking the sex out of sexual health screening
8 May 2008
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. In the...

What's bugging locusts?
8 May 2008
It could be they're hungry -- for each other 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...

New gas sensors for monitoring carbon dioxide sinks
8 May 2008
A world first presented at IFAT 2008 Functional principle of the membranbasierten Gassensors. A potential application of the new gas assensor is the monitoring of carbon dioxide storage from power plants. Click here for more...

Study finds link between birth order and asthma symptoms
8 May 2008
May 7, 2008 – 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...

ACP says Medicare cuts will hurt physicians in small practices
8 May 2008
ACP asks Congress to pass legislation to avert pending pay cut (Washington) – 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...

New study shows how genes control blood proteins important to health
8 May 2008
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...

Phase III pivotal results presented of VYVANSE to treat ADHD in adults
8 May 2008
VYVANSE demonstrated significant improvement in ADHD symptoms in adults WASHINGTON, May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Shire plc (LSE: SHP, Nasdaq: SHPGY), the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, today presented the results of a phase III...

New cancer gene found
8 May 2008
New target for improved therapy OKLAHOMA CITY – 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. The gene and its...

Accelerating the Dissemination and Translation of Clinical Research into Practice
8 May 2008
Columbia University Medical Center researchers present NIH Clinical Resarch Networks Project results WASHINGTON – Translational research seeks to directly connect basic research to patient care, but what are some of the most effective...

JCI online early table of contents: May 8, 2008
8 May 2008
EDITOR'S PICK: How slow growth as a fetus can cause diabetes as an adult Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), which results in a baby having a low weight at birth, has been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. It has...

Tomato stands firm in face of fungus
8 May 2008
Tomato stands firm in face of fungus; molecular study provides the key 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...

Dying bats in the Northeast remain a mystery
8 May 2008
Investigations continue into the cause of a mysterious illness that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of bats since March 2008. At more than 25 caves and mines in the northeastern U.S, bats exhibiting a condition now referred to as...

Programmed death boosts business
8 May 2008
Mimicking nature could help business survive the credit crunch 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...

Previously unseen switch regulates breast cancer response to estrogen
8 May 2008
A tiny modification called methylation on estrogen receptors prolongs the life of these growth-driving molecules in breast cancer cells, according to research by scientists at Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute. The results are...

Magnet Lab researchers make observing cell functions easier
8 May 2008
Michael Davidson, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory biologist. Click here for more information. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Now that the genome (DNA) of humans and many other organisms have been sequenced, biologists...

Study affirms effectiveness of medication for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
8 May 2008
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that strikes children between the ages of newborn to 16 years. All children with JRA have joint pain, stiffness, and swelling and some also have fever and skin rashes. JRA can...

Racial discrimination has different mental health effects on Asians, study shows
8 May 2008
WASHINGTON – 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...

Skin flaps deliver cancer-fighting therapy, ASPS study reveals
8 May 2008
Treatment provides 'blueprint' to produce therapeutic proteins at tumor site ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Using gene therapy, plastic surgeons have delivered cancer fighting proteins through skin flaps placed on cancerous tumors on rats with...

TU Delft demonstrates for the first time how light squeezes through small holes
8 May 2008
How does light pass through a tiny hole" For the first time, Dr Aurele Adam and Prof. Paul Planken of Delft University of Technology, in conjunction with two South Korean and one German research groups, have succeeded in mapping this process...

Stroke study wins $20.8 million grant renewal to explore disparities
8 May 2008
Award puts REGARDS study in a position to generate groundbreaking stroke research and understanding BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The nation’s largest study aimed at exploring regional and racial differences in stroke illness and stroke death...

Young people are intentionally taking drink and drugs for better sex
8 May 2008
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...

Major shift in HIV prevention priorities needed
8 May 2008
Researchers say reducing multiple sexual partnerships and providing male circumcision services should be emphasized Boston, MA -- According to a new policy analysis led by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the...

New cost-effective means to reconstruct virus populations
8 May 2008
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...

Study identifies molecular response of cartilage to injury
8 May 2008
It’s an unfortunate fact backed by studies of former professional football and soccer players: injury to joint cartilage escalates the risk of developing of osteoarthritis (OA). However, why this occurs—the details of how joint...

Scientists identify key roadblock to gene expression
8 May 2008
In yeast, a nucleosome sits on top of the transcription start site, so RNA polymerase must contend with that nucleosome as soon as it begins to transcribe the gene.... Click here for more information. A team of...

Feedstock makes a difference in feeding distiller's grains
8 May 2008
AMARILLO – 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...

New report: Arthritis is a potential barrier to physical activity for adults with diabetes
8 May 2008
Physical activity is vital for successful management of both diseases Atlanta, GA – May 8, 2008 – People with diagnosed diabetes are nearly twice as likely to have arthritis, and the inactivity caused by arthritis hinders the...

Keeping yields, profits and water quality high
8 May 2008
Researchers investigate the potential of low-input farming systems to benefit both farmers and the environment One of the key questions facing agriculturalists in the 21st century is how to produce adequate amounts of food and farm income while...

Bread mold may hold secret to eliminating disease-causing genes
8 May 2008
MU scientist found mechanism that 'silences' unmatched genes during cellular reproduction COLUMBIA, Mo. – When most people discover mold on their bread, they immediately throw it out. Others see a world of possibilities in the tiny...

Virus mimics human protein to hijack cell division machinery
8 May 2008
MADISON - Viruses are masters of deception, duping their host's cells into helping them grow and spread. A new study has found that human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) can mimic a common regulatory protein to hijack normal cell growth machinery,...

Minority medical students receive support to increase diversity in hematology
8 May 2008
(WASHINGTON, May 6, 2008) – The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is proud to announce the selection of 15 participants for its 2008 Minority Medical Student Award Program (MMSAP), which encourages minority medical students to purse...

Obese patients face increased risks for infection and dislocation following revision hip surgery
8 May 2008
Along with age and injuries, obesity is a leading risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), a painful and disabling joint disease. While excessive weight can aggravate the toll on almost any joint, obesity has been associated with a higher...

Cane use may reduce risk of knee osteoarthritis progression
8 May 2008
A common, incurable joint disease, osteoarthritis (OA) is the leading cause of disability in elderly people. While nearly any joint can be affected, OA most often strikes the knee, particularly the inner aspect of the tibiofemoral joint. One...

When statins aren't enough: New trial drug points to better management of coronary heart disease
8 May 2008
Penn-led study finds darapladib lowers biomarker for cardiovascular problems (PHILADELPHIA) – Despite widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, a significant number of cardiac patients continue to suffer heart attacks and stroke....

Nursing professor leads the way for 'telepsychiatry' by nurses to treat postpartum depression
8 May 2008
(May 8, 2008, Toronto, ON) – Women suffering with postpartum depression may in future be able to receive psychotherapy from a specially trained nurse over the phone, eliminating barriers to treatment such as distance, time, or the...

Chilean volcano captured blasting ash
8 May 2008
Chile's Chaiten Volcano is shown spewing ash and smoke into the air for hundreds of km over Argentina's Patagonia Plateau in this Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) image, acquired... Click here for more...

6-month follow-up diagnostic mammograms recommended for women with probably benign lesions
8 May 2008
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. The study found that six-month...

Justice in the brain: Equity and efficiency are encoded differently
8 May 2008
The study sought to shed light on the neurological underpinnings of moral decision-making, said Ming Hsu, a fellow at the U. of I.'s Beckman Institute and co-principal investigator.... Click here for more...

Spinal cord research heads new $10M funding in London, Ontario
8 May 2008
A researcher striving to help patients recover from spinal cord injuries headlines an announcement of more than $10.5 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) at The University of Western Ontario and Lawson...

Microbiologists receive top Canadian recognition
8 May 2008
One is a “veteran” researcher, the other “new”, but two microbiologists from The University of Western Ontario have both been singled out to receive national recognition for their work on infectious diseases and...

There is no such thing as 'the' Indian
8 May 2008
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...

Modern ceramics help advance technology
8 May 2008
Lausanne, Switzerland – May 8, 2008 – Many important electronic devices used by people today would be impossible without the use of ceramics. A new study published in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society illustrates the use...

OCAST funds OSU projects with commercial viability
8 May 2008
Stillwater, Okla.—Three OSU researchers received grants totaling more than $240,000 last week from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology under its Oklahoma Applied Research Support program. The OARS program...

Egyptian elite tombs accessible for all
8 May 2008
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...

Improving anxiety treatment through the help of brain imaging: A potential future treatment strategy
8 May 2008
Philadelphia, PA, May 8, 2008 – Wouldn’t it be nice if our doctors could predict accurately whether we would respond to a particular medication" This question is important because research studies provide information about how...

Study offers novel insight into cardiac arrhythmias, sudden cardiac death
8 May 2008
New genetic models could be key to understanding underlying mechanisms PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A new study by researchers at Rhode Island Hospital provides much-needed insight into the molecular mechanisms that cause arrythmia, or irregular...

How slow growth as a fetus can cause diabetes as an adult
8 May 2008
Intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), which results in a baby having a low weight at birth, has been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes in adulthood. It has been suggested that this is because the expression of key genes is altered...

American Pain Society's low back guideline expanded to cover interventional procedures
8 May 2008
TAMPA, May 10, 2008 - For low-back pain patients and their doctors, the American Pain Society, www.ampainsoc.org, said today it is expanding its evidence-based, clinical practice guideline on diagnosis and treatment of chronic low back pain to...

Stroke survivors walk better after human-assisted rehab
8 May 2008
Walking therapy for stroke survivors is significantly more effective when conducted by a physical therapist instead of a robot, according a small study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. Research suggests that, for...

Hopkins researchers discover new link to schizophrenia
8 May 2008
Mouse model mimics clinical features 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...

Do antidepressants enhance immune function?
8 May 2008
Ex vivo results from HIV positive individuals with and without depression Philadelphia, PA, May 8, 2008 – Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), is an epidemic of...

Risks for painkiller abuse do not outweigh benefits in chronic pain
8 May 2008
TAMPA, May 8, 2008 – 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...

Surprising discovery: Multicellular response is 'all for one'
8 May 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Real or perceived threats can trigger the well-known “fight or flight response” in humans and other animals. Adrenaline flows, and the stressed individual’s heart pumps faster, the muscles work harder, the...