Global warming will negatively impact tropical species
Global warming is likely to reduce the health of tropical species, scientists from UCLA and the University of Washington report May 6 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Breastfeeding may improve children's intelligence scores
Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children's cognitive development, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

65-million-year-old asteroid impact triggered a global hail of carbon beads
The asteroid presumed to have wiped out the dinosaurs struck the Earth with such force that carbon deep in the Earth's crust liquefied, rocketed skyward, and formed tiny airborne beads that blanketed the planet.

Sudden death of a parent may pose mental health risks for children, surviving caregivers
Children who had a parent who died suddenly have three times the risk of depression than those with two living parents, along with an increased risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Unexpected role: EGFR protects cancer cells from starving
A growth factor receptor found abundantly on the surface of cancer cells and long known to fuel cancer growth also protects tumor cells from starvation by a newly identified mechanism.

New Clorox disinfectant is EPA registered to kill both known types of MRSA
While MRSA has been an issue in healthcare settings for years, CA-MRSA outbreaks in the community have been on the rise, with the greatest risk in community settings such as fitness clubs, in sports teams, at schools and daycare centers.

Is bipolar disorder overdiagnosed?
A new study by Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University researchers reports that fewer than half the patients previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder based on a comprehensive, psychiatric diagnostic interview--the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID).

Low blood levels of vitamin D may be associated with depression in older adults
Older adults with low blood levels of vitamin D and high blood levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands may have a higher risk of depression, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Immune exhaustion in HIV infection
As HIV disease progresses in a person infected with the HIV virus, a group of cells in the immune system, the CD8+ T lymphocytes, become "exhausted," losing many of their abilities to kill other cells infected by the virus.

ESA contributes to ocean carbon cycle research
The Earth's oceans play a vital role in the carbon cycle, making it imperative that we understand marine biological activity enough to predict how our planet will react to the extra 25 000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide humans are pumping into the atmosphere annually.

US teens adopted as infants appear to have moderately increased odds of mental health problems
Although most adopted American teens are psychologically healthy, adoptees appear to be at greater risk for emotional and behavioral problems than non-adoptees.

New agent strikes at respiratory syncytial virus replication
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have achieved promising results with a potential new weapon against respiratory syncytial virus, the most common cause of infant hospitalization in the United States.

McGill study links breastfeeding to increased intelligence
The largest randomized study of breastfeeding ever conducted reports that breastfeeding raises children's IQs and improves their academic performance, a McGill researcher and his team have found.

EUROCORES conference gives cold quantum matter a European twist
Quantum matter has long fascinated the science community as many completely new physical phenomena have emerged from this field. Cold quantum matter can be used for applications such as high-precision clocks, which may run only one second behind per three million years!

Preference for alcohol in adolescence may lead to heavy drinking
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have shown a connection between early drinking patterns and a tendency to be a heavy drinker in adulthood, in a study of adolescent rats.

RFID testbed measures multiple tags at once and rapidly assesses new antenna designs
Researchers have designed a system capable of simultaneously measuring hundreds of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and rapidly testing new RFID tag prototypes.

Moran Eye Center researchers find gene linked to severe diabetic eye and kidney diseases
Researchers at the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah and collaborative institutions have identified a gene called erythropoietin (EPO) that contributes to increased risk of severe diabetic eye and kidney diseases, called retinopathy and nephropathy.

Genes and the environment contribute differently to drinking among young adolescents
A 2001/2002 report by the World Health Organization found that, among young people in western countries who began drinking before 16 years of age, the average age of initiation was 12 years of age.

Moms have few interactions with their infants during TV time
Infants who are exposed to television and video in low socio-economic households tend to have limited verbal interactions with their mothers.

An MUHC team evaluates a new saliva-based HIV test to speed up detection
The usual waiting period for the results of a HIV test can seem like an eternity, especially in emergency situations where results are needed immediately.

The tachykinin receptor 3 gene has been linked to alcohol and cocaine dependence
The search for genes associated with alcohol dependence has recently been extended to the tachykinin receptor 3 gene, located within a broad region on chromosome 4q. Researchers have found that seven of the nine single nucleotide polymorphisms -- DNA sequence variations -- in the 3' region of TACR3 have a significant association with AD as well as cocaine dependence.

Double Duty: Loss of Protective Heart Failure Protein Causes High Blood Pressure
Scientists at the Center for Translational Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia have found that a protein that appears to have protective and perhaps healing effects for failing hearts also plays a similar role in high blood pressure.

Preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in low-income countries
Can HIV transmission in pregnancy in low income settings be prevented with round the clock rapid testing in labor?

Teens think they have asthma under control, but benefit from new approach to treatment
Two studies that offer new insights to help adolescents and younger children improve their asthma control will be presented by researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center at this year's annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Society (PAS) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Youths in towns with smoke-free restaurant laws appear less likely to become smokers
Young people who live in towns where regulations ban smoking in restaurants may be less likely to become established smokers, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Exhaustion of HIV-specific T cells may be caused by chronic exposure to virus
The "exhaustion" of immune cells that target HIV appears to result from chronic exposure to the virus, specifically exposure to the particular protein segments targeted by the pathogen-killing HIV-specific CD8 T cells.

Study assesses TV viewing and verbal interactions among low-income parents and infants
Mothers in low-income families seldom speak to their infants while the children are watching television or videos, which most do on a daily basis.

FSU researcher: As gas prices climb, employee productivity plummets
Rising gas prices are affecting more than the family budget. More pain at the pump results in more employee stress on the job, says Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Management at Florida State University's College of Business.

Telemedicine could eradicate many expensive ED visits
A community-wide study in upstate New York found that nearly 28 percent of all visits to the pediatric emergency department could have been replaced with a more cost-effective Internet doctor's "visit," or telemedicine, according to investigators from the University of Rochester Medical Center.