June 13, 2008 Science NewsNew research shows how aging brain brings a healthy dose of perspective A University of Alberta researcher in collaboration with researchers from Duke University has proven that wisdom really does come with age, at least when it comes to your emotions. Computer models show major climate shift as a result of closing ozone hole A new study led by Columbia University researchers has found that the closing of the ozone hole, which is projected to occur sometime in the second half of the 21st century, may significantly affect climate change in the Southern Hemisphere, and therefore, the global climate. Diamonds Are Forever Revealing New Insights into Earth's Development Diamonds will take center stage this month in countless wedding ceremonies and other celebrations. In addition to their usual role as symbols of enduring love and fidelity, diamonds are now also helping geologists unravel clues about how the earth's precious metal mineralization was formed and why diamonds and some of these metals are found in only a few places around the world. NIST chemists get scoop on crude 'oil' from pig manure After a close examination of crude oil made from pig manure, chemists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are certain about a number of things. Most obviously, "This stuff smells worse than manure," says NIST chemist Tom Bruno. Field Project Seeks Clues to Climate Change in Remote Atmospheric Region Scientists are deploying an advanced research aircraft to study a region of the atmosphere that influences climate change by affecting the amount of solar heat that reaches Earth's surface. Mysterious mountain dino may be a new species A partial dinosaur skeleton unearthed in 1971 from a remote British Columbia site is the first ever found in Canadian mountains and may represent a new species, according to a recent examination by a University of Alberta researcher. Plan to conserve forests may be detrimental to other ecosystems Conserving biodiversity must be considered when developing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, researchers warn in today's edition of Science. New self-management program offers significant benefits for arthritis patients with chronic pain A new two week programme significantly reduces healthcare visits, pain scores and health distress in arthritis patients with chronic pain. Results were comparable to existing six week self-management programmes and the benefits of the programme were sustained for six months with improvements continuing up to a year later, according to researchers. Physicists produce quantum-entangled images Using a convenient and flexible method for creating twin light beams, researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Maryland have produced "quantum images," pairs of information-rich visual patterns whose features are "entangled," or inextricably linked by the laws of quantum physics. Roadrunner supercomputer puts research at a new scale Less than a week after Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roadrunner supercomputer began operating at world-record petaflop/s data-processing speeds, Los Alamos researchers are already using the computer to mimic extremely complex neurological processes. Microwave synthesis connects with the (quantum) dots Materials researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a simplified, low-cost process for producing high-quality, water-soluble "quantum dots" for biological research. 1 in 8 Lower Manhattan residents had signs of PTSD 2 to 3 years after 9-11 For many residents of Lower Manhattan, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had lasting psychological consequences. New findings, released today by the Health Department's World Trade Center Health Registry, show that one in eight Lower Manhattan residents likely had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) two to three years after the attacks. Cell surface receptors are all 'talk' in T cell stimulation Understanding the mechanisms that drive healthy immune responses is important when it comes to combating autoimmune diseases, which occur when cells that should attack invading organisms turn on the body instead. Field project seeks clues to climate change in remote atmospheric region Scientists are deploying an advanced research aircraft to study a region of the atmosphere that influences climate change by affecting the amount of solar heat that reaches Earth's surface. Ancient antibody molecule offers clues to how humans evolved allergies Scientists funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have discovered how evolution may have lumbered humans with allergy problems. Road pollution blamed for higher allergy risk in kids New evidence blames traffic-related pollution for increasing the risk of allergy and atopic diseases among children by more than fifty percent. What's more, the closer children live to roads, the higher their risk. Ovarian function and fertility preserved in women with severe systemic lupus erythematosus Ovarian function can be preserved and disease activity controlled in women with severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) when treated with a 6-month course of cyclophosphamide (CYC), a chemotherapy drug, followed by the immunosuppressant mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). MIT researchers unravel bacteria communication pathways MIT researchers have figured out how bacteria ensure that they respond correctly to hundreds of incoming signals from their environment. 'Nanoglassblowing' seen as boon to study of individual molecules While the results may not rival the artistry of glassblowers in Europe and Latin America, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Cornell University have found beauty in a new fabrication technique called "nanoglassblowing" that creates nanoscale (billionth of a meter) fluidic devices used to isolate and study single molecules in solution-including individual DNA strands. The novel method is described in a paper posted online next week in the journal Nanotechnology. Unexpected finding of molecule's dual role in mice may open new avenue to cholesterol reduction Researchers have discovered an unknown regulator of fat and cholesterol production in the liver of mice, a significant finding that could lead to new therapies for lowering unhealthy blood levels of cholesterol and fats. 'Faulty' brain connections may be responsible for social impairments in autism New evidence shows that the brains of adults with autism are "wired" differently from people without the disorder, and this abnormal pattern of connectivity may be responsible for the social impairments that are characteristic of autism. Serum sodium predicts mortality 10 times higher in PAH patients Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)-chronically high blood pressure in the blood vessels of the lungs-whose serum sodium levels are low (called hyponatremia, or HN) have a very poor chance of survival and a high rate of right-heart failure (RHF), according to new research from the University of Pennsylvania. Membrane complexes take flight Against currently held dogma, scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol have revealed that the interactions within membrane complexes can be maintained intact in the vacuum of a mass spectrometer. Their research is published in this week's edition of Science Express. Tests show LLNL detection instrument can monitor the air for all major terrorist threat substances Security and law enforcement officials may some day have a new ally - a universal detection system that can monitor the air for virtually all of the major threat agents that could be used by terrorists. Hand bone mineral density is an effective predictor of mortality in rheumatoid arthritis Low bone mineral density in the hand is a valid predictor of overall mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and indicates long-term prognosis, according to a new study presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France. Digital X-ray radiogrammetry (DXR) demonstrated bone mineral density to be as effective predicting mortality as well-established means of assessment such as radiographic damage and functional disability. Prevalence of US osteoprotic hip fracture hospitalizations declines despite an aging population The prevalence of hospitalisations for osteoporotic (non-traumatic) hip fractures in the USA declined significantly from 1988 to 2005, despite an increase in all-cause hospitalisations over the same period and a general ageing of the population, according to research presented today at EULAR 2008, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Paris, France. Even before tomato warning, many Americans lacked confidence in the food safety system A new national study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health Project on the Public and Biological Security finds that, in spite of a number of food safety incidents in recent years, most Americans remain confident that the food produced in the United States is safe. However, many have concerns about the safety of imported food produced in some other countries. An unexpected link between coronavirus replication and protein secretion in infected cells Coronavirus replication is critically linked to two factors within the early secretory pathway, according to new findings by a team of Dutch researchers that are published June 13th in the open-access journal PLoS Pathogens. Centromeres cross over, a lot Recombination at centromeres is higher than anywhere else on the chromosome, even though methyltransferases do their best to prevent it, say Jaco et al., as published in the June 16 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. |
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