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Toxic molecule may help birds 'see' north and south
Researchers at the University of Illinois report that a toxic molecule known to damage cells and cause disease may also play a pivotal role in bird migration.


Close relationship between past warming and sea-level rise
In a paper in Nature Geoscience, a team from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS), along with colleagues from Tübingen (Germany) and Bristol presents a novel continuous reconstruction of sea level fluctuations over the last 520 thousand years.




Dr. Ronald Lewis Couples' treatment for sexual problems on the agenda for sexual medicine experts
Couples' treatment for sexual problems and other innovative approaches to improving sexual health for men and women are on the agenda of sexual medicine experts.


Corals face 'a stormy future'
As global warming whips up more powerful and frequent hurricanes and storms, the world's coral reefs face increased disruption to their ability to breed and recover from damage.


More patients across the world lowering 'bad' cholesterol
The percentage of patients lowering their elevated "bad" cholesterol to within target levels nearly doubled in the last decade, according to a multi-national survey reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.


Competition May Be Reason For Bigger Brain
For the past 2 million years, the size of the human brain has tripled, growing much faster than other mammals. Examining the reasons for human brain expansion, University of Missouri researchers studied three common hypotheses for brain growth: climate change, ecological demands and social competition.


A urine test for appendicitis?
Appendicitis is the most common childhood surgical emergency, but the diagnosis can be challenging, especially in children, often leading to either unnecessary surgery in children without appendicitis, or a ruptured appendix and serious complications when the condition is missed.


Fruit fly steps in to fight human disease
"By putting mutant genes from human patients into fruit flies, we've created the first ever fly model for this kind of neuromuscular disease," says Albena Jordanova.


Treating Lazy Eyes with a Joystick
Four percent of all children suffer from amblyopia, better known as "lazy eye syndrome."


Higher drinking age linked to less binge drinking...except in college students
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found substantial reductions in binge drinking since the national drinking age was set at 21 two decades ago, with one exception: college students.


Obsidian 'trail' provides clues to how humans settled, interacted in Kuril Islands
Archaeologists have used stone tools to answer many questions about human ancestors in both the distant and near past and now they are analyzing the origin of obsidian flakes to better understand how people settled and interacted in the inhospitable Kuril Islands.


Alterations in brain's white matter key to schizophrenia, UCLA study shows
Schizophrenia, a chronic and debilitating disorder marked in part by auditory hallucinations and paranoia, can strike in late adolescence or early adulthood at a time when people are ready to stand on their own two feet as fully independent adults.


UCF team's advanced nerve cell system could help cure diabetic neuropathy, related diseases
Multiple sclerosis, diabetic neuropathy, and other conditions caused by a loss of myelin insulation around nerves can be debilitating and even deadly, but adequate treatments do not yet exist.


Underground cave dating from the year 1 A.D. exposed in Jordan Valley
An artificial underground cave, the largest in Israel, has been exposed in the Jordan Valley in the course of a survey carried out by the University of Haifa's Department of Archaeology. Prof. Adam Zertal, who headed the excavating team, reckons that this cave was originally a large quarry during the Roman and Byzantine era and was one of its kind.


Unspoken memories of Holocaust survivors find silent and nonpathological expression
A faculty member of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Haifa presented the results of a new research at an international Holocaust conference held at the University of Haifa.


Pitt Researchers Zero In on Ozone With Fluorescent Solution That Detects Harmful Molecule in the Air and Body
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a fluorescent substance that glows bright green when exposed to even minute amounts of ozone in the air and in biological samples such as human lung cells.


Midget plant gets makeover
A tiny plant with a long name (Arabidopsis thaliana) helps researchers from over 120 countries learn how to design new crops to help meet increasing demands for food, biofuels, industrial materials, and new medicines.


Successful neurosurgery with transcranial MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound
The Magnetic Resonance Center of the University Children's Hospital Zurich has achieved a world first break through in MR-guided, non-invasive neurosurgery.


Children susceptible to pesticides longer than expected, study finds
Although it is known that infants are more susceptible than adults to the toxic effects of pesticides, this increased vulnerability may extend much longer into childhood than expected.


Children's Hospital Oakland scientists first to discover new source for harvesting stem cells
A groundbreaking study conducted by Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is the first to reveal a new avenue for harvesting stem cells from a woman's placenta, or more specifically the discarded placentas of healthy newborns.


ASU instrument takes better look at Mars minerals
A slow drift in the orbit of NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft that mission controllers started nine months ago is now giving an ASU instrument on the spacecraft a better and more sensitive view of minerals on the surface of Mars.


Beyond CO2: Study reveals growing importance of HFCs in climate warming
Some of the substances that are helping to avert the destruction of the ozone layer could increasingly contribute to climate warming.


Tumor suppressor gene in flies may provide insights for human brain tumors
In the fruit fly's developing brain, stem cells called neuroblasts normally divide to create one self-renewing neuroblast and one cell that has a different fate. But neuroblast growth can sometimes spin out of control and become a brain tumor.


Carb synthesis sheds light on promising tuberculosis drug target
A fundamental question about how sugar units are strung together into long carbohydrate chains has also pinpointed a promising way to target new medicines against tuberculosis.


Older men with breathing problems during sleep more likely to have irregular heartbeats
Increasingly severe sleep-related breathing disorders in older men appear to be associated with a greater risk of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias).


Nickel isotope may be methane producing microbe biomarker
Nickel, an important trace nutrient for the single cell organisms that produce methane, may be a useful isotopic marker to pinpoint the past origins of these methanogenic microbes, according to Penn State and University of Bristol, UK, researchers.


Disney elevates heterosexuality to powerful, magical heights
In the world of Disney, falling in heterosexual love can break a spell, save Christmas, change laws, stop wars and even, in the case of The Little Mermaid, cause an individual to give up her personal identity.


Mouse model of Parkinson's reproduces nonmotor symptoms
The classic symptoms of Parkinson's disease involve tremor, stiffness and slow movements. Over the last decade, neurologists have been paying greater attention to non-motor symptoms, such as digestive and sleep problems, loss of sense of smell and depression.


Prostate Cancer Translational Research in Europe meeting: Search for biomarkers continues
Collaboration in prostate cancer translational research in Europe is not only vital to sustain the progress achieved in recent years but also to streamline current efforts between researchers and clinicians and avoid duplication or overlaps.


Targeting helpers of heat shock proteins could help treat cancer, cardiovascular disease
Dissecting how heat shock protein 90 gets steroid receptors into shape to use hormones like estrogen and testosterone could lead to targeted therapies for hormone-driven cancers, such as breast and prostate, that need them as well, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.


University of Hawaii at Manoa professor co-authors article about weight and relationships
Dr. Janet D. Latner, an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, has co-authored an article in the July 2009 edition of the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy on "Weight Stigma in Existing Relationships."


Study shows Chronix technology using serum DNA can identify early presence of disease
Chronix Biomedical today reported that a new study in a peer-reviewed journal further confirms the potential diagnostic and prognostic utility of using circulating fragments of DNA to detect early stage disease.


Anxiety's hidden cost
The effect of anxiety on academic performance is not always obvious but new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council suggests that there may be hidden costs.


Inflammation markers linked more with fatal than nonfatal cardiovascular events in elderly
A study published this week in the open access journal PLoS Medicine shows that for elderly people at risk of cardiovascular disease, the presence of inflammatory markers in the blood can identify that an individual is at a higher risk of a fatal rather than a non-fatal heart attack or stroke.


Music may have a future role in heart and stroke patient rehab
Blood flow and respiratory rates can synch with music, indicating that music could one day be a therapeutic tool for blood pressure control and rehabilitation, according to a study by Italian researchers published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.


New electron microscopy images reveal the assembly of HIV
Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University Clinic Heidelberg, Germany, have produced a three-dimensional reconstruction of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), which shows the structure of the immature form of the virus at unprecedented detail.


Dad's early connection with child 'writes script' for later school involvement
When a dad changes diapers and makes pediatrician's appointments, he's more likely to stay interested and involved when his child makes the transition to school, said a new University of Illinois study that explores the role of parent involvement on student achievement.


Bypass surgery has long-term benefits for children with Kawasaki disease
Coronary artery bypass surgery provides long-term benefits for children whose hearts and blood vessels are damaged by Kawasaki disease, Japanese researchers report in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.


Carnegie Mellon algorithm charts evolution of genetic networks during fruit fly life cycle
A new algorithm developed by Carnegie Mellon University computer scientists has revealed for the first time how genetic networks in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, evolve during the insect's life cycle.


Bioengineers develop a microfabricated device to measure cellular forces during tissue development
A University of Pennsylvania-collaboration of bioengineers studying the physical forces generated by individual cells has created a tiny micron-sized device that allows researchers to measure and manipulate cellular forces as assemblies of living cells reorganize themselves into tissues.


'Green' fireworks may brighten eco-friendly 4th of July displays in future
With millions of people in the United States eagerly awaiting those July 4 fireworks displays - and our Canadian neighbors doing likewise for their July 1 Canada Day celebrations - here's a prospect for those light shows of the future likely to ignite a smile on Mother Nature's face: A new generation of "green" fireworks is quietly making its way toward the sky.


Molecular typesetting -- proofreading without a proofreader
Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Bristol (UK) have developed a model of how errors are corrected whilst proteins are being built.


Larvae shun the light
Drosophila larvae avoid light during the foraging stage of their development. Research published in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience shows that both 5-HT (serotonergic) and corazonergic neurons have a role in regulating this behavior.


Owning too much company stock puts workers' retirement at risk
Congress should ban employer stock from company-sponsored retirement plans to spare workers the risk of putting too much of their nest eggs in one basket, a new study by a University of Illinois legal expert says.


Physicians frequently fail to inform patients about abnormal test results
New research shows that physicians failed to report clinically significant abnormal test results to patients -- or to document that they had informed them -- in one out of every 14 cases of abnormal results.


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