ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Agriculture Linked To Frog Sexual Abnormalities Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT A farm irrigation canal would seem a healthier place for toads than a ditch by a supermarket parking lot. But scientists have found the opposite is true. In a study with wide implications for a longstanding debate over whether agricultural chemicals pose a threat to amphibians, zoologists have found that toads in suburban areas are less likely to suffer from reproductive system abnormalities than toads near farms -- where some individual animals had both testes and ovaries.

Bone Marrow Alternative: Stem Cells From Umbilical Cord May Be Used To Treat Hepatic Diseases Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT Researchers from the Universities of Granada and León have shown that mononuclear blood cells from human umbilical cord can be an effective alternative to bone marrow. This work, to be published in the journal Cell Transplantation, could potentially mean a great advance in regenerative hepatic medicine.

Mercury's Surface Dominated By Volcanism And Iron-deficiency Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT Multispectral data on the composition of rock untis of the surface of Mercury show a widespread role for volcanism and an apparent deficiency in iron in the rocks' minerals.

Women Over 90 More Likely To Have Dementia Than Men Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT Women over 90 are significantly more likely to have dementia than men of the same age, according UC Irvine researchers involved with the 90+ Study, one of the nation's largest studies of dementia and other health factors in the fastest-growing age demographic.

Undergraduates Forge New Area Of Bioinformatics Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT A group of undergraduate students have forged a new area of bioinformatics that may improve genomic and proteomic annotations and unlock a collection of stubborn biological mysteries. Their work will be published in the journal Genome Research.

Scientists Set Out To Measure How We Perceive Naturalness Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory are working towards producing the world's first model that will predict how we perceive naturalness. The results could help make synthetic products so good that they are interpreted by our senses as being fully equivalent to the "real thing," but with the benefits of reduced environmental impact and increased durability.

Music Went With Cave Art In Prehistoric Caves Posted: 05 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Thousands of years later, we can view stone-age art on cave walls, but we can't listen to the stone-age music that would have accompanied many of the pictures. Researchers report that the most acoustically resonant place in a cave -- where sounds linger or reverberate the most -- was also often the place where the pictures were densest. In many sites, flutes made of bone are to be found nearby.

Seizures In Newborns Can Be Detected With Small, Portable Brain Activity Monitors Posted: 05 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Compact, bedside brain-activity monitors detected most seizures in at-risk infants. That means the compact units could assist clinicians in monitoring for electrical seizures until confirmation with conventional EEG, the researchers assert in an article in Pediatrics.

Puzzle In The Control Of Cell Division Unraveled Posted: 05 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT A puzzle in the control of cell division, one of the most fundamental processes in all biology, has been unraveled. Although the steps of cell division are familiar to all pupils studying biology in schools, the details of how cell division is controlled and errors avoided have still to be sorted out.

Coronary Arterial Calcium Scans Help Detect Overall Death Risk In The Elderly Posted: 05 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Measuring calcium deposits in the heart's arteries can help predict overall death risk in American adults, even when they are elderly, according to a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Researchers Use Supercomputer To Track Pathways In Myoglobin Posted: 05 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Myoglobin is responsible for oxygen storage in cells. But how does oxygen travel through the solid protein wall to be anchored by an iron atom deep within the protein? Scientists have now provided a computational solution to the decades-old puzzle.

Weight Watchers Vs. Fitness Centers Posted: 05 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT The nationally known commercial weight loss program, Weight Watchers, was compared to gym membership programs to find out which method wins in the game of good health. Researchers examined the real-life experiences of participants to determine which program helps people lose pounds, reduce body fat and gain health benefits.

Breast Cancer: How Tumor Cells Break Free And Form Metastases Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT When tumor cells acquire the capacity to move around and invade other tissues, there is a risk of metastases and cancer treatment becomes more difficult. Scientists have just discovered how breast cancer cells break the bonds that tether them to the tumor.

How Cold Sore Virus Hides During Inactive Phase Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Now that scientists have figured out how the virus that causes cold sores hides out, they may have a way to wake it up and kill it. Cold sores, painful, unsightly blemishes around the mouth, have so far evaded a cure or even prevention.

First Underwater Neutrino Telescope Has Been Constructed Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Construction of the first underwater neutrino telescope has just been completed. Since early June, the last two detection lines of Antares have been probing the bottom of the Mediterranean for neutrinos of cosmic origin. There are now 12 detection lines aimed at observing these elementary particles, which provide insight into the most violent phenomena in the Universe.

Healthy Or Diseased? Analysis Of Body's Metabolism Sheds New Light On The Question Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Scientists have shown that biological indicators for diseases caused or influenced by environmental factors can be detected by the systemic analysis of the body's metabolism (metabolomics). The procedure presented here is also suitable for pre-clinical drug testing and allows for the early detection of possible side effects of a new medication.

Researchers Coat Titanium With Polymer To Improve Integration Of Joint Replacements Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT New research shows that coating a titanium implant with a new biologically inspired material enhances tissue healing, improves bone growth around the implant and strengthens the attachment and integration of the implant to the bone.

Depression Ups Risk Of Complications Following Heart Attack, Study Suggests Posted: 05 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT People who suffer from severe depression following a heart attack might be more likely to experience cardiac complications while hospitalized, according to a new study. "There is good evidence that if a person has depression after a heart attack, they are more likely to die from cardiac causes in the following months and years," said the lead author and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. "No one had yet studied whether depression impacts cardiac outcomes immediately after a heart attack -- the time we see the most complications."

Patriotic New Lilacs Introduced In U.S. Posted: 04 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT The word evokes memories of promising spring days and visions of colorful, perfumed blooms. Lilacs have long been well-loved staples in America's yards and gardens, and have played a storied role in US history.

To Multiply, Ant Colonies Adapt To Environmental Conditions Posted: 03 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT By combining field work in Australia with mathematical modeling, scientists have shown that the quality and quantity of winged queens produced by colonies of the Rhytidoponera ant vary according to environmental conditions.

Amorphous Materials: How Some Solids Flow Like Liquids Posted: 03 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Scientists have provided the first proof that amorphous materials, also known as soft glasses, deform and flow through a collective movement of their particles. These materials (which include chocolate mousse, shaving cream, mayonnaise, metallic glasses, granular materials and mud) are amorphous solids, in other words, they are resistant like solids but, like liquids, lack a crystalline structure.

How Effective Are Dental Referrals By Primary Care Physicians? Posted: 03 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Young children from low-income families experience high levels of tooth decay and face many barriers to getting dental treatment and preventive services. Because these children usually visit their pediatrician or other primary care provider far more frequently than a dentist, the primary care medical setting is gaining popularity as a place to provide preventive dental services.

Novel Hydrogel Systems For Dentin Regeneration Posted: 03 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Dental caries, or tooth decay, continues to be the most prevalent infectious disease in the world, presenting significant public health challenges and socio-economic consequences.

New Therapeutic Options For Diabetes-related Tissue Injury Posted: 03 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by altered glucose tolerance and impaired lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and is associated with a number of complications directly resulting from hyperglycemiainduced inflammation.

Two-ton, 500 Million-year-old Fossil Of Stromatolite Discovered In Virginia, U.S. Posted: 03 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Scientists have confirmed that an approximately 500 million-year-old stromatolite was recently discovered at the Boxley Blue Ridge Quarry near Roanoke, Virginia. This is the first-ever intact stromatolite head found in Virginia, and is one of the largest complete "heads" in the world, at over 5 feet in diameter and weighing over 2 tons. Stromatolites are among the earliest known life forms, and are important in helping scientists understand more about environments that existed in the past.

Mother's Vitamin D Status During Pregnancy Will Affect Her Baby's Dental Health Posted: 03 Jul 2008 11:00 PM CDT Low maternal vitamin D levels during pregnancy may affect primary tooth calcification, leading to enamel defects, which are a risk factor for early-childhood tooth decay.

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