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Toxic Chemicals Found In Common Scented Laundry Products, Air Fresheners Posted: 24 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT A study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the product labels.

Licking Your Wounds: Scientists Isolate Compound In Human Saliva That Speeds Wound Healing Posted: 24 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT A report by scientists from the Netherlands identifies a compound in human saliva that greatly speeds wound healing. This research may offer hope to people suffering from chronic wounds related to diabetes and other disorders, as well as traumatic injuries and burns. In addition, because the compounds can be mass produced, they have the potential to become as common as antibiotic creams and rubbing alcohol.

Olympic Games: Air Quality Forecasts For China Posted: 24 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT With less than a month remaining before the Beijing Olympics, Chinese officials have introduced a series of measures to improve air quality for the Games. A new tool has been installed in the capital city to allow the Chinese to monitor the effectiveness of these efforts.

Over-the-counter Anesthetic Gel Puts The Squeeze On Mammogram Pain Posted: 24 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT The simple application of a pain-relieving gel may reduce the breast discomfort some women experience during mammography exams. For a mammography exam, a radiologic technologist positions the patient's breast on a platform in a mammography unit. The breast is then gradually compressed with a paddle. The patient may feel pressure and occasionally some discomfort or pain. Fear of this discomfort leads many women to avoid mammograms altogether.

Balance Problems? Step Into The IShoe Posted: 24 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT Your grandmother might have little in common with an astronaut, but both could benefit from a new device an MIT graduate student is designing to test balancing ability.

Virtual Toothache Helps Student Dentists Posted: 24 Jul 2008 10:00 AM CDT Masha, a middle-aged avatar from Second Life, is an integral part of a new research project to teach and give students practice time to communicate with mock patients. Not only do findings from the study have potential to revolutionize dental education but also to change the way national testing is done for patient-side communication skills.

Astronomers See Disks Surrounding Black Holes, Strengthened Evidence For Current Explanation Of Quasars Posted: 24 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT For the first time, researchers have found a way to view the accretion disks surrounding black holes and verify that their true electromagnetic spectra match what astronomers have long predicted they would be. A black hole and its bright accretion disk have been thought to form a quasar, the powerful light source at the center of some distant galaxies. Using a polarizing filter, astronomers isolated the light emitted by the accretion disk from that produced by other matter in the vicinity of the black hole.

Exercise Could Be The Heart's Fountain Of Youth Posted: 24 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Older people who did endurance exercise training for about a year ended up with metabolically much younger hearts. The researchers also showed that by one metabolic measure, women benefited more than men from the training.

'Nanosculpture' Could Enable New Types Of Heat Pumps And Energy Converters Posted: 24 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers have discovered a new technique for growing single-crystal nanorods and controlling their shape using biomolecules. The research could enable the development of smaller, more powerful heat pumps and devices that harvest electricity from heat.

Early Exposure To Tobacco Smoke Causes Asthma And Allergy Posted: 24 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Babies exposed to cigarette smoke before birth or during the first months afterwards run a greater risk of developing asthma and allergy. It is a well known fact that babies are harmed by tobacco smoke in numerous ways, but it has always been difficult to separate the effects of the mother smoking during pregnancy and passive smoking after birth.

Student Devises Solar Energy ECG Useful In Developing Countries And Troubled Areas Posted: 24 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT A electrotechnology student has devised an ECG machine that runs on solar energy. This especially lends itself to use in developing countries or troubled areas.

Autism's Social Struggles Due To Disrupted Communication Networks In Brain Posted: 24 Jul 2008 07:00 AM CDT Picking up on innuendo and social cues is a central component of engaging in conversation, but people with autism often struggle to determine another person's intentions in a social interaction. New research sheds light on the neural mechanisms that are responsible for such social difficulties in autism, and on the workings of these social brain mechanisms in all of us.

Human Visual System Could Make Powerful Computer Posted: 24 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT Since the idea of using DNA to create faster, smaller, and more powerful computers originated in 1994, scientists have been scrambling to develop successful ways to use genetic code for computation. Now, new research suggests that if we want to carry out artificial computations, all we have to do is literally look around. A researcher has begun to develop a technique to turn our eyes and visual system into a programmable computer.

Cancer Drug Delivery Time Cut From Days To Hours With New Technique Posted: 24 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT Researchers have developed a technique that has the potential to deliver cancer-fighting drugs to diseased areas within hours, as opposed to the two days it currently takes for existing delivery systems.

Milkweed's Evolutionary Approach To Caterpillars: Counter Appetite With Fast Repair Posted: 24 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT The adage that your enemies know your weaknesses best is especially true in the case of plants and predators that have co-evolved: as the predators evolve new strategies for attack, plants counter with their own unique defenses.

Bosentan Improves Quality Of Life For Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension Posted: 24 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT Recent studies have shown that bosentan therapy greatly improves the quality of life for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. According to a new study treatments with oral Bosentan reduces resistance in blood flow -- allowing the heart and lungs to work more efficiently and in turn, enables patients to increase exercise capacity and quality of life.

Predynastic Human Presence Discovered By Core Drilling At The Northern Nile Delta Coast, Egypt Posted: 24 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT A small but significant find made during a geological survey provides evidence of the oldest human presence yet discovered along the northernmost margin of Egypt's Nile delta.

Gray And Green Together: Older Adults Can Play Role In Creating Healthier Environment Posted: 24 Jul 2008 04:00 AM CDT Volunteering for environmental protection activities can be physically and mentally sustaining for older people. In fact, this demographic group is in a unique position to have a noticeable impact on its surroundings.

Parasites Vastly Outweigh Predators In Estuaries: Could Have Significant Ecological Implications Posted: 24 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT In a study of free-living and parasitic species in three estuaries on the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, researchers have determined that parasite biomass in those habitats exceeds that of top predators, in some cases by a factor of 20. Their findings, which could have significant biomedical and ecological implications, appear in the science journal Nature. From an ecological perspective, parasites serve both as regulators to prevent species from becoming numerically dominant and as indicators of the health of a particular ecosystem. The study shows for the first time that parasites might drive the flow of energy in ecosystems.

Regular Meals Reduce Risk Of Developing Metabolic Syndrome, Study Shows Posted: 24 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT It is obvious to most people that our health is affected by what we eat; now, however, scientists have shown that it is also a matter of how often we eat. Scientists have now, for the first time, showed that the frequency of meals, regardless of their content, affects the chances of developing metabolic syndrome.

During Olympics, Scientists Will Be Studying Air-quality In Beijing Posted: 24 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT As the world watches China prepare for the Olympic Games, one researcher has his eye on less visible matters -- the particles in Beijing's air that millions breathe every day, and that many more will be breathing when they descend on the city this summer.

Analysis Of Quickly Stopped Rx Orders Provides New Tool For Reducing Medical Errors Posted: 24 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT By studying medication orders that are withdrawn ("discontinued") by physicians within 45 minutes of their origination, researchers have demonstrated a systematic and efficient method of identifying prescribing errors. The method, they say, has value to screen for medication errors and as a teaching tool for physicians and physicians-in-training.

Saving Lives After Natural Disasters With Fast Set-Up Phone Network Posted: 24 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT A ten-kilo GSM mobile phone network will allow rescue workers to set up communications just hours, or even minutes, after a man-made or natural catastrophe. When disaster strikes communications are often one of the first infrastructures to go down. But it is exactly when effective communications are most desperately needed.

Malaria Control Goals Are Likely To Be Unachievable Posted: 24 Jul 2008 01:00 AM CDT The Millennium Development Goal to halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria globally is unlikely to be met. The statement comes in a report published in PLoS Medicine.

Genetics Of White Horses Unraveled: One Mutation Makes Ordinary Horses Turn Grey, Then White, Very Young Posted: 23 Jul 2008 10:00 PM CDT White horses are colored horses that turn grey, then white, at a very young age. The white horse is an icon for dignity which has had a huge impact on human culture across the world. Scientists have now identified the mutation causing this spectacular trait and show that it can be traced back to an ancestor that lived thousands of years ago. The study is interesting for medical research since this mutation also increases the risk of melanoma.

Checking More Lymph Nodes Linked To Cancer Patient Survival Posted: 23 Jul 2008 10:00 PM CDT Why do patients with gastric or pancreatic cancer live longer when they are treated at cancer centers or high-volume hospitals than patients treated at low-volume or community hospitals? New research found that cancer patients have more lymph nodes examined for the spread of their disease if they are treated at hospitals performing more cancer surgeries or at comprehensive cancer centers. The result is a more accurate prognosis and treatment decision, which results in improved long-term outcomes.

High Economic Value Set On Threatened Mexican Mangroves Posted: 23 Jul 2008 10:00 PM CDT Mangrove destruction not only comes with ecological cost, but monetary as well: $37,500 per hectare each year, researchers say. Mexican mangroves, trees that form forest ecosystems at the land-sea interface, demonstrably boost fishery yields in the Gulf of California.

Discovery Of A Mechanism That Regulates Cell Movement Posted: 23 Jul 2008 10:00 PM CDT A mechanism that controls the movement of cells in a tissue by regulating cell adhesion has been identified. This same mechanism may be defective in diseases such as cancer and metastasis, when tumour cells lose their adhesion to neighbouring cells and migrate through the organism.

New Chlorine-tolerant Desalination Membrane Hopes To Boost Access To Clean Water Posted: 23 Jul 2008 10:00 PM CDT Chemical engineers have developed a chlorine-tolerant membrane that should simplify the water desalination process, increasing access to fresh water and possibly reducing greenhouse gases.

Geographical Ties To Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cases Among 1991 Gulf War Veterans Posted: 23 Jul 2008 10:00 PM CDT Researchers are hoping to find a geographical pattern to help explain why 1991 Gulf War veterans contracted the fatal neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at twice the normal rate during the decade after the conflict.

Rare Mutant Cells Glimpsed: Imaging System May Help Understand Origins Of Cancer Posted: 23 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT MIT biological engineers have developed a new imaging system that allows them to see cells that have undergone a specific mutation.

Once-suspect Protein Found To Promote DNA Repair, Prevent Cancer Posted: 23 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT An abundant chromosomal protein that binds to damaged DNA prevents cancer development by enhancing DNA repair, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science.

How Carrots Help Us See The Color Orange Posted: 23 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT One of the easiest ways to identify an object is by its color -- perhaps it is because children's books encourage us to pair certain objects with their respective colors. Why else would so many of us automatically assume carrots are orange, grass is green and apples are red?

Small Birth Size Linked To Changes In The Cardiovascular System That Predispose To Later Disease Posted: 23 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT Researchers have found the first evidence that smaller size at birth is associated with specific alterations in the functioning of the heart and circulation in children and that these changes differ between boys and girls. It adds to the evidence that adverse environments experienced by the baby before birth and indicated by low birth weight, can cause long-term changes in the heart and blood vessels, leading to heart and blood vessel disease in later life.

Better Than Power Grid: New Microgrid Network Proposed For More Dependable, Cheaper Power Posted: 23 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT A researcher has proposed a microgrid-based power plant with its own local power sources and independent control as a more dependable, efficient, and cost effective system than traditional telecom power systems. Microgrids would also be a quick and inexpensive way to include renewable energy sources for both existing and developing systems.

Age-old Magic Tricks Can Provide Clues For Modern Science Posted: 23 Jul 2008 07:00 PM CDT Revealing the science behind age-old magic tricks will help us better understand how humans see, think, and act.

'Stuffy Nose' Mouse: A Promise To Help Treat 31 Million With Sinusitis Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:00 PM CDT Mice with inflamed nasal tissue may be unable to tell if something smells bad or good, but their sensory deficit is nothing to turn up a nose at. That is because, their developers say, the mice's reversible loss of one of their key senses, which is essential to tasting food or sensing danger from foul odors, sets them apart from all other mice and binds them to an estimated 31 million Americans living with chronic sinusitis, a persistent inflammation of the tissue that lines the nasal and sinus cavities.

End In Sight For Dreaded Dentist Drill Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:00 PM CDT A new technology that spots tooth decay almost as soon as it's begun promises to reduce the need for drilling and filling. Drilling is one of the top dental phobias and puts thousands of people off visiting their dentist every year.

Stem Cell Chicken And Egg Debate Moves To Unlikely Arena: The Testes Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:00 PM CDT Logic says it has to be the niche. As air and water preceded life, so the niche, that hospitable environment that shelters adult stem cells in many tissues and provides factors necessary to keep them young and vital, must have emerged before its stem cell dependents.

New Vaccine May Protect Against All Four Strains Of Dengue Virus Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:00 PM CDT Researchers have developed a novel four-component vaccine that protects monkeys against all four strains of dengue virus and may potentially offer protection to the millions of humans at risk worldwide.

Environmental Factors Linked To Sex Ratio Of Plants Discovered Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:00 PM CDT Environmental factors can transform the ratio of females to males in plant populations according to new research. The authors suggest that when females capture large amounts of pollen, female-determining pollen tubes out-compete male-determining pollen tubes to fertilize the single ovule in each flower.

Serious School Failure Is Depressing For Girls, But Not Boys Posted: 23 Jul 2008 04:00 PM CDT Adolescent girls who had a serious school failure by the 12th grade -- being expelled, suspended or dropping out -- were significantly more likely to have suffered a serious bout of depression at the age of 21 than girls who did not have these problems.

Commercial Bees Spreading Disease To Wild Pollinating Bees Posted: 23 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Bees provide crucial pollination service to numerous crops and up to a third of the human diet comes from plants pollinated by insects. However, pollinating bees are suffering widespread declines in North America and scientists warn that this could have serious implications for agriculture and food supply. While the cause of these declines has largely been a mystery, new research reveals an alarming spread of disease from commercial bees to wild pollinators.

Epilepsy Drug May Increase Risk Of Birth Defects Posted: 23 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Taking the epilepsy drug topiramate alone or along with other epilepsy drugs during pregnancy may increase the risk of birth defects, according to a study in Neurology. Research has shown that many epilepsy drugs increase the risk of birth defects, but little research had been done on topiramate.

Robot Playmates May Help Children With Autism Posted: 23 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Scientists studying interactions of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders with bubble-blowing robots confirm what has been widely reported anecdotally: that ASD children in many cases interact more easily with mechanical devices than with humans. The researchers are developing a "control architecture" which will tailor robot interactions to the specific needs of ASD children to help therapists treating their condition.

Plastic Bottle Contaminants? No Reproductive Or Developmental Effects Found In Mice From Oral Exposure To Low Doses Of Bisphenol A Posted: 23 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT A new multigenerational reproductive toxicity study of dietary Bisphenol A (BPA) in mice found no adverse effects of BPA on parents or offspring at dietary concentrations and doses comparable to those estimated for human exposure levels.

Some Earthworms Make Septic Systems Work Better, Others Do The Opposite Posted: 23 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT The right earthworms can make home septic systems work better. The wrong ones could do the opposite. That's the finding in a study of worm populations living in the soil near trenches receiving septic tank flow outside five single family homes.

Viagra Works For Antidepressant-related Sexual Dysfunction In Women, Study Suggests Posted: 23 Jul 2008 01:00 PM CDT Women with sexual dysfunction caused by the use of antidepressants experienced a reduction in adverse sexual effects with use of sildenafil, commonly known as the erectile dysfunction medication Viagra.

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