Wednesday, October 08, 2008

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Atomic-resolution Views Suggest Function Of Enzyme That Regulates Light-detecting Signals In Eye

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT

An atomic resolution view of an enzyme found only in the eye is providing clues about how the enzyme is activated. The enzyme, PDE6, is critical to the way light entering the retina is converted into signals to the brain.

Even Occasional Smoking Can Impair Arteries

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT

Even occasional cigarette smoking can impair the functioning of your arteries, according to a new University of Georgia study that used ultrasound to measure how the arteries of young, healthy adults respond to changes in blood flow.

Anti-cancer Drug Prevents, Reverses Cardiovascular Damage In Mouse Model Of Premature Aging Disorder

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT

An experimental anti-cancer drug can prevent -- and even reverse -- potentially fatal cardiovascular damage in a mouse model of progeria, a rare genetic disorder that causes the most dramatic form of human premature aging researchers have reported.

Neurotransmitter Defect May Trigger Autoimmune Disease

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT

A potentially blinding neurological disorder, often confused with multiple sclerosis, has now become a little less mysterious. A new study may have uncovered the cause of Devic's disease. The research could result in new treatment options for this devastating disease.

New Material Could Speed Development Of Hydrogen Powered Vehicles

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT

Researchers in Greece report design of a new material that almost meets the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 2010 goals for hydrogen storage and could help eliminate a key roadblock to practical hydrogen-powered vehicles.

New Fake-Proof Personality Test Created

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 10:00 AM CDT

Psychologists have developed a personality inventory that can predict who will excel in academic and creative domains, even when respondents are trying hard to fake their answers.

Deepest-living Fishes Caught On Camera For First Time

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT

Scientists filming in one of the world's deepest ocean trenches have found groups of highly sociable snailfish swarming over their bait, nearly five miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean. This is the first time cameras have been sent to this depth.

Genetic Variant Plays Role In Cleft Lip, Study Finds

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT

Researchers have found, in a previously identified gene, a variation that likely contributes to one in five cases of isolated cleft lip. It's the first time a genetic variant has been associated with cleft lip alone, rather than both cleft lip and palate. The study provides insight on a previously unknown genetic mechanism and could eventually help with diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cleft lip, which affects more than five million people worldwide.

Bird Diversity Lessens Human Exposure To West Nile Virus

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT

This one's for the birds. A study by biologists shows that the more diverse a bird population is in an area, the less chance humans have of exposure to West Nile Virus.

New Diagnostic Test For Rare Leukemia Appears To Give Faster Results, Study Finds

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT

A new twist on a well-known cell sorting technique may allow physicians to diagnose rare leukemias in hours instead of weeks, according to new study. The clinical promise of the Stanford-developed approach, which eavesdrops on individual cells to decipher potentially dangerous molecular conversations, is likely to extend to many other disorders in which cell-signaling pathways are disrupted.

Potentially Toxic Flame Retardants Highest In California Households

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT

In what may be an unintended consequence of efforts to make furniture safer and less flammable, residents of California have blood levels of potentially toxic flame retardants called PBDEs at levels nearly twice the national average, scientists from Massachusetts and California are reporting.

Hack-a-vote: Students Learn How Vulnerable Electronic Voting Really Is

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 07:00 AM CDT

This week undergraduate and graduate students in an advanced computer security course at Rice University in Houston are learning hands-on just how easy it is to wreak havoc on computer software used in today's voting machines.

'Deadly Dozen' Reports Diseases Worsened By Climate Change

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT

A new report lists 12 pathogens that could spread into new regions as a result of climate change, with potential impacts to both human and wildlife health and global economies.

Scientists Trace A Novel Way Cells Are Disrupted In Cancer

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT

A research team at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is clarifying a previously unappreciated way that cellular processes are disrupted in cancer. Following upon previous work showing that a splicing factor called SF2/ASF can induce tumors in cell cultures, the team now shows that the same splicing factor induces changes in proteins in a pathway called PI3K-mTOR well known for its involvement in cancers.

NASA Spacecraft Ready To Explore Outer Solar System

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT

The first NASA spacecraft to image and map the dynamic interactions taking place where the hot solar wind slams into the cold expanse of space is ready for launch Oct. 19. The two-year mission will begin from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Proteins Involved In Blood Vessel Dysfunction In Type 2 Diabetes Are Identified

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT

Using precise microscopes, researchers are dissecting coronary microvessels and testing which proteins are responsible for inflammation that causes blood-vessel dysfunction. By identifying the proteins that play important roles in blood-vessel dysfunction, they hope to develop new treatments for blood-vessel dysfunction in people with type 2 diabetes.

How Many Earthquakes Are There?

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT

Authors explore how ground motion measures scale with magnitude and explore the question: How many earthquakes are there?

Mentally Ill Smoke At 4 Times The Rate Of General Population, Study Suggests

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 04:00 AM CDT

Australians with mental illness smoke at four times the rate of the general population, according to a new study.

Stars Stop Forming When Big Galaxies Collide

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT

Astronomers studying new images of a nearby galaxy cluster have found evidence that high-speed collisions between large elliptical galaxies may prevent new stars from forming.

C. Difficile And Antibiotics Not Necessarily Linked, Study Finds

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT

A new study questions the assumption held by a vast majority of medical professionals that Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) infections are essentially always preceded by antibiotic use. The finding could have a major impact on how patients with diarrhea are evaluated upon their admission to the hospital.

Bioengineers Fill Holes In Science Of Cellular Self-organization

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT

The chemical and biological aspects of cellular self-organization are well-studied; less well understood is how cell populations order themselves biomechanically -- how their behavior and communication are affected by high density and physical proximity. Bioengineers and physicists have now begun to address these fundamental questions.

Racial Differences For Brain Bleeds Suggest Stroke Risk Greater Than Thought For Blacks

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT

Small, clinically silent areas of bleeding in the brain appear to be more common in black versus white stroke patients hospitalized for new brain bleeds, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. These findings may help explain the higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke among the black population, especially in those who are medically underserved.

Good News For Pig Breeders

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT

There are currently two methods for artificial insemination: bull semen can be frozen to a temperature of -172 °C and may be stored indefinitely. However, pig semen must be diluted and stored liquid, and the storage capacity is only a few days. The window of opportunity for insemination is also limited. Striking the period when the sow is receptive is difficult and farmers need to inspect the animals regularly.

ADHD Stimulant Treatment May Decrease Risk Of Substance Abuse In Adolescent Girls; Results Mirror Findings In Boys

Posted: 08 Oct 2008 01:00 AM CDT

Researchers have found that treatment with stimulant drugs does not increase and appears to significantly decrease the risk that girls with ADHD will begin smoking cigarettes or using alcohol or drugs.

Mysterious Snippets Of DNA Withstand Eons Of Evolution

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT

Small stretches of seemingly useless DNA harbor a big secret, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. There's one problem: We don't know what it is. Although individual laboratory animals appear to live happily when these genetic ciphers are deleted, these snippets have been highly conserved throughout evolution.

Occasional Memory Loss Tied To Lower Brain Volume

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT

People who occasionally forget an appointment or a friend's name may have a loss of brain volume, even though they don't have memory deficits on regular tests of memory or dementia, according to new study.

Fishy Future Written In The Genes

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT

The roadmap to the future of the gorgeously-decorated fish which throng Australia's coral reefs may well be written in their genes. Of particular importance may be to protect 'pioneer' fish populations which are able to re-colonize regions of reef devastated by global warming and other impacts or settle new areas as the corals move south.

Many Receptor Models Used In Drug Design May Not Be Useful After All

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT

It may very well be that models used for the design of new drugs have to be regarded as impractical. Scientists have elucidated the structure of the adenosine A2A receptor, one of caffeine's main targets in the body and a key player in Parkinson's.

Computer Hardware 'Guardians' Protect Users From Undiscovered Bugs

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT

As computer processor chips grow faster and more complex, they are likely to make it to market with more design bugs. But that may be OK, according to researchers who have devised a system that lets chips work around all functional bugs, even those that haven't been detected.

Presence Of Safety Measures Affects People's Trust In Safety Of Tourist Destinations

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 10:00 PM CDT

According to the asymmetry principle of trust, information on negative events decreases trust to a much higher extent than information on positive events increases trust. A new study examines whether this notion holds true with respect to trust in the safety of tourist destinations.

NASA's MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals Mercury As Never Seen Before

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT

NASA's MESSENGER space probe has made its second swing past Mercury, just 125 miles (200 kilometers) above the cratered surface of our solar system's innermost planet, snapping hundreds of pictures and collecting a variety of other data.

Red Wine May Lower Lung Cancer Risk

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT

Moderate consumption of red wine may decrease the risk of lung cancer in men. The most substantial risk reduction was among smokers who drank one to two glasses of red wine per day. The researchers reported a 60 percent reduced lung cancer risk in these men.

2008 Ozone Hole Larger Than Last Year

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT

The 2008 ozone hole -- a thinning in the ozone layer over Antarctica -- is larger both in size and ozone loss than 2007 but is not as large as 2006.

New Study Examines Effectiveness Of Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT

New findings from a decision analysis for the US Preventative Services Task Force suggest that routine colorectal cancer screenings can be stopped in patients over the age of 75.

Helping People With Disabilities Make Use Of Public Transport

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT

In an ideal world, all buses would be wheelchair friendly and train timetables would be available as audio recordings for the visually impaired. Reality has yet to catch up with that vision, so instead European researchers have developed a personal navigation aid to help disabled people make use of public transport.

Why Current Publication Practices May Distort Science

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 07:00 PM CDT

The current system of publishing medical and scientific research provides "a distorted view of the reality of scientific data that are generated in the laboratory and clinic," says a team of researchers in PLoS Medicine.

New Prenatal Test For Down Syndrome Less Risky Than Amniocentesis, Scientists Say

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT

Pregnant women worried about their babies' genetic health face a tough decision: get prenatal gene testing and risk miscarriage, or skip the tests and miss the chance to learn of genetic defects before birth.

Cassini Flyby Of Saturn Moon Offers Insight Into Solar System History

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is scheduled to fly within 16 miles of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Oct. 9 and measure molecules in its space environment that could give insight into the history of the solar system.

Stool DNA Testing For Colorectal Cancer Has Potential, But Challenges Remain

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT

The first generation of a stool DNA test to identify early colorectal cancer has limitations, according to a Mayo Clinic-led study published in the Oct. 7, 2008, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

Microwave Ovens Need Added Safety Controls, Researchers Advise

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT

Curious toddlers and pre-schoolers are all-too-often scalded by foods heated in microwave ovens, but a locking mechanism could prevent these severe injuries that require hospitalization. Researchers investigated these cases as part of a three-year study of children in their burn unit and found that inadequate safeguards exist on microwave ovens.

How And Why Some Children Become Chronically Abused By Peers

Posted: 07 Oct 2008 04:00 PM CDT

As soon as children are old enough to interact socially, some become entrenched in chronic and increasing patterns of victimization by their peers, according to a new report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Children who are aggressive in infancy and are from families with harsh parenting styles and insufficient income appear more likely to be consistently victimized.

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