ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Psychotropic medications can cause birth defects, study finds
• Targeting flight-or-fight hormone response to combat heart failure
• Scientific expertise lacking among 'doubters' of climate change, says new analysis
• Higher cancer rates found in liver transplant patients receiving cyclosporine for immunosuppression
• Agriculture's next revolution -- perennial grain -- within sight
• Tool manipulation is represented similarly in the brains of the blind and the sighted
• Global wind shifts may have ushered in warmer climate at end of last ice age
• Early and aggressive arthritis treatment recommended, based on results of 11-year trial
• Quantifying human behavior one MoCap data point at a time
• Profiling prostate cancer
• Messenger RNAs are regulated in far more ways than previously appreciated
• Friendships, family relationships get better with age thanks to forgiveness, stereotypes
• Genetic links to kidney disease, kidney failure discovered

Psychotropic medications can cause birth defects, study finds Posted: 27 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT The use of psychotropic medications during pregnancy increases the probability of birth defects, according to a new study. Researchers have documented the serious side effects that can be associated with these types of medications.

Targeting flight-or-fight hormone response to combat heart failure Posted: 27 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Scientists found that two experimental drugs have the potential to restore pumping strength to failing hearts by ensuring adrenalin's ability to drive heartbeat strength is maintained, and not thwarted, as it typically is in heart failure patients. When tested in human-like mouse models of heart failure, the therapies were found to slow, and in some cases halt, the progression of the disease.

Scientific expertise lacking among 'doubters' of climate change, says new analysis Posted: 27 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT An analysis of the scientific prominence and expertise of climate researchers shows that the few who are unconvinced of human-caused climate change rank far below researchers who are convinced. Most news media accounts fail to include that context when reporting claims from the doubters.

Higher cancer rates found in liver transplant patients receiving cyclosporine for immunosuppression Posted: 27 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have found that cyclosporine treatment is a significant risk factor for the development of de novo cancer in liver transplant patients.

Agriculture's next revolution -- perennial grain -- within sight Posted: 27 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Earth-friendly perennial grain crops, which grow with less fertilizer, herbicide, fuel, and erosion than grains planted annually, could be available in two decades, according to researchers. Perennial grains would be one of the largest innovations in the 10,000 year history of agriculture, and could arrive even sooner with the right breeding programs.

Tool manipulation is represented similarly in the brains of the blind and the sighted Posted: 27 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Blind people think about manipulating tools in the same regions of the brain as do people who can see, according to a new study. The researchers say this adds to evidence that the brain has a fairly defined organization, while still being able to adapt to unusual conditions, such as not having any vision.

Global wind shifts may have ushered in warmer climate at end of last ice age Posted: 27 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Scientists still puzzle over how Earth emerged from its last ice age, an event that ushered in a warmer climate and the birth of human civilization. Most scientists say that the trigger, at least initially, was an orbital shift that caused more sunlight to fall across Earth's northern half. But how did the south warm up so fast?

Early and aggressive arthritis treatment recommended, based on results of 11-year trial Posted: 27 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs should be used early and aggressively at the first sign of rheumatoid arthritis. The results of an 11-year trial demonstrate that active treatment from the very beginning pays off, even in the long run.

Quantifying human behavior one MoCap data point at a time Posted: 27 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Two actors wrapped in motion sensors circle each other, as engineering researchers stand at the perimeter of a laboratory, taking note. It's an unusual partnership between artists and engineers, a union expected to provide researchers with more precise methods of modeling human behavior.

Profiling prostate cancer Posted: 27 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT A large scale genetic analysis of multiple prostate cancer samples is providing exciting new insight into the disease and may lead to more effective treatment strategies. In addition, the freely available genetic and clinical outcome data obtained in the study represents a valuable public resource for the cancer research community.

Messenger RNAs are regulated in far more ways than previously appreciated Posted: 27 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT One way of regulating protein levels in cells is to shorten the lifespan of messenger RNAs (mRNAs), intermediary molecules that get translated into proteins. Researchers have now discovered that mRNAs can be targeted for destruction by several modes and molecules, highlighting a previously unanticipated complexity in the control and regulation of the cell's genetic messages.

Friendships, family relationships get better with age thanks to forgiveness, stereotypes Posted: 27 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Part of what makes those relationships so golden during the golden years is that people of all ages are more likely to forgive and respect one's elders, according to new research.

Genetic links to kidney disease, kidney failure discovered Posted: 25 Jun 2010 09:00 PM PDT Researchers have discovered a genetic biomarker with a significant association to kidney failure. Researchers have also initiated an investigation into the ways that the PVT1 gene impacts development of diabetic kidney disease.

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