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| Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Chemists have used chemicals found in plants to replicate a key process in photosynthesis paving the way to a new approach that uses sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.  |
| Antidepressants May Impair Driving Ability, New Research Finds Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT People taking prescription antidepressants appear to drive worse than people who aren't taking such drugs, and depressed people on antidepressants have even more trouble concentrating and reacting behind the wheel.  |
| Trees, Forests And The Eiffel Tower Reveal Theory Of Design In Nature Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT What do a tree and the Eiffel Tower have in common? According to a Duke University engineer, both are optimized for flow. In the case of trees, the flow is of water from the ground throughout the trunk, branches and leaves, and into the air. The Eiffel Tower's flow carries stresses throughout the structure without collapsing under its own weight or being downed by the wind.  |
| India Continues To Progress In AIDS Vaccine Development Efforts Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT A second Phase I AIDS vaccine clinical trial in India was successfully completed, the Indian Council of Medical Research, the National AIDS Control Organization and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative announced. The results of the trial of an MVA-based AIDS vaccine candidate (TBC-M4), which was conducted in Chennai, indicated that the vaccine candidate had acceptable levels of safety and was well-tolerated.  |
| Robot Vehicle Surveys Deep Sea Off Pacific Northwest Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT The first scientific mission with Sentry, a newly developed robot capable of diving as deep as 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) into the ocean, has been successfully completed.  |
| Playing Video Games Offers Learning Across Life Span, Say Studies Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Certain types of video games can have beneficial effects, improving gamers' dexterity as well as their ability to problem-solve -- attributes that have proven useful not only to students but to surgeons, according to new research. Skills transfer to the classroom, surgical procedures, even scientific thinking.  |
| Newly Detected Air Pollutant Mimics Damaging Effects Of Cigarette Smoke Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:00 AM CDT A previously unrecognized group of air pollutants could have effects remarkably similar to harmful substances found in tobacco smoke, according to a new report. Inhaling those pollutants exposes the average person up to 300 times more free radicals daily than from smoking one cigarette, the researchers added, noting that the study could help explain why nonsmokers develop tobacco-related diseases like lung cancer.  |
| Engineers Build Mini Drug-producing Biofactories In Yeast Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:00 AM CDT Researchers have developed a novel way to churn out large quantities of drugs, including antiplaque toothpaste additives, antibiotics, nicotine, and even morphine, using mini biofactories -- in yeast.  |
| Energy Storage For Hybrid Vehicles Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:00 AM CDT Hybrid technology combines the advantages of combustion engines and electric motors. Scientists are developing high-performance energy storage units, a prerequisite for effective hybrid motors.  |
| Fruit Flies Provide Insight Into Bacterial Infections In Humans Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:00 AM CDT Researchers have used a fruit fly (Drosophila) model of infection to provide new insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the virulence of the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is a major cause of infections in individuals who are hospitalized, have burn wounds, or have cystic fibrosis.  |
| Climate Change Threatens One In Five Plant Species In Germany Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:00 AM CDT One in five of Germany's plant species could lose parts of its current range, a new study reveals. Species distributions will be rearranged as a result of climate change; this could have a dramatic impact particularly on the vegetation in southwestern and eastern Germany.  |
| Study Examines The Psychology Behind Students Who Don't Cheat Posted: 18 Aug 2008 10:00 AM CDT While many studies have examined cheating among college students, new research looks at the issue from a different perspective -- identifying students who are least likely to cheat. The study of students at one Ohio university found that students who scored high on measures of courage, empathy and honesty were less likely than others to report their cheating in the past -- or intending to cheat in the future.  |
| Light Receptors In Eye Play Key Role In Setting Biological Clock, Study Shows Posted: 18 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Biologists have discovered a switching mechanism in the eye that plays a key role in regulating the sleep/wake cycles in mammals.  |
| Safer Alternative To Heparin Created Posted: 18 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Robert Linhardt has spent years stitching together minuscule carbohydrates to build a more pure and safer alternative to the commonly used and controversial blood thinner heparin. Now he has announced that his research team may have accomplished this task by building the first fully synthetic heparin. Their creation is the largest dose of heparin ever created in the lab.  |
| Massaging Muscles Facilitates Recovery After Exercise Posted: 18 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers testing the long-held theory that therapeutic massage can speed recovery after a sports injury have found early scientific evidence of the healing effects of massage. The scientists have determined that immediate cyclic compression of muscles after intense exercise reduced swelling and muscle damage in a study using animals.  |
| A Therapy For Baby Boomers To Sleep On: New Drug For Insomniacs Over 55 Posted: 18 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT If you're over 55 and have spent more than a few sleepless nights, you're not alone -- insomnia affects about half of all people over 55 -- but you may also be at increased risk for physical and mental ailments.  |
| Water Is No Passive Spectator Of Biological Processes: It Is An Active Participant Posted: 18 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers have been able to detect changes in the protein -- water network during protein folding in real time using kinetic terahertz absorption.  |
| Adults Easily Fooled By Children's False Denials, Study Finds Posted: 18 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Adults are easily fooled when a child denies that an actual event took place, but do somewhat better at detecting when a child makes up information about something that never happened. These findings have important implications for forensic child sexual abuse evaluations.  |
| Olympic Swimmers Shattering Records In NASA-Tested Suit Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:00 AM CDT Swimmers from around the world are setting world and Olympic records in Beijing this month and most are doing it wearing a swimsuit made of fabric tested at NASA. Among the Olympic gold medalists wearing Speedo's LZR Racer are Americans Michael Phelps -- who has now won more Olympic gold medals than any athlete in the modern era -- and Natalie Coughlin. Both had a hand in developing the skintight body suit.  |
| Experiments Could Lead To New Treatments For Neuroblastoma Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:00 AM CDT Based on cell-culture and animal experiments, researchers believe they've found a critical weakness in neuroblastoma -- one that could lead to the development of a lifesaving therapy for victims of the cancer.  |
| Maelstrom Quashes Jumping Genes Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:00 AM CDT Scientists have known for decades that genes called transposons can jump around the genome in a cell. This jumping can be dangerous, especially when it arises in cells that produce eggs and sperm. Although nature developed a mechanism to quash this genetic scrambling, how it works has remained a mystery. Now scientists have identified a key protein that suppresses jumping genes in mouse sperm and found that the protein is vital to sperm formation.  |
| Prototype Test For Predicting Clinical Outcome For Melanoma Patients Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:00 AM CDT Investigators have developed a test to predict whether a patient will progress rapidly from Stage III melanoma to metastatic Stage IV cancer and death. More than 70% of patients with Stage III melanoma — melanoma that has spread to the lymph nodes — will typically have a rapid time to progression (TTP) to Stage IV melanoma, and pass away within five years of their diagnosis.  |
| Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:00 AM CDT Up to now virtual reality has proved cumbersome as a design tool, but European researchers are finalizing a system that brings 'virtuality' to the wider world.  |
| Few Pharmacologic Treatments Of Cancer-Related Fatigue Available To Patients Posted: 18 Aug 2008 04:00 AM CDT There is limited evidence to support the use of methylphenidate and erythropoietin for the treatment of cancer-related fatigue in some patients, according to a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.  |
| Toward Plastic Spin Transistors: Ultrafast Computers And Electronics On The Horizon? Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 AM CDT Physicists successfully controlled an electrical current using the "spin" within electrons -- a step toward building an organic "spin transistor": A plastic semiconductor switch for future ultrafast computers and electronics. The study also suggests it will be more difficult than thought to make highly efficient light-emitting diodes using organic materials. The findings hint such LEDs would convert no more than 25 percent of electricity into light rather than heat.  |
| Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 AM CDT A large genetic study of bipolar disorder has implicated machinery that balances levels of sodium and calcium in neurons. The disorder was associated with variation in two genes that make components of such ion channels. Although it's not yet known if or how the suspect genetic variation might affect the balance machinery, the results point to the possibility that bipolar disorder might stem, at least in part, from malfunction of ion channels.  |
| Scientists Overcome Nanotechnology Hurdle Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 AM CDT When you make a new material on a nano scale how can you see what you have made? This research shows a newly developed technique to examine tiny protein molecules on the surface of a gold nanoparticle. This is the first time scientists have been able to build a detailed picture of self-assembled proteins on a nanoparticle and it offers the promise of new ways to design and manufacture novel materials on the tiniest scale.  |
| Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 AM CDT A new systematic analysis of the relationship between the neoplastic and developmental transcriptome provides an outline of trends in cancer gene expression. The research describes how cancers can be divided into three groups distinguished by disparate developmental signatures.  |
| High-Altitude Small Mammals Of The Great Basin Are Not Completely Isolated Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 AM CDT New modeling research demonstrates that the "sky islands" of the Great Basin are not islands: the different populations of small mammals that inhabit mountain tops have contact with each other.  |
| Patients Reluctant To Change Surgeons Despite Lure Of Shorter Wait Times Posted: 18 Aug 2008 01:00 AM CDT A new study in CMAJ has found that, despite the possibility of shorter waiting times for surgery, a majority of patients were unlikely to consider changing surgeons.  |
| Synthetic Molecules Could Add Spice To Fight Against Cancer Posted: 16 Aug 2008 11:00 PM CDT Seeking to improve on nature, scientists used a spice-based compound as a starting point and developed synthetic molecules that, in lab settings, are able to kill cancer cells and stop the cells from spreading. The researchers are combining organic chemistry, computer-aided design and molecular biology techniques in developing and testing pharmaceutical compounds that can fight breast and prostate cancer cells. The synthetic molecules are derived from curcumin, a naturally occurring compound found in the spice turmeric.  |
| 1918 Flu Antibodies Resurrected From Elderly Survivors Posted: 16 Aug 2008 11:00 PM CDT Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers have recovered antibodies to the virus -- from elderly survivors of the original outbreak. In addition to revealing the surprisingly long-lasting immunity to such viruses, these antibodies could be effective treatments to have on hand if another virus similar to the 1918 flu breaks out in the future.  |
| Cataloguing Invisible Life: Microbe Genome Emerges From Lake Sediment Posted: 16 Aug 2008 11:00 PM CDT Scientists have taken a sample of Lake Washington mud and successfully sequenced a complete genome for an unknown microorganism. Their method provides a way to discover new microscopic life in complex communities.  |
| Hydrogels Provide Scaffolding For Growth Of Bone Cells Posted: 16 Aug 2008 11:00 PM CDT Hyaluronic hydrogels may provide a suitable scaffolding to enable bone regeneration. The hydrogels have proven to encourage the growth of preosteoblast cells, cells that aid the growth and development of bone.  |
| New 52-city Report Examines Use Of Wastewater In Urban Agriculture Posted: 16 Aug 2008 11:00 PM CDT As developing countries confront the first global food crisis since the 1970s as well as unprecedented water scarcity, a new 53-city survey conducted by the International Water Management Institute indicates that most of those studied (80 percent) are using untreated or partially treated wastewater for agriculture. In over 70 percent of the cities studied, more than half of urban agricultural land is irrigated with wastewater that is either raw or diluted in streams.  |
| Improved Technique Determines Structure In Membrane Proteins Posted: 16 Aug 2008 11:00 PM CDT By combining custom-built spectrometers, novel probe designs and faster pulse sequences, scientists have developed unique capabilities for probing protein chemistry and structure through the use of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.  |
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