ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

No More Big Stink: Scent Lures Mosquitoes, But Humans Can't Smell It Posted: 31 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Mosquito traps that reek like latrines may be no more. Chemical ecologists have discovered a low-cost, easy-to-prepare attractant that lures blood-fed mosquitoes without making humans hold their noses.

Memory Trick Shows Brain Organization Posted: 31 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT A simple memory trick has helped show researchers how an area of the brain called the perirhinal cortex can contribute to forming memories.

Hearing Specialist Craft First Professional Guidelines For Earwax Posted: 31 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT The age-old advice to routinely clean out earwax is discouraged under the first published guidelines from health care professionals about removing wax from the ear.

Heavy Breathing: An Obscure Link In Asthma And Obesity Posted: 31 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT There is a strong link between obesity and asthma and as the prevalence of both conditions has been increasing steadily, epidemiologists have speculated that there is an underlying condition that connects the two. But one long-suspected link, the systemic inflammation associated with obesity, has been essentially ruled out by a recent study that found no evidence of its involvement.

Incidence Of Intestinal Parasite Coccidia Is Increasing In Broilers Posted: 31 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Coccidia are single-celled intestinal parasites that currently represent one of the greatest challenges to the broiler industry. To keep the level of infection low, farmers commonly add coccidia-inhibiting chemicals (coccidiostats) to broiler feed. While this does not kill the parasites, it greatly reduces the incidence of overt sickness and death from infection. While clinical coccidiosis is therefore not a problem, veterinary authorities have never been able to gauge the extent of subclinical coccidiosis and the consequences this may have for animal welfare issues and production costs.

Public Involvement Usually Leads To Better Environmental Decision Making Posted: 31 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT When done correctly, public participation improves the quality of federal agencies' decisions about the environment, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Treatment For Hearing Loss? Scientists Grow Hair Cells Involved in Hearing Posted: 30 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Scientists have successfully produced functional auditory hair cells in the cochlea of the mouse inner ear. The breakthrough suggests that a new therapy may be developed in the future to successfully treat hearing loss.

Young Type-2 Diabetic Men Suffer Low Testosterone Levels, Study Shows Posted: 30 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Young men with type 2 diabetes have significantly low levels of testosterone, endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo have found -- a condition that could have a critical effect on their quality of life and on their ability to father children.

Magmatically Triggered Slow Earthquake Discovered At Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii Posted: 30 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT From June 17-19, 2007, Kilauea experienced a new dike intrusion, where magma rapidly moved from a storage reservoir beneath the summit into the east rift zone and extended the rift zone by as much as 1 meter.

One Cause Of Higher Rates Of Transplanted Kidney Rejection In Blacks Posted: 30 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Scientists may have an explanation for at least some of the higher organ rejection rates seen among black -- as compared to white -- kidney transplant recipients.

Novel Approach In Molecular Differentiation Of Prion Strains Posted: 30 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Scientists have identified a prion protein characteristic that is unique to some natural but unusual sheep scrapie cases. This finding may provide a novel method by which to study prion diversity and their possible changes during cross-species transmission.

Global Survey Highlights Need For Cancer Prevention Campaigns To Correct Misbeliefs, Survey Finds Posted: 30 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Many people hold mistaken beliefs about what causes cancer, tending to inflate the threat from environmental factors that have relatively little impact while minimizing the hazards of behaviors well established as cancer risk factors, according to the first global survey on the topic. People in high-income countries were the least likely to believe that drinking alcohol increases the risk of cancer.

Antarctic Research Helps Shed Light On Climate Change On Mars Posted: 30 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Eroded gullies on the flanks of Martian craters may have been formed by snowmelt as recently as a few hundred thousand years ago and in sites once occupied by glaciers. Similar conditions can be found in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys. Rather than being a dead planet, the new data are consistent with dynamic climate changes on Mars.

Location, Location, Location Important For Genes, Too Posted: 30 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT To better understand how cells become cancerous, a new study by cancer researchers looks at four genes that help regulate cell growth in embryos and contribute to cancer in adults. The genes are generally believed to work together to help control cell proliferation. But this study shows that mice need just one of the four genes to develop from fertilized eggs through adulthood.

Antidepressants Need New Nerve Cells To Be Effective, Researchers Find Posted: 30 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers have discovered in mice that the brain must create new nerve cells for either exercise or antidepressants to reduce depression-like behavior.

ABC-transporters Expressed On Endothelial Cell Membranes Efflux Anti-HIV Drugs Posted: 30 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Researchers have discovered that drug-efflux pumps, belonging to the ATP-binding cassette transporter family, are constitutively expressed on vascular endothelial cells. The study has crucial implications in the persistence of sub-endothelial HIV reservoirs and will be important to the development of future therapies.

Tiny 3-D Ultrasound Probe Guides Catheter Procedures Posted: 30 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT An ultrasound probe small enough to ride along at the tip of a catheter can provide physicians with clearer real-time images of soft tissue without the risks associated with conventional X-ray catheter guidance.

Newly-defined Factors May Prevent Postpartum Smoking Relapse Posted: 30 Aug 2008 07:00 AM CDT Although many women quit smoking during pregnancy to protect their unborn children from the effects of cigarettes, half resume the habit within a few months of giving birth. By shedding light on the factors that enable the other half to put down that cigarette for good, a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill could lead to programs designed to help women quit and stay quit.

Scientists Discover Why Flies Are So Hard To Swat Posted: 29 Aug 2008 07:00 PM CDT Over the past two decades, Michael Dickinson has been interviewed by reporters hundreds of times about his research on the biomechanics of insect flight. One question from the press has always dogged him: Why are flies so hard to swat? "Now I can finally answer," says Dickinson, the Esther M. and Abe M. Zarem Professor of Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology.

New Approach To Detect Early Progression Of Brain Tumors Identified Posted: 29 Aug 2008 07:00 PM CDT New research suggests a certain type of MRI scanning can detect when a patient is failing brain tumor treatment before symptoms appear. The results of the study pave the way for a proactive treatment approach.

Katrina And Rita Provide Glimpse Of What Could Happen To Offshore Drilling If Gustav Hits Gulf Posted: 29 Aug 2008 07:00 PM CDT Shortly after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the US, engineers studied damage done to offshore drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. If tropical storm Gustav strengthens into a Category 3 hurricane, as forecasters are predicting, the damage could be extensive.

Doctors Performing Heart Surgery Face Risks To Eyes Posted: 29 Aug 2008 07:00 PM CDT Patients are not the only ones at risk during cardiac procedures. Doctors performing heart surgery also face health risks, namely to their eyes. The IAEA is helping to raise awareness of threats, through training in radiation protection related to medical uses of X-ray imaging systems.

Atomic Bomb Effect Results In Adult-onset Thyroid Cancer Identified Posted: 29 Aug 2008 07:00 PM CDT Radiation from the atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945, likely rearranged chromosomes in some survivors who later developed papillary thyroid cancer as adults, according to Japanese researchers.

Americans Show Little Tolerance For Mental Illness Despite Growing Belief In Genetic Cause Posted: 29 Aug 2008 07:00 PM CDT While more Americans believe that mental illness has genetic causes, the nation is no more tolerant of the mentally ill than it was 10 years ago.

Unexpected Large Monkey Population Discovered In Cambodia: Tens Of Thousands Of Threatened Primates Posted: 29 Aug 2008 04:00 PM CDT Biologists have discovered surprisingly large populations of two globally threatened primates in a protected area in Cambodia. The report counted 42,000 black-shanked douc langurs along with 2,500 yellow-cheeked crested gibbons in Cambodia's Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, an estimate that represents the largest known populations for both species in the world.

Rapid Changes In Key Alzheimer's Protein Described In Humans Posted: 29 Aug 2008 04:00 PM CDT For the first time, researchers have described hour-by-hour changes in the amount of amyloid beta, a protein that is believed to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease, in the human brain.

Rosetta Spacecraft On Its Way To Meet Asteroid Steins Posted: 29 Aug 2008 04:00 PM CDT ESA's Rosetta spacecraft will make a historic encounter with asteroid (2867) Steins on 5 September 2008. The spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid in the course of its first incursion into the asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, while on its way to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Growth Factor Predicts Poor Outcome In Breast Cancer Posted: 29 Aug 2008 04:00 PM CDT The response to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I) in breast cancer cells predicts an aggressive tumor that is less likely to respond to treatment, according to new research. The finding gives impetus to the movement to tailor cancer treatments to attributes of the various tumors.

How Blood Vessel Cells Know To Form Tube-like Structures And Not Just Layers Posted: 29 Aug 2008 04:00 PM CDT How do blood vessel cells understand that they should organize themselves in tubes and not in layers? A special type of "instructor" molecule is needed, according to new research. This might be an important step towards using stem cells to build new organs.

Physical And Sexual Abuse Linked To Asthma In Puerto Rican Kids Posted: 29 Aug 2008 04:00 PM CDT Children who are physically or sexually abused are more than twice as likely to have asthma as their peers, according to a recent study of urban children in Puerto Rico. In fact, physical and sexual abuse was second only to maternal asthma in all the risk factors tested, including paternal asthma and indicators of socioeconomic status.

'Pristine' Amazonian Region Hosted Large, Urban Civilization Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT They aren't the lost cities early explorers sought fruitlessly to discover. But ancient settlements in the Amazon, now almost entirely obscured by tropical forest, were once large and complex enough to be considered "urban" as the term is commonly applied to both medieval European and ancient Greek communities.

More Genes Are Controlled By Biological Clocks Than Previously Thought Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT The tick-tock of your biological clock may have just gotten a little louder. The number of genes under control of the biological clock in a much-studied model organism is dramatically higher than previously reported. The new study implies that the clock may be much more important in living things than suspected only a few years ago.

Treadmill Exercise Retrains Brain And Body Of Stroke Victims Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT People who walk on a treadmill even years after stroke damage can significantly improve their health and mobility, changes that reflect actual "rewiring" of their brains, according to new research.

Black Raspberries Slow Cancer By Altering Hundreds Of Genes Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT New research strongly suggests that a mix of preventative agents, such as those found in concentrated black raspberries, may more effectively inhibit cancer development than single agents aimed at shutting down a particular gene. Researchers examined the effect of freeze-dried black raspberries on genes altered by a chemical carcinogen in an animal model of esophageal cancer.

Variation Of Normal Protein Could Be Key To Resistance To Common Cancer Drug Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Researchers have found evidence explaining why a common chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, may not always work for every cancer patient. They have shown that when a variant version of a key protein that normally causes cell death is active, patients may be resistant to the cancer-killing drug.

Saving Lives Through Smarter Hurricane Evacuations Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Hundreds of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars could potentially be saved if emergency managers could make better and more timely critical decisions when faced with an approaching hurricane. Now, an MIT graduate student has developed a computer model that could help do just that.

Antidepressants In Suicide Prevention Reviewed Posted: 29 Aug 2008 01:00 PM CDT Scientists have presented the state of evidence concerning the relation of antidepressants and suicidal behavior and critically commented on the current discussion with regard to the role of antidepressive treatment in real-life clinical practice.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Latest Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email Delivery powered by FeedBurner
Inbox too full? Subscribe to the feed version of ScienceDaily: Latest Science News in a feed reader.
If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News, c/o FeedBurner, 20 W Kinzie, 9th Floor, Chicago IL USA 60610