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• Beaked, Bird-like Dinosaur Tells Story Of Finger Evolution
• Fallopian Tubes Offer New Stem Cell Source
• Crustacean Shell With Polyester Creates Mixed-fiber Material For Nerve Repair
• Pregnant Women At High Risk Of Complications From H1N1 Influenza
• Artificial Sweeteners May Contaminate Water Downstream Of Sewage Treatment Plants And Even Drinking Water
• Much Touted 'Depression Risk Gene' May Not Add To Risk After All
• Definitive Evidence For Ancient Lake On Mars
• Progress Made Toward Early Identification Of Muscular Dystrophy
• Nanocrystals Reveal Activity Within Cells
• Less Invasive CT-scan Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Method Shows Good Accuracy
• A Sonic Boom In The World Of Lasers
• Having A Higher Purpose In Life Reduces Risk Of Death Among Older Adults
• Scientists Show Bacteria Can 'Learn' And Plan Ahead
• Researchers Develop Key Brake For Immune Cells In Petri Dish; Hope For Easier Organ Transplantation?
• Structures From The Human Immune System's Oldest Branch Shed Light On A Range Of Diseases
• Therapy Helps Improve Outcomes For Patients With Severe Sepsis
• Chemists Develop Distributed Drug Discovery: Finding Drugs For Neglected Diseases
• The Healing Power Of Prayer?
• 'Life Force' Linked To Body's Ability To Withstand Stress
• AIDS: Clues To Virus-cancer Link Uncovered
• Discoveries That Saved The Large Blue Butterfly Detailed
• New Treatment Strategy Offers Hope To Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Who Failed All Other Therapies
• Distributed Security: A New Sharing Approach To Online Security
• How Much Does Chronic Depression With Medical Disorders Affect Work Performance?
• Not One, But Two Kinds Of Males Found In Invasive Round Goby Fish
• Appetite-stimulating Hormone Is First Potential Medical Treatment For Frailty In Older Women
• TRAPping Proteins That Work Together Inside Living Cells
• Novel DNA Vaccine Leads To Kidney Damage Prevention In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Models
• Telemedicine Expands Reach Of Care For Parkinson's Patients
• Jury 'Lottery' Goes On Trial
• Maya Intensively Cultivated Manioc 1,400 Years Ago
• Could Hormones Explain Gender Differences In Neurological Disease?
• Plant Microbe Shares Features With Drug-resistant Pathogen
• Psoriasis Associated With Cardiovascular Disease And Increased Mortality
• How To Get Wind Turbines To Work Harder
• Dad's Overworked And Tired While Mom's Potentially Fired
• Individual Primates Display Variation In General Intelligence
• Farmed Fish May Pose Risk For Mad Cow Disease
• Potential For Non-invasive Brain Tumor Treatment
• Normal Development Of Cells With Abnormal Numbers Of Nuclei
• Calcium: The Secret To Honeybees' Memory
• Wrong Type Of Help From Parents Could Worsen Child's Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
• Test Detects Molecular Marker Of Aging In Humans
• Putting A Name To A Face May Be Key To Brain's Facial Expertise
• New Mechanism Fundamental To The Spread Of Invasive Yeast Infections Identified
• Ancient Ice Age, Once Regarded As Brief 'Blip' Found To Have Lasted For 30 Million Years
• Depression May Increase Alzheimer's Risk In People With Memory Problems

Beaked, Bird-like Dinosaur Tells Story Of Finger Evolution Posted: 18 Jun 2009 11:00 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a unique beaked, plant-eating dinosaur in China. The finding, they say, demonstrates that theropod, or bird-footed, dinosaurs were more ecologically diverse in the Jurassic period than previously thought, and offers important evidence about how the three-fingered hand of birds evolved from the hand of dinosaurs.

Fallopian Tubes Offer New Stem Cell Source Posted: 18 Jun 2009 11:00 AM PDT Human tissues normally discarded after surgical procedures could be a rich additional source of stem cells for regenerative medicine. New research shows for the first time that human fallopian tubes are abundant in mesenchymal stem cells which have the potential of becoming a variety of cell types.

Crustacean Shell With Polyester Creates Mixed-fiber Material For Nerve Repair Posted: 18 Jun 2009 11:00 AM PDT Weaving chitosan, found in the shells of crabs and shrimp, with an industrial polyester creates a promising new material for biomedical applications, including the tiny tubes that support repair of a severed nerve.

Pregnant Women At High Risk Of Complications From H1N1 Influenza Posted: 18 Jun 2009 11:00 AM PDT With the H1N1 flu outbreak now elevated to pandemic level, scientists reports that oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are relatively safe drugs for use in pregnant and breast-feeding women.

Artificial Sweeteners May Contaminate Water Downstream Of Sewage Treatment Plants And Even Drinking Water Posted: 18 Jun 2009 11:00 AM PDT Sewage treatment plants fail to remove artificial sweeteners completely from waste water. What's more, these pollutants contaminate waters downstream and may still be present in our drinking water. Researchers were able to demonstrate the presence of several artificial sweeteners in waste water.

Much Touted 'Depression Risk Gene' May Not Add To Risk After All Posted: 18 Jun 2009 11:00 AM PDT Stressful life events are strongly associated with a person's risk for major depression, but a certain gene variation long thought to increase risk in conjunction with stressful life events actually may have no effect.

Definitive Evidence For Ancient Lake On Mars Posted: 18 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT Scientists have discovered the first definitive evidence of shorelines on Mars, an indication of a deep, ancient lake there and a finding with implications for the discovery of past life on the Red Planet.

Progress Made Toward Early Identification Of Muscular Dystrophy Posted: 18 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT New muscular dystrophy (MD) research is moving doctors and scientists closer to disease diagnosis in advance of patient symptoms. Since it is now clear that early treatment significantly improves life expectancy and quality of life for muscular dystrophy children, this new discovery regarding MD's prenatal origin has the potential to result in earlier diagnosis, and thus create a better quality of life for these patients.

Nanocrystals Reveal Activity Within Cells Posted: 18 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT Researchers have created bright, stable and bio-friendly nanocrystals that act as individual investigators of activity within a cell. These ideal light emitting probes represent a significant step in scrutinizing the behaviors of proteins and other components in complex systems such as a living cell.

Less Invasive CT-scan Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Method Shows Good Accuracy Posted: 18 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT Computed tomographic colonography may offer patients at increased risk of colorectal cancer an alternative to colonoscopy that is less-invasive, is better-tolerated and has good diagnostic accuracy, according to a study in the June 17 issue of JAMA.

A Sonic Boom In The World Of Lasers Posted: 18 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT It was an idea born out of curiosity in the physics lab, but now a new type of "laser" for generating ultra-high frequency sound waves instead of light has taken a major step towards becoming a unique and highly useful 21st century technology.

Having A Higher Purpose In Life Reduces Risk Of Death Among Older Adults Posted: 18 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT Possessing a greater purpose in life is associated with lower mortality rates among older adults according to a new study.

Scientists Show Bacteria Can 'Learn' And Plan Ahead Posted: 18 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT Scientists have shown that microorganisms can "learn" through evolution to anticipate upcoming events and prepare for them.

Researchers Develop Key Brake For Immune Cells In Petri Dish; Hope For Easier Organ Transplantation? Posted: 18 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT Scientists in Germany have succeeded in treating immune cells in a way that enables them to inhibit unwanted immune reactions such as organ rejection.

Structures From The Human Immune System's Oldest Branch Shed Light On A Range Of Diseases Posted: 18 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT How molecules of the oldest branch of the human immune system have interconnected has remained a mystery. Now, two new structures, both involving a central component of an enzyme important to the complement system of the immune response, reveal how this system fights invading microbes while avoiding problems of the body attacking itself.

Therapy Helps Improve Outcomes For Patients With Severe Sepsis Posted: 18 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT A preliminary study suggests that a therapy for severe sepsis or septic shock that included the use of an antibiotic-based "hemoperfusion" device to remove toxic products of bacteria from the blood in addition to conventional treatment resulted in a reduced risk of death and appeared to improve blood circulation and reduce organ dysfunction.

Chemists Develop Distributed Drug Discovery: Finding Drugs For Neglected Diseases Posted: 18 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have developed Distributed Drug Discovery, a new low-cost strategy to accelerate the discovery of drugs to treat neglected diseases such as tuberculosis, leprosy, leshmaniasis, dengue fever and Chagas disease.

The Healing Power Of Prayer? Posted: 18 Jun 2009 05:00 AM PDT Health and religion have always been intertwined, most obviously through prayer on behalf of the sick. Does intercessory prayer for sick people actually help heal them? For thousands of years some people have believed so. But new research shows that over the last four decades, medical studies of intercessory prayer -- the prayer of strangers at a distance -- actually say more about the scientists conducting the studies than about the power of prayer to heal.

'Life Force' Linked To Body's Ability To Withstand Stress Posted: 18 Jun 2009 02:00 AM PDT Our ability to withstand stress-related, inflammatory diseases may be associated, not just with our race and sex, but with our personality as well, according to a new study. Especially in aging women, low levels of the personality trait extroversion may indicate that blood levels of a key inflammatory molecule have crossed over a threshold linked to a doubling of mortality risk within five years.

AIDS: Clues To Virus-cancer Link Uncovered Posted: 18 Jun 2009 02:00 AM PDT Scientists have uncovered clues to the development of cancers in AIDS patients.

Discoveries That Saved The Large Blue Butterfly Detailed Posted: 18 Jun 2009 02:00 AM PDT On the 25th anniversary of the project that brought the large blue butterfly back from near extinction in the United Kingdom, ecologists are for the first time publishing the decades of research that helped them rescue this spectacular butterfly. The study shows how the large blue's extreme dependence on a single ant species led to the butterflies' demise, as their habitat became overgrown, causing soil temperatures to drop and ant numbers to diminish. Before this discovery, butterfly collectors were generally blamed for the decline of this butterfly, also known as Maculinea arion.

New Treatment Strategy Offers Hope To Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Who Failed All Other Therapies Posted: 18 Jun 2009 02:00 AM PDT Rheumatoid arthritis patients who failed to respond to initial treatment with rituximab (a chimeric monoclonal antibody against the protein CD20) can still be successfully re-treated with a second course of RTX after six months, according to new results.

Distributed Security: A New Sharing Approach To Online Security Posted: 18 Jun 2009 02:00 AM PDT Could an entirely new approach to online security, based on distributed sanctions, help prevent cybercrime, fraud and identity theft? A report in the International Journal of Intercultural Information Management suggests it could.

How Much Does Chronic Depression With Medical Disorders Affect Work Performance? Posted: 18 Jun 2009 02:00 AM PDT Affective disorders comorbid with medical, somatic illnesses have been found to have a major impact on health-related quality of life and disability with more pronounced effects in dysthymic disorder than in major depressive disorder.

Not One, But Two Kinds Of Males Found In Invasive Round Goby Fish Posted: 17 Jun 2009 11:00 PM PDT Scientists have found the existence of two types of males of a fiercely invasive fish spreading through the Great Lakes, which may provide answers as to how they rapidly reproduce.

Appetite-stimulating Hormone Is First Potential Medical Treatment For Frailty In Older Women Posted: 17 Jun 2009 11:00 PM PDT Older women suffering from clinical frailty stand to benefit from the first potential medical treatment for the condition, according to a new study. Ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, was administered to older women diagnosed with frailty, a common geriatric syndrome characterized by unintentional weight loss, weakness, exhaustion and low levels of anabolic hormones which increases risk of falls, hospitalizations, disability and death.

TRAPping Proteins That Work Together Inside Living Cells Posted: 17 Jun 2009 11:00 PM PDT Researchers trying to understand how and which proteins work together have developed a new crosslinking tool that is small and unobtrusive enough to use in live cells. Using the new crosslinker, the scientists have discovered new details about a well-studied complex of proteins known as RNA polymerase. The results suggest the method might uncover collaborations between proteins that are too brief for other techniques to pinpoint.

Novel DNA Vaccine Leads To Kidney Damage Prevention In Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Models Posted: 17 Jun 2009 11:00 PM PDT DNA vaccination using lupus autoantigens and interleukin-10 (IL-10, a cytokine that plays an important role in regulating the immune system) has potential as a novel therapy to induce antigen specific tolerance and may help to prevent kidney damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a new study.

Telemedicine Expands Reach Of Care For Parkinson's Patients Posted: 17 Jun 2009 11:00 PM PDT A unique and innovative telemedicine project is providing distant nursing home patients with Parkinson's disease access to neurologists. A pilot study of the project demonstrates that the system can improve the quality of life and motor function of patients.

Jury 'Lottery' Goes On Trial Posted: 17 Jun 2009 11:00 PM PDT The current legal system relies on the moral compass of each individual jury to decide the outcome of a trial. This method could be viewed more as a lottery than an infallible system of justice. To investigate this claim, top criminal lawyers have created the Honesty Lab -- an online study devised to try and establish if the standard test for dishonesty used to convict criminals in England and Wales, based on the attitudes of each individual jury, is in fact flawed.

Maya Intensively Cultivated Manioc 1,400 Years Ago Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:00 PM PDT Archeologists have uncovered an ancient and previously unknown Maya agricultural system -- a large manioc field intensively cultivated as a staple crop that was buried and exquisitely preserved under a blanket of ash by a volcanic eruption in present-day El Salvador 1,400 years ago.

Could Hormones Explain Gender Differences In Neurological Disease? Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:00 PM PDT Neurological diseases including Parkinson's, Tourette's, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia are all associated with alterations in dopamine-driven function involving the dopamine transporter (DAT). Researchers suggest that a number of estrogens acting through their receptors affect the DAT, which may explain trends in timing of women's susceptibility to these diseases.

Plant Microbe Shares Features With Drug-resistant Pathogen Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:00 PM PDT Scientists have discovered extensive similarities between a strain of bacteria commonly associated with plants and one increasingly linked to opportunistic infections in hospital patients. The findings suggest caution in the use of the plant-associated strain for a range of biotech applications.

Psoriasis Associated With Cardiovascular Disease And Increased Mortality Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:00 PM PDT The skin disease psoriasis is associated with atherosclerosis (a buildup of plaque in the arteries) characterized by an increased prevalence of ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease and an increased risk of death, according to a new article.

How To Get Wind Turbines To Work Harder Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:00 PM PDT How much usable energy do wind turbines produce? It is a question that perplexes engineers and frustrates potential users, especially on windless days. A new study provides a formula for answering this vexing question.

Dad's Overworked And Tired While Mom's Potentially Fired Posted: 17 Jun 2009 08:00 PM PDT If dad looks exhausted this Father's Day it could be due to his job, suggests new research that found many male employees are now pressured to work up to 40 hours of overtime -- often unpaid -- per week to stay competitive.

Individual Primates Display Variation In General Intelligence Posted: 17 Jun 2009 05:00 PM PDT General intelligence varies among primates within a single species, according to new research. The study is the first to look at general intelligence within one primate species. Through a series of cognitive tests, the researchers were able to divide the monkeys into high, middle and low performing groups. The findings may help us to understand the evolution of human general intelligence.

Farmed Fish May Pose Risk For Mad Cow Disease Posted: 17 Jun 2009 05:00 PM PDT Neurologists questions the safety of eating farmed fish, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation's food supply. They suggest farmed fish could transmit Creutzfeldt Jakob disease -- commonly known as mad cow disease -- if they are fed byproducts rendered from cows.

Potential For Non-invasive Brain Tumor Treatment Posted: 17 Jun 2009 05:00 PM PDT Engineers have taken a first step toward a minimally invasive treatment of brain tumors by combining chemotherapy with heat administered from the end of a catheter.

Normal Development Of Cells With Abnormal Numbers Of Nuclei Posted: 17 Jun 2009 05:00 PM PDT Most of our cells contain a single nucleus that harbors 46 chromosomes (DNA and protein complexes that contain our genes). However, during normal postnatal development, liver cells containing two nuclei, each of which have 46 chromosomes, appear.

Calcium: The Secret To Honeybees' Memory Posted: 17 Jun 2009 05:00 PM PDT Long-term memory formation in honeybees is instigated by a calcium ion cascade. Researchers have shown that calcium acts as a switch between short- and long-term storage of learned information.

Wrong Type Of Help From Parents Could Worsen Child's Obsessive-compulsive Disorder Posted: 17 Jun 2009 05:00 PM PDT Soothing anxiety and helping with behaviors linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder could lead to more severe symptoms in children.

Test Detects Molecular Marker Of Aging In Humans Posted: 17 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT Scientists have shown that a key protein called p16INK4a is present in human blood and is strongly correlated both with chronological age and with certain behaviors such as tobacco use and physical inactivity, which are known to accelerate the aging process.

Putting A Name To A Face May Be Key To Brain's Facial Expertise Posted: 17 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT Our tendency to see people and faces as individuals may explain why we are such experts at recognizing them, new research indicates. This approach can be learned and applied to other objects as well.

New Mechanism Fundamental To The Spread Of Invasive Yeast Infections Identified Posted: 17 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have identified a novel regulatory gene network that plays an important role in the spread of common, and sometimes deadly, fungal infections. The findings establish the role of Zap1 protein in the activation of genes that regulate the synthesis of biofilm matrix.

Ancient Ice Age, Once Regarded As Brief 'Blip' Found To Have Lasted For 30 Million Years Posted: 17 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT Geologists have shown that an ancient ice age, once regarded as a brief "blip," in fact lasted for 30 million years.

Depression May Increase Alzheimer's Risk In People With Memory Problems Posted: 17 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT People with memory problems who are depressed are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease compared to people who are not depressed, reports a new study. However, the research also shows that the popular Alzheimer's drug donepezil may delay the progression to Alzheimer's disease for depressed people who also suffer from mild cognitive impairment or memory problems.

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