Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Journal of Nuclear Medicine
Fibromyalgia can no longer be called the 'invisible' syndrome
Using single photon emission computed tomography, researchers in France were able to detect functional abnormalities in certain regions in the brains of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia, reinforcing the idea that symptoms of the disorder are related to a dysfunction in those parts of the brain where pain is processed.
Contact: Amy Shaw
ashaw@snm.org
703-652-6773
Society of Nuclear Medicine
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
PLoS Medicine
Snakebite is a neglected threat to global public health
Snakebites cause considerable death and injury worldwide and pose an important yet neglected threat to public health, says new research published in this week's PLoS Medicine.
Contact: Andrew Hyde
press@plos.org
44-122-346-3330
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
PNAS
MIT pieces together the mechanism that allows 2 pacemakers to control breathing
Two pacemakers in the brain work together in harmony to ensure that breathing occurs in a regular rhythm, according to new research from MIT scientists. That cooperation provides critical backup during respiratory stress, from the early trauma of birth to intense exercise and oxygen shortages, said Chi-Sang Poon, principal research scientist at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Teresa Herbert
therbert@mit.edu
617-258-5403
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Women have more diverse hand bacteria than men, says CU-Boulder study
A new University of Colorado at Boulder study indicates that not only do human hands harbor far higher numbers of bacteria species than previously believed, women have a significantly greater diversity of microbes on their palms than men.
National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation
Contact: Noah Fierer
noah.fierer@colorado.edu
303-492-5615
University of Colorado at Boulder
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Pediatrics
Grandparents a safe source of childcare
For working parents, having grandparents as caregivers can cut the risk of childhood injury roughly in half, according to a new study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Compared to organized daycare or care by the mother or other relatives, having a grandmother watch a child was associated with a decreased risk of injury for the child.
Maternal and Child Health Bureau
Contact: Tim Parsons
tmparson@jhsph.edu
410-955-7619
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Journal of Experimental Medicine
How HIV vaccine might have increased odds of infection
In September 2007, a phase II HIV-1 vaccine trial was abruptly halted when researchers found that the vaccine may have promoted, rather than prevented, HIV infection. A new study by a team of researchers at the Montpellier Institute of Molecular Genetics in France shows how the vaccine could have enhanced HIV infection. The study, lead by Matthieu Perreau, will be published online on Nov. 3 of the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Contact: Heather Van Epps
hvanepps@rockefeller.edu
212-327-7031
Rockefeller University Press
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Pediatrics
Minor shift in vaccine schedule has potential to reduce infant illness, death
A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University suggests that protecting infants from a common, highly contagious and even deadly disease may be as easy as administering a routine vaccine two weeks earlier than it is typically given.
Contact: Jessica Guenzel
jguenzel@wfubmc.edu
336-716-3487
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Microbiology
Rainforest fungus makes diesel
A unique fungus that makes diesel compounds has been discovered living in trees in the rainforest, according to a paper published in the November issue of Microbiology. The fungus is potentially a totally new source of green energy and scientists are now working to develop its fuel producing potential.
Contact: Lucy Goodchild
l.goodchild@sgm.ac.uk
44-011-898-81843
Society for General Microbiology
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
British Medical Journal
Consuming small amounts of caffeine when pregnant may affect the growth of an unborn child
Consuming caffeine at any time during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction (low birth weight), according to research published on bmj.com today.
Contact: Rachael Davies
rdavies@bma.org.uk
44-020-738-36529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
PLoS ONE
Anti-VEGF drugs for retinal diseases could have serious side effects, scientists caution
Scientists have found that reducing the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is best known as a stimulator of new blood vessel growth, in adult mice causes the death of photoreceptors and Muller glia -- cells of the retina that are essential to visual function. This finding holds implications for the chronic use of promising new anti-VEGF drugs such as Lucentis, which eliminate abnormal and damaging blood vessel growth in the retina by neutralizing VEGF
Contact: Patti Jacobs
pjacobs12@comcast.net
617-864-2712
Schepens Eye Research Institute
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
American Journal of Roentgenology
Surgical removal of small colon polyps is costly and unnecessary
Polypectomy (the surgical removal of polyps by colonoscopy) of small polyps found during CT colonography is costly and unnecessary according to a study performed at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wis.
Contact: Heather Curry
hcurry@arrs.org
703-858-4304
American Roentgen Ray Society
Clinical Management of Small (6- to 9-mm) Polyps Detected at Screening CT Colonography: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
For patients with small polyps, the exclusion of large polyps already confers a very low risk of CRC. The high costs, additional complications, and relatively low incremental yield associated with immediate polypectomy small polyps support the practice of 3-year CTC surveillance.
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Optics Letters
Solar power game-changer: 'Near perfect' absorption of sunlight, from all angles
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered and demonstrated a new method for overcoming two major hurdles facing solar energy. By developing a new antireflective coating that boosts the amount of sunlight captured by solar panels and allows those panels to absorb the entire solar spectrum from nearly any angle, the research team has moved academia and industry closer to realizing high-efficiency, cost-effective solar power.
US Department of Energy, US Air Force
Contact: Michael Mullaney
mullam@rpi.edu
518-276-6161
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Pediatric Research
GSU study first to confirm long-term benefits of morphine treatment in infants
A recent study conducted by researchers at Georgia State University is the first of its kind to demonstrate that administration of preemptive morphine prior to a painful procedure in infancy blocks the long-term negative consequences of pain in adult rodents. These studies have serious implications for the way anesthetics and analgesics are administered to neonates prior to surgery.
Contact: Martha Barker Koontz
mbarker@gsu.edu
404-413-5464
Georgia State University
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
New evidence for homeopathy
Two new studies conclude that a review which claimed that homeopathy is just a placebo, published in the Lancet, was seriously flawed.
Contact: Peter W. Gold
peter_gold@goldorluk.com
860-674-1500
National Center for Homeopathy
Bush rushes through 'harmful' environment laws
The Bush administration is sprinting to enact environmental policy changes before leaving power
14:19 03 November 2008
Left-handed people are more inhibited
A behavioural test suggests that left-handed people are more prone to anxiety and inhibition than right-handers
18:06 03 November 2008
Cloning 'resurrects' long-dead mice
Clones produced using genetic material taken from frozen animals offers conservation hope
22:00 03 November 2008
Golf secret not all in the wrists
After decades of research, the world may be closer to the perfect golf swing
By Jason Palmer Science and Technology reporter, BBC News
Public Release: 4-Nov-2008
Drug mimics low-cal diet to ward off weight gain, boost running endurance
A drug designed to specifically hit a protein linked to the life-extending benefits of a meager diet can essentially trick the body into believing food is scarce even when it isn't, suggests a new report in the November Cell Metabolism.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Public Release: 4-Nov-2008
PLoS ONE
Death by hyperdisease
A new ancient DNA study published in PLoS One is the first to demonstrate that disease can cause extinction in mammals, supporting the "hyperdisease" hypothesis. This study found rat-specific trypanosomes in museum specimens of native Christmas Island rats collected after but not before contact with black rats. It is assumed that black rats brought the pathogen to these immunologically naïve species; both Rattus macleari and R. nativitatis went extinct within a decade, by 1908.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Kristin Elise Phillips
kphillips@amnh.org
212-496-3419
American Museum of Natural History
Public Release: 4-Nov-2008
Neuroscience
Vitamin B3 reduces Alzheimer's symptoms, lesions
An over-the-counter vitamin in high doses prevented memory loss in mice with Alzheimer's disease, and UC Irvine scientists now are conducting a clinical trial to determine its effect in humans.
Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Jennifer Fitzenberger
jfitzen@uci.edu
949-824-3969
University of California - Irvine
Public Release: 4-Nov-2008
JAMA
Mayo Clinic study finds risk of sudden cardiac death highest early after attack
People who survive a heart attack face the greatest risk of dying from sudden cardiac death during the first month after leaving the hospital, according to a long-term community study by Mayo Clinic researchers of nearly 3,000 heart attack survivors.
U.S. Public Health Service, NIH, Veterans Affairs Clinical Science Research & Development Service
Contact: Traci Klein
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic
Public Release: 4-Nov-2008
Coral reefs found growing in cold, deep ocean
Imagine descending in a submarine to the ice-cold, ink-black depths of the ocean, 800 meters under the surface of the Atlantic. Here, the tops of the hills are covered in large coral reefs. NIOZ-researcher Furu Mienis studied the formation of these unknown cold-water relatives of the better-known tropical corals.
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Contact: Dr. Furu Mienis
fmienis@nioz.nl
31-222-369-393
Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
Chicken genome plucked bare by inbreeding
Up to 90% of the genetic diversity chickens evolved with has been bred out of the modern chicken, suggests a DNA analysis
12:42 04 November 2008
Public Release: 3-Nov-2008
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Precipitation levels may be associated with autism
Children living in counties with higher levels of annual precipitation appear more likely to have higher prevalence rates of autism, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The results raise the possibility that an environmental trigger for autism may be associated with precipitation and may affect genetically vulnerable children.
Contact: Nicola Wendy Pytell
607-254-6236
JAMA and Archives Journals
Comment: When not to write about autism
The reporting of a recent study linking autism to high rainfall highlights that the media needs to know when not to publish a science story
18:26 04 November 2008
What Would an Energy 'Moon Shot' Look Like?
By Andrew C. Revkin
November 4, 2008
Global Update
Global Update: Deadly New Virus Thought to Be Contained
By DONALD G. MCNEIL JR
November 4, 2008
Findings
Obama and McCain Walk Into a Bar ...
Do conservatives have more fun? Should liberals start describing themselves as humor-challenged? Scientists try to find out.
By JOHN TIERNEY
November 3, 2008
Public Release: 4-Nov-2008
Genome Research
'Junk' DNA proves functional
In a paper published in Genome Research on Nov. 4, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore report that what was previously believed to be "junk" DNA is one of the important ingredients distinguishing humans from other species.
Contact: Cathy Yarbrough
sciencematter@yahoo.com
858-243-1814
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
Public Release: 5-Nov-2008
New England Journal of Medicine
Genetic study provides new insights into molecular basis of language development
Scientists have identified the first gene that is associated with a common childhood language disorder, known as specific language impairment (SLI). The gene -- CNTNAP2 -- has also been recently implicated in autism, and could represent a crucial genetic link between the two disorders.
Wellcome Trust, others
Contact: Craig Brierley
c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk
44-207-611-7329
Wellcome Trust
Public Release: 5-Nov-2008
Nature
Electron pairs precede high-temperature superconductivity
Like astronomers tweaking images to gain a more detailed glimpse of distant stars, physicists at the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have found ways to sharpen images of the energy spectra in high-temperature superconductors -- materials that carry electrical current effortlessly when cooled below a certain temperature. These new imaging methods confirm that the electron pairs needed to carry current emerge above the transition temperature, before superconductivity sets in.
US Department of Energy
Contact: Karen McNulty Walsh
kmcnulty@bnl.gov
631-344-8350
DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory
Public Release: 5-Nov-2008
Critical Care
Friendly bacteria reduce hospital infections
A probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum 299, has been used to out-compete the dangerous bacteria that cause respiratory illness in ventilated patients. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care describes how applying a bacterial solution in place of normal antiseptics is effective in preventing the most common cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
Contact: Graeme Baldwin
graeme.baldwin@biomedcentral.com
44-020-707-94804
BioMed Central
Public Release: 5-Nov-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Rocks could be harnessed to sponge vast amounts of CO2 from air, says study
Scientists say that a type of rock found in the Mideast nation of Oman and other areas around the world could be harnessed to soak up huge quantities of globe-warming carbon dioxide. Their studies show that the rock, known as peridotite, reacts naturally at surprisingly high rates with CO2 and that the process could be speeded a million times with simple drilling and injection methods.
Contact: Kevin Krajick
kkrajick@ei.columbia.edu
212-854-9729
The Earth Institute at Columbia University
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention
Minority patients discouraged from cancer screening by negative messages
New behavioral science research published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, found that constantly emphasizing the negative consequences of a lack of cancer screening among minorities can actually make them less likely to go for screening.
Contact: Jeremy Moore
Jeremy.moore@aacr.org
267-646-0557
American Association for Cancer Research
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
XDR-TB: Deadlier and more mysterious than ever
New research has found that extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is increasingly common and more deadly than previously known. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is a growing public health threat that is only just beginning to be understood by medical and public health officials.
Contact: Keely Savoie
ksavoie@thoracic.org
212-315-8620
American Thoracic Society
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
XDR-TB: Deadlier and more mysterious than ever
New research has found that extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is increasingly common and more deadly than previously known. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is a growing public health threat that is only just beginning to be understood by medical and public health officials.
Contact: Keely Savoie
ksavoie@thoracic.org
212-315-8620
American Thoracic Society
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
Science
Silencing growth inhibitors could help recovery from brain injury
Scientists have successfully regenerated damaged nerves by silence natural growth inhibitors in neurons. In a study published in the Nov. 7 issue of Science, the researchers used genetic techniques to delete these inhibitors, resulting in significant re-growth of axons in a mouse model. The researchers believe that it may be possible to accomplish the same re-growth with drugs, potentially making it possible to regenerate nerves damaged by brain or spinal cord injury.
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Wings for Life, Adelson Foundation, Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance
Contact: James Newton
james.newton@childrens.harvard.edu
617-919-3110
Children's Hospital Boston
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
American Journal of Human Genetics
Is stuttering in our DNA?
Tel Aviv University scientists are investigating the genetic factors that underlie stuttering.
Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
Science
Social interactions can alter gene expression in the brain, and vice versa
Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize.
Contact: Diana Yates
diya@illinois.edu
217-333-5802
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
Human Communication Research
Surprisingly, female models have negative effect on men
A leading researcher of media effects on body image at the University of Missouri looked at the effect of male magazines on college-age men. Completing three different studies, Jennifer Aubrey, assistant professor of communication in the College of Arts and Science, found that unlike their female classmates, it was not the same-sex models that affected the males negatively, but quite the opposite.
Contact: Jeffrey Beeson
BeesonJ@missouri.edu
573-882-9144
University of Missouri-Columbia
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology
Zoologists: Sea snakes seek out freshwater to slake thirst
Sea snakes may slither in saltwater, but they sip the sweet stuff.
Contact: Harvey Lillywhite
hbl@zoo.ufl.edu
352-392-1101
University of Florida
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
Science
Dry spells spelled trouble in ancient China
Chinese history is replete with the rise and fall of dynasties, but researchers now have identified a natural phenomenon that may have been the last straw for some of them: A weakening of the summer Asian Monsoons.
Contact: Cheryl Dybas
cdybas@nsf.gov
703-292-7734
National Science Foundation
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
International Journal of Cancer
UC Davis researchers discover Achilles' heel in pancreatic cancer
UC Davis Cancer Center researchers have discovered a metabolic deficiency in pancreatic cancer cells that can be used to slow the progress of the deadliest of all cancers.
DesigneRxPharmacolgics
Contact: Karen Finney
karen.finney@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
916-734-9064
University of California - Davis - Health System
Tolerance Over Race Can Spread, Studies Find
Mutual trust between members of different races can catch on just as quickly, and spread just as fast, as suspicion.
By BENEDICT CAREY
November 6, 2008
Cancer genetic blueprint revealed
Scientists say they have worked out the complete genetic blueprint of a cancer for the first time.
November 6, 2008
Why hair bleach is a murderer's best friend
Budding crime-scene investigators take note: a common household bleach can render the forensic techniques for detecting blood useless
10:16 06 November 2008
Plastic not so fantastic for lab experiments
Ingredients in plastic test tubes used by labs around the world seem to block some biological reactions, possibly leading to bogus conclusions
19:00 06 November 2008
Public Release: 6-Nov-2008
PLoS Pathogens
Montana State University researchers find gene that regulates mold's resistance to drugs
Montana State University researchers have found a gene that regulates mold's resistance to ant-imold drugs. They explain their discovery in the Nov. 7 issue of PLoS Pathogens.
Contact: Evelyn Boswell
evelynb@montana.edu
406-994-5135
Montana State University
Public Release: 7-Nov-2008
Renal Week 2008
Overnight hemodialysis dramatically improves survival
For hemodialysis patients, undergoing dialysis for eight hours overnight, three times weekly, reduces the risk of death by nearly 80 percent, compared to conventional, four-hour dialysis, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in Philadelphia, Pa. European Nephrology Dialysis Institution
Contact: Shari Leventhal
sleventhal@asn-online.org
American Society of Nephrology
Public Release: 7-Nov-2008
General anesthesia for hernia surgery in children and risk of later developmental problems
Children under the age of three who had hernia surgery showed almost twice the risk of behavioral or developmental problems later compared to children who had not undergone the surgery.
Contact: Stephanie Berger
sb2247@columbia.edu
212-305-4372
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Public Release: 7-Nov-2008
Palaios
Paleontologists doubt 'dinosaur dance floor'
A group of paleontologists visited the northern Arizona wilderness site nicknamed a "dinosaur dance floor" and concluded there were no dinosaur tracks there, only a dense collection of unusual potholes eroded in the sandstone. So the scientist who leads the University of Utah's geology department says she will team up with the skeptics for a follow-up study.
Contact: Lee Siegel
leesiegel@ucomm.utah.edu
801-581-8993
University of Utah
China tells rich states to change
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said developed countries should change their "unsustainable lifestyles" to tackle global warming.
7 November 2008