Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Grazing animals help spread plant disease
Researchers have discovered that grazing animals such as deer and rabbits are actually helping to spread plant disease -- quadrupling its prevalence in some cases -- and encouraging an invasion of annual grasses that threaten more than 20 million acres of native grasslands in California.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Elizabeth Borer
borer@science.oregonstate.edu
541-737-3701
Oregon State University
Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Scientists isolate genes that made 1918 flu lethal
By mixing and matching a contemporary flu virus with the "Spanish flu" -- a virus that killed between 20 and 50 million people 90 years ago in history's most devastating outbreak of infectious disease -- researchers have identified a set of three genes that helped underpin the extraordinary virulence of the 1918 virus.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Yoshihiro Kawaoka
kawaokay@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu
608-265-4925
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
HortTechnology
Flowering plants speed post-surgery recovery
Contact with nature has long been suspected to increase positive feelings, reduce stress, and provide distraction from the pain associated with recovery from surgery. Now, research has confirmed the beneficial effects of plants and flowers for patients recovering from abdominal surgery.
Contact: Michael W. Neff
mwneff@ashs.org
703-836-4606
American Society for Horticultural Science
Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
Molecular Psychiatry
Hebrew University scientists succeed through stem cell therapy in reversing brain birth defects
Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have succeeded in reversing brain birth defects in animal models, using stem cells to replace defective brain cells.
Contact: Jerry Barach
jerryb@savion.huji.ac.il
972-258-82904
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
PLoS ONE
Study shows competition, not climate change, led to Neanderthal extinction
In a recently conducted study, a multidisciplinary French-American research team with expertise in archaeology, past climates and ecology reported that Neanderthal extinction was principally a result of competition with Cro-Magnon populations, rather than the consequences of climate change. The study was published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.
Contact: William Banks
w.banks@ipgq.u-bordeaux1.fr
Public Library of Science
European Neanderthals had ginger hair and freckles
Telegraph UK
Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
Annals of Internal Medicine
Study investigates the cost effectiveness of spinal surgery
A study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center suggests that for patients with spinal stenosis, a laminectomy, or surgical removal of some soft bone and tissue, is a reasonable value. However, for patients with spinal stenosis with associated slipped vertebrae, the benefits of spinal fusion surgery may not be enough to offset costs. The study is published in the Dec. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Contact: Deborah Song
deb_song@rush.edu
312-942-0588
Rush University Medical Center
Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
Cell
Viruses, start your engines!
Peering at structures only atoms across, researchers have identified the clockwork that drives a powerful virus nanomotor. Because of the motor's strength -- to scale, twice that of an automobile -- the new findings could inspire engineers designing sophisticated nanomachines. In addition, because a number of virus types may possess a similar motor, including the virus that causes herpes, the results may also assist pharmaceutical companies developing methods to sabotage virus machinery.
Contact: Joshua A. Chamot
jchamot@nsf.gov
703-292-7730
National Science Foundation
Public Release: 29-Dec-2008
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Moderate drinking can reduce risks of Alzheimer's dementia and cognitive decline
Moderate drinkers often have lower risks of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive loss, according to researchers who reviewed 44 studies. In more than half of the studies, published since the 1990s, moderate drinkers of wine, beer and liquor had lower dementia risks than nondrinkers.
Contact: Jim Ritter
jritter@lumc.edu
708-216-2445
Loyola University Health System
Public Release: 30-Dec-2008
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Vitamins C and E and beta carotene again fail to reduce cancer risk in randomized controlled trial
Women who took beta carotene or vitamin C or E or a combination of the supplements had a similar risk of cancer as women who did not take the supplements, according to data from a randomized controlled trial in the Dec. 30 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Contact: Caroline McNeil
jncimedia@oxfordjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
How to knit a brain
After seeing her first colourful images of the brain, psychologist and textile artist Marjorie Taylor was spellbound – and so was born a new genre of visual art: scientifically accurate fabric brains
COVER STORY:  10:02 30 December 2008
Radical alternatives proposed for cannabis controls
Cannabis is the world's most widely used illegal drug – now a team of experts says governments should rethink how they control it
THIS WEEK:  18:00 30 December 2008
Ancient Earth was a barren waterworld
With flatter continents and shallower ocean basins, water would have covered the vast majority of the planet 2.5 billion years ago
THIS WEEK:  18:00 30 December 2008
Beer marinade cuts steak cancer risk
Food scientists have found that fried beef contains fewer carcinogens when marinated in beer or, to a lesser extent, wine
IN BRIEF:  18:00 30 December 2008
Really?
The Claim: New Year’s Is the Most Dangerous Time of the Year to Be on the Road
Do the open bars, late-night revelry and carefree attitude of New Year’s Eve lead to more car accidents?
By ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Personal Health
‘Cookbook Medicine’ Won’t Do for Elderly
Just as children shouldn't be treated by doctors as small adults, elderly patients shouldn't be treated as old adults.
By JANE E. BRODY
Vital Signs
Having a Baby: Vitamin D Deficiency Is Tied to C-Sections
Public Release: 31-Dec-2008
Clinical Cancer Research
Grape-seed extract kills laboratory leukemia cells, proving value of natural compounds
An extract from grape seeds forces laboratory leukemia cells to commit cell suicide, according to researchers from the University of Kentucky. They found that within 24 hours, 76 percent of leukemia cells had died after being exposed to the extract.
Contact: Jeremy Moore
Jeremy.moore@aacr.org
267-646-0557
American Association for Cancer Research
Public Release: 31-Dec-2008
World Journal of Gastroenterology
A new light on the anti-tumor mechanisms of Scutellaria barbata
A research group in China investigated the growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects of Scutellaria barbata D.Don (S. barbata) and determined the underlying mechanism of its anti-tumor activity in mouse liver cancer cell line H22. They found that extracts from S. barbata can effectively inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of H22 cells involving loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome C, and activation of caspase-3.
Science and Technology Foundation of Shaanxi Province - China, Sci-tech Program of Xi'an City - China
Contact: Lai-Fu Li
wjg@wjgnet.com
86-105-908-0039
World Journal of Gastroenterology
Public Release: 1-Jan-2009
 Journal of American Dental Association
USC dentist links Fosomax-type drugs to jaw necrosis
Researchers at the University Of Southern California, School Of Dentistry, release results of clinical data that links oral bisphosphonates to increased jaw necrosis. The study is among the first to acknowledge that even short-term use of common oral osteoporosis drugs may leave the jaw vulnerable to devastating necrosis, according to the report appearing in the Jan. 1 Journal of the American Dental Association.
Contact: Angelica Urquijo
urquijo@usc.edu
213-271-4189
University of Southern California
Did a Comet Hit Earth 12,000 Years Ago?
Nanodiamonds found across North America suggest that major climate change could have been cosmically instigated
By David Biello  January 2, 2009 in Archaeology & Paleontology
Public Release: 1-Jan-2009
Science
Toxicity mechanism identified for Parkinson's disease
Alpha-synuclein is the main component of Lewy bodies, the clumps of aggregated proteins that form in the brains of Parkinson's disease patients. The alpha-synuclein gene is mutated or triplicated in some cases of inherited Parkinson's. A process called chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) plays an important role in recycling of specific proteins in brain cells. Alpha-synuclein disrupts a key survival circuit in brain cells by interfering with CMA and the recycling of the protein MEF2D.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Holly Korschun
hkorsch@emory.edu
404-727-3990
Emory University
'Bug' could combat dengue fever
Humans could be protected from dengue fever by infecting the mosquitoes carrying it with a parasite, say researchers.