Public Release: 6-Apr-2009
Nature
MIT: Cooperative behavior meshes with evolutionary theory
One of the questions raised by evolutionary theory is how cooperative behavior, which benefits other members of a species at a cost to the individual, came to exist. If only the fittest survive, genes for a behavior that benefits everybody in a population should not last and cooperative behavior should die out. Now MIT researchers have used game theory to understand one solution yeast use to get around this problem.
National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation
Contact: Elizabeth Thomson
thomson@mit.edu
617-258-5402
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Public Release: 6-Apr-2009
PLoS Biology
How the retina works: Like a multi-layered jigsaw puzzle of receptive fields
About 1.25 million neurons in the retina -- each of which views the world only through a small jagged window called a receptive field -- collectively form the seamless picture we rely on to navigate our environment. Receptive fields fit together like pieces of a puzzle, preventing "blind spots" and excessive overlap that could blur our perception of the world, according to researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
Contact: Gina Kirchweger
Kirchweger@salk.edu
858-453-410-01340
Salk Institute

Public Release: 6-Apr-2009
PLoS Biology
Evolution-proof insecticides may stall malaria forever
Killing just the older mosquitoes would be a more sustainable way of controlling malaria, according to entomologists who add that the approach may lead to evolution-proof insecticides that never become obsolete.
Contact: Amitabh Avasthi
axa47@psu.edu
814-865-9481
Penn State
Public Release: 6-Apr-2009
Science
Weizmann Institute scientists develop a unique approach for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen
Discovery of an efficient artificial catalyst for the sunlight-driven splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen is a major goal of renewable clean energy research. Weizmann Institute scientists have devised a unique new mechanism for the formation of hydrogen and oxygen from water, without the need for sacrificial chemical agents, through individual steps, using light.
Contact: Yivsam Azgad
news@weizmann.ac.il
972-893-43856
Weizmann Institute of Science
Russian rocket plans may prompt new space race
A new spacecraft designed to take people and payloads into space and even clean up space junk is planned – a beefed-up version could even go to the moon
12:06 06 April 2009
Public Release: 6-Apr-2009
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Young adults at future risk of Alzheimer's have different brain activity, says study
Young adults with a genetic variant that raises their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease show changes in their brain activity decades before any symptoms might arise, according to a new brain imaging study by scientists from the University of Oxford and Imperial College London. The results may support the idea that the brain's memory function may gradually wear itself out in those who go on to develop Alzheimer's.
Contact: Laura Gallagher
l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk
44-207-594-8432
Imperial College London
Hand transplants seize back lost brain territory
The brain can re-accommodate transplanted hands into regions taken over by other parts of the body – surprisingly, the left hand gets accepted fastest in right-handed people
22:00 06 April 2009
Public Release: 6-Apr-2009
Drug Safety
Link between widely used osteoporosis drugs and heart problems probed
New research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine evaluated the link between a common class of drugs used to prevent bone fractures in osteoporosis patients and the development of irregular heartbeat.
Contact: Jessica Guenzel
jguenzel@wfubmc.edu
336-716-3487
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Public Release: 7-Apr-2009
Climacteric
Acupuncture 'probably ineffective' in treatment of hot flushes
Acupuncture cannot be shown to have any positive effect on hot flashes during menopause. This is the conclusion of a systematic review of literature by three groups in Daejon, Busan, South Korea, and Exeter, UK, published in the current edition of the peer-reviewed journal Climacteric.
Acupuncture, Moxibustion
Contact: Tom Parkhill
ims@parkhill.it
44-013-120-83008
International Menopause Society

Public Release: 7-Apr-2009
Astrobiology
Earthshine reflects Earth's oceans and continents from the dark side of the moon
Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Princeton University have shown for the first time that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth's land masses and oceans can be seen on the dark side of the moon, a phenomenon known as earthshine.
Contact: Nerissa Hannink
nhannink@unimelb.edu.au
61-383-448-151
University of Melbourne

Public Release: 7-Apr-2009
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Has HIV become more virulent?
Damage to patients' immune systems is happening sooner now than it did at the beginning of the HIV epidemic, suggesting the virus has become more virulent, according to a new study in the May 1, 2009 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.
Contact: Steve Baragona
sbaragona@idsociety.org
703-299-1214
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Public Release: 7-Apr-2009
Annals of Internal Medicine
VA/UAB study looks at functional decline in older patients after hospitalization
Motivation and expectation may be factors in helping older adults regain lost functional ability after hospitalization, say researchers with the Birmingham VA Medical Center and UAB. In findings published in March in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that patients hospitalized for surgery returned to normal baseline function more quickly and more completely than did patients hospitalized for illness.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Bob Shepard
bshep@uab.edu
205-934-8934
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Schizophrenics see through hollow-mask illusion
Healthy people can't easily tell the front from the rear of a mask, but people with schizophrenia find it easy – a finding that may provide a new test for the condition
14:01 07 April 2009
Ebola accident puts vaccine to the test
Injury from a needle contaminated with the deadly virus put a scientist at risk – but an experimental vaccine could have saved her
14:34 07 April 2009
House Dust Yields Clue to Asthma: Roaches
Dust bunnies from real homes suggest a cause for allergies in poor children.
* Health Guide: Asthma »
By ELISSA ELY, M.D
Findings
Public Policy That Makes Test Subjects of Us All
* TierneyLab: Hold the Salt?
By JOHN TIERNEY
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Nature
Did a nickel famine trigger the 'Great Oxidation Event'?
The Earth's original atmosphere held very little oxygen. This began to change around 2.4 billion years ago when oxygen levels increased dramatically during what scientists call the "Great Oxidation Event." The cause of this event has puzzled scientists, but researchers writing in Nature have found indications in ancient sedimentary rocks that it may have been linked to a drop in the level of dissolved nickel in seawater.
NASA, Fond quebecois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies
Contact: Dominic Papineau
dpapineau@ciw.edu
202-478-8908
Carnegie Institution
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
New England Journal of Medicine
Joslin study identifies 'good' energy burning fat in lean adults
Researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center have demonstrated that adult humans still have a type of "good" fat previously believed to be present only in babies and children.
Contact: Kira Jastive
kira.jastive@joslin.harvard.edu
617-732-2418
Joslin Diabetes Center
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Nutrition and Metabolism
Soybean component reduces menopause effects
Soy aglycons of isoflavone (SAI), a group of soybean constituent chemicals, have been shown to promote health in a rat model of the menopause. The research, described in BioMed Central's open-access journal Nutrition and Metabolism, shows how dietary supplementation with SAI lowers cholesterol, increases the antioxidative properties of the liver and prevents degeneration of the vaginal lining.
Contact: Graeme Baldwin
graeme.baldwin@biomedcentral.com
44-787-741-1853
BioMed Central
Meat now, sex later for Ivorian chimps
Male chimpanzees in Ivory Coast don't expect sex in return for providing dinner – not straight away, anyway
01:00 08 April 2009
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Traditional media provide more comprehensive news than citizen media and blogs, MU researchers find
Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism recently completed a comprehensive comparison of citizen journalism sites (news sites and blogs) and traditional media Web sites. They found that despite ongoing reports of financial troubles and cutbacks, legacy media are more comprehensive and more technologically advanced than citizen media and bloggers.
Pew Charitable Trusts, Knight Foundation
Contact: Emily Smith
SmithEA@missouri.edu
573-882-3346
University of Missouri-Columbia
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Mayo Clinic Proceedings
Parkinson's disease medication triggers destructive behaviors
A new study conducted at Mayo Clinic reports that one in six patients receiving therapeutic doses of certain drugs for Parkinson's disease develops new-onset, potentially destructive behaviors, notably compulsive gambling or hypersexuality.
Contact: John Murphy
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Wristbands ease nausea with cancer treatment
Cancer patients who wore acupressure wristbands had much less nausea while receiving radiation treatment, making the bands a safe, low-cost addition to anti-nausea medication, according to a study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.
American Cancer Society
Contact: Leslie Orr
Leslie_Orr@urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-5774
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Cancer Cell
Scientists identify key gene that protects against leukemia
Researchers at UCSF have identified a gene that controls the rapid production and differentiation of the stem cells that produce all blood cell types -- a discovery that could eventually open the door to more streamlined treatments for leukemia and other blood cancers, in which blood cells proliferate out of control.
Concern Foundation, UCSF Research Evaluation and Allocation Committee, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Jennifer O’Brien
jobrien@pubaff.ucsf.edu
415-476-2557
University of California - San Francisco
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Science
Drug shows activity in men with advanced prostate cancer
A new multi-center study shows that an experimental drug lowers prostate specific antigen levels -- a marker for tumor growth -- in men with advanced prostate cancer for whom traditional treatment options have failed. The study, led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is published today in Science Express, the online version of the journal Science.
Prostate Cancer Foundation, NIH/National Cancer Institute, Prostate Cancer Research Program Clinical Consortium Award
Contact: Esther Napolitano
napolite@mskcc.org
212-639-3573
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Public Release: 8-Apr-2009
Autoimmunity Reviews
Vitamin D may exacerbate autoimmune disease
Deficiency in vitamin D has been widely regarded as contributing to disease, but a review appearing in Autoimmunity Reviews explains that low levels of vitamin D in patients with autoimmune disease may be a result rather than a cause of disease. Authored by researchers at the non-profit Autoimmunity Research Foundation, the paper uses molecular and epidemiological evidence to explain how supplemental vitamin D -- a substance which is a secosteroid rather than a vitamin -- may actually exacerbate autoimmune disease.
Contact: Paul Albert
palbert@autoimmunityresearch.org
917-887-1815
Autoimmunity Research Foundation
Doctors tune in to the source of back pain
A new list of questions and quick physical tests can cheaply and quickly pinpoint the correct painkiller to prescribe for back pain
Public Release: 9-Apr-2009
PLoS Genetics
Ancestors of African Pygmies and neighboring farmers separated around 60,000 years ago
All African Pygmies, inhabiting a large territory extending west-to-east along Central Africa, descend from a unique population who lived around 20,000 years ago, according to an international study led by researchers at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. The research, published April 10 in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, concludes that the ancestors of present-day African Pygmies and farmers separated ~60,000 years ago.
Contact: Catriona Silvey
csilvey@plos.org
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 9-Apr-2009
Tax lobbying provides 22,000 percent return to multinational firms, KU researchers find
A recent tax law change provided a tax break to the corporations by lowering their tax rate 85 percent on certain worldwide income. The professors examined the extensive lobbying around the law change and found that for each dollar spent on lobbying, a corporation received $220 in US income tax savings.
Contact: Toni Dixon
tonidixon@ku.edu
785-864-4449
University of Kansas
Iran studies 13,000 years of living
Press TV
Public Release: 9-Apr-2009
Journal of Clinical Oncology
More women with early-stage breast cancer choosing double mastectomies
A University of Minnesota cancer surgeon and researcher has found a dramatic increase in the number of women diagnosed with the earliest stage of breast cancer choosing to have both breasts surgically removed.
NIH/National Cancer Institute
Contact: Mary Lawson
mlawson@umn.edu
612-624-6165
University of Minnesota
Do aliens share our genetic code?
Physicists claim there is evidence alien life forms will have at least the same fundamental building blocks as living things here on Earth, and perhaps the same genetic code
14:02 09 April 2009
Public Release: 9-Apr-2009
Journal of Geophysical Research
Scientists pinpoint the 'edge of space'
Where does Earth stop and space begin? 118-kilometres above the ground, according to University of Calgary scientists who created an new instrument that is able to pinpoint the so-called "edge of space."
Contact: Leanne Yohemas
leanne.yohemas@ucalgary.ca
403-220-5144
University of Calgary
Public Release: 9-Apr-2009
Transplantation
Device protects transplanted pancreatic cells from the immune system
Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated in mice that transplanted pancreatic precursor cells are protected from the immune system when encapsulated in polytetrafluorethylene. The study suggests a new approach to treating type 1 diabetes.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, JW Kieckhefer Foundation
Contact: Josh Baxt
jbaxt@burnham.org
858-795-5236
Burnham Institute
DNA analysis may be done on Mars for first time
An instrument that amplifies and sequences DNA could launch to Mars in the next decade – it would test whether Earth and Mars ever exchanged life
17:03 09 April 2009
Public Release: 10-Apr-2009
Annals of Neurology
Test quickly assesses whether Alzheimer's drugs are hitting their target
A test developed by physician-scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may help quickly asses whether certain Alzheimer's drugs are hitting their target.
Eli Lilly and Company
Contact: Michael C. Purdy
purdym@wustl.edu
314-286-0122
Washington University in St. Louis
Public Release: 10-Apr-2009
Annals of Surgery
Omega-3 fatty acids may benefit cancer patients undergoing major operations
New research from Trinity College Dublin published in this month's Annals of Surgery points to a potentially significant advance in the treatment of patients undergoing major cancer surgery.
Contact: Caoimhe Ni Lochlainn
communications@tcd.ie
353-189-62310
Trinity College Dublin
Is dark energy getting weaker?
Blasts from the past sketch a picture of a universe whose runaway expansion may finally be slowing
THIS WEEK:  00:01 10 April 2009
Public Release: 10-Apr-2009
Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology
Molecule prompts damaged heart cells to repair themselves after a heart attack
A protein that the heart produces during its early development reactivates the embryonic coronary developmental program and initiates migration of heart cells and blood vessel growth after a heart attack, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Ted Nash Long Life Foundation, American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Katherine Morales
katherine.morales@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Public Release: 10-Apr-2009
Critical Care Medicine
In the ICU, use of benzodiazepines, other factors may predict severity of post-stay depression
Psychiatrists and critical care specialists at Johns Hopkins have begun to tease out what there is about a stay in an intensive care unit (ICU) that leads so many patients to report depression after they go home.
Contact: Christen Brownlee
cbrownlee@jhmi.edu
410-955-7832
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Public Release: 10-Apr-2009
Journal of Biological Chemistry
CSHL-led team identifies key decision-point at which cells with broken DNA repair themselves or die
Cells that undergo potentially catastrophic damage must make a decision: either to fix the damage or program themselves for death, a process called apoptosis. CSHL scientists led by Professor Nicholas Tonks have found that the protein Eyes Absent regulates intracellular signals at this decision point to allow the formation of specialized microenvironments on DNA, called gamma-H2A.X foci, which let the cell to summon repair enzymes to the site of broken DNA strands.
Contact: Peter Tarr
tarr@cshl.edu
516-367-8455
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Early land visitors borrowed shells for protection
Some of the earliest creatures to crawl out of the ocean onto land half a billion years ago behaved like hermit crabs, tracks reveal
THIS WEEK:  15:30 10 April 2009
Egg stem cells could revolutionise fertility treatment
Stem cells have been discovered in the ovaries of adult mice that seem to give rise to new eggs and healthy offspring – a finding that may provide a new source of eggs for infertile women
18:00 12 April 2009
Diabetes 'impact on brain power'
Failure to control type 2 diabetes may have a long-term impact on the brain, research has suggested.
11 April 2009 00:03
Scientists find 'pleasure nerves'
Scientists say they understand more about how the body responds to pleasurable touch.
12 April 2009 00:02
'I can eat pizza again after 10 years'
Ellie Banks loves her food, but for the last decade she has had chronic acid reflux (severe heartburn) and has had to watch what she eats.
By Jane Elliott Health reporter, BBC News
12 April 2009 00:02