More is merrier for wireless power supply
10:00 14 February 201
A coil embedded in a wall or ceiling could efficiently beam power to several gadgets in the same room
Public Release: 14-Feb-2010
Nature Medicine
Bacteria-killing proteins cover blood type blind spot
Galectin-4 and galectin-8, carbohydrate-binding proteins found in our intestines, can recognize and kill bacteria that have human blood type sugar molecules on their surfaces. This discovery explains why bacteria can't sneak past our immune systems by camouflaging themselves with blood type molecules. It may also explain why the human population has a diversity of blood types; galectin-4 and -8 create a "protected space" for the diversity.
NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Consortium for Functional Glycomics
Contact: Holly Korschun
hkorsch@emory.edu
404-727-3990
Emory University
Public Release: 15-Feb-2010
PLoS Medicine
Developing guidelines for better reporting of health research
A paper published in this week's issue of PLoS Medicine provides a substantial new resource for the developers of guidelines of the reporting of health research.
Contact: Andrew Hyde
press@plos.org
44-122-346-3330
Public Library of Science
Genetic code 2.0: Life gets a new operating system
18:00 14 February 2010
A new way of using the genetic code allows proteins to be made with properties never seen before – it could lead to new or "improved" life forms
Really?
The Claim: Counting Sheep Helps You Fall Asleep
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Do sheep have the power to lull you to sleep?
Pliable power pack will let gadgets feed on your body
NEWS:  12:49 15 February 2010
Sheets of material that produce voltage when flexed could generate power from the motion of the human body
A gene for Alzheimer's makes you smarter
THIS WEEK:  14:42 15 February 2010
Paradoxically, young people with a gene variant that increases the risk of Alzheimer's have better memories than their peers
Space rock contains organic feast
Scientists confirm that a meteorite that crashed to Earth 40 years ago contains millions of different organic compounds.
Public Release: 15-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Scientists transplant nose of mosquito, advance fight against malaria
Scientists at Vanderbilt and Yale universities have successfully transplanted most of the "nose" of the mosquito that spreads malaria into frog eggs and fruit flies and are employing these surrogates to combat the spread of the deadly and debilitating disease that afflicts 500 million people.
Foundation for National Institutes of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Contact: David F. Salisbury
david.salisbury@vanderbilt.edu
615-343-6803
Vanderbilt University
Public Release: 15-Feb-2010
Archives of Dermatology
Botulinum toxin injection may help prevent some types of migraine pain
A preliminary study suggests the same type of botulinum injection used for cosmetic purposes may be associated with reduced frequency of migraine headaches that are described as crushing, vicelike or eye-popping (ocular), but not pain that is experienced as a buildup of pressure inside the head, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Contact: Christine C. Kim, M.D.
cmchoi76@hotmail.com
818-788-4022
JAMA and Archives Journals
Anti-ageing cream as good as drug at reducing wrinkles
15:07 15 February 2010
An anti-wrinkle cream has gone head-to-head with a gold-standard prescription drug – after 16 weeks, it produced similar benefits
Wanted: Volunteers, All Pregnant
By PAM BELLUCK
The world’s largest long-term study of the health of children aims to track 100,000 babies until they turn 21.
Public Release: 15-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Scientists discover molecular pathway for organ tissue regeneration and repair
Scientists have discovered a molecular pathway that works through the immune system to regenerate damaged kidney tissues and may lead to new therapies for repairing injury in other organs. The study in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may have significant medical ramifications as currently there are no effective treatments for acute kidney injury -- a growing problem in hospitals and clinics.
National Institutes of Health, American Society of Nephrology, Genzyme Renal Initiatives Program, National Taiwan Merit Award, Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Contact: Nick Miller
nicholas.miller@cchmc.org
513-803-6035
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Public Release: 15-Feb-2010
  APS and AAPT Spring Meeting
  Physical Review Letters
'Perfect' liquid hot enough to be quark soup
Recent analyses from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at the US Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory establish that collisions of gold ions traveling at nearly the speed of light have created matter at a temperature of about 4 trillion degrees Celsius -- higher than the temperature needed to melt protons and neutrons into a plasma of quarks and gluons. Details of the findings will be published in Physical Review Letters.
US Department of Energy Office of Science, others
Contact: Karen McNulty Walsh
kmcnulty@bnl.gov
631-344-8350
DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory
Q & A
Bras and Cancer
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Is there any truth to the rumor connecting beast cancer to wearing bras?
* Health Guide: Breast Cancer »
On Crete, New Evidence of Very Ancient Mariners
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Archaeologists said stone tools discovered on the Greek island of Crete were strong evidence for rethinking the maritime capabilities of early humans.
Public Release: 16-Feb-2010
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Autism's earliest symptoms not evident in children under 6 months
A study of the development of autism in infants, comparing the behavior of the siblings of children diagnosed with autism to that of babies developing normally, has found that the nascent symptoms of the condition.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
Contact: Phyllis Brown
phyllis.brown@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
916-734-9023
University of California - Davis - Health System
Public Release: 16-Feb-2010
Materials Science and Engineering A
New material mimics bone to create better biomedical implants
A "metal foam" that has a similar elasticity to bone could mean a new generation of biomedical implants that would avoid bone rejection that often results from more rigid implant materials, such as titanium. Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed the metal foam, which is even lighter than solid aluminum and can be made of 100 percent steel or a combination of steel and aluminum.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Matt Shipman
matt_shipman@ncsu.edu
919-515-6386
North Carolina State University
Public Release: 16-Feb-2010
Cancer
Cancer publishes study confirming disparity in breast cancer treatment
Cancer, the peer-reviewed international journal of the American Cancer Society, has published a study conducted by HealthCore Inc. in its Jan. 1 edition, demonstrating disparities in breast cancer treatment between commercially insured African-American and white women, confirming studies in government health plans. The HealthCore study reiterates the findings of previous studies -- conducted in populations using government health programs -- that African-American women are diagnosed in later stages of the disease.
Amgen
Contact: Lori McLaughlin
lori.mclaughlin2@wellpoint.com
317-407-7403
HealthCore
Public Release: 16-Feb-2010
Neuroendocrinology Letters
Lack of morning light keeping teenagers up at night
The first field study on the impact of light on teenagers' sleeping habits finds that insufficient daily morning light exposure contributes to teenagers not getting enough sleep. "As teenagers spend more time indoors, they miss out on essential morning light needed to stimulate the body's 24-hour biological system, which regulates the sleep/wake cycle," reports Mariana Figueiro, Assistant Professor and Program Director at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center and lead researcher on the new study.
  US Green Building Council, Trans-National Institutes of Health Genes
Contact: Mary Cimo
cimom@rpi.edu
518-687-7174
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Public Release: 16-Feb-2010
Nature Geoscience
Team finds subtropical waters flushing through Greenland fjord
Waters from warmer latitudes -- or subtropical waters -- are reaching Greenland's glaciers, driving melting and likely triggering an acceleration of ice loss, reports a team of researchers led by Fiamma Straneo, a physical oceanographer from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
National Science Foundation, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NASA
Contact: Media Relations Office
media@whoi.edu
508-289-3340
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Public Release: 16-Feb-2010
Nature Geoscience
The carbon cycle before humans
Two Northwestern University studies contribute new clues as to what drove large-scale changes to the carbon cycle nearly 100 million years ago. Both research teams conclude that a massive amount of volcanic activity introduced carbon dioxide and sulfur into the atmosphere, which in turn had a significant impact on the carbon cycle, oxygen levels in the oceans and marine plants and animals. Oxygen levels dropped so low that one-third of marine life died.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Megan Fellman
fellman@northwestern.edu
847-491-3115
Northwestern University
Public Release: 16-Feb-2010
Epilepsia
High-fat ketogenic diet to control seizures is safe over long term
Current and former patients treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet to control multiple, daily and severe seizures can be reassured by the news that not only is the diet effective, but it also appears to have no long-lasting side effects, say scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.
National Institutes of Health, Carson Harris Foundation
Contact: Ekaterina Pesheva
epeshev1@jhmi.edu
410-516-4996
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
New Source of an Isotope in Medicine Is Found
By MATTHEW L. WALD
A nuclear reactor in Poland has emerged as a new source for technetium 99, an isotope used to measure blood flows in the heart and to help diagnose bone and breast cancers.
Public Release: 17-Feb-2010
Neurocritical Care
Study supports alternative anti-seizure medication following acute brain injury
A study by researchers at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute at University Hospital supports the use of an alternative medication to prevent seizures in patients who have suffered a life-threatening traumatic brain injury or bleeding stroke.
Contact: Cindy Starr
cstarr@mayfieldclinic.com
513-558-3505
University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center
Typos may earn Google $500m a year
18:42 17 February 2010
The dominant vendor of online advertising could earn large amounts from pages set up by companies or individuals to snare mistyped web addresses
Public Release: 17-Feb-2010
Nature
Upside-down answer for deep Earth mystery
When Earth was young, it exhaled the atmosphere. During a period of intense volcanic activity, lava carried light elements from the planet's molten interior and released them into the sky. However, some light elements got trapped inside the planet. In this week's issue of Nature, a Rice University-based team of scientists is offering a new answer to a longstanding mystery: what caused Earth to hold its last breath?
National Science Foundation, Packard Foundation
Contact: Jade Boyd
jadeboyd@rice.edu
713-348-6778
Rice University
Public Release: 17-Feb-2010
UC studies show marijuana has therapeutic value, reports to legislature
Researchers from the University of California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research have found "reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment" for some specific, pain-related medical conditions.
Contact: Kim Edwards
kedwards@ucsd.edu
619-543-6163
University of California - San Diego
Public Release: 17-Feb-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Researchers discover second protective role for tumor-suppressor
ATM, a protein that reacts to DNA damage by ordering repairs or the suicide of the defective cell, plays a similar, previously unknown role in response to oxidative damage outside of the nucleus, researchers report this week in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Contact: Scott Merville
smerville@mdanderson.org
713-792-0661
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Public Release: 18-Feb-2010
ACS Chemical Biology
Sanford-Burnham scientists identify natural compound that inhibits cancer cell migration
Investigators at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute led by Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., have discovered that the natural compound sceptrin, which is found in marine sponges, reduces cancer cell motility (movement) and has very low toxicity.
Contact: Josh Baxt
jbaxt@burnham.org
858-795-5236
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute
Public Release: 18-Feb-2010
PLoS ONE
MSU researcher links potentially deadly infection, frequent cow exposure
A common bacteria found in many healthy adult females that can cause life-threatening infections when passed to newborns could be introduced to some women through frequent contact with cows, according to a research team led by a Michigan State University pediatrician. The recently published findings that Group B streptococcus could be a zoonotic disease -- transmitted between different species -- may have significant public health implications.
Contact: Jason Cody
codyja@msu.edu
517-432-0924
Michigan State University
Public Release: 18-Feb-2010
Experimental Biology and Medicine
From carnivorous plants to the medicine cabinet?
Prof. Aviah Zilberstein of Tel Aviv University's Department of Plant Sciences says that the unusual components from carnivorous plants' pitchers were found effective as anti-fungal drugs against human fungal infections widespread in hospitals.
Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University
Fight HIV with HIV: 'safe' virus proposed as vaccine
00:01 19 February 2010
The idea was dismissed years ago as too risky a proposition, but a new approach shows promise
Italian archaeologists claim to have found a stone enclosure which once protected the legendary 'Golden Bough'
Telegraph UK
Dolphins have diabetes off switch
A study in dolphins has revealed genetic clues that could help medical researchers to treat type 2 diabetes.
'Echoes' in bat and dolphin DNA
Fossil evidence reveals giant fish swam in prehistoric seas
SUV-Sized Fish Were Earliest Filter-Feeders
Giant whales are known for filter feeding, but the technique was likely devised by humongous fish that lived during the Mesozoic.
'Koala AIDS' Spreading at an Alarming Rate
Public Release: 19-Feb-2010
Canadian Journal of Microbiology
Fungal fumes clear out crop pests
A cocktail of compounds emitted by the beneficial fungus Muscodor albus may offer a biologically based way to fumigate certain crops and rid them of destructive pests.
US Department of Agriculture
Contact: Jan Suszkiw
jan.suszkiw@ars.usda.gov
301-504-1630
United States Department of Agriculture-Research, Education, and Economics
Sex hormone trial for head injury
Progesterone - the sex hormone used in the first contraceptive pills - is to be tested on brain injury patients in a major US trial.
Public Release: 20-Feb-2010
2010 AAAS Annual Meeting
Neuroscientist: Think twice about cutting music in schools
A Northwestern University neuroscientist will discuss the relationship between music and speech processing at an 11 a.m. Feb. 20 AAAS press briefing. Nina Kraus says playing an instrument may help children better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret language nuances conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice. Kraus has studied the links between neural encoding of speech and music in the auditory nervous system for three decades.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Nina Kraus
nkraus@northwestern.edu
847-602-6052
Northwestern University
Crienglish
Singing 'rewires' damaged brain
Teaching stroke sufferers to sing "rewires" their brains and help them recover their speech, researchers say.
Public Release: 21-Feb-2010
2010 AAAS Annual Meeting
A midday nap markedly boosts the brain's learning capacity
If you see a student dozing in the library or a co-worker catching 40 winks in her cubicle, don't roll your eyes. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that an hour's nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power. Indeed, the findings suggest that a biphasic sleep schedule not only refreshes the mind, but can make you smarter.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Yasmin Anwar
yanwar@berkeley.edu
510-643-7944
University of California - Berkeley
Some 'Dinosaurs' Evolved from Birds?
The transition from dino to bird -- or from bird to dino -- didn't follow a simple path.
Linchpin of immune system doubles as stroke protector
THIS WEEK:  10:00 21 February 2010
Extra doses of naturally occurring fat-clearing antibodies might help prevent strokes
Public Release: 21-Feb-2010
Nature
Enzyme deficiency protects hepatitis C patients from treatment-related anemia
Many people who undergo treatment for hepatitis C develop hemolytic anemia, a disorder that destroys red blood cells. In some cases, it is so severe they have to reduce their medication or stop therapy altogether. But now, scientists in Duke University's Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy have discovered two genetic alterations linked to a benign enzyme condition that keep some patients anemia-free.
Schering-Plough Research Institute
Contact: Michelle Gailiun
michelle.gailiun@duke.edu
919-724-5343
Duke University Medical Center
Drugs 'could stop spread of Aids'
Anti-retroviral treatments (ARVs) could stop the spread of Aids in South Africa within five years, a top scientist says.