Climatologists claim to have found Biblical plagues
Telegraph UK
Public Release: 29-Mar-2010
BMC Ecology
Hyenas' laughter signals deciphered
Acoustic analysis of the "giggle" sound made by spotted hyenas has revealed that the animals' laughter encodes information about age, dominance and identity. Researchers writing in the open-access journal BMC Ecology recorded the calls of 26 hyenas in captivity and found that variations in the giggles' pitch and timbre may help hyenas to establish social hierarchies.
Contact: Graeme Baldwin
graeme.baldwin@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2165
BioMed Central
Public Release: 29-Mar-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Microbes reprogrammed to ooze oil for renewable biofuel
Using genetic sleight of hand, researcher Xinyao Liu and professor Roy Curtiss at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute have coaxed photosynthetic microbes to secrete oil -- bypassing energy and cost barriers that have hampered green biofuel production.
Contact: Joe Caspermeyer
joseph.caspermeyer@asu.edu
480-258-8972
Arizona State University
Public Release: 29-Mar-2010
Acupuncture in Medicine
Acupuncture calms highly anxious dental patients
Acupuncture can calm highly anxious dental patients and ensure that they can be given the treatment they need, suggests a small study published in Acupuncture in Medicine.
Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmjgroup.com
44-020-738-36529
BMJ-British Medical Journal
Beta-blockers 'cut cancer spread'
Blood pressure drugs may be able to reduce the ability of breast cancer to spread around the body, researchers have told a European conference.
Public Release: 29-Mar-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Study shows that mutations in 1 gene cause many cancers
An important gene that normally protects the body from cancer can itself cause a variety of cancers depending on the specific mutation that damages it. People who inherit a mutated copy of the PTEN gene have Cowden syndrome, a condition that carries a high risk of cancer in organs such as the breast, thyroid and ovary. This study linked specific mutations in the gene to distinct kinds of cancer in organs targeted by the syndrome.
NIH/National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, Susan Komen Foundation, Evelyn Simmers Foundation, US Department of Defense
Contact: Darrell E. Ward
Darrell.Ward@osumc.edu
614-293-3737
Ohio State University Medical Center
Public Release: 30-Mar-2010
Arthritis & Rheumatism
Hormone replacement in joint fluid has potential regenerative effect
German researchers determined that concentrations of the sex hormones, testosterone in men and estrogen in women, may have a positive effect on the regenerative potential of cartilage tissue. The study suggests hormone replacement in the joint fluid of men and women might be beneficial in treating late stages of human osteoarthritis by regenerating damaged tissue. Details of this evidence-based study appear in the April issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology.
Contact: Dawn Peters
medicalnews@wiley.com
781-388-8408
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 30-Mar-2010
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Brain estrogen shows promise as schizophrenia treatment
An estrogenic drug that influences neurotransmitter and neuronal systems in the brain is showing promise as an effective therapy for women who suffer from schizophrenia.
Contact: Jane Castles
media@adm.monash.edu.au
Monash University
Public Release: 30-Mar-2010
British Journal of Urology International
Doctors report alarming increase in mumps-related testicle problems among young males
Urologists at a leading Irish hospital have reported an alarming increase in the number of teenage boys and young men developing mumps orchitis. They are urging colleagues to offer the MMR vaccine to unvaccinated males in the 15-24 age group and educate them about the condition, which causes one or both testicles to swell and can lead to fertility problems.
Contact: Annette Whibley
wizard.media@virgin.net
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 30-Mar-2010
Fertility and Sterility
The pill for ovarian cysts
A study evaluated for Faculty of 1000 suggests a simple and effective remedy for ovarian "chocolate" cysts -- the oral contraceptive pill. In their F1000 evaluation, Neil Johnson and Shelley Reilly from Auckland, New Zealand, highlight a trial published in Fertility and Sterility that provides evidence that the OCP can reduce the recurrence of endometriomas after removal by surgery.
Contact: Constantine Stamatopoulos
press@f1000.com
Faculty of 1000: Biology and Medicine
Judge Invalidates Human Gene Patent
By JOHN SCHWARTZ and ANDREW POLLACK
In a ruling with potentially far-reaching implications for the patenting of human genes, a judge struck down a company’s patents on two genes linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
Men owe women for 'creating beer' claims academic
Telegraph UK
Public Release: 30-Mar-2010
Psychological Science
Motivation by anticipation: Expecting rapid feedback enhances performance
The timing of expected feedback impacts individuals' performance: Students who were told they would receive feedback quickly on their presentations earned higher grades than students who expected feedback at a later time. Furthermore, when students expected to receive their grades quickly, they predicted that their performance would be worse than students who were to receive feedback later. This pattern suggests that anticipating rapid feedback may improve performance because the threat of disappointment is more prominent.
Contact: Barbara Isanski
bisanski@psychologicalscience.org
Association for Psychological Science
Public Release: 30-Mar-2010
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
U Alberta find could shield humans from influenza virus
Katharine Magor, a U of A associate professor of biology, has identified the genetic detector that allows ducks to live, unharmed, as the host of influenza. The duck's virus detector gene, RIG-I, enables a duck's immune system to contain the virus, which typically spreads from ducks to chickens, where it mutates and can evolve to be a human threat like the H5N1 influenza virus
Contact: Brian Murphy
brian.murphy@ualberta.ca
780-492-0641
University of Alberta
Magnets can modify our morality, scientists discover
Scientists have shown they can change people's moral judgements by disrupting a specific area of the brain with magnetic pulses.
Runaway star may have spawned the solar system
04:02 31 March 2010
A single star that escaped its family – not the usual close-knit stellar clan – may have provided the raw material for our solar system
Public Release: 31-Mar-2010
FASEB Journal
Making the blind see: Gene therapy restores vision in mice
Take a look at this: Scientists made a huge step toward making the blind see, and they did it by using a form of gene therapy that does not involve the use of modified viruses. In a research report published in the April 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal, scientists describe how they used a non-viral, synthetic nanoparticle carrier to improve and save the sight of mice with retinitis pigmentosa.
Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
cmooneyhan@faseb.org
301-634-7104
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Observatory
Researchers Report Progress on E. Coli Test
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
A new single test could detect both pathogenic E. coli and its toxins in food and give quicker results than the current method.
Public Release: 31-Mar-2010
Nature
Impaired brain connections traced to schizophrenia mutation
The strongest known recurrent genetic cause of schizophrenia impairs communications between the brain's decision-making and memory hubs, resulting in working memory deficits, a study in mice has found. The new animal model shows how genetics affects brain circuitry, at the level of single neurons, to produce a core feature of the disorder.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
Contact: Jules Asher
NIMHpress@nih.gov
301-443-4536
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
Public Release: 31-Mar-2010
New England Journal of Medicine
More than one-quarter of elderly patients lack decision-making capacity at death
More than one in four elderly Americans lacked the capacity to make their own medical care decisions at the end of life, according to a study of 3,746 people to be published April 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine
Contact: Mary Masson
mfmasson@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
Mathematics of ancient carvings reveals lost language
11:24 01 April 2010
Statistical analysis has shown that signs carved by an ancient Scottish people were a long-forgotten language – it may help decode animal language too
Public Release: 1-Apr-2010
American Journal of Transplantation
Donor kidneys from Hepatitis C patients needlessly denied to patients with that infection
More than half of donor kidneys in the United State infected with hepatitis C are thrown away, despite the need among hepatitis C patients who may die waiting for an infection-free organ, Johns Hopkins research suggests.
Contact: Stephanie Desmon
sdesmon1@jhmi.edu
410-955-8665
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Public Release: 1-Apr-2010
Molecular Nutrition and Food Research
U of I scientist says slimming soybeans are on the horizon
If you're serious about losing weight, check out recent studies done in Elvira de Mejia's University of Illinois laboratory. Her research provides insight into the way a certain type of soy protein inhibits fat accumulation and reduces inflammation.
Monsanto, US Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship for Career Development
Contact: Phyllis Picklesimer
p-pickle@illinois.edu
217-244-2827
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Public Release: 1-Apr-2010
PLoS ONE
A drug that extends life span prevents Alzheimer's deficits
A new report provides more evidence that rapamycin, which has been shown to extend life span in mice, also can improve learning and memory in mice engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's Association, NIH/National Institute on Aging
Contact: Will Sansom
sansom@uthscsa.edu
210-567-2579
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
'Pig sushi' diabetes trial brings xenotransplant hope
17:01 01 April 2010
More people with diabetes are to receive replacement pig insulin-producing cells coated in seaweed to protect them from the human immune system
How your brain remembers the future
IN BRIEF:  13:00 02 April 2010
It works out what you're probably going to see next so that it can focus on dealing with the unexpected
Public Release: 2-Apr-2010
Osteoporosis International
Most women unaware of risk for debilitating fractures
Underscoring what researchers call a serious international public health concern, results from the Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW) showed that among women at an elevated level of risk for osteoporosis-associated fractures, there is a failure to perceive the implications of having important risk factors.
Alliance for Better Bone Health, Center for Outcomes Research, UMass Medical School
Contact: Alison Duffy
alison.duffy@umassmed.edu
508-856-2000
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Public Release: 2-Apr-2010
Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association
Thyroid condition increases stroke risk in young adults
Young adults with overactive thyroid face a 44 percent increased risk of stroke compared to those with normal thyroid function, according to a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Contact: Bridgette McNeill
Bridgette.McNeill@heart.org
214-706-1135
American Heart Association