Public Release: 21-Jan-2007
Nature Physics Novel computed imaging technique uses blurry images to enhance view
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have
developed a novel computational image-forming technique for optical
microscopy that can produce crisp, three-dimensional images from
blurry, out-of-focus data.
National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Beckman Institute
Public Release: 22-Jan-2007
PLoS Biology The floral network -- What determines who pollinates whom
The topology of plant-pollinator networks can be explained by
relatively simple rules incorporating both "complementarity" and
"barrier" traits, thus providing insights into the possible
evolutionary and ecological processes driving the pattern.
Contact: Natalie Bouaravong press@plos.org
415-568-3445
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 22-Jan-2007
Archives of Internal Medicine Daily use of antidepressants associated with increased risk of fracture in older adults
Daily use of the antidepressant medications known as selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) by adults 50 years and older is
associated with a doubled risk of some fractures, according to a report
in the Jan. 22, 2007 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the
JAMA/Archives journals.
Contact: Céline Poissant
514-398-6751 JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 22-Jan-2007 A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go to work
There will soon be no more bitter pills to swallow, thanks to new
research by University of Leeds scientists -- a spoonful of sugar will
be all we need for our bodies to make their own medicine.
Medical Research Council
Contact: Jo Kelly jokelly@campuspr.co.uk
44-011-325-89880 University of Leeds
The new report focuses on a process that it said
could affordably harvest heat locked in deep layers of granite that
exist almost everywhere on earth. Graphic: Energy From Granite
Public Release: 22-Jan-2007 Families do not cause anorexia nervosa
Misstatements and ignorance claiming that families "cause" eating
disorders is like blaming parents for diabetes or asthma or cancer says
an international group of eating disorders researchers. Recent damaging
statements by fashion model Gisele Bundchen stating that unsupportive
families cause anorexia nervosa only perpetuate misconceptions and
further stigmatize eating disorders. Contrary to her claim, data show
that anorexia nervosa has a strong genetic component that may be the
root cause of this illness.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
Contact: Jocelyn Uhl Duffy UhlJH@upmc.edu
412-647-3555 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Public Release: 22-Jan-2007 Dental researchers test no-needle anesthesia, no-drilling cavity care
Imagine having a decayed tooth repaired, painlessly, without drilling
or shots of anesthesia to numb the area. Wishful thinking? Not if two
studies being conducted at the University at Buffalo's School of Dental
Medicine show positive results.
Apollonia, LLC, Curozone, Inc., Kavo Dental Manufacturing Co.
Contact: Lois Baker ljbaker@buffalo.edu
716-645-5000 x1417 University at Buffalo
Public Release: 23-Jan-2007
PLoS ONE How fish conquered the ocean
Scientists at the University of Bergen, Norway have deduced how bony
fishes conquered the oceans by duplicating their yolk-producing genes
and filling their eggs with the water of life -- the degradation of
yolk proteins from one of the duplicated genes causes the eggs to fill
with vital water and float. This is the major solution realized by
extant marine teleosts that showed an unprecedented radiation during
the late Cretaceous and early Paleogene Periods.
Contact: Roderick Nigel Finn nigel.finn@bio.uib.no
47-055-583-595 Public Library of Science
Public Release: 23-Jan-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences New dopamine brain target discovered
A team of Canadian researchers, lead by Dr. Susan George and Dr. Brian
O'Dowd at the Center for Addiction and Mental health, discovered a
Gq/11-coupled signalling unit that triggers a calcium signal. This
novel target is turned on by stimulating D1 and D2 dopamine receptors.
This is the first time that a direct connection between dopamine and
calcium signals has been reported. This data has significant
implications for schizophrenia.
NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, Canadian Institutes for Health Research
Contact: Michael Torres michael_torres@camh.net
416-595-6015 Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Public Release: 23-Jan-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Paleontologists discover most primitive primate skeleton
The earliest branches of primate evolution are more ancient by 10
million years than previous studies estimated, according to an article
featured in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers reconstructed the base of the primate family tree by
comparing skeletal and fossil specimens representing more than 85
modern and extinct species. The team also discovered two
56-million-year-old fossils, including the most primitive primate
skeleton ever described.
National Science Foundation, Field Museum of Natural History, Yale
University, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council (Canada), University of Winnipeg,
Paleobiological Fund, Wenner–Gren Foun
Contact: Janet Rettig Emanuel janet.emanuel@yale.edu
203-432-2157 Yale University
Public Release: 23-Jan-2007
PLoS Biology
Brown team finds crucial protein role in deadly prion spread
Brown University biologists have made another major advance toward
understanding the deadly work of prions, the culprits behind fatal
brain diseases such as mad cow and their human counterparts. In new
work published online in PLoS Biology, researchers show that the
protein Hsp104 must be present and active for prions to multiply and
cause disease.
NIH/National Cancer Institute, NIH/National Institute of General
Medical Sciences, Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences
Contact: Wendy Lawton Wendy_Lawton@brown.edu
401-863-1862 Brown University Public Release: 23-Jan-2007
Journal of the American College of Surgeons RX for wrong-site surgery -- 2 minutes of conversation
A study of Johns Hopkins surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses
suggests that hospital policies requiring a brief preoperation "team
meeting" to make sure surgery is performed on the right patient and the
right part of the body could decrease errors.
Contact: Eric Vohr evohr1@jhmi.edu
410-955-8665 Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
The unexpected discovery of a rare Y chromosome suggests a long-lived African presence in the UK
11:24 24 January 2007
Public Release: 24-Jan-2007 Canadian researchers first to complete the human metabalome
Researchers at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada, have
announced the completion of the first draft of the human metabolome,
the chemical equivalent of the human genome.
Contact: Ryan Smith ryan.smith@ualberta.ca
780-492-0436 University of Alberta Public Release: 24-Jan-2007
Developmental Science
Beyond nature vs. nurture: Williams syndrome across cultures
Nobody questions that the color of our eyes is encoded in our genes.
When it comes to behavior the concept of "DNA as fate" quickly breaks
down -- it's been long accepted that both genes and the environment
shape human behavior. But just how much sway the environment holds over
our genetic destiny has been difficult to untangle.
Contact: Gina Kirchweger Kirchweger@salk.edu
858-453-4100 Salk Institute Public Release: 24-Jan-2007
Homicide Studies New research is first to explore regional differences in US serial killings
Did you know that people living in the Western region of the United
States are more likely to become victims of a serial killer than people
living in the Northeast? The February issue of Homicide Studies,
published by Sage, is the first to explore research looking at the
considerable interstate and regional differences in serial killer
activity.
Contact: Judy Erickson media.inquiries@sagepub.com SAGE Publications Caverns give up huge fossil haul An astonishing collection of
fossil animals from southern Australia is reported by scientists.
The creatures were found in limestone caves under Nullarbor Plain and
date from about 400,000-800,000 years ago. Railway construction unearths ancient artifacts in Germany By Colin NickersonGlobe Staff January 21, 2007
COLOGNE, Germany Genialinius
Gennatus was one fine duck hunter. In the third century , he
recorded his prowess in high Latin on a stone tablet that he dedicated
to Jupiter. That and a hefty donation probably ensured that the tablet
won display in the temple to the Roman god in the settlement then
called Colonia. Ancient Iraqi Art Determined Poisonous Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Jan. 22, 2007 Some ninth century Iraqi artists may
have literally died for their art, suggests new analysis of Iraqi
stucco fragments from this period. A fragment, taken from the ancient
palace-city of Samarra, contains three arsenic-based pigments that are
known to be poisonous and may cause cancer upon exposure.
Public Release: 25-Jan-2007
Blood Researchers propose reason for severe side-effects of Northwick Park clinical trial
A possible reason why the Northwick Park clinical trial of the drug
TGN1412 in the UK caused multiple organ failure in human volunteers is
revealed in research presented today at a conference near Paris. The
research shows that stimulating the molecule CD28 on cells that mediate
the immune response, known as T cells, can have an adverse effect if
these immune cells have been activated and altered by infection or
illness in the past.
Contact: Laura Gallagher L.Gallagher@imperial.ac.uk
44-020-759-46702 Imperial College London Public Release: 25-Jan-2007
Journal of Neuroscience Research Stem cells cultured from human bone marrow behave like those derived from brain tissue
Stem cells taken from adult human bone marrow have been manipulated by
scientists at the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center to generate aggregates of cells called spheres that are
similar to those derived from neural stem cells of the brain.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Sandy Van sandy@prpacific.com
800-880-2397 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Public Release: 25-Jan-2007
Biochemistry Role of anesthetics in Alzheimer's disease: Molecular details revealed
Inhaled anesthetics commonly used in surgery are more likely to cause
the aggregation of Alzheimer percents disease-related plaques in the
brain than intravenous anesthetics say University of Pittsburgh School
of Medicine researchers in a journal article published in the Jan. 23
issue of Biochemistry. This is the first report using state-of-the-art
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic technique to explain the
detailed molecular mechanism behind the aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ)
peptide due to various anesthetics.
American Parkinson Disease Association, American Health Assistance Foundation
Contact: Jocelyn Uhl Duffy UhlJH@upmc.edu
412-647-3555 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Public Release: 25-Jan-2007
Radiology MRI contrast agent linked to rare disease
New research has shown a possible association between a popular
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent and the incidence of a
rare disease called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients
with kidney disease, according to an editorial appearing in the March
issue of Radiology.
Contact: Maureen Morley media@rsna.org
630-590-7762 Radiological Society of North America Public Release: 25-Jan-2007
Science No one strategy is best for teaching reading, FSU professor shows
For decades, a debate has simmered in the educational community over
the best way to teach children how to read. Now, a Florida State
University researcher in Tallahassee, Florida, has entered the fray
with a paper in the prestigious journal Science that says there is no
one "best" method for teaching children to read.
Contact: Carol M. Connor cconnor@fsu.edu
850-921-0703 Florida State UniversityPublic Release: 28-Jan-2007 New approach could lower antibiotic requirements by 50 times
Antibiotic doses could be reduced by up to 50 times using a new
approach based on bacteriophages.
Steven Hagens, previously at the University of Vienna, told Chemistry
& Industry, the magazine of the SCI, that certain bacteriophages, a
type of virus that infects bacteria, can boost the effectiveness of
antibiotics gentamicin, gramacidin or tetracycline.
Contact: SCI Press Office press@soci.org
44-020-759-81548 Society of American Foresters Public Release: 28-Jan-2007
International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition 100 percent juices found as beneficial to health as fruits and vegetables
A review of the literatures finds that health benefits attributed to
consumption of fruits and vegetables are also applicable to 100 percent
juices due to their antioxidant content.
Contact: Keith Keeney kkeeney@kellencompany.com
404-252-3663 Kellen Communications
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