Public Release: 7-May-2007
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology
Animal research raises possibility of end to fat-free diets
A new study in mice raises a tantalizing possibility -- that humans may one day be able to eat any kind of fat they want without raising their risk of heart disease.
NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Contact: Karen Richardson
krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu
336-716-4453
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center

Public Release: 8-May-2007
Human Mutation
Gene mutation linked to cognition is found only in humans
A new study showed that a certain form of neuropsin, a protein that plays a role in learning and memory, is expressed only in the central nervous systems of humans and that it originated less than five million years ago.
Contact: Amy Molnar
amolnar@wiley.com
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Public Release: 8-May-2007
Cell Metabolism
Fat screen delivers plant-derived chemical with antidiabetic effects
After screening hundreds of compounds for their effects on fat development, researchers have discovered that an ingredient found in some plants fights diabetes in mice without some of the side effects attributed to other antidiabetes drugs. The chemical they pinpointed, known as harmine, was first isolated more than 150 years ago from plants traditionally included in ritual and medicinal preparations around the world.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Freedom to Discover Award
Contact: Erin Doonan
edoonan@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Public Release: 8-May-2007
2007 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting
100 percent juice not associated with overweight in children
Using the same database that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses to confirm the rise in obesity rates, researchers have concluded that 100 percent juice is not associated with young children being overweight or at risk for becoming overweight.
Contact: Kimberlee Barbour
kbarbour@bcm.edu
713-798-7971
Kellen Communications
Scientists Work on Encyclopedia of Life
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 9
In a whale-sized project, the world's scientists plan to compile everything they know about all of Earth's 1.8 million known species and put it all on one Web site, open to everyone.
King Herod's ancient tomb 'found'
An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the tomb of King Herod, the ruler of Judea while it was under Roman administration in the first century BC.
Personal Health
Deciphering the Results of a Prostate Test
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: May 8, 2007
After his annual physical, a middle-age man is told that his PSA level has jumped to 2.3 after having been stable for years at 1.5. Should he be alarmed?
Jury Is Still Out on Gluten, the Latest Dietary Villain
By KATE MURPHY
Gluten-free foods are becoming more widespread, but gluten’s role in health problems remains unclear.
From DNA Analysis, Clues to a Single Australian Migration
By NICHOLAS WADE
If the results of a new DNA study are upheld, they would undermine assumptions that there have been subsequent waves of migration into Australia.
Astronomers Report Biggest Stellar Explosion
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Astronomers reported that they had seen the most powerful stellar explosion ever recorded.
Genes Take Charge, and Diets Fall by the Wayside
By GINA KOLATA
Research into the genetics of obesity indicates that each person has a comfortable weight range to which the body gravitates.
How the Inca Leapt Canyons
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Centuries before the George Washington Bridge, the Andes were crisscrossed with suspension bridges. Now students at M.I.T. are learning to recreate them.
Public Release: 8-May-2007
Blood
Molecule that destroys bone also protects it, new research shows
An immune system component that is a primary cause of bone destruction and inflammation in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis actually protects bone in the oral cavity from infectious pathogens that play a major role in periodontal disease in humans, research at the University at Buffalo has shown.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Lois Baker
ljbaker@buffalo.edu
716-645-5000 x1417
University at Buffalo
Public Release: 9-May-2007
New England Journal of Medicine
HPV infection linked to throat cancers
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have conclusive evidence that human papillomavirus (HPV) causes some throat cancers in both men and women. Reporting in the May 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers found that oral HPV infection is the strongest risk factor for the disease, regardless of tobacco and alcohol use, and having multiple oral sex partners tops the list of sex practices that boost risk for the HPV-linked cancer.
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Johns Hopkins Cigarette Restitution Fund Program, National Institutes of Health
Contact: Vanessa Wasta
wastava@jhmi.edu
410-955-1287
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Public Release: 9-May-2007
Nature
UCF professor finds that hottest measured extrasolar planet is 3700 degrees
A UCF professor and his team have discovered the hottest exoplanet measured to be 3,700 degrees. Its composition leaves scientists scratching their heads.
Contact: Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala
zkotala@mail.ucf.edu
407-823-6120
University of Central Florida
Public Release: 9-May-2007
Nature
Scientists identify prion's infectious secret
Prions are highly robust and infectious proteins, most notable for their central role in bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease. But very little is known about how prions form aggregates of malformed proteins that ultimately result in disease. This study provides initial insights into how prions recruit and distort healthy neighboring proteins.
American Cancer Society
Contact: Eric Bender
bender@wi.mit.edu
617-258-5183
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Public Release: 9-May-2007
Egyptians, not Greeks were true fathers of medicine
Scientists examining documents dating back 3,500 years say they have found proof that the origins of modern medicine lie in ancient Egypt and not with Hippocrates and the Greeks.
Leverhulme Trust
Contact: Aeron Haworth
aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk
44-161-275-8383
University of Manchester
Public Release: 9-May-2007
Plant Physiology
Plants tag insect herbivores with an alarm
Rooted in place, plants can't run from herbivores -- but they can fight back. Sensing attack, plants frequently generate toxins, emit volatile chemicals to attract the pest's natural enemies, or launch other defensive tactics. Now, for the first time, researchers reporting in the June 2007 issue of Plant Physiology have identified a specific class of small peptide elicitors, or plant defense signals, that help plants react to insect attack.
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Contact: Dr. Eric Schmelz
Eric.Schmelz@ARS.USDA.GOV
352-374-5858
American Society of Plant Biologists
Public Release: 9-May-2007
Journal of Climate
NASA study suggests extreme summer warming in the future
A new study by NASA scientists suggests that greenhouse-gas warming may raise average summer temperatures in the eastern United States nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the 2080s.
NASA
Contact: Leslie McCarthy
lnolan@giss.nasa.gov
212-678-5507
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Public Release: 10-May-2007
American Heart Association's 8th Scientific Forum on Quality of Care
Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association
Most young women don't recognize heart attack warning signs
Most women 55 years and younger who have heart attacks don't recognize warning signs.
Contact: Karen Astle
karen.astle@heart.org
214-706-1392
American Heart Association
Public Release: 10-May-2007
BMC Veterinary Research
Hepatitis E takes a piggyback
Pigs carry hepatitis E virus (HEV), which they can pass on to humans. But now research from Japan published in Online Open Access journal BMC Veterinary Research says that pigs get HEV early enough to minimise the risk of human infection. The scenario humans need to worry about would occur if the infection rate in pigs drops. At low infection rates, there is actually a higher chance pigs will pass on HEV to humans at slaughter.
Contact: Martyn Thomas
press@biomedcentral.com
44-020-763-19986
BioMed Central Public Release: 10-May-2007
Science
U. of Colorado study shows massive CO2 burps from ocean to atmosphere at end of last ice age
A University of Colorado at Boulder-led research team tracing the origin of a large carbon dioxide increase in Earth's atmosphere at the end of the last ice age has detected two ancient "burps" that originated from the deepest parts of the oceans.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Thomas Marchitto
Thomas.Marchitto@colorado.edu
303-492-7739
University of Colorado at Boulder
Public Release: 10-May-2007
Lancet
Use of Swedish 'snus' is linked to a doubled risk of pancreatic cancer
People who use Swedish moist snuff (snus) run twice the risk of developing cancer of the pancreas. This is the main result of a follow-up study conducted by Karolinska Institutet researchers amongst almost 300,000 male construction workers. The study is published today online in the prestigious medical journal the Lancet.
Contact: Katarina Sternudd
katarina.sternudd@ki.se
46-852-483-895
Karolinska Institutet
Public Release: 10-May-2007
Experimental Dermatology
Scientists develop a new model of artificial canine skin
Researchers at UNIVET, a spin-off of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in cooperation with the animal nutrition company Affinity Petcare, have developed an artificial cellular model which faithfully reproduces the characteristics of dog's skin and which will allow, therefore, the carrying out of various lines of research related to skin biology and pathology without the need to use live animals.
Contact: Montserrat Serra
montserrat.serra.muxi@uab.es
34-935-814-639
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona Public Release: 10-May-2007
Calcified Tissue International
Estrogen is important for bone health in men as well as women
Although women are four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis, or porous bone, one in 12 men also suffer from the disease, which can lead to debilitating fractures. In women, low estrogen levels after menopause have been considered an important risk factor for this disorder. Now research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown that low amounts of active estrogen metabolites also can increase the risk of osteoporosis in men.
National Institutes of Health, General Clinical Research Center at Washington University
Contact: Gwen Ericson
ericsong@wustl.edu
314-286-0141
Washington University School of Medicine
Public Release: 10-May-2007
Astrophysical Journal Letters
A galactic fossil
How old are the oldest stars? Using ESO's VLT, astronomers recently measured the age of a star located in our galaxy. The star, a real fossil, is found to be 13.2 billion years old, not very far from the 13.7 billion years age of the universe. The star, HE 1523-0901, was clearly born at the dawn of time.
Contact: Henri Boffin
hboffin@eso.org
49-893-200-6222
European Southern Observatory (ESO) Public Release: 10-May-2007
Alzheimer's & Dementia
Breakdown of myelin implicated in Alzheimer's, UCLA research shows
New research suggests that it is the breakdown of so-called late-stage myelin that promotes the buildup of toxic amyloid-beta fibrils that eventually deposit in the brain and become the plaques which have long been associated with Alzheimer's disease.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, NIH/National Institute on Aging, US Department of Veterans Affairs
Contact: Mark Wheeler
mwheeler@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2265
University of California - Los Angeles
Public Release: 11-May-2007
30th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
Stenting of abdominal arteries offers welcome relief for 'intestinal angina'
Using catheter techniques perfected in the heart arteries, interventional cardiologists are successfully treating chronic mesenteric ischemia, a condition akin to intestinal angina. According to a study reported at the 30th annual Scientific Sessions of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, May 9–12, 2007, in Orlando, Fla., angioplasty and stenting of clogged arteries in the abdomen successfully restored blood flow to the intestines and relieved painful symptoms in more than 90 percent of patients, without major complications.
Contact: Kathy Boyd David
kbdavid@scai.org
717-422-1181
Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Public Release: 13-May-2007
Does he take sugar?: New research probes the context for conflict in conversation
A simple request, when placed in a certain context, has the potential to create conflict. This is epitomized in the phrase -- "does he take sugar?" -- an approach society has learned to avoid when speaking about a disabled person. New research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council seeks to better understand the ways in which people strive to avoid disagreement in everyday conversation.
Economic and Social Research Council
Contact: Annika Howard
annika.howard@esrc.ac.uk
44-017-934-13119
Economic & Social Research Council
The Nation
Genetic Testing + Abortion = ???
By AMY HARMON
The right to choose, and the right to screen for sex, cancer genes or smarts.
The face, not the body, attracts a mate
Body builders will be disappointed to discover that the face is more important in choosing a sexual partner - especially among women
12:00 13 May 2007