Public Release: 18-Jun-2007
Archives of Surgery
Clot-dissolving agent may be beneficial in treatment of severe frostbite
A preliminary study suggests that a blood clot-dissolving medication that is administered to some patients following a stroke or heart attack may help to reduce the risk of amputation following severe frostbite, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Contact: Phil Sahm
801-581-7387
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 18-Jun-2007
European Society of Human Genetics Meeting
Human genetic 'deserts' are teeming with significant life
Many of the areas of the human genome previously thought to be deserts are in fact teeming with life, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics. Most known human genes in the genome map are still incompletely annotated, says Professor Alexandre Reymond, from the Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Department of Genetic Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Contact: Mary Rice
mary@mrcommunication.org
European Society of Human Genetics
Public Release: 18-Jun-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
UI anthropologist, colleagues discover remains of earliest giant panda
Although it may sound like an oxymoron, a University of Iowa anthropologist and his colleagues report the first discovery of a skull from a "pygmy-sized" giant panda -- the earliest-known ancestor of the giant panda -- that lived in south China some two million years ago.
Contact: Gary Galluzzo
gary-galluzzo@uiowa.edu
319-384-0009
University of Iowa
Public Release: 18-Jun-2007
Clinical Pediatrics
Infants most at risk among children injured by elevator incidents, Indiana University study finds
First large-scale epidemiological study evaluating elevator-related injuries in children throughout the United States reports on the large number of these preventable injuries. Lead author is developmental pediatrician Joseph O'Neil of the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Contact: Cindy Fox Aisen
caisen@iupui.edu
317-274-7722
Indiana University
Public Release: 18-Jun-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Promising protein may prevent eye damage in premature babies
Researchers have identified a protein that is part of the body's natural defenses in oxygen-deprived conditions, a finding that could rapidly lead to treatments for babies born before their eyes are finished growing.
Contact: John Pastor
jdpastor@ufl.edu
352-273-5815
University of Florida
Public Release: 18-Jun-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
UT medical researcher determines link between foie gras and disease
Experimental data published today by University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine researchers shows a potential link between foie gras consumption and amyloid-related dieases such as Alzheimer's, rheumatoid arthritis and adult onset diabetes.
National Institutes of Health, Aslan Foundation, Swedish Research Council, Torsten and Ragnar Soderberg's foundations
Contact: Lea Anne Law
865-544-9190
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Antibiotic Use in First Year May Increase Asthma Risk
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Published: June 19, 2007
The use of antibiotics in the first year of life is associated with an increased risk for asthma at age 7, a new study has found, and the reason may be that antibiotics destroy not only disease-causing microbes, but also those that are helpful to the developing immune system.
Doctor: Couples Open to Donating Embryos
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 20, 2007
A majority of couples with stored embryos from fertility treatments say they would be willing to donate unused embryos for stem cell research, says a doctor who surveyed patients.
Earliest Gunshot Victim in New World Is Reported
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Archaeologists in Peru have uncovered the human skeleton of what they conclude is the earliest known gunshot victim in the New World.
The Doctor's World
Radiology Was Young, and So Was I
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D.
In the early 1930s, after a year in general medicine, my father became one of the first trained radiologists in this country.
Scholars Race to Recover a Lost Kingdom on the Nile
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Evidence is mounting that the kingdom of Kush, in its ascendancy from 2000 B.C. to 1500 B.C., exerted control or at least influence over a 750-mile stretch of the Nile Valley.
Public Release: 19-Jun-2007
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
Coffee drinking protects against an eyelid spasm
People who drink coffee are less likely to develop an involuntary eye spasm called primary late onset blepharospasm, which makes them blink uncontrollably and can leave them effectively "blind," according to a study published online ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
Contact: Emma Dickinson
edickinson@bmj.com
44-020-738-36529
BMJ Specialty Journals
Public Release: 19-Jun-2007
Astrophysical Journal
Back on track
Observing the image of a faint object that lies close to a star is a demanding task as the object is generally hidden in the glare of the star. Characterising this object, by taking spectra, is an even harder challenge. Still, thanks to ingenious scientists and a new ESO imaging spectrograph, this is now feasible, paving the way to an eldorado of many new thrilling discoveries.
Contact: Henri Boffin
hboffin@eso.org
49-893-200-6222
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Public Release: 20-Jun-2007
Nature
A faster way to recover from chemotherapy and marrow transplant
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston report finding a practical way to increase stem cells in blood, suggesting a possible treatment to help patients recover from chemotherapy or bone marrow transplant for cancer, regaining immune function more quickly. The discovery, reported in the June 21 Nature and made possible through high-volume drug screening in fish, marks the first time stem-cell production has been induced by a small-molecule drug.
National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society
Contact: Anna Gonski
anna.gonski@childrens.harvard.edu
617-355-6420
Children's Hospital Boston
Public Release: 20-Jun-2007
Nature
UW-Madison engineers develop higher-energy liquid-transportation fuel from sugar
Reporting in the June 21 issue of the journal Nature, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering Professor James Dumesic and his research team describe a two-stage process for turning biomass-derived sugar into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), a liquid transportation fuel with 40 percent greater energy density than ethanol.
Natiional Science Foundation
Contact: James Dumesic
dumesic@engr.wisc.edu
608-262-1095
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Public Release: 20-Jun-2007
Nature
Arizona State University geophysicists detect a molten rock layer deep below the American Southwest
A sheet of molten rock roughly 10 miles thick spreads underneath much of the American Southwest, some 250 miles below Tucson, Ariz. From the surface, you can't see it, smell it or feel it. But Arizona geophysicists Daniel Toffelmier and James Tyburczy detected the molten layer with a comparatively new and overlooked technique for exploring the deep Earth that uses magnetic eruptions on the sun.
Contact: Robert Burnham
robert.burnham@asu.edu
480-458-8207
Arizona State University
Public Release: 20-Jun-2007
Journal of Advanced Nursing
STAMP system can help professionals to identify potentially violent individuals
A health researcher has developed a violence assessment framework after observing patients for 290 hours in an accident and emergency department and interviewing nurses after violent incidents. The STAMP system will also prove invaluable to professionals in a wide range of other situations, including law enforcement and social services.
Contact: Annette Whibley
wizard.media@virgin.net
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Public Release: 20-Jun-2007
PLoS ONE
Male circumcision overstated as prevention tool against AIDS
In new academic research published today in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE, male circumcision is found to be much less important as a deterrent to the global AIDS pandemic than previously thought. The author, John R. Talbott, has conducted statistical empirical research across 77 countries of the world and has uncovered some surprising results.
Contact: John Talbott
johntalbs@hotmail.com
646-202-0903
Public Library of Science
Public Release: 20-Jun-2007
Inside the mind of a suicide bomber
Suicide bombers are not mentally ill or unhinged, but acting rationally in pursuit of the "benefits" they perceive from being part of a strict and close-knit religious enterprise, according to a University of Nottingham academic.
Contact: David Stevens
david.stevens@nottingham.ac.uk
University of Nottingham
Public Release: 20-Jun-2007
Rural work ethic, sturdy values may delay elderly heart patients from seeking care
A strong work ethic appears to influence how elderly rural Albertans with heart failure manage their illness.
Alberta Centre on Aging, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Canadian Institutes for Health Research
Contact: Bev Betkowski
beverly.betkowski@ualberta.ca
780-492-3808
University of Alberta
Laughter improves breast milk's health effect
Babies with eczema that were breast fed hours after the mothers were laughing had milder allergy symptoms
11:40 18 June 2007
Do black holes really exist?
Matter may never collapse completely into a black hole, a controversial new study suggests – if correct, it would solve a troubling quantum paradox
22:16 18 June 2007
How the Arctic Ocean was born
The widening of the entrance straits to a large lake, some 20 million years ago, was the first stage in the formation of a new ocean, Swedish sediments reveal
14:42 21 June 2007
Ancient trade-off may explain why humans get HIV
The protein that makes human cells susceptible to HIV infection may have protected our ancestors from an ancient virus
19:00 21 June 2007
Create a back-up copy of your immune system
Storing a sample of white blood cells from a young age might offer a way of restoring immune systems after future diseases
10:00 22 June 2007
Ancient Romans Preferred Fast Food
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News
June 18, 2007
Just as a U.S. Presidential state dinner does not reflect how most Americans eat and socialize, researchers think the formal, decadent image of wining and dining in ancient Rome mostly just applied to the elite.  According to archaeologist Penelope Allison of the University of Leicester, the majority of the population consumed food "on the run."
Indian boy, 15, performs surgery in record attempt
AP
The 15-year-old son of two doctors performed a filmed Caesarean section birth under his parents' watch in an apparent attempt to gain a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Public Release: 21-Jun-2007
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Paving the way toward a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease
Scientists have provided new details about how proteins used to destroy bacteria and viruses may help treat Alzheimer's disease. Gunnar K. Gouras, associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, and colleagues provide new insights into how these proteins, called antibodies, reduce the main hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease and raise hopes for a vaccine against the disease.
Contact: Pat Pages
ppages@asbmb.org
301-634-7366
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Public Release: 21-Jun-2007
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Recommendations and Reports
Smoking rate has plummeted in New York City
New York City's 2006 smoking rate (17.5 percent) is the lowest on record, and lower than all but five US states. Health officials credit tobacco taxes, indoor smoking restrictions and hard-hitting ad campaigns.
Contact: Sara Markt
smarkt@health.nyc.gov
212-788-5290
New York City Health Department
Public Release: 21-Jun-2007
Social Indicators Research
Meaningful leisure can mean many things
No matter what form your summer break takes, the benefits of leisure can be powerful. And, to get the maximum benefits, you don't have to take the ultimate holiday, said Temple University's Yoshi Iwasaki, who explores leisure and quality of life across cultures in the June issue of Social Indicators Research. Iwasaki compared Western leisure to non-Western and found that meaningful leisure that contributed significantly to quality of life, did not resemble popular Western ideas of leisure.
World Leisure Organization
Contact: Eryn Jelesiewicz
dobeck@temple.edu
215-707-0730
Temple University
Public Release: 21-Jun-2007
Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence
Vaccines help kick drug habits
A pair of new vaccines designed to combat cocaine and methamphetamine dependencies not only relieve addiction but also minimize withdrawal symptoms.
NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse
Contact: Graciela Gutierrez
ggutierr@bcm.edu
713-798-4710
Baylor College of Medicine
Public Release: 21-Jun-2007
Society for Epidemiologic Research Annual Meeting
Pregnancy nausea/vomiting may indicate lower risk of breast cancer
It may not seem so at the time, but women who suffer through morning sickness during their pregnancies actually may be fortunate. Those women may have a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer later in life than mothers-to-be who experience nine nausea-free months, a new study by epidemiologists at the University at Buffalo suggests.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Lois Baker
ljbaker@buffalo.edu
716-645-5000 x1417
University at Buffalo
Public Release: 21-Jun-2007
Psychological Science
Putting feelings into words produces therapeutic effects in the brain
A new brain imaging study by UCLA psychologists reveals why verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense. A second UCLA study combines modern neuroscience with ancient Buddhist teachings to provide the first neural evidence for why "mindfulness" -- the ability to live in the present moment, without distraction -- seems to produce a variety of health benefits.
Contact: Stuart Wolpert
swolpert@support.ucla.edu
310-206-0511
University of California - Los Angeles
Public Release: 22-Jun-2007
International Journal of Critical Infrastructures
DIY anti-satellite system
Satellite tracking software freely available on the Internet and some textbook physics could be used by any organization that can get hold of an intermediate range rocket to mount an unsophisticated attack on military or civilian satellites.
Contact: Adrian V. Gheorghe
agheorgh@odu.edu
Inderscience Publishers
Public Release: 22-Jun-2007
Options for the Control of Influenza VI
Experts predict Tamiflu could halve the pandemic influenza death toll versus no intervention
Treatment with the oral antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and prophylaxis for people exposed to infected patients could be one of the most cost-effective strategies for reducing illness and death during an influenza pandemic. According to modelling research presented by Beate Sander, University of Toronto, Canada, a stockpile of Tamiflu sufficient to cover 65 percent of a country's population could cut deaths by approximately half.
Roche
Contact: Lucy Rispin
lucy.rispin@ketchum.com
44-207-611-3621
Ketchum
Public Release: 22-Jun-2007
Science
New compound effectively treats fungal infections
A new mechanism to attack hard-to-treat fungal infections has been revealed by scientists from the biotech company Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., California, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) outstation in Grenoble, France. In the current issue of Science they describe how a new compound kills fungal pathogens by blocking an enzyme crucial for their protein synthesis.
Contact: Anna-Lynn Wegener
wegener@embl.de
49-622-138-7452
European Molecular Biology Laboratory
Icebergs are 'ecological hotspot'
Melting icebergs release minerals into the surrounding water
Drifting icebergs are "ecological hotspots" that enable the surrounding waters to absorb an increased volume of carbon dioxide, a study suggests.
Hacker penetrates Pentagon email system
The system is temporarily taken offline after another embarrassing breach of US government computer security
15:08 22 June 2007
Public Release: 24-Jun-2007
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Spuds that like you -- in your summer salad
It has long been known that eating potatoes is good for bowel health, but new research suggests that they may also have a beneficial effect on the whole immune system. Especially if eaten cold or in a potato salad. Spanish researchers found that growing pigs fed large quantities of raw potato starch (RPS) had a healthier bowel and decreased levels of white blood cells, such as leucocytes and lymphocytes in their blood.
Contact: SCI Press Office
press@soci.org
44-020-759-81548
Society of Chemical Industry