Public Release: 8-Oct-2007
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Banked blood loses ability to deliver oxygen to tissues
Almost immediately after it is donated, human blood begins to lose a key gas that opens up blood vessels to facilitate the transfer of oxygen from red blood cells to oxygen-starved tissues.
National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association
Contact: Richard Merritt
Merri006@mc.duke.edu
919-660-1309
Duke University Medical Center
Public Release: 8-Oct-2007
Archives of Internal Medicine
Patients with pneumonia who received pneumococcal vaccine have lower rate of death, ICU admission
Among patients hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia, those who had previously received the pneumococcal vaccine had a lower risk of death and admission to the intensive care unit than patients who were not vaccinated, according to a report in the Oct. 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Contact: Jo-Anne Nugent-Sexsmith
780-492-9651
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 8-Oct-2007
American Journal of Human Biology
Hip size of mothers linked to breast cancer in daughters
In a study of the maternity records of more than 6,000 women, David J.P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., of Oregon Health & Science University discovered a strong correlation between the size and shape of a woman's hips and her daughter's risk of breast cancer. Wide, round hips, the researchers postulated, represent markers of high sex hormone concentrations in the mother, which increase her daughter's vulnerability to breast cancer.
Contact: Harry Lenhart
lenharth@ohsu.edu
503-494-8231
Oregon Health & Science University
Public Release: 8-Oct-2007
Journal of Theoretical Biology
Appendix isn't useless at all: It's a safe house for bacteria
Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be - as a "safe house" for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.
NIH/National Institutes of Health
Contact: Richard Merritt
Merri006@mc.duke.edu
919-660-1309
Duke University Medical Center
Public Release: 8-Oct-2007
American Journal of Psychiatry
Depression can foreshadow intellectual decline in older people
Depression in the elderly increases the risk of subsequent mental impairment and can act as a predictor of future intellectual decline, University of Rochester Medical Center psychiatrists and researchers have found.
NIH/National Institute of Mental Health
Contact: Michael Wentzel
Michael_Wentzel@urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-1309
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 8-Oct-2007
Nature Materials
Researchers create system to build transplant tissue
Cornell University engineers say they have developed a microvascular system that can nourish growing tissues, a step that may one day allow laboratories to grow synthetically engineered tissues for transplants.
Office of Naval Research, Cornell's Nanobiotechnology Center, Beckman Foundation, Center for Life Science Enterprise at Cornell, Cornell Center for Materials Research
Contact: Press Relations Office
pressoffice@cornell.edu
607-255-6074
Cornell University News Service
Public Release: 9-Oct-2007
JAMA
Medication shows promise as a treatment for alcohol dependence
Alcohol-dependent patients who received the medication topiramate had fewer heavy drinking days, fewer drinks per day and more days of continuous abstinence than those who received placebo, according to a study in the Oct. 10 issue of JAMA.
Contact: Mary Jane Gore
434-924-9241
JAMA and Archives Journals
Public Release: 9-Oct-2007
American Neurological Association
Antibody leads to repair of myelin sheath in lab study of multiple sclerosis and related disorders
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that a human antibody administered in a single low dose in laboratory mouse models can repair myelin, the insulating covering of nerves that when damaged can lead to multiple sclerosis and other disorders of the central nervous system.
National Institutes of Health, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Hilton Foundation, individual donors
Contact: Amelyn Reyes
newsbureau@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic
Public Release: 9-Oct-2007
Preventive Medicine
British attitudes to exercise show misleading guidelines 'should be changed'
British adults now believe that moderate activity is more beneficial than vigorous exercise, according to new research by the University of Exeter and Brunel University. Although most large studies show that the greatest health benefits are derived from regular participation in vigorous activities, such as jogging and competitive sports, 56% of men and 71% of women now believe moderate activities, like walking, are most beneficial.
Contact: Sarah Hoyle
s.hoyle@exeter.ac.uk
01-392-262-062
University of Exeter
Public Release: 9-Oct-2007
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Herding aphids -- how 'farmer' ants keep control of their food
Chemicals on ants' feet tranquilise and subdue colonies of aphids, keeping them close by as a ready source of food, says new research published today, Oct. 10. The study throws new light on the complex relationship between ants and the colonies of aphids whose sugary secretions the ants eat.
Contact: Danielle Reeves
danielle.reeves@imperial.ac.uk
44-020-753-42198
Imperial College London
Public Release: 9-Oct-2007
PLoS ONE
New findings solve human origins mystery
New research from Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology and from the Cedars Sinai Institute for Spinal Disorders reveals evidence of the emergence of the upright human body plan over 15 million years earlier than most experts have believed. More dramatically, the study confirms preliminary evidence that many early hominoid apes were most likely upright bipedal walkers sharing the basic body form of modern humans. The study appears in PLoS ONE on Oct. 10.
Contact: Aaron Filler
afiller@earthlink.net
310-621-1983
Public Library of Science
Invention: Heart-reinforcing corset
This week's patent applications include a device to strengthen overstretched hearts, glasses that help you blink on time, and smart mortar fuses to stop accidental detonations
12:29 08 October 2007
Allergic reactions may guard against brain cancer
Understanding how a hyperactive immune system inhibits brain tumours may provide new avenues for the treatment of other cancers
14:39 10 October 2007
Language 'mutations' affect least-used words
Frequently spoken words tend to remain unaltered, while rarer ones mutate, show studies – researchers even predict which words will change next
12:24 11 October 2007
Public Release: 10-Oct-2007
World Journal of Gastroenterology
Can liver cirrhosis be partially cured?
A new therapeutic schedule of treatment was used with good results when dealing with patients suffering from liver cirrhosis following hepatitis C virus infection. Recent scientific evidence from Naples, Italy, is introduced.
Contact: You-De Chang
y.d.chang@wjgnet.com
86-108-538-1892
World Journal of Gastroenterology
Lap dancers 'in heat' are the ones to watch
Take some lap dancers, some lustful men and a fistful of dollars, and you have the best evidence yet that women undergo oestrus
16:33 11 October 2007
Public Release: 10-Oct-2007
Nuclear medicine now safer than ever
Hospitals are now able to ensure that the correct dose is administered to the 670,000 patients that undergo nuclear medicine procedures every year due to a new device developed by scientists at the National Physical Laboratory.
Contact: Joe Meaney
joe@proofcommunication.com
084-568-01864
National Physical Laboratory
Public Release: 10-Oct-2007
Journal of Biogeography
Environmental setting of human migrations in the circum-Pacific Region
This new study adds insight into the migration of anatomically modern humans out of Africa and into Asia less than 100,000 years before present. The comprehensive review of human genetic, environmental and archaeological data from the circum-Pacific region supports the hypothesis that modern humans migrated into eastern Asia via a southern coastal route.
Contact: Davina Quarterman
davina.quarterman@oxon.blackwellpublishing.com
01-865-476-307
Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Forecasters predict morning drizzle on Titan
video
Morning brings a drizzle of methane on the moon's brightest continent, Xanadu – meanwhile, Cassini finds lakes near the south pole
19:34 11 October 2007
Public Release: 11-Oct-2007
Science
Green algae -- the nexus of plant/animal ancestry
Genes of a tiny, single-celled green alga called Chlamydomonas reinhardtii may contain scores more data about the common ancestry of plants and animals than the richest paleontological dig. This work is described in an article in the Oct. 12, 2007, issue of Science.
US Department of Energy, DOE/Joint Genome Institute, National Science Foundation
Contact: Arthur Grossman
Arthurg@stanford.edu
650-325-1521 x212
Carnegie Institution
Public Release: 11-Oct-2007
New 'seed' therapy helps pinpoint breast tumors with more accuracy
Physicians at UT Southwestern Medical Center are the first in Texas to use a new technique in which a small radioactive pellet, or "seed," is implanted into a mass or suspicious lesion in the breast to pinpoint its exact location for surgical removal.
Contact: Connie Piloto
connie.piloto@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Public Release: 11-Oct-2007
Journal of General Internal Medicine
Patients can't recall their medications to tell doctors
Doctors depend on patients to accurately tell them what drugs they are taking in out-patient visits. But Northwestern University found nearly 50 percent of patients taking antihypertensive drugs were unable to accurately name a single one of their medications. Thus, doctors can't monitor if a drug is working or know about potential adverse interactions.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Michigan Department of Community Health
Contact: Marla Paul
Marla-Paul@northwestern.edu
312-503-8928
Northwestern University
Public Release: 12-Oct-2007
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Even occasional use of spray cleaners may cause asthma in adults
Using household cleaning sprays and air fresheners as little as once a week can raise the risk of developing asthma in adults, say researchers in Europe. Such products have been associated with increased asthma rates in cleaning professionals, but a similar effect in nonprofessional users has never before been shown.
Contact: Keely Savoie
ksavoie@thoracic.org
212-315-8620
American Thoracic Society
Public Release: 12-Oct-2007
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Statins reduce loss of function, keeping old lungs young - even in smokers
Statins are known to be good for lowering cholesterol and maybe even fighting dementia, and now they have another reported benefit: they appear to slow decline in lung function in the elderly -- even in those who smoke. According to researchers in Boston, it may be statins' anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help achieve this effect.
Contact: Keely Savoie
ksavoie@thoracic.org
212-315-8620
American Thoracic Society
Public Release: 12-Oct-2007
Journal of Proteome Research
Study finds that people are programmed to love chocolate
For the first time, scientists have linked preference for a food -- chocolate -- to a chemical signature that may be programmed in the metabolic system and is detectable by laboratory tests. The signature reads 'chocolate lovers' in some people and indifference to the popular sweet in others, the researchers say. The study could lead to a test that classifies people based on their metabolic type, which can be used to design healthier individual diets, they say.
Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-4400
American Chemical Society
Public Release: 12-Oct-2007
Nano Letters
Nanoengineers mine tiny diamonds for drug delivery
Northwestern University researchers have shown that nanodiamonds are very effective at delivering chemotherapy drugs to cells without the negative effects associated with current drug delivery agents. Their study is the first to demonstrate the use of nanodiamonds, a new class of nanomaterials, in biomedicine. In addition to delivering cancer drugs, the model could be used for other applications, such as fighting tuberculosis or viral infections, say the researchers.
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Contact: Megan Fellman
fellman@northwestern.edu
847-491-3115
Northwestern University
Public Release: 14-Oct-2007
Emotion
Humans perceive others' fear faster than other emotions
You may not be fully dressed without a smile, but a look of horror will make a faster first impression. Vanderbilt University researchers have discovered that the brain becomes aware of fearful faces more quickly than those showing other emotions.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Melanie Moran
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu
615-322-7970
Vanderbilt University