SciNews20080128

Public Release: 20-Jan-2008
Nature Neuroscience
Study: Brain connections strengthen during waking hours, weaken during sleep
Most people know it from experience: After so many hours of being awake, your brain feels unable to absorb any more -- and several hours of sleep will refresh it.
Contact: Dian Land
dj.land@hosp.wisc.edu
608-261-1034
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Public Release: 21-Jan-2008
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Kaiser Permanente study shows link between caffeine and miscarriage
High doses of daily caffeine during pregnancy -- whether from coffee, tea, caffeinated soda or hot chocolate -- cause an increased risk of miscarriage, according a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study controlled, for the first time, pregnancy-related symptoms of nausea, vomiting and caffeine aversion that tended to interfere with the determination of caffeine's true effect on miscarriage risk. The research appears in the current online issue of American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Contact: Danielle Cass
Danielle.X.Cass@kp.org
510-267-5354
Edelman Public Relations
Public Release: 21-Jan-2008
Circulation
The missing link between belly fat and heart disease?
Overweight people have a higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and other problems that arise from clogged, hardened arteries. Now, a new study in mice gives the first direct evidence of why this link might exist -- and a tantalizing look at how it might be broken.
NIH/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Contact: Kara Gavin
kegavin@umich.edu
734-764-2220
University of Michigan Health System
Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
Cancer
Ovarian cancer risk not affected by alcohol and smoking, but reduced by caffeine
A new study has found that cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption do not have an effect on ovarian cancer risk, while caffeine intake may lower the risk, particularly in women not using hormones.
Contact: Amy Molnar
amolnar@wiley.com
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
International consortium announces the 1000 Genomes Project
An international research consortium today announced the 1000 Genomes Project, an ambitious effort that will involve sequencing the genomes of at least a thousand people from around the world to create the most detailed and medically useful picture to date of human genetic variation.
Contact: Geoff Spencer
spencerg@mail.nih.gov
301-402-0911
NIH/National Human Genome Research Institute
Origami spaceplane aims for space station descent
The small paper spacecraft could be launched from the International Space Station and should survive a descent to Earth
15:09 21 January 2008
Has Messenger revealed lava flows on Mercury?
Images of possible lava flows from the NASA spacecraft's recent flyby could provide clues to unlocking the planet's history
17:19 21 January 2008
Vital Signs
Nostrums: Seawater Seems to Beat Medicine in Fighting Colds
By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
Published: January 22, 2008
There is no cure for the common cold, but researchers might have found a safe and simple way to reduce a child's symptoms and the chance of recurrence: wash out the nose with seawater.

Really?
The Claim: Too Much Cola Can Cause Kidney Problems
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Published: January 22, 2008
It is well known that too much soda can increase the risk of diabetes and obesity. But when it comes to kidney problems, is there a difference between colas and other kinds of soda?
Essay
Cancer Data? Sorry, Can’t Have It
By ANDREW VICKERS
One might expect cancer researchers to promote the free and open exchange of information. They don’t.
Teenagers, Scalpels and Real Cadavers
By EMILY VOIGT
Some high school biology classes are using real human cadavers to teach students anatomy in a different way.
Personal Health
A Basic Hospital To-Do List Saves Lives
By JANE E. BRODY
A simple five-item checklist can prevent hospital infections.
Stove for the Developing World’s Health
By AMANDA LEIGH HAAG
An estimated 1.6 million deaths a year are attributed to toxic indoor air. A new clean-burning wood stove could help decrease that number.
Basics
Political Animals (Yes, Animals)
By NATALIE ANGIER
Some brainy animal species, besides humans, campaign across sophisticated and far-flung social networks.
Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
Geological Society of America Bulletin
Hot springs microbes hold key to dating sedimentary rocks, researchers say
Scientists studying microbial communities and the growth of sedimentary rock at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park have made a surprising discovery about the geological record of life and the environment. Their discovery could affect how certain sequences of sedimentary rock are dated, and how scientists might search for evidence of life on other planets.
National Science Foundation
Contact: James E. Kloeppel
kloeppel@uiuc.edu
217-244-1073
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
PLoS ONE
Early promising results in malaria vaccine trial in Mali
A small clinical trial conducted by an international team of researchers in Mali has found that a candidate malaria vaccine was safe and elicited strong immune responses in the 40 Malian adults who received it. The trial was the first to test this vaccine candidate, which is designed to block the malaria parasite from entering human blood cells, in a malaria-endemic country.
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Contact: Anne A. Oplinger
aoplinger@niaid.nih.gov
301-402-1663
NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
Nature Materials
CCNY, Rice University researchers develop low-cost, 'green' way to make antimicrobial paints
Researchers at The City College of New York and Rice University have developed a low-cost, environmentally friendly technique for embedding antimicrobial silver nanoparticles into vegetable oil-based paints. The method, to be reported in the March issue of Nature Materials, could give homes and workplaces a new defense against germs by applying a fresh coat of paint.
Contact: Ellis Simon
esimon@ccny.cuny.edu
212-650-6460
City College of New York
Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
Northwestern Memorial trial may wean kidney transplant patients off antirejection drugs
After transplant surgery, antirejection drugs for the organ recipient are a must. But prolonged use can have serious side effects, including infections, heart disease and even cancer. A team of researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine is working with Northwestern Memorial Hospital's department of organ transplantation in a new study that seeks to eliminate the need for antirejection drugs by transplanting stem cells from a kidney donor's bone marrow into the organ recipient.
Ventracor
Contact: Amy Dobrozsi
adobrozs@nmh.org
312-926-5900
Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
JAMA
Low vitamin E levels associated with physical decline in elderly
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that a low concentration of vitamin E in the blood is linked with physical decline in older persons.
Contact: Karen N. Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University

Public Release: 22-Jan-2008
Journal of Family Communication
A good fight may keep you and your marriage healthy
A good fight with your spouse may be good for your health, research suggests.
Contact: Laura Bailey
baileylm@umich.edu
734-647-1848
University of Michigan
Girls should get cervical cancer jab, says EU
The vaccine against the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer prevents deaths and is cost-effective, advises an EU report
15:15 22 January 2008
Public Release: 23-Jan-2008
Journal of Consumer Research
Your personality type influences how much self-control you have
A new study from Northwestern introduces personality types used frequently in consumer research to the realm of self-improvement. According to the research, people are better able to exercise self-control when they choose goal-pursuit strategies -- such as diets or money management -- that "fit" with a promotion or prevention focus. "Self-control is not just about doing the right things, but also about doing things the right way," the researchers explain.
Contact: Suzanne Wu
swu@press.uchicago.edu
209-608-2038
University of Chicago Press Journals
Public Release: 23-Jan-2008
Cellular Physiology
Quality control mechanism tags defective sperm cells inside the body
Defective sperm cells do not pass through the body unnoticed. A new University of Missouri study provides evidence that the body recognizes and tags defective sperm cells while they undergo maturation in the epididymis, a sperm storage gland attached to the testis. According to researchers, only the best sperm that have the highest chance of succeeding in fertilization will survive the production process without a "tag."
Contact: Jennifer Faddis
FaddisJ@missouri.edu
573-882-6217
University of Missouri-Columbia
Public Release: 23-Jan-2008
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
Cigarettes leave deadly path by purging protective genes
A University of Rochester scientist discovered that the toxins in cigarette smoke wipe out a gene that plays a vital role in protecting the body from the effects of premature aging. Without this gene we not only lose a bit of youthfulness -- but the lungs are left open to destructive inflammation and diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Contact: Leslie Orr
leslie_orr@urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-5774
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 23-Jan-2008
Mental and physical exercise delays dementia in fatal genetic disease
Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered that mental and physical stimulation delays the onset of dementia in the fatal genetic disease, Huntington's disease.
Contact: Merrin Rafferty
merrin.rafferty@florey.edu.au
038-344-1658
Research Australia
Guppies sexually harass threatened species
Invading male guppies may attempt to mate with females of a rival species to prevent them from reproducing, researchers say
00:01 23 January 2008

Public Release: 24-Jan-2008
American Journal of Human Genetics
Discovery of new cause of mental retardation simplifies search for treatments
Two to three children in 100 are born with a mental handicap. This can be caused by a genetic defect, but in 80 percent of the cases scientists do not know which genes are responsible. Now, VIB researchers have discovered that, in a portion of these patients, the mental retardation is caused by a two-fold production of two proteins.
VIB, K.U. Leuven, FWO, IWT
Contact: Sooike Stoops
info@vib.be
329-244-6611
VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)
Public Release: 24-Jan-2008
Journal of Physical Chemistry B
'Telepathic' genes recognize similarities in each other
Genes have the ability to recognize similarities in each other from a distance, without any proteins or other biological molecules aiding the process, according to new research published this week in the Journal of Physical Chemistry B. This discovery could explain how similar genes find each other and group together in order to perform key processes involved in the evolution of species.
Contact: Danielle Reeves
danielle.reeves@imperial.ac.uk
44-020-759-42198
Imperial College London
Public Release: 24-Jan-2008
Cochrane Library
Arthritic knees remain painful after arthroscopic surgery
Trimming damaged tissue through arthroscopic surgery does not relieve pain and swelling in arthritic knees any better than simply flushing loose debris from the joint, according to a new review of evidence.
Contact: Lisa Esposito
hbns-editor@cfah.org
Center for the Advancement of Health
Human sniffles kill endangered chimps
Researchers and tourists are killing wild apes by inadvertently giving them colds, a new study shows for the first time
17:04 24 January 2008
Climate 'clearly out of balance'
The world's climate is "clearly out of balance and is warming", the world's largest society of Earth and space scientists has said in a statement.
Earliest Shoe-Wearers Revealed by Toe Bones
Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News Jan. 25, 2008
People started wearing shoes around 40,000 years ago, according to a study on recently excavated small toe bones that belonged to an individual from China who apparently loved shoes.
World's first oil paintings in Afghan caves: expert
3 days ago TOKYO (AFP)
Forget Renaissance Europe. The world's first oil paintings go back nearly 14 centuries to murals in Afghanistan's Bamiyan caves, a Japanese researcher says.
Public Release: 25-Jan-2008
Addiction
Hungry mothers risk addiction in their adult children
Babies conceived during a period of famine are at risk of developing addictions later in life, according to new research published in the international journal Addiction. Researchers from the Dutch mental health care organisation, Bouman GGZ, and Erasmus University Rotterdam studied men and women born in Rotterdam during the Dutch "hunger winter." Those whose mothers had suffered severe food shortages and starvation during their early pregnancy were significantly more likely to be receiving treatment for addictive disorders.
Bouman GGZ, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Contact: Dr. Ernst Franzek
e.franzek@boumanggz.nl
31-102-660-666
Wiley-Blackwell
Public Release: 28-Jan-2008
Diabetes Care
Cutting caffeine may help control diabetes
Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes and may undermine efforts to control their disease, say scientists at Duke University Medical Center.
NIH/National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disorders
Contact: Michelle Gailiun
michelle.gailiun@duke.edu
919-684-4148
Duke University Medical Center
Public Release: 28-Jan-2008
Feds fund study of drug that may prevent radiation injury
The Department of Defense has commissioned a nine-month study from Rice University chemists and scientists in the Texas Medical Center to determine whether a new drug based on carbon nanotubes can help prevent people from dying of acute radiation injury following radiation exposure. The new study was commissioned after preliminary tests found the drug was greater than 5,000 times more effective at reducing the effects of acute radiation injury than the most effective drugs currently available.
Defense Advanced Research Project Agency
Contact: David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University
Comet samples are surprisingly asteroid-like
Samples of Comet Wild 2 suggest it is made of rocky material, like an asteroid, rather than the fluffy dust expected of a comet
20:28 24 January 2008
Scientists hit back at Catholic church over 'cybrids'
UK scientists are responding angrily to claims from bishops that a new bill "will allow scientists to create embryos that are half human, half animal"
17:19 25 January 2008