Public Release: 19-May-2008
Journal of American College of Cardiology
Erectile dysfunction may signal a broken heart
Erectile dysfunction is always a matter of the heart, but new research shows that more than romance is at stake. Two new studies of men with type 2 diabetes found that erectile dysfunction was a powerful early warning sign for serious heart disease, including heart attack and death.
Contact: Amanda Jekowsky
ajekowsk@acc.org
202-375-6645
American College of Cardiology
Public Release: 19-May-2008
Journal of Biological Engineering
Researchers bring new meaning to the term 'computer bug'
US researchers have created 'living computers' by genetically altering bacteria. The findings of the research, published in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biological Engineering, demonstrate that computing in living cells is feasible, opening the door to a number of applications including data storage and as a tool for manipulating genes for genetic engineering.
Contact: Charlotte Webber
charlotte.webber@biomedcentral.com
44-020-763-19980
BioMed Central
Tasmanian tiger DNA 'lives' again
Extinction isn't forever for the wolf-like marsupial that died out 70 years ago – its DNA has been resurrected inside mice
01:00 20 May 2008
Public Release: 19-May-2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Researchers find smallpox drug may also target adenovirus
Two breakthrough findings at Saint Louis University could lead to a new weapon against a virus that causes severe upper-respiratory infections and the common cold.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Nancy Solomon
solomonn@slu.edu
314-977-8017
Saint Louis University
Public Release: 19-May-2008
Molecular Therapy
Vaccine triggers immune response, prevents Alzheimer's
A vaccine created by University of Rochester Medical Center scientists prevents the development of Alzheimer's disease-like pathology in mice without causing inflammation or significant side effects.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Michael Wentzel
Michael_Wentzel@urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-1309
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 19-May-2008
Physical Review E
The photonic beetle
Researchers have been unable to build an ideal "photonic crystal" to manipulate visible light, impeding the dream of ultrafast optical computers. But now, University of Utah chemists have discovered that nature already has designed photonic crystals with the ideal, diamond-like structure: They are found in the shimmering, iridescent green scales of a beetle from Brazil.
National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society, University of Utah, Brigham Young University
Contact: Lee Siegel
leesiegel@ucomm.utah.edu
801-581-8993
University of Utah
Public Release: 19-May-2008
Annals of Neurology
Bypass not to blame for heart patients' mental decline
Heart patients often experience lasting problems with memory, language and other cognitive skills after bypass surgery. However, these problems aren't caused by the surgery itself or the pump used to replace heart function during surgery, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The findings may lead to better approaches to prevent cognitive decline regardless of which treatment heart disease patients receive.
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Charles A. Dana Foundation, Johns Hopkins Medical Institution
Contact: Christen Brownlee
cbrownlee@jhmi.edu
410-955-7832
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Public Release: 19-May-2008
Old antibiotic may find new life as a stroke treatment
An old intravenous antibiotic may have new life as a stroke treatment, researchers say.
Contact: Toni Baker
tbaker@mcg.edu
706-721-8596
Medical College of Georgia
Public Release: 19-May-2008
PNAS
Plant flavonoid found to reduce inflammatory response in the brain
Researchers at the University of Illinois report this week that a plant compound found in abundance in celery and green peppers can disrupt a key component of the inflammatory response in the brain.
Contact: Diana Yates
diya@illinois.edu
217-333-5802
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jacques Cinq-Mars, archaeologist, is heading to Beringia-a vast territory that once spanned the Yukon, Alaska and Siberia-in hopes of resolving a controversy he unleashed nearly 20 years ago
The Montreal Gazette
Nanotubes' toxic effects 'similar to asbestos'
Carbon nanotubes injected into mice produce a similar toxic reaction to asbestos, but the same effects may not occur if the tubes are inhaled
18:00 20 May 2008
Public Release: 20-May-2008
World Journal of Gastroenterology
New pharmacological effect of Jianpi Huoxue Decoction
A team led by Professor Yi-Yang Hu has determined that Chinese herbs, Jianpi Huoxue decoction, which have been shown to suppress alcoholic liver and intestinal injury, can inhibit cytokine expression induced by lipopolysaccharide in the liver. This pharmacological effect is associated with its inhibition on the LPS-activated Kupffer cell signal pathway.
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Shanghai Rising-Star Program, Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project, Shanghai Educational Development Foundation
Contact: Jing Zhu
wjg@wjgnet.com
86-105-908-0039
World Journal of Gastroenterology
Public Release: 20-May-2008
Biology Letters
How can we measure the emotional states of animals?
Rats housed in standard conditions show a stronger response to the loss of an expected food reward than those housed in enriched conditions, perhaps indicating a more negative emotional state, according to new research by scientists at Bristol University Veterinary School, published in this week's issue of Royal Society Biology Letters.
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
Contact: Joanne Fryer
joanne.fryer@bristol.ac.uk
44-117-331-7276
University of Bristol
Incense is psychoactive: Scientists identify the biology behind the ceremony
In a new study appearing online in the FASEB Journal, an international team of scientists, including researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, describe how burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression. This suggests that an entirely new class of depression and anxiety drugs might be right under our noses.
Contact: Cody Mooneyhan
cmooneyhan@faseb.org
301-634-7104
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Public Release: 20-May-2008
PLoS Biology
Scientists discover a molecular scaffold that guides connections between brain cells
Brain cells known as neurons process information by joining into complex networks, transmitting signals to each other across junctions called synapses. But "neurons don't just connect to other neurons," emphasizes Z. Josh Huang, Ph.D., "in a lot of cases, they connect to very specific partners, at particular spots."
Contact: Jim Bono
bono@cshl.edu
516-367-8455
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Body's natural painkillers may block phobias
Conditioned fear responses can be partially blocked by opiates produced naturally within the body – the finding may shed light on anxiety disorders
21:00 20 May 2008
Well
Finding the Best Way to Cook All Those Vegetables
By TARA PARKER-POPE
Are there ways to get more from the vegetables you already eat?
Regimens
Aspirin More Beneficial if Taken at Night
By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Published: May 20, 2008
Older Brain Really May Be a Wiser Brain
By SARA REISTAD-LONG
New research suggests that memory lapses that occur with age might be a sign of a widening focus of attention.
Findings
Comfort Food, for Monkeys
By JOHN TIERNEY
New research suggests that eating fatty snacks may be a coping strategy for low-status primates.
Cat brain could provide bionic eye firmware
Software that perceives moving images in the same way a cat does could lead to implants that let people see without an optic nerve
18:08 21 May 2008
Public Release: 21-May-2008
New England Journal of Medicine
Smoking is addictive, but quitting is contagious
A study of 12,067 people over a period of 32 years has found that people quit smoking in droves. Through reconstructing the social network of the 12,067 individuals, researchers discovered that smoking cessation occurs in network clusters. Those who continue to smoke are increasingly pushed to the periphery of social networks.
NIH/National Institute on Aging, NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Contact: David Cameron
david_cameron@hms.harvard.edu
617-432-0441
Harvard Medical School
Public Release: 21-May-2008
Nature
A missing link settles debate over the origin of frogs and salamanders
The description of an ancient amphibian that millions of years ago swam in quiet pools and caught mayflies on the surrounding land in Texas has set to rest one of the greatest current controversies in vertebrate evolution. The discovery was made by a research team led by scientists at the University of Calgary.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Contact: Leanne Niblock
lniblock@ucalgary.ca
403-210-6218
University of Calgary
Public Release: 21-May-2008
Earth may hide a lethal carbon cache
Carbon locked away deep within the Earth's crust could have profound implications on our climate, according to a meeting in the US last week. It has long been assumed that this "deep carbon," buried in old carbonate rocks, fossil fuels and ice lattices, could be safely ignored when it came to analyzing the effect of greenhouse gases on climate. But now it is emerging there is much more deep carbon ready to spew out than previously thought.
Contact: Claire Bowles
claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk
44-207-611-1274
New Scientist
Public Release: 21-May-2008
Journal of American Chemical Society
Halting methane squanderlust
The pipes that rise from oil fields, topped with burning flames of natural gas, waste fossil fuels and dump carbon dioxide into the air. In new work, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and China's Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics have identified the structure of a catalytic material that can turn methane into a safe and easy-to-transport liquid. The insight lays the foundation for converting excess methane into a variety of useful fuels and chemicals.
US Department of Energy, National Science Foundation of China
Contact: Mary Beckman
mary.beckman@pnl.gov
509-375-3688
DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Urge to kill doctors increased by pain
Though few commit the crime, the desire to kill your doctor is surprisingly common, especially among patients who are in pain, a survey reveals
18:14 21 May 2008
Public Release: 22-May-2008
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Oregano oil works as well as synthetic insecticides to tackle common beetle pest
New research in the Society of Chemical Industry's Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows that oregano oil works as well as synthetic insecticides to combat infestation by a common beetle, Rhizoppertha dominica, found in stored cereals.
Contact: Meral Nugent
meral.nugent@soci.org
020-759-81533
Society of Chemical Industry
Scientists See Supernova in Action
By DENNIS OVERBYE
A paper being published in Nature recounts the rare observation of a star’s eruption into cataclysmic explosion known as a supernova.

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News to May 22. 2008