Public Release:
30-Jun-2008
Canadian
Medical Association Journal
Limit
sucrose as painkiller for newborns
Using sucrose to reduce pain in newborns undergoing painful procedures
should be limited to babies having blood taken for the newborn
screening test but not for intramuscular injections.
Contact: Janice Nicholson
janice.nicholson@sickkids.ca
416-813-6684
Canadian Medical
Association Journal
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008
Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences
When
using gestures, rules of grammar remain the same
The mind apparently has a consistent way of ordering an event that
defies the order in which subjects, verbs and objects typically appear
in languages. Although speakers of different languages describe events
using the word orders prescribed by their language, when the same
speakers are asked to "speak" with their hands and not their mouths,
they ignore these orders -- they all use exactly the same order when
they gesture
NIH/National Deafness and
Other Communication Disorders
Contact: William Harms
w-harms@uchicago.edu
773-702-8356
University of
Chicago
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008
PLoS Biology
New
map IDs the core of the human brain
An international team of researchers has created the first complete
high-resolution map of how millions of neural fibers in the human
cerebral cortex connect and communicate. Their groundbreaking work
identified a single network core, or hub, that may be key to the
workings of both hemispheres of the brain.
J.S. McDonnell Foundation,
University of Lausanne, Geneva-Lausanne
Universities, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, National
Institutes of Health
Contact: Olaf Sporns
osporns@indiana.edu
812-855-2772
Indiana University
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008
Plant
Biology 2008
Fortified
cassava could provide a day's nutrition in a single meal
Scientists have determined how to fortify the cassava plant, a staple
root crop in many developing countries, with enough vitamins, minerals
and protein to provide the poor and malnourished with a day's worth of
nutrition in a single meal. The researchers have further engineered the
cassava plant so it can resist the crop's most damaging viral threats
and are refining methods to reduce cyanogens, substances that yield
poisonous cyanide if they are not properly removed from the food before
consumption.
Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation
Contact: Richard Sayre
Sayre.2@osu.edu
614-292-9030
Ohio State
University
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
Low
levels of good cholesterol linked to memory loss, dementia risk
Low levels of good cholesterol are associated with diminished memory by
age 60. Researchers encourage physicians to monitor levels of good
cholesterol.
British Medical Research
Council, British Heart Foundation, British
Health and Safety Executive, British Department of Health, NIH/National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Contact: Karen Astle
karen.astle@heart.org
214-706-1392
American Heart
Association
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008Perspectives on Psychological Science
Happiness
is rising around the world: U-M study
People in most countries around the world are happier these days,
according to newly released data from the World Values Survey based at
the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Diane Swanbrow
swanbrow@umich.edu
734-647-9069
University of
Michigan
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008
Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences
Researchers
link early stem cell mutation to autism
In a breakthrough scientific study published today in the PNAS,
scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown
that neural stem cell development may be linked to Autism. The study
demonstrated that mice lacking the myocyte enhancer factor 2C protein
in neural stem cells had smaller brains, fewer nerve cells and showed
behaviors similar to those seen in humans with a form of autism known
as Rett syndrome.
Contact: Josh Baxt
jbaxt@burnham.org
858-795-5236
Burnham Institute
Transplant drug may ease disorder linked to autism
A
drug that prevents immune rejection in human transplant patients has
improved the memory of mice with a hereditary learning disorder
15:37 30 June 2008
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008
Watermelon
may have Viagra-effect
Researchers at Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement
Center
have identified a phyto-nutrient in watermelon that promotes
Viagra-like effects in that it relaxes blood vessels.
Contact: Dr. Bhimu Patil
BPatil@ag.tamu.edu
979-458-8090
Texas A&M
University - Agricultural Communications
Public Release:
30-Jun-2008
To
sing like Shakira, press '1' now
Tel Aviv University scientists have developed an electronic ear to
judge and coach vibrato technique.
Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel
Aviv University
Public Release: 1-Jul-2008
Cell
Metabolism
Life-extending
protein can also have damaging effects on brain cells
Proteins widely believed to protect against aging can actually cause
oxidative damage in mammalian brain cells, according to a new report in
the July Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press. The findings
suggest that the proteins can have both proaging and protective
functions, depending on the circumstances, the researchers said.
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press
Public Release: 1-Jul-2008
Cancer
Research
Cancer
cells revert to normal at specific signal threshold, Stanford
researchers find
Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine report that
lowering levels of one cancer signal under a specific threshold
reverses this process in mice, returning tumor cells to their normal,
healthy state.
Contact: Erin Digitale
digitale@stanford.edu
650-724-9175
Stanford
University Medical Center
Public Release: 1-Jul-2008Psychopharmacology
Spiritual
effects of hallucinogens persist, Johns Hopkins researchers report
In a follow-up to research showing that psilocybin, a substance
contained in "sacred mushrooms," produces substantial spiritual
effects, a Johns Hopkins team reports that those beneficial effects
appear to last more than a year.
NIH/National Institute on Drug
Abuse,Council on Spiritual Practices, Heffter Research Institute
Contact: John Lazarou
jlazaro1@jhmi.edu
410-502-8902
Johns Hopkins
Medical InstitutionsPublic Release: 1-Jul-2008
PLoS ONE
Designer
diet for prostate cancer
For the first time, a research group at the Institute of Food Research
led by Professor Richard Mithen has provided an explanation of how
eating broccoli might reduce cancer risk based upon studies in men, as
opposed to trying to extrapolate from animal models. Prostate cancer is
the most common non-skin cancer for males in western countries. The
research has provided an insight into why eating broccoli can help men
stay healthy.
Contact: Zoe Dunford
zoe.dunford@bbsrc.ac.ukPublic Release: 1-Jul-2008
Journal of
Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism
Resuscitation
technique after brain injury may do more harm than good
The current standard practice of giving infants and children 100
percent oxygen to prevent brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation may
actually inflict additional harm, researchers at UT Southwestern
Medical Center have found.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Erin Prather Stafford
erin.pratherstafford@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical
Center
Public Release: 1-Jul-2008
Journal of
Trauma Injury, Infection and Critical Care
'Hibernation-on-demand'
drug significantly improves survival after extreme blood loss
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that the
administration of minute amounts of inhaled or intravenous hydrogen
sulfide, or H2S -- the molecule that gives rotten eggs their sulfurous
stench -- significantly improves survival from extreme blood loss in
rats.
Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, US Defense Services Office
Contact: Kristen Lidke Woodward
kwoodwar@fhcrc.org
206-667-5095
Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center
Counting monkeys tick off yet another 'human' abilityRhesus
macaques that can add dots and sounds at the same time suggest that
some mathematical abilities could be a boon in the wild
11:03 01 July 2008
Well
Diabetes: Underrated, Insidious and DeadlyBy TARA PARKER-POPE
Vision, hearing, sexual function ― you name it, diabetes harms it.
* Health Guide: Diabetes »
Cases
Her Skin Erupted, and the Detective Work Began
By INGFEI CHEN
Making the effort to understand a medical condition and the details of how best to treat it really pays off.
* Health Guide: Eczema »
Public Release: 2-Jul-2008
Nature
Worms do calculus to find meals or avoid unpleasantness
Thanks to salt and hot chili peppers, researchers have found a
calculus-computing center that tells a roundworm to go forward toward
dinner or turn to broaden the search. It's a computational mechanism,
they say, that is similar to what drives hungry college students to a
pizza.
National Institutes of Health, National ScienceFoundation, UK's Human Frontier Science Program
Contact: Jim Barlow
jebarlow@uoregon.edu
541-346-3481
University of Oregon
Public Release: 2-Jul-2008
Nature
Discovery explains how cold sore virus hides during inactive phase
Now that Duke University Medical Center scientists have figured out how
the virus that causes cold sores hides out, they may have a way to wake
it up and kill it.
National Institutes of Health
Contact: Mary Jane Gore
mary.gore@duke.edu
919-660-1309
Duke University Medical Center
Public Release: 2-Jul-2008
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
New antibiotic beats superbugs at their own game
By targeting the gene that confers resistance to antibiotics, a new
drug may be able to finally outwit drug-resistant staph bacteria.
US Public Health Service
Contact: Joseph Bonner
bonnerj@rockefeller.edu
212-327-8998
Rockefeller University
Did newborn Earth harbour life?An
Australian rock deposit hints that life may have emerged 250 million
years into Earth's history – nearly a billion years earlier than thought
18:03 02 July 2008
Exploding Asteroid Theory Strengthened By New Evidence Located In Ohio, IndianaUniversity of Cincinnati
Is industrial pollution making America fat?Studies link pervasive ‘obesogens’ to weight gain in frogs, mice
By Chris Lydgate
Pamplin Media Group, Apr 15, 2008
Public Release: 3-Jul-2008
Science
Ancient marine invertebrate diversity less explosive than thought
Diversity among the ancestors of such marine creatures as clams, sand
dollars and lobsters showed only a modest rise beginning 144 million
years ago with no clear trend afterwards, according to an international
team of researchers. This contradicts previous work showing dramatic
increases beginning 248 million years ago and may shed light on future
diversity.
National Science Foundation, NASA
Contact: Andrea Elyse Messer
aem1@psu.edu
814-865-9481
Penn State
Public Release: 3-Jul-2008
Glia
Statins have unexpected effect on pool of powerful brain cells
Cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins have a profound effect on
an elite group of cells known as glial progenitor cells that are
important to brain health as we age, scientists have found. The new
findings shed light on a long-debated potential role for statins in the
area of dementia.
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Contact: Tom Rickey
tom_rickey@urmc.rochester.edu
585-275-7954
University of Rochester Medical Center
Public Release: 3-Jul-2008
Precambrian Research
Geologists push back date basins formed, supporting frozen Earth theory
Even in geology, it's not often a date gets revised by 500 million
years. But University of Florida geologists say they have found strong
evidence that a half-dozen major basins in India were formed a billion
or more years ago, making them at least 500 million years older than
commonly thought.
National Science Foundation
Contact: Joe Meert
jmeert@ufl.edu
352-392-2231
University of Florida
Microwave ray gun controls crowds with noiseA weapon that can project sounds directly into people's heads causes pain and incapacitation, and could be built inside a year
17:06 03 July 2008
Mercury: The incredible shrinking planetData from the Messenger probe suggests Mercury has a molten core that is cooling and causing the whole planet to contract
20:44 03 July 2008
Giant rubber snake could be the future of wave power
A
flexible water-filled cylinder that produces electricity as it is hit
by waves is very efficient and offers benefits over other sea-energy
devices
14:09 04 July 2008
Cleaner fish calms predators with caresses
The parasite-eating fish turns its "cleaning stations" into reef safe havens, not only for itself, but for other species too
16:26 04 July 2008
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