Drunken Fruit Flies Help Scientists Find Potential Drug Target For Alcoholism
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
Drunken fruit flies have helped researchers identify networks of genes -- also present in humans -- that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior. This discovery provides an indication of why some people seem to tolerate alcohol better than others, and points toward a potential target for drugs aimed at preventing or eliminating alcoholism.
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1930s Drug Slows Tumor Growth: Gonorrhea Medication Might Help Fight Cancer
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers is a gonorrhea medication that might help battle cancer.
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New Computer Simulator Helps Design Military Strategies Based On Ants' Movements
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
Researchers in Spain have designed a system for the mobility of military troops within a battlefield following the mechanisms used by ant colonies to move. The scientists have used settings of Panzer General, a commercial war video game, for the development of this software.
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New Way To Attack Inflammation In Graves' Eye Disease
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
A small group of patients with severe Graves' eye disease experienced rapid improvement of their symptoms -- and improved vision -- following treatment with the drug rituximab. Inflammation around their eyes and damage to the optic nerve were significantly reduced. The same patients had not previously responded to steroids, a common treatment for Graves' eye disease.
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Magnetic Nanoparticles To Simultaneously Diagnose, Monitor And Treat
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
The future for magentic nanoparticles (mNPs) appears bright With the design of "theranostic" molecules. Magentic nanoparticles could play a crucial role in developing one-stop tools to simultaneously diagnose, monitor and treat a wide range of common diseases and injuries.
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New Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic Offers Noninvasive Treatment For Major Depression
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
Rush University Medical Center has opened the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic to offer patients suffering from major depression a safe, effective, non-drug treatment. TMS therapy is the first FDA-approved, non-invasive antidepressant device-based treatment clinically proven for treatment of depression. Psychiatrists at Rush University Medical Center were among the first to test the technique and Dr. Philip Janicak, professor of psychiatry and lead investigator at Rush for the clinical trials of TMS, helped to develop this therapy.
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Computational Method Points To New Uses, Unexpected Side Effects Of Already Existing Drugs
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
Scientists have developed and experimentally tested a technique to predict new target diseases for existing drugs. The researchers developed a computational method that compares how similar the structures of all known drugs are to the naturally occurring binding partners -- known as ligands -- of disease targets within the cell.
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Air Pollution Increases Infants' Risk Of Bronchiolitis
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
Infants who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are at increased risk for bronchiolitis, according to a new study.
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Hybrid Composite For Root Canal Treatment
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
A dentist carrying out root canal treatment will need to use a variety of compounds. These do not always bond together properly and sometimes expensive follow-up treatment has to be performed. But a new class of material meets the requirements, and solves the problem.
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The Skeleton: Size Matters; New Role For Master Patterning Genes In Defining Number Of Vertebrae In Spine
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
It has long been known that the identity of each vertebra is due to the activation of a class of genes called "Hox." Now, researchers in Portugal show that besides determining the identity of the vertebrae, Hox genes also have a say in how many are going to be formed at all.
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Capturing Those In-between Moments: Timing Problem In Molecular Modeling Solved
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
A theoretical physicist has developed a method for calculating the motions and forces of thousands of atoms simultaneously over a wider range of time scales than previously possible. The method overcomes a longstanding timing gap in modeling nanometer-scale materials and many other physical, chemical and biological systems at atomic and molecular levels.
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Most Parents, High-priority Adults Who Tried To Get H1N1 Vaccine For Themselves And Children Unable To Get It, Poll Finds
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
A new national poll has found that a majority of adults who tried to get the H1N1 vaccine for themselves or their children have been unable to do so.
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Hormone That Affects Finger Length Key To Social Behavior
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST
Research in the UK into the finger length of primate species has revealed that cooperative behavior is linked to exposure to hormone levels in the womb.
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Hunting For The Prozac Gene
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST
Scientists are working to find a genetic marker to determine the effectiveness of Prozac and other SSRIs before they are prescribed.
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Boosting Coastal Economics With Crustacean Molting On Demand
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST
Researchers are close to unraveling intricate cellular pathways that control molting in blue crabs. The discoveries could revolutionize the soft-shell crab industry, generating new jobs and additional profits for the US fishing industry along the coastal Southeast.
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Exercise Is Good Medicine For Lymphoma Patients
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST
A healthy dose of exercise is good medicine, even for lymphoma patients receiving chemotherapy, University of Alberta researchers have found.
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Bogus E-mails 'From' FDIC Link Computer Users To Viruses, Says Computer Forensics Expert
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST
Cyber criminals are using fake messages claiming to be from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to deliver a virus capable of stealing unsuspecting victims' bank passwords and other sensitive personal information, says a computer forensics specialist.
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Families Suffer From Problem Gambling
ScienceDaily
Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST
Many people perceive gambling to be a harmless recreational activity. However, it is estimated that six to eight million people in the United States personally suffer from a gambling related problem. This problem seems to grow tentacles, extending out to wreak havoc and can profoundly impact the physical, emotional and financial health of the family.
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Male Sabertoothed Cats Were Pussycats Compared To Macho Lions
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST
Despite their fearsome fangs, male sabertoothed cats may have been less aggressive than many of their feline cousins, says a new study of male-female size differences in extinct big cats.
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How Saturated Fatty Acids 'Anger' The Immune System (And How To Stop Them)
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST
Researchers have new evidence to explain how saturated fatty acids, which soar in those who are obese, can lead the immune system to respond in ways that add up to chronic, low-grade inflammation. The new results could lead to treatments designed to curb that inflammatory state, and the insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes that come with it.
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Bacteria Expect The Unexpected
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST
Organisms ensure the survival of their species by genetically adapting to the environment. If environmental conditions change too rapidly, the extinction of a species may be the consequence. A strategy to successfully cope with such a challenge is the generation of variable offspring that can survive in different environments. For the first time scientists have now observed the evolution of such a strategy under lab conditions in an experiment with the bacterial species Pseudomonas fluorescens.
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Pandemic Flu Vaccine Campaigns May Be Undermined By Coincidental Medical Events
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST
The effectiveness of pandemic flu vaccination campaigns -- like that now underway for H1N1 -- could be undermined by the public incorrectly associating coincidental and unrelated health events with the vaccines.
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Genomes Of Biofuel Yeasts Reveal Clues That Could Boost Fuel Ethanol Production Worldwide
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST
As global temperatures and energy costs continue to soar, renewable sources of energy will be key to a sustainable future. An attractive replacement for gasoline is biofuel, and in two new studies, scientists have analyzed the genome structures of bioethanol-producing microorganisms, uncovering genetic clues that will be critical in developing new technologies needed to implement production on a global scale.
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For Improving Early Literacy, Reading Comics Is No Child's Play
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST
A professor of library and information science says that comic books are just as sophisticated as other forms of literature, and children benefit from reading them at least as much as they do from reading other types of books.
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Early Scents Really Do Get 'Etched' In The Brain
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study show that first scents really do enjoy a "privileged" status in the brain.
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First Use Of Antibody And Stem Cell Transplantation To Successfully Treat Advanced Leukemia
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
For the first time, researchers have reported the use of a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat a group of leukemia and pre-leukemia patients for whom there previously had been no other curative treatment options.
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Materials Scientists Find Better Model For Glass Creation
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
Materials scientists have come up with what they believe is a new way to model the formation of glasses, a type of amorphous solid that includes common window glass.
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Travel May Be Hazardous To Dialysis Patients
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
If you're sick, traveling to a foreign land may boost your spirits, but jeopardize your health, according to new research. The findings indicate that dialysis patients who travel on vacation risk infections, anemia, and other complications that can compromise their dialysis treatments.
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Iconic Photo Of JFK Assassin Oswald Was Not Faked, Professor Finds
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
A computer scientist has new evidence regarding a photograph of accused JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. He digitally analyzed the iconic image of Oswald pictured in a backyard setting holding a rifle in one hand and Marxist newspapers in the other, and he says the photo almost certainly was not altered.
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All Dressed-up And Nowhere To Go: Inappropriate Clothing Prevents Children Playing Outside
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST
Parents who dress their children in inappropriate clothing could be inadvertently hampering their child's physical activity in childcare settings. The study suggests that inadequate or inappropriate clothing could restrict children's outdoor play.
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Rapid Supernova Could Be New Class Of Exploding Star
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST
Astronomers were looking through seven-year-old data when they chanced upon a very strange supernova that flashed and was gone in less than a month, when 3-4 months is typical. The unusually rapid supernova appears to match the predicted behavior of a thermonuclear explosion on a white dwarf that is drawing helium from its binary companion. This mechanism is quite different from the two standard types of supernovae.
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Low Cholesterol May Shrink Risk For High-grade Prostate Cancer
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST
Men with lower cholesterol are less likely than those with higher levels to develop high-grade prostate cancer -- an aggressive form of the disease with a poorer prognosis, according to results of a new study.
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'Duck-billed' Dinosaurs: Last European Hadrosaurs Lived In Iberian Peninsula
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST
Spanish researchers have studied the fossil record of hadrosaurs, the so-called "duck-billed" dinosaurs, in the Iberian Peninsula for the purpose of determining that they were the last of their kind to inhabit the European continent before disappearing during the K/T extinction event that occurred 65.5 million years ago. Most notable among these fossils is the discovery of a new hadrosaur, the Arenysaurus ardevoli, found in Huesca, Spain.
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Lap Band Surgery Effective For Morbidly Obese Children, Study Finds
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST
Researchers have found laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding improves the health of morbidly obese adolescents.
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Chemists Describe Solar Energy Progress And Challenges, Including The 'Artificial Leaf'
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST
Scientists are making progress toward development of an "artificial leaf" that mimics a real leaf's chemical magic with photosynthesis -- but instead converts sunlight and water into a liquid fuel such as methanol for cars and trucks.
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Perceived Parent-pressure Causes Excessive Antibiotic Prescription
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST
Antibiotic over-prescription is promoted by pediatricians' perception of parents' expectations. Research shows that pediatricians are more likely to inappropriately prescribe antibiotics for respiratory tract infections if they perceived parents were expecting a prescription.
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Map Of Human Bacterial Diversity Shows Wide Interpersonal Differences
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
Scientists have developed the first atlas of bacterial diversity across the human body, charting wide variations in microbe populations that live in different regions of the human body and which aid us in physiological functions that contribute to our health.
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Hybrid Molecules Show Promise For Exploring, Treating Alzheimer's
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
One of the many mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is how protein-like snippets called amyloid-beta peptides, which clump together to form plaques in the brain, may cause cell death, leading to the disease's devastating symptoms of memory loss and other mental difficulties. In order to answer that key question and develop new approaches to preventing the damage, scientists must first understand how amyloid-beta forms the telltale clumps. Researchers have now developed new molecular tools that can be used to investigate the process.
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Lightning's 'NOx-ious' Impact On Pollution, Climate
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
More than 1.2 billion lightning flashes occur around the world every year. Each of those billion lightning flashes produces a puff of nitrogen oxide gas (NOx) that reacts with sunlight and other gases in the atmosphere to produce ozone. Using data gleaned from aircraft observations and satellites, NASA scientists recently took steps toward a better global estimate of lightning-produced NOx and found that lightning may have a considerably stronger impact on the climate in the mid-latitudes and subtropics.
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New Treatment Option Emerging For Some With Early Stage Lung Cancer
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
Patients with early stage, non-small cell lung cancer who are not able to undergo surgery, now have a highly effective treatment option. Physicians say that option, radical stereotactic radiosurgery performed with CyberKnife, leads to a 100 percent overall survival after three years in patients with good lung function before treatment.
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Keeping Hearts Pumping With 'LifeFlow': Smart IV Device To Save Lives At Disaster Sites
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
LifeFlow is a new device that applies a sophisticated algorithm to a computer-controlled IV drip to improve the efficiency of disaster response in the field.
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The First Casualty Of War: News Reports Match Misperception Of Civilian Deaths, Study Finds
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST
Researchers have found that the discrepancy in media reporting of casualty numbers in the Iraq conflict can potentially misinform the public and contribute to distorted perceptions and gross underestimates of the number of civilians killed in the armed conflict.
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Caught In The Act: Butterfly Mate Preference Shows How One Species Can Become Two
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST
Breaking up may not be hard to do, say scientists who've found a population of tropical butterflies that may be splitting into two distinct species. The cause of this particular break-up? A shift in wing color and mate preference. In a new study, the researchers describe the relationship between diverging color patterns in Heliconius butterflies and the long-term divergence of populations into new and distinct species.
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Lactose Intolerance Rates May Be Significantly Lower Than Previously Believed
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST
Prevalence of lactose intolerance may be far lower than previously estimated, according to a new study. These new findings indicate that previous estimates of lactose intolerance incidence -- based on the incidence of lactose maldigestion -- may be overestimated by wide margins.
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How Aggressive Cells Invade The Brain: Real-time Observation Sheds New Light On Multiple Sclerosis
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST
Real-time observation sheds new light on multiple sclerosis.
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Rainwater Is Safe To Drink, Australian Study Suggests
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST
A new study into the health of families who drink rainwater has found that it is safe to drink.
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New System Preserves Right To Privacy In Internet Searches
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST
A team of researchers in Spain has developed a protocol to distort the user profile generated by Internet search engines, in such a way that they cannot save the searches undertaken by Internet users and thus preserve their privacy.
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When Should Flu Trigger A School Shutdown?
ScienceDaily
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST
As flu season approaches, parents around the country are starting to face school closures. But how bad should an influenza outbreak be for a school to shut down? A study by epidemiologists tapped a set of Japanese data to help guide decision making by schools and government agencies.
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