6-month Follow-up Diagnostic Mammograms Recommended For Women With Probably Benign Lesions, Study Suggests
Radiologists can, with confidence, recommend a six-month follow-up diagnostic mammogram rather than an immediate biopsy for patients with "probably benign" breast lesions, a new study emphasizes. Read more...
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76-teraflop Supercomputer Installed For Critical Research On Climate Change, Severe Weather
The National Center for Atmospheric Research has taken delivery of a new IBM supercomputer that will advance research into severe weather and the future of Earth's climate. The supercomputer, known as a Power 575 Hydro- Cluster, is the first in a highly energy-efficient class of machines to be shipped anywhere in the world. Read more...
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Patients With Chronic Illness Benefit From Telehealth Intervention
Telehealth, using telecommunication technology to deliver health care, is increasingly being used to improve the delivery and availability of health care services to patients. Patients who received a telehealth intervention from care providers had significantly delayed hospital readmission rates when compared to patients who received traditional care. Read more...
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Large Reductions In Agricultural Chemical Use Can Still Result In High Crop Yields And Profits
Researchers investigated whether yield, weed suppression, and profit characteristics of low-external-input farming systems could match or exceed those of conventional farming systems. Yields and profits were similar or higher in the LEI systems as in the conventional system, and lower herbicide inputs did not lead to increased weed problems. The results suggest that large reductions in agrichemical use can be compatible with high crop yields and profits. Read more...
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Seed Dispersal In Mauritius -- Dead As A Dodo?
Walking through the last rainforests on the volcanic island of Mauritius, located some 800 km east of Madagascar, one is surrounded by ghosts. Since human colonisation in the 17th century, the island has lost most of its unique animals. The litany includes the famous flightless dodo, giant tortoises, parrots, pigeons, fruitbats, and giant lizards. It is comparatively easy to notice the loss of a species, but much more difficult to realise how many interactions have been lost as a result. Read more...
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Prions Show Their Good Side
Prions, the infamous agents behind mad cow disease and its human variation, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also have a helpful side. New research shows that normally functioning prions prevent neurons from working themselves to death. The findings appear in the May 5 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology. Read more...
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Racial Discrimination Has Different Mental Health Effects On Asians, Study Shows
The first national study of Asians living in the United States shows that for some individuals, strong ties to their ethnicity can guard against the negative effects of racism. For others, strong ties to ethnicity can actually make the negative effects of discrimination worse. And the mental health effects of such discrimination may shift over a lifetime as Asian-Americans continue to examine their ethnic ties, say researchers. Read more...
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Computer Game's High Score Could Earn The Nobel Prize In Medicine
Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to idle pursuits. This week researchers will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries through a competitive protein-folding computer game. Read more...
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GIOVE-B Transmitting Its First Signals
Following a successful launch on April 27, GIOVE-B began transmitting navigation signals May 7. This is a truly historic step for satellite navigation since GIOVE-B is now, for the first time, transmitting the GPS-Galileo common signal using a specific optimised waveform, MBOC (multiplexed binary offset carrier), in accordance with the agreement drawn up in July 2007 by the EU and the US for their respective systems, Galileo and the future GPS III. Read more...
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Too Much Or Too Little Weight Gain Poses Risks To Pregnant Mothers, Babies
Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report. Among the report's key findings is a strong association between high maternal weight gain and increased fetal growth and infant birth weight, which can contribute to complications during labor if a baby is too big, and can lead to long term health effects for the child. Read more...
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Superbug Genome Sequenced: Steno Has Remarkable Capacity For Drug Resistance
The genome of a newly-emerging superbug, commonly known as Steno, has just been sequenced. The results reveal an organism with a remarkable capacity for drug resistance. The research was carried out by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge and the University of Bristol. Read more...
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RFID Testbed Measures Multiple Tags At Once And Rapidly Assesses New Antenna Designs
Researchers have designed a system capable of simultaneously measuring hundreds of radio frequency identification tags and rapidly testing new RFID tag prototypes. This testbed allows researchers to measure the signal strength of tags hidden behind other tags and to rapidly test unique antenna configurations and multiple antennas without actually constructing new tags for each experiment. Read more...
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Genetic 'Tag Team' Keeps Cells On Cycle
By surveying the activity of thousands of genes at several different time points, researchers have uncovered new evidence that a network of influential genes act as a kind of genetic tag team to orchestrate one of the most fundamental aspects of all life: the cell cycle. Read more...
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Skin Flaps Deliver Cancer-fighting Therapy, Study Reveals
Using gene therapy, plastic surgeons have delivered cancer fighting proteins through skin flaps placed on cancerous tumors on rats with a 79 percent reduction in tumor volume, according to a study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Read more...
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Molecular Espionage Shows A Single HIV Enzyme's Many Tasks
Using ingenious molecular espionage, scientists have found how a single key enzyme, seemingly the Swiss army knife in HIV's toolbox, differentiates and dynamically binds both DNA and RNA as part of the virus' fierce attack on host cells. Read more...
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Priority Regions For Threatened Frog And Toad Conservation In Latin America
Nearly 35% of all amphibians are now threatened of extinction raising them to the position of the most endangered group of animals in the world. Decline of amphibian populations and species is ongoing due to habitat loss, fungal disease, climate shift and agrochemical contaminants. These impacts are even worse to frogs that reproduce in water bodies such as streams and ponds. Scientists now propose a priority set of areas for the conservation of frogs and toads in Latin America. The study is unprecedented in terms of not only the proposition of key-conservation areas, but also because it shows that the inclusion of species biological traits, such as reproductive modes, affects the performance of area-prioritization analyses. Read more...
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Do Antidepressants Enhance Immune Function?
Infection with human immunodeficiency virus, which leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is an epidemic of global concern. The functioning of natural killer (NK) cells, which are a major element of the innate immunity system and are involved in the body's first line of defense against infections such as HIV, is decreased in both HIV and depression. A group of researchers who have previously found that stress and depression impair NK cell function and accelerate the course of HIV/AIDS are now publishing a new report in Biological Psychiatry. Read more...
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Nitrates In Vegetables Protect Against Gastric Ulcers, Study Shows
Fruits and vegetables that are rich in nitrates protect the stomach from damage. This takes place through conversion of nitrates into nitrites by the bacteria in the oral cavity and subsequent transformation into biologically active nitric oxide in the stomach. This also means that antibacterial mouthwashes can be harmful for the stomach. Read more...
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Asthma Inhaler Misuse Widespread Among Anti-social Teens
Nearly one out of four teens who use an asthma inhaler say their intent is to get high. Findings from a new study identified high levels of asthma inhaler misuse among anti-social youths, who displayed higher levels of distress and were more likely to abuse other substances. Read more...
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How 'Horse Tranquilizer' Stops Depression
Researchers have shown exactly how the anaesthetic ketamine helps depression with images that show the orbitofrontal cortex -- the part of the brain that is overactive in depression -- being 'switched off'. Ketamine, an anaesthetic that is popular with doctors on the battlefield and also with vets because it allows a degree of awareness without pain, is a new hope for the treatment of depression -- but the minute-by-minute images show how the drug achieves this in an unexpected way. Read more...
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Tiny Electronics: Contact Through Silver Particles In Ink
Conductor paths in sensor systems have to be correctly "wired." Now, instead of using obtrusive connecting wires, researchers print the conductor paths. The connections thus produced are thinner, and the sensor delivers more accurate measurements. Read more...
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New Evidence From Earliest Known Human Settlement In The Americas
New evidence from the Monte Verde archaeological site in southern Chile confirms its status as the earliest known human settlement in the Americas and provides additional support for the theory that one early migration route followed the Pacific Coast more than 14,000 years ago. Read more...
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'Dancing' Hair Cells Are Key To Humans' Acute Hearing
Researchers have found that an electrically powered amplification mechanism in the cochlea of the ear is critical to the acute hearing of humans and other mammals. The findings will enable better understanding of how hearing loss can result from malfunction of this amplification machinery due to genetic mutation or overdose of drugs such as aspirin. Read more...
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Koalas Under Threat From Climate Change
New research shows increased temperatures and carbon dioxide levels are a threat to the Australian national icon, the koala. Biologists have been researching the effects of carbon dioxide increases and temperature rises on eucalypts. They have shown in the laboratory that increases in carbon dioxide affect the level of nutrients and 'anti-nutrients' (things that are either toxic or interfere with the digestion of nutrients) in eucalypt leaves. Anti-nutrients in eucalypts are built from carbon and an increase in carbon dioxide levels will favor the production of anti-nutrients over nutrients. Koalas are fussy about the species of eucalypts that they eat as different species contain different ratios of nutrients to anti-nutrients. Read more...
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New Gas Sensors For Monitoring Carbon Dioxide Sinks
A novel gas sensor system makes it possible to monitor large areas cost-effectively the first time. The patented gas sensor is based on the principle of diffusion, according to which certain gases pass through a membrane faster than others. Using a tube-like sensor it is possible to measure an average gas concentration value over a certain distance without influencing or distorting conditions in the measuring environment. Read more...
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What's Bugging Locusts? It Could Be They're Hungry -- For Each Other
Since ancient times, locust plagues have been viewed as one of the most spectacular events in nature. In seemingly spontaneous fashion, as many as 10 billion critters can suddenly swarm the air and carpet the ground, blazing destructive paths that bring starvation and economic ruin. What makes them do it? In a word, cannibalism. Read more...
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When Statins Aren't Enough: New Trial Drug Points To Better Management Of Coronary Heart Disease
Despite widespread use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, a significant number of cardiac patients continue to suffer heart attacks and stroke. Researchers theorize that high levels of an enzyme found in coronary plaques may be to blame, by making plaques more likely to rupture and block blood flow. The drug darapladib may offer a way to fight that risk, according to new research. Read more...
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Elderly In Long-term Care Setting Suffer Depression More Than Those Cared For At Home
Elderly in a long-term care setting are more likely to be prescribed antidepressants and to self-report depression compared to those in a home-health care setting, according to a study. The study of 272 elders, with an average age of 81, examined how often patients reported feeling depressed and were prescribed antidepressants at both a long-term care facility and through a home-care agency in west-central Indiana. Read more...
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Piecing Together The Next Generation Of Cognitive Robots
European researchers are making progress on piecing together a new generation of machines that are more aware of their environment and better able to interact with humans. While building robots with anything akin to human intelligence remains a far off vision, making them more responsive would allow them to be used in a greater variety of sophisticated tasks in the manufacturing and service sectors. Such robots could be used as home helpers and caregivers, for example. Read more...
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New Cancer Gene Found
Scientists have identified a new gene that causes cancer. The gene and its protein, both called RBM3, are vital for cell division in normal cells. In cancers, low oxygen levels in the tumors cause the amount of this protein to go up dramatically. This causes cancer cells to divide uncontrollably, leading to increased tumor formation. Read more...
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Biologists Names New Spider After Neil Young
A biologist has brought his admiration of Neil Young to a whole new class. Or species, to be exact. A professor of biology has named a newly discovered trapdoor spider, Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi, after the legendary rock star. Read more...
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Alternatives To Ozone-depleting Pesticide Studied
In 2000, the widely used pesticide methy bromide was classified as an ozone-depleting substance, and in 2005 MB was banned in the United States and all European Union countries. In response to the need for safe and effective alternatives to methyl bromide, researchers undertook a 3-year project to study new methods of weed control in strawberry nurseries. Read more...
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Seagulls: Are Males The Weaker Sex?
Male seagulls may be more vulnerable to their environment during embryonic development than females. Until now, the sex differences in developmental rate and susceptibility to unfavorable conditions during the embryonic stage in birds have received little attention. Read more...
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Women And Heart Attack: Failure To Recognize Symptoms, Failure To Treat Appropriately, Study Finds
The gender gap is alive and well in heart disease, a new international study finds, with women differing from men on everything from symptoms to treatment in both heart attack and severe chest pain. One of the most striking findings: women were twice as likely as men to have "normal" or "mild" results on an exam of their heart's blood vessels, with no single blockage taking up more than 50 percent of a blood vessel. Read more...
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New Target For Alzheimer's Disease Identified
In a new study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers have determined in mouse models that modulating the activity of enkephalin peptides in the brain might reduce the cognitive deficits seen in Alzheimer's disease. Read more...
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Chilean Volcano Captured Blasting Ash
Chile's Chaiten Volcano is shown spewing ash and smoke into the air for hundreds of kilometers over Argentina's Patagonia Plateau in a new Envisat image acquired on May 5, 2008. Read more...
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Lack Of Motivation In Schizophrenia Linked To Brain Chemical Imbalance
A study of patients with psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia suggests an alternative explanation for why many sufferers lack motivation. In addition to the hallucinations that often characterize schizophrenia, patients also have major problems with apathy and lack of motivation. Read more...
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Amazon Under Threat From Cleaner Air
The Amazon rainforest, so crucial to the Earth's climate system, is coming under threat from cleaner air say prominent climate scientists. The new study identifies a link between reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from burning coal and increasing sea surface temperatures in the tropical north Atlantic, resulting in a heightened risk of drought in the Amazon rainforest. Read more...
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University Research Contributes To Global Warming, Professor Discovers
Add university research to the long list of human activities contributing to global warming. A biochemistry professor who is a committed environmentalist found that his own research produces 44 tons of carbon dioxide per year. The average American citizen produces 20 tons. Read more...
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Climate Models Overheat Antarctica, New Study Finds
Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, new research concludes. The study can help scientists improve computer models and determine if Earth's southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica's potential impact on global sea-level rise. Read more...
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Speaking More Than One Language May Slow The Aging Process In The Mind
Children who speak a second or third language may have an unexpected advantage later in life, a new study has found. Knowing and speaking many languages may protect the brain against the effects of aging. Read more...
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Gene That Gives Rise To Neuroblastoma, An Aggressive Childhood Cancer, Located
Using advanced gene-hunting technology, researchers have identified a chromosome region that is the source of genetic events that give rise to neuroblastoma, an often fatal childhood cancer. The investigators found that common DNA variations in a region of chromosome 6 raise the risk that a child will develop a particularly aggressive form of neuroblastoma. Read more...
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Hydrogen For Fuel Cells Extracted From Formic Acid At Room Temperature
Matthias Beller and his team at the Leibniz Institute of Catalysis in Rostock have succeeded in the controlled extraction of hydrogen from formic acid without the need for a high-temperature reforming process. This room-temperature hydrogen source can be directly introduced into fuel cells. Read more...
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Mothers' High Normal Blood Sugar Levels Place Infants At Risk For Birth Problems
Pregnant women with blood sugar levels in the higher range of normal -- but not high enough to be considered diabetes -- are more likely than women with lower blood sugar levels to give birth to babies at risk for many of the same problems seen in babies born to women with diabetes during pregnancy, according to a new study. Read more...
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Breast Cancer Tumors Grow Faster In Younger Women
A new approach to estimating tumor growth has been developed based on breast screening results from almost 400,000 women. This new model can also estimate the proportion of breast cancers which are detected at screening (screen test sensitivity). It provides a new approach to simultaneously estimating the growth rate of breast cancer and the ability of mammography screening to detect tumors. Read more...
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Immune System Pathway Identified To Fight Allergens, Asthma
For the first time, researchers have identified genetic components of dendritic cells that are key to asthma and allergy-related immune response malfunction. Targeting these elements could result in more effective drugs to treat respiratory disorders. While dendritic cells are vital to immune response, the new study goes further to describe a pathway that allergens use to act directly on dendritic cells to initiate the allergic cascade. Read more...
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Chemists Measure Chilli Sauce Hotness With Nanotubes
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen and into the lab -- chemists can now use carbon nanotubes to judge the heat of chilli sauces. The technology might soon be available commercially as a cheap, disposable sensor for use in the food industry. Read more...
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Exhaling For Exploration: Scientists Test Lunar Breathing System
Imagine yourself hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, inside a room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours with five people you just met. Does that make you sweat? Or maybe make your breathing a little more animated? For three weeks, 23 volunteers dedicated time to do just that -- sweat and breathe -- inside a test chamber so NASA scientists at Johnson Space Center in Houston could measure the amount of moisture and carbon dioxide absorbed by a new system being developed for future space vehicles. The system is designed to control carbon dioxide and humidity inside a crew capsule to make air breathable and living space more comfortable. Read more...
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Depression Diversity: Brain Studies Reveal Big Differences Among Individuals
Depressed people may have far fewer of the receptors for some of the brain's "feel good" stress-response chemicals than non-depressed people, new research shows. And even among depressed people, the numbers of these receptors can vary greatly -- and may be linked with the severity of their symptoms and response to treatment. Read more...
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Cell's 'Power Plant' Genes Raise Vision Disorder Risk
Genetic variation in the DNA of mitochondria -- the "power plants" of cells -- contributes to a person's risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, investigators report. The study is the first to examine the mitochondrial genome for changes associated with AMD, the leading cause of blindness in Caucasians over age 50. Read more...
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