(TORONTO, Canada – Nov. 8, 2012) – Canadian and Italian stem cell researchers have discovered a new "master control gene" for human blood stem cells and found that manipulating its levels could potentially create a way to expand these cells for clinical use. The findings, published today online ahead of print in Cell Stem Cell, usher in a new paradigm for the regulation of human blood stem cells, says co-principal investigator Dr. John Dick, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Stem Cell Biology and is a Senior Scientist at University Health Network's McEwen Centre for ...

This press release is available in Spanish and Portuguese. Each year, huge carbon stores are lost as a result of deforestation. In South America, around four million hectares of forest are cut down every year. As a result, international climate protection programs are planning to financially compensate farmers who preserve forests or plant new trees. Demand for land is rising, however. And growing need for food and energy crops will inevitably lead to conflicts of interest over fertile land in countries such as Brazil and Ecuador. Thomas Knoke and Michael Weber at Technische ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Based on a new discovery by researchers at Oregon State University, the world's multi-billion dollar foundry industry may soon develop a sweet tooth. This industry, that produces metal castings used in everything from water pumps and jet engines to railroad and automobile parts, dates back thousands of years to before Greek and Roman times. It was important in the advance of human civilization, but still continues to evolve. Some modern technologies use various types of "binders" to essentially glue together sands and other materials to form sophisticated ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Along with reciting the days of the week and the alphabet, adults often practice reciting numbers with young children. Now, new research from the University of Missouri suggests reciting numbers is not enough to prepare children for math success in elementary school. The research indicates that counting, which requires assigning numerical values to objects in chronological order, is more important for helping preschoolers acquire math skills. "Reciting means saying the numbers from memory in chronological order, whereas counting involves understanding ...

New York, NY (Nov. 8, 2012) – A study by researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, recently e-published ahead of print by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, suggests that women who have surgery for ovarian cancer at high-volume hospitals have superior outcomes than similar patients at low-volume hospitals. The improved survival rate is not dependent on a lower rate of complications following surgery, but on the treatment of the complications. In fact, patients with a complication after ...

CENTER CITY, Minn. (November 8, 2012) – Young adults undergoing addiction treatment benefit from regular participation in Twelve Step-based self-help groups after discharge, according to a naturalistic study published electronically and in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The study was conducted collaboratively by the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and the Butler Center for Research at Hazelden. "Very little is known about the effects of Twelve Step attendance and involvement on outcomes for young adults. ...

Deep in the inner ear of mammals is a natural battery — a chamber filled with ions that produces an electrical potential to drive neural signals. In today's issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology, a team of researchers from MIT, the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) demonstrate for the first time that this battery could power implantable electronic devices without impairing hearing. The devices could monitor biological activity in the ears of people with hearing or balance impairments, or ...

Philadelphia, PA, November 8, 2012 – The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys revealed that over 21% of children 2 to 5 years old were considered overweight or obese. Child care settings can serve as a platform to teach children about nutrition in our fight against childhood obesity, as nearly 50% of children in the United States under age 5 are enrolled in child care. In a new study released in the November/December 2012 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, training child care providers about their role in children's healthful eating ...

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Low antioxidant levels contribute to increased blood pressure during exercise for people with peripheral arterial disease, according to researchers at Penn State Hershey Heart and Vascular Institute. Peripheral arterial disease, or PAD, affects an estimated 10 million Americans and increases the chance of death from a cardiovascular event. Reduced blood flow causes pain in the legs and increases blood pressure in people who have PAD. However, the causes of the disease are unknown. "Past studies have shown that having low antioxidant levels and increased ...

Every six seconds, for millions of years, comets have been colliding with one another near a star in the constellation Cetus called 49 CETI, which is visible to the naked eye. Over the past three decades, astronomers have discovered hundreds of dusty disks around stars, but only two — 49 CETI is one — have been found that also have large amounts of gas orbiting them. Young stars, about a million years old, have a disk of both dust and gas orbiting them, but the gas tends to dissipate within a few million years and almost always within about 10 million years. Yet ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Nov. 8, 2012 – What do a tight, fitted bed sheet and a blood clot in the wrist have in common? Both are associated with a condition called sheet fitting palsy. True to its name, the palsy is reported in those who spend a long period of time repeatedly trying to pull a fitted bed sheet over the corner of a mattress. But it has also been reported in basketball players and in those who do push-ups as exercise. The injury is caused by the continuous flexing movement of the wrist and results in a tiny stroke in the artery to the hand. The resulting ...

A fermentation technique once used to make cordite, the explosive propellant that replaced gunpowder in bullets and artillery shells, may find an important new use in the production of advanced biofuels. With the addition of a metal catalyst, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have shown that the production of acetone, butanol and ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass could be selectively upgraded to the high volume production of gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. Using the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum, ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Eating mindfully, or consuming food in response to physical cues of hunger and fullness, is just as effective as adhering to nutrition-based guidelines in reducing weight and blood sugar levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. In a comparison study of the effectiveness of the two types of behavioral interventions, participants lost about the same amount of weight – an average of between 3 1/2 and 6 pounds – and lowered their long-term blood sugar levels significantly after three months. One treatment group followed an established ...

Psychological science has come of age. But the rights of a mature discipline carry with them responsibilities, among them the responsibility to maximize confidence in our findings through good data practices and replication. The November issue of Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), reflects the discipline's ongoing commitment to examine methodological issues that affect all areas of science — such as failures to replicate previous findings and problems of bias and error — with the goal of strengthening our ...

RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 9, 2012) – Preclinical data suggests inactivation of a specific sub-class of nicotinic receptors may be an effective strategy to help smokers quit without feeling anxious, according to Virginia Commonwealth University researchers. These findings could one day point researchers to the development of novel therapies to help smokers quit without feeling anxious. Smokers use cigarettes for many reasons, but many report that they smoke to relieve anxiety, despite the health danger of cigarette smoking. Researchers are now working to understand the underlying ...

Montreal, November 8, 2012 – "It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, emotionally and mentally." These are not the words we generally associate with a university student who is undergoing teacher training, yet Concordia researcher Anita Sinner has heard similar statements from many such individuals. Every year thousands of students make the transition from student to teacher and the stories of those who struggle are often missing from our conversations. "Pre-service teachers who experience varying degrees of struggle have few stories against which to compare their ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1, 2012-- Unemployed workers who continue to identify with their former employer report higher well-being even after being fired or laid off from the company, according to a study published Nov. 9 in the Journal of Managerial Psychology. The study, conducted by San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Management Jennifer Tosti-Kharas, is among the first to explore how organizational identification relates to job loss. "These unemployed people have something to cling to by having had very positive associations with their employer in the ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – Emergency rooms are more crowded than ever, with more than 136 million people making a trip annually. According to a study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting, some of these trips may be preventable under the regular care of an allergist. Such care may also save lives. Researchers found 25 percent of individuals who went to the emergency room or were hospitalized for anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction, had severe anaphylaxis, which required hospitalization ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – The Blackberry vs. iPhone battle has been ongoing since Apple's 2007 phone debut, with no end in sight. That is until today. According to a study being presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), there is a clear winner when it comes to your health. With more than 285 million cell phone subscribers in the United States, ACAAI allergists studied popular smartphones for two common allergens, cobalt and nickel. "Approximately one-third of all Blackberries contain nickel, ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – Avoiding sweet treats like pumpkin bread and cookies this holiday season might not be necessary for children with egg allergies. New studies presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting found 56 percent of allergic children can tolerate baked hen's egg, while 55 percent outgrow their egg allergy entirely. "More than half of egg allergic children can tolerate hen's eggs when they are baked at 350 degrees in products such as cakes and breads," said allergist Rushani Saltzman, M.D., ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – Meat lovers living in the central and southern regions of the country might be opting for a vegetarian lifestyle if meat comes with an unwanted side of a life-threatening allergic reaction. According to a study presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), the lone star tick inhabiting these regions is the primary reason for what's known as a meat induced alpha-gal allergic reaction. Alpha-gal is a sugar carbohydrate found in red meats such as beef, pork and lamb. According ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – With today's modern medicine, misdiagnoses may be unexpected and surprising. But when symptoms of an unknown and uncommon illness mimic a number of other conditions, it can be difficult for medical professionals to properly diagnose and treat patients. That's why four leading allergy/immunology organizations have announced the release of a report to help set a new standard for a commonly misdiagnosed, under-recognized and under treated condition known as angioedema, the rapid swelling of deep layers of skin and tissue. This report, titled ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – Peanut allergies are rising among American children and one reason might be due to economic status. According to a new study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, greater rates of peanut allergy are found in families with higher economic status. This supports the "hygiene hypothesis" of many allergists. This theory believes that a lack of early childhood exposure to germs increases the chance for allergic diseases. Over sanitization might suppress the natural development ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – While it's believed that Nostradamus' prophecies predicted many historical events, his digital successor, the Internet, may be foreseeing the height of allergy suffering. According to allergist Leonard Bielory, M.D., American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) board member, Google search volume is shedding light on the most common allergy symptoms, when searches peak and how they pertain to pollen types. In his research, being presented at the ACAAI Annual Scientific Meeting, Dr. Bielory found that, due to tree pollens, ...

ANAHEIM, CA. (November 9, 2012) – With this year's unseasonably warm temperatures and extended seasons, many have coined 2012 as being the worst for allergies. But if you thought your symptoms were worse than ever, just wait until the year 2040. According to a study being presented by allergist Leonard Bielory, M.D., at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), pollen counts are expected to more than double by 2040. "Climate changes will increase pollen production considerably in the near future in different parts ...