CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Whenever it hears an unfamiliar song from a bird of the same species, a zebra finch stops chirping, hopping and grooming. It listens attentively for minutes at a time, occasionally cocking its head but otherwise immobile. Once it becomes familiar with the song, it goes back to its busy routine. (See video.) In a new study, researchers discovered that levels of microRNAs – short lengths of ribonucleic acid that appear to regulate protein production – go up or down in the songbird brain after it hears a new song. These microRNAs likely represent a new ...

Knowing how many of you are keen gardeners, and with the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show opening this week, we've decided to share our top 10 garden choices for summer 2011. 1. The beautiful park surrounding the Chateau de Chenonceau in France's Loire Valley hosts the International Garden Festival annually between May and October. It's a fabulous fusion of 'conceptual' gardens created by green-fingered artists and, bizarrely, philosophers! Visit on our Chateaux of the Loire Cycling holiday 2. Majorelle Gardens: designed in 1924 by French expatriate artist, Jacques ...

University of Alberta researchers have produced a map of Edmonton predicting the most likely locations where vehicles will collide with deer. These collisions can be fatal for drivers and their passengers. The hot spots for deer vs. vehicle collisions virtually encircle Edmonton along the city limit, border line. Mark Boyce is a U of A ecologist and co author of the paper. Boyce found that the most dangerous rural roadways share three features; Natural vegetation, bushes and trees, run right up to the roadside, the roads pass through a landscape of farm fields and forests ...

A Johns Hopkins team has discovered in young adult mice that a lone brain stem cell is capable not only of replacing itself and giving rise to specialized neurons and glia – important types of brain cells – but also of taking a wholly unexpected path: generating two new brain stem cells. A report on their study appears June 24 in Cell. Although it was known that the brain has the capacity to generate both neurons, which send and receive signals, and the glial cells that surround them, it was unclear whether these various cell types came from a single source. In addition ...

Generic anti-epilepsy drugs, pharmaceutical products similar to brand-name versions, save consumers billions of dollars each year, but some are different enough from branded formulations that they may not be effective, particularly if patients switch between two generic drugs, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. A report on the study, published online and in an upcoming issue of Annals of Neurology, raises questions about whether some generic products are safe and effective when a narrow dose range separates patients from help and harm. "In most areas ...

RakeTheRake.com continues its relaunch promotions with more bespoke poker room prizes on offer. Online poker players, even those not tracked to RakeTheRake, can enter Minted Poker's $2500 freeroll and have a chance to win one month's free poker training available for fifty players. There's also the chance to win one of six fabulous packages to the European Masters of Poker in Barcelona, offered by NoiQ! In addition to these amazing promotions running now, RakeTheRake players have a chance to win portable DVD players and RakeTheRake merchandise if they take a short survey ...

BOULDER--Researchers have found that areas near commercial airports sometimes experience a small but measurable increase in rain and snow when aircraft take off and land under certain atmospheric conditions. The new study led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), is part of ongoing research that focuses on so-called hole punch and canal clouds that form when planes fly through certain mid-level clouds, forcing nearby air to rapidly expand and cool. This causes water droplets to freeze to ice and then turn to snow as they fall toward the ground, leaving ...

The technology that allows scientists to profile the entire genome of individual tumors offers new hope for discovering ways to select the best treatment for each patient's particular type of cancer. However, these profiles produce huge amounts of data, and the volume alone creates unique analytical problems. In a study published on-line this week in the journal BMC Medical Genomics, researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah describe a new analytical approach based on a concept called multiplicity, that can organize large amounts of varied ...

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have provided more clues to one of the least understood phenomena in some cancers: why the "ends caps" of cellular DNA, called telomeres, lengthen instead of shorten. In a study published online June 30 in Science Express, the Johns Hopkins researchers say they have identified two genes that, when defective, may cause these telomere elongations. Telomeres contain repeated sequences of DNA that, in normal cells, shorten each time a cell divides. Without telomeres, the cell division-related shortening could snip off a cell's genes and disrupt ...

Your nose does more than just sit in the middle of your face and present a good metaphor for everything obvious. Your nose is essential to breathing, smelling, and protecting your body from dehydration and infection. Nasal Breathing Nasal breathing should be the normal method. Mouth breathing is reserved for when you're running for your life or trying to make a creepy phone call. Nasal breathing performs a number of important functions: - Conditioning the air: Your nose warms incoming air and adds humidity to protect your throat and lungs - Filtering the air: ...

Adjusting to the loss of a breast or to a different breast shape following a mastectomy can be traumatic. A mastectomy may save your life, but it can also leave you feeling self-conscious about your appearance. In considering a mastectomy, one important decision is whether you will want to undergo breast reconstruction at the time of your mastectomy. A consultation with a breast reconstruction surgeon prior to scheduling your mastectomy can help you determine whether you're a good candidate for breast reconstruction surgery and review your breast reconstruction options. Mastectomy ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– "Zombie" stars that explode like bombs as they die, only to revive by sucking matter out of other stars. According to an astrophysicist at UC Santa Barbara, this isn't the plot for the latest 3D blockbuster movie. Instead, it's something that happens every day in the universe –– something that can be used to measure dark energy. This special category of stars, known as Type Ia supernovae, help to probe the mystery of dark energy, which scientists believe is related to the expansion of the universe. Andy Howell, adjunct professor of physics ...

There are several different incision patterns and techniques used in New York City breast lift surgeries. Some of these techniques have been used for years, while other incision procedures are relatively new. If you are thinking about having breast lift surgery, be sure to first educate your self on all the available incision options. Then speak to a New York City breast lift surgeon about your options, and which incision would best meet your needs. Some of the most common incision types are described below. The Anchor Incision An anchor incision is made around ...

People often share stories, news, and information with the people around them. We forward online articles to our friends, share stories with our co-workers at the water cooler, and pass along rumors to our neighbors. Such social transmission has been going on for thousands of years, and the advent of social technologies like texting, Facebook, and other social media sites has only made it faster and easier to share content with others. But why is certain content shared more than others and what drives people to share? Well, according to Jonah Berger, the author of a new ...

Bethesda, MD—As strange as it sounds, a new research study published in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), suggests that the "healthy" ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, may prevent the negative effects that spaceflight and sedentary lifestyles have on people. The report describes experiments in rats that simulated the weightlessness of spaceflight, during which the group fed resveratrol did not develop insulin resistance or a loss of bone mineral density, as did those who were not fed resveratrol. According to Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the ...

With July 4 fast approaching, MSNBC reports that heavy drought and wildfires burning in parts of Florida have caused many affected counties and cities to ban the use of fireworks. Florida Division of Forestry Annaleasa Winter says, "It only takes one spark to ignite a blazing wildfire that could threaten your home and, possibly, your whole neighborhood. The risk is just too great," as News 4 Jax reports regarding similar drought and wildfires last year in Florida. 2011 is no different. But, like every July 4 holiday, you're going to get together with ...

Cold Spring Harbor, NY – Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) have identified an enzyme that appears to be a significant regulator of breast cancer development. Called PTPN23, the enzyme is a member of a family called protein tyrosine phosphatases, or PTPs, that plays a fundamental role in switching cell signaling on and off. When the scientists suppressed the expression of PTPN23 in human mammary cells, they noted a cascade of effects that included the cells breaking away from their anchors; their scattering; and their invasion through extracellular ...

WHAT: A trio of large-scale genome-wide association studies, or GWAS, have identified more than 15 gene variants responsible for the diversity of white blood cell counts among whites, African-Americans, and Japanese. Supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, each study examined the genomes of tens of thousands of people. Combined, the studies offer the first comprehensive analysis into why some people, and some populations, have more or fewer white blood cells than others. All three articles will be published online June 30 in PLoS Genetics. White ...

A new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation reveals that there is a significant risk of serious skin cancers, including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, in heart transplant patients. When people receive heart transplants, they need immune medications to keep their body from rejecting the transplant. The changes to the immune system they experience as a result of the medications can also make them more susceptible to developing cancers. Led by Murad Alam, MD, MSCI, of Northwestern University, researchers studied 10 years of patient information ...

11-year-old Abiah Jones recently visited Morey's Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey on a school trip. She and other students were being rewarded for having top grades in their class. However, tragedy struck when Jones fell from a ferris wheel gondola and was killed. A preliminary report indicates that she was alone on the gondola seat near the top of the wheel when she fell nearly 160 feet. According to local police, the ride was in working order with all safety procedures in place, and that it would be impossible for a properly seated patron to fall from the ride unless ...

Restrictions on eligibility for health care reform programs will result in the potential exclusion of up to 220,000 children from affordable health care coverage in California, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. The number represents approximately 20 percent of all uninsured children in California. Of those children, up to 40,000 may be eligible for coverage but may not apply, due to confusion about new rules governing access to both the California Health Benefit Exchange and the state's expanded Medi-Cal program. The ...

Boston, MA - For patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), choosing the appropriate treatment depends heavily on the prognosis. Those patients at the highest risk of dying from their disease are typically offered the most aggressive therapies, while patients at lower risk could live several years with MDS, needing only supportive care or other relatively side-effect free treatments. While some clinical variables are useful, current methods for predicting prognosis for individual patients are not ideal. Patients with the same clinical features can have very different ...

A work injury can disrupt a person's entire life and cause physical pain as well as emotional aggravation from dealing with medical bills and insurance bureaucracy. Filing and getting a workers' compensation claim recognized can help alleviate these issues. However, unless an employee acts within the specified time lines, he or she may lose the opportunity to receive benefits at all. Time Limits for Initial Filing an Initial Workers' Compensation Claim In Pennsylvania, an injured worker should report a work injury within 21 days after its occurrence to his or her ...

(Boston) – A recent study completed by researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center (BMC) demonstrates that BMC conducts a high rate of thyroid function testing in pregnant women. The retrospective study, which is currently published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, showed that if BMC had not done routine thyroid testing on pregnant women, approximately 80 percent of cases of mild hypothyroidism (a condition whereby the thyroid does not produce enough thyroid hormone) would not have been detected. It ...

VIDEO: This movie of GOES-13 satellite imagery of Tropical Storm Arlene in 15 minute intervals from June 28 at 1415 (10:15 a.m. EDT) to the same time on June 30, shows... Click here for more information. Tropical Storm Arlene made landfall early today and is making its way through northeastern Mexico today as the GOES-13 satellite continues to track its movement. A movie from today's GOES satellite data shows Arlene making that landfall and moving inland. Tropical Storm ...