Scientists have discovered a genetic cause of extreme thinness for the first time, in a study published today in the journal Nature. The research shows that people with extra copies of certain genes are much more likely to be very skinny. In one in 2000 people, part of chromosome 16 is duplicated, making men 23 times and women five times more likely to be underweight. Each person normally has a copy of each chromosome from each parent, so we have two copies of each gene. But sometimes sections of a chromosome can be duplicated or deleted, resulting in an abnormal 'dosage' ...

Washington, DC, August 31, 2011 – More than 60 percent of hospital nurses' and doctors' uniforms tested positive for potentially dangerous bacteria, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. A team of researchers led by Yonit Wiener-Well, MD, from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel, collected swab samples from three parts of the uniforms of 75 registered nurses (RNs) and 60 medical doctors ...

AUDIO: This audio file is a brief interview with MIABE coauthors Sandra Orchard, John Overington, Dominic Clark and Christoph Steinbeck of the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute. They briefly discuss the potential impact... Click here for more information. An international consortium of pharmaceutical companies, public and commercial data providers and academic groups has agreed on a new standard for describing the effect of a compound on a biological entity. Published in ...

Paris, France, 31 August 2011: "The ESC Congress 2011 in Paris has been a record breaking event" said Prof Michael Böhm, chairman of the ESC Congress Programme Committee. "With a total attendance of 32 946 participants, this is our largest congress ever. We are especially pleased to see that more and more delegates are coming from outside Europe. Large delegations came from Brazil, Japan, China and India this year," said Prof Böhm. "The quality of the scientific content at the ESC Congress attracts more and more participants each year," explained Prof Böhm. "The medical ...

(Providence, R.I.) – The journal Radiology will publish in its September issue an article written by Damian E. Dupuy, M.D., director of tumor ablation at Rhode Island Hospital, supporting the use of ablation procedures for the treatment of lung cancer. The article, "Image-guided Thermal Ablation of Lung Malignancies," reviews the results of nearly 100 studies conducted between 1991 and 2011 that conclude that image-guided ablation for lung cancer is a successful alternative for patients who cannot withstand surgery due to advanced age or medical comorbidities. Percutaneous ...

As a crippling drought grips much of the Southern and Southwestern United States, the population continues to grow and water resources become scarcer. One way to address the problem is by a combination of modern engineering and ancient social principles, outlined in a new paper on rainwater harvesting that will be presented at the 2011 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. Author John Whear, biomedical engineer at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, examines how to manage rainwater ...

Thanks to advances in experimental design, physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have achieved a record-low probability of error in quantum information processing with a single quantum bit (qubit)—the first published error rate small enough to meet theoretical requirements for building viable quantum computers. A quantum computer could potentially solve certain problems that are intractable using today's technology, even supercomputers. The NIST experiment with a single beryllium ion qubit, described in a forthcoming paper,* is a milestone ...

It's not often that someone can claim that going from a positive to a negative is a step forward, but that's the case for a team of scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and private industry. In a recent paper,* the group significantly extended the reach of their novel microfluidic system for analyzing the chemical components of complex samples. The new work shows how the system, meant to analyze real-world, crude mixtures such as dirt or whole blood, can work for negatively charged components as well as it has in the past for positively ...

Much like a meteor impacting a planet, highly charged ions hit really hard and can do a lot of damage, albeit on a much smaller scale. And much like geologists determine the size and speed of the meteor by looking at the hole it left, physicists can learn a lot about a highly charged ion's energy by looking at the divots it makes in thin films. Building upon their work for which they were recently awarded a patent,* scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Clemson University have measured the energy of highly charged ion impacts on a ...

Solar power is not all sunshine. It has a dark side—particularly in developing countries, according to a new study by a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, engineering professor. A study by Chris Cherry, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, found that solar power heavily reliant on lead batteries has the potential to release more than 2.4 million tons of lead pollution in China and India. Lead poisoning causes numerous adverse health effects, including damage to the central nervous system, the kidneys, the cardiovascular system, and the reproductive ...

In an effort to understand what happens in the brain when a person reads or considers such abstract ideas as love or justice, Princeton researchers have for the first time matched images of brain activity with categories of words related to the concepts a person is thinking about. The results could lead to a better understanding of how people consider meaning and context when reading or thinking. The researchers report in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience that they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify areas of the brain activated when ...

With a nod to biology, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have a new approach to the problem of safely storing hydrogen in future fuel-cell-powered cars. Their idea: molecular scale "veins" of iron permeating grains of magnesium like a network of capillaries. The iron veins may transform magnesium from a promising candidate for hydrogen storage into a real-world winner. Hydrogen has been touted as a clean and efficient alternative to gasoline, but it has one big drawback: the lack of a safe, fast way to store it onboard a vehicle. ...

It will be "lights, camera, action" in Renton from October 7-9, when aspiring, ahead of the curve filmmakers take over the city for the fourth annual Renton FilmFrenzy, a 50-hour filmmaking competition. Last year, 25 filmmaking teams competed for $1,700 in cash prizes and the coveted Curvee Awards. "Thanks to our partnerships with SIFF, Reel Grrls, theFilmSchool, area filmmaking programs, and the Renton Arts Commission, the Renton FilmFrenzy continues to expand and has become an integral part of the growing and strong Renton arts community," said ...

Bethesda, MD—For millions of people who live under the constant threat of Leishmania infection, a new discovery by Brazilian scientists may lead to new breakthroughs, preventing these parasites from taking hold in the body or reducing the severity of infections once they occur. In a new report appearing in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology (http://www.jleukbio.org), scientists show that specific molecules found in the saliva of the sandfly—a small flying insect that is the vector for the parasite—make it possible for Leishmania to evade neutrophils and live within human ...

Polo is possibly the oldest sport, period. The first experience with a mallet, pony and a round object were recorded nearly two thousand years ago. Polo is the sport known to royalty around the world. On Sunday, September 11th over twelve-hundred guests will celebrate the seventh annual Cobra Polo Classic benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Spokane. "It is the most prestigious event in the Inland Northwest," reports Mike Forness, RMHC of Spokane Executive Director. Sky divers, gourmet food and wine, cigar and Dry Fly whiskey tent, safari escape women's ...

The delegates of the Society for Ecological Restoration´s 4th World Conference on Ecological Restoration (SER2011) congratulate the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for their practical and forward looking Strategic Plan 2011-2020, including Targets 14 and 15 in which the Parties have agreed that by 2020, ecosystems of particular importance to water security, human health, and sustainable livelihoods are restored, and their resilience and contribution to carbon stocks enhanced, through conservation and restoration, including the restoration of at ...

San Francisco, CA – The 2011 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF), the largest meeting of ear, nose, and throat doctors in the world, will convene September 11-14, 2011, in San Francisco, CA. Featuring more than 386 scientific research sessions, 468 posters, and several hundred instruction course hours for attendees, the annual meeting is a unique opportunity for journalists from around the world to cover breaking science and medical news. Reporters will have access to the latest research and ...

Bethesda, MD—A new research report published in The FASEB Journal (https://www.fasebj.org) will help ophthalmologists and scientists better understand a rare genetic disease that causes increased susceptibility to blue light, night blindness, and decreased vision called Enhanced S-Cone Syndrome or Goldman-Favre Syndrome. In the report, scientists found that the expression of genes responsible for the healthy renewal of rods and cones in the retina was reduced and that this problem originates in the photoreceptors themselves rather than in the adjacent retinal pigment epithelial ...

A new study shows that donations collected by check boxes on state income tax forms, fees from license plates and revenue from state lottery tickets have raised millions for breast cancer research and prevention programs across the country, according to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. "We found that revenue-generating breast cancer initiatives can be a successful strategy for states to raise funds, or 'pink ribbon dollars,' for prevention and early detection programs," says Amy A. Eyler, PhD, research associate professor at the Brown School of Social ...

The Carlsbad Department of Development (CDOD) has announced the first annual National Nuclear Fuel Cycle Summit, taking place April 2-5, 2012. The Summit will be hosted by Carlsbad, New Mexico, and will include renowned experts from the various nuclear-related industries across the nation. Panel discussions will provide members of the public and policymakers with valuable insights into and strategies addressing our national nuclear fuel cycle policies, our nation's growing energy needs, nuclear waste management, regulation, and funding. A lively discussion on the highly ...

Scientists from the University of York have played a pivotal role in a discovery which could finally unlock the full potential of waste plant matter to replace oil as a fuel source. Professor Paul Walton and Professor Gideon Davies, of the University's Department of Chemistry, were part of an international team that has found a method to overcome the chemical intractability of cellulose, thus allowing it to be converted efficiently into bioethanol. Working with scientists in Novozymes laboratories at Davis, California, and Bagsvaerd, Denmark, as well as researchers ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers have created and tested miniature devices that are implanted in tumors to generate oxygen, boosting the killing power of radiation and chemotherapy. The technology is designed to treat solid tumors that are hypoxic at the center, meaning the core contains low oxygen levels. "This is not good because radiation therapy needs oxygen to be effective," said Babak Ziaie, a Purdue University professor of electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering. "So the hypoxic areas are hard to kill. Pancreatic and cervical cancers ...

Couch Oil and Gas, the Irving, Texas-based Oil and Gas Exploration, Investment and Operations firm ran by Charles Couch is in the midst of hosting a prestigious drilling conference with experts from around the world to talk about obtaining efficiency in radial jet drilling. Experts from Texas, Louisiana, Italy, Sicily, Oman, and Oxy Petroleum's Tech Division have been out in the Andrews oil field where radial jetting has been tested with great efficiency. Today is the third day the large group of drilling experts convened to achieve different ways to obtain maximum ...

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, August 31, 2011 -- Parents who want to improve their child's motivation to complete homework this school year need to change their own attitude and behavior, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers. In the study published in Learning and Individual Differences, BGU researchers found that if parents had a more positive, supportive attitude and communicated the learning value as motivation, rather than focusing on completing an assignment or getting a higher grade, then the child's attitude and motivation would ...

PHILADELPHIA (August 31, 2011) – Scientists from the Monell Center report that approximately one third of patients with unexplained body malodor production test positive for the metabolic disorder trimethylaminuria (TMAU). A definitive diagnosis offers relief to these individuals, as symptoms of TMAU can hinder social and workplace interactions and cause psychological distress. But once the disease is identified, these debilitating symptoms can be ameliorated using changes in diet and other approaches. "Health care professionals must arrive at a correct diagnosis to suggest ...