University of Alberta researchers Péter Molnár, Andrew Derocher and Mark Lewis studied the reproductive ecology of polar bears in Hudson Bay and have linked declining litter sizes with loss of sea ice. The researchers say projected reductions in the number of newborn cubs is a significant threat to the western Hudson Bay polar-bear population, and if climate change continues unabated the viability of the species across much of the Arctic will be in question. Using data collected since the 1990s researchers looked at the changing length of time Hudson Bay is frozen ...

Bacteria often attack with toxins designed to hijack or even kill host cells. To avoid self-destruction, bacteria have ways of protecting themselves from their own toxins. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have described one of these protective mechanisms, potentially paving the way for new classes of antibiotics that cause the bacteria's toxins to turn on themselves. Scientists determined the structures of a toxin and its antitoxin in Streptococcus pyogenes, common bacteria that cause infections ranging from strep throat to life-threatening ...

Toronto – Faster approval times for generic drugs will get them into consumers' hands quicker, but may not make the price any better, a pricing and marketing researcher has found. A mathematical model created by Andrew Ching shows that fewer firms enter the marketplace because the chances of getting there first and commanding the best profits are dramatically smaller when drug approval times are shorter. Ching is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. Using the drug clonidine, Prof. Ching's model showed the number ...

For Immediate Release – February 8, 2011 - (Toronto) – A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found evidence suggesting that a variation of a specific gene may play a role in late-onset Alzheimer's, the disease which accounts for over 90% of Alzheimer's cases. This innovative study has combined genetics and brain imaging to determine who may be at risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease long before symptoms appear. The gene, which is called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), is crucial to maintaining healthy function of ...

Park Ridge, IL (February 8, 2011) – According to new nutrition data from the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), eggs are lower in cholesterol than previously thought. The USDA-ARS recently reviewed the nutrient composition of standard large eggs, and results show the average amount of cholesterol in one large egg is 185 mg, 14 percent lower than previously recorded. The analysis also revealed that large eggs now contain 41 IU of vitamin D, an increase of 64 percent. "We collected a random sample of regular large shell eggs ...

University of British Columbia researchers have uncovered the unique survival mechanisms of a marine organism that may be tiny, but in some ways has surpassed sharks in its predatory efficiency. Published today in the journal Nature Communications, the research team's portrait of the microscopic dinoflagellate Oxyrrhis marina reveals a predator so efficient that it has even acquired a gene from its prey. NB: A microscopic photo of Oxyrrhis marina is available at http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/?p=17636. "It's an interesting case of Lateral Gene Transfer, or the movement ...

Much of the devastation of stroke and head trauma is due to damage caused the overproduction of a substance in the brain called glutamate. Preventing this damage has been impossible, until now, as many drugs don't cross the so-called blood-brain barrier, and those that do often don't work as intended. But a method originally devised at the Weizmann Institute of Science may, in the future, offer a way to avert such glutamate-induced harm. Prof. Vivian I. Teichberg of the Institute's Neurobiology Department first demonstrated a possible way around these problems in 2003. ...

Post-traumatic stress disorder can affect soldiers after combat or ordinary people who have undergone harrowing experiences. Of course, feelings of anxiety are normal and even desirable – they are part of what helps us survive in a world of real threats. But no less crucial is the return to normal – the slowing of the heartbeat and relaxation of tension – after the threat has passed. People who have a hard time "turning off" their stress response are candidates for post-traumatic stress syndrome, as well as anorexia, anxiety disorders and depression. How does the body ...

Some of the history preserved in old tomes and newspapers may be hiding in between the lines of print. A Weizmann Institute scientist has found that the paper in such collections contains a record of atmospheric conditions at the time the trees that went into making it were growing. By analyzing the carbon isotopes in bits of paper clipped from old magazines, Prof. Dan Yakir of the Environmental Sciences and Energy Research Department in the Faculty of Chemistry has traced the rising effects of atmospheric pollution from burning fossil fuel going back to beginnings of the ...

Modern brain research generates immense quantities of data across different levels of detail, from gene activity to large-scale structure, using a wide array of methods. Each method has its own type of data and is stored in different databases. Integrating findings across levels of detail and from different databases, for example to find a link between gene expression and disease, is therefore challenging and time consuming. In addition, combining data from multiple types of brain studies provides a basis for new insights and is crucial for the progress of neuroscience ...

Babies whose mothers have HIV, but who are not HIV-infected themselves, are born with lower levels of specific proteins in their blood called antibodies, which fight infection, compared with babies not exposed to HIV, a new study has found. The finding, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, might explain in part why uninfected babies born to women with HIV have a higher risk of illness and death early in life. Major programmes using antiretroviral drugs have successfully reduced the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV from 20-30 per ...

The big drop in the numbers of people infected with HIV in Zimbabwe is because of mass social change, driven by fear of infection, according to an international study reported today in the journal PLoS Medicine. The scientists unravelling the reasons behind this unexpected downturn now reveal what they hope are the most important lessons in the fight against the disease for the rest of Africa. Zimbabwe's epidemic was one of the biggest in the world until the number of people infected with HIV in Zimbabwe almost halved, from 29% to 16%, between 1997 and 2007. Remarkably, ...

Many elderly Australians are either admitted to hospital suffering malnutrition, or become malnourished while in hospital, which increases hospital length of stay and health care costs. In her lead article in the Dietitians Association of Australia's journal, Nutrition & Dietetics, Dr Karen Charlton said malnutrition often goes undiagnosed and untreated as it is not considered a clinical priority in hospitals and aged care settings. Australian research has revealed more than one in three hospitals patients are malnourished and the rates can be as high as 70 per cent ...

Nematodes, microscopic worms, are making engineers look twice at their ability to exhibit the "Cheerios effect" when they move in a collective motion. These parasites will actually stick together like Cheerios swimming in milk in a cereal bowl after a chance encounter "due to capillary force." This observation has made Virginia Tech engineers speculate about the possible impacts on the study of biolocomotion. Their work appears in the journal, Soft Matter, a publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the week of Feb. 7. Soft Matter is the premier journal in the ...

VIDEO: University of Cincinnati researcher Jason Heikenfeld is part of an internationally prestigious team that specializes in research and development of e-devices. Based on his work, he provides a top ten... Click here for more information. The just-released February issue of the Journal of the Society for Information Display contains the first-ever critical review of current and future prospects for electronic paper functions – in other words reviewing and critiquing ...

This release is available in Spanish. University of Granada scientists and the Spanish Higher Institute for Scientific Research (CSIC) have made significant progress in understanding lipid membranes, which are extensively employed in the development of cosmetic and drug products, and which have potential application in the field of nanotechnology. Phospholipid vesicles (liposomes) are colloidal systems that arise considerable interest from the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industry, since they are biocompatible in protein, nucleic acid, drug, etc encapsulation. ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Despite the intent of recent mental health "parity" legislation, including the Affordable Care Act, even steep reductions in co-pays for outpatient mental health care will not motivate more seniors in managed care plans to seek that care, according to a new study by Brown University researchers. Parity measures, included in laws passed in 2008 and 2010, end an insurance industry practice of charging higher co-pays for mental health care than for other care. While the laws will allow many seniors who undergo treatment to save money, ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Without fanfare, hundreds of thousands of children surrender their tonsils to a surgeon's scalpel each year, usually to alleviate recurring infections and obstructive sleep problems. Most of the time, the snipped tonsils are sent to a pathologist, who looks for evidence of more serious medical problems, like unsuspected cancer. But this common practice may not be cost-effective because those additional examinations rarely lead to the discovery of hidden disease, a new University of Michigan Heath System analysis shows. The approximately $35 million ...

This release is available in German. Eating a healthier diet, getting more exercise and doing more sports – lots of people recommit themselves to these goals over and over. But one's baser instincts are often stronger and invincible. On the couch in the evening, you take stock of the day only to admit that you have failed to rally once again. And yet, physical fitness is now considered a remedy for many illnesses. Particularly for older people, daily exercise is important – not only during rehabilitation following major surgery but also for one's general sense of physical ...

Up until now it was unknown whether males of the great bustard (Otis tarda), an emblematic bird in Spain and endangered at a global level, transmit information on their weight, size, and age through their plumage. For the first time a study shows that the 'beards' and the design of the neck are "reliable" indicators of the weight and age of their bearers, and are used to both avoid fights with competitors and to attract females. "The heaviest males (best physical condition) make it known to other males through the length and number of 'beards', and thereby avoid bloody ...

This release is available in German. Product piracy long ago ceased to be limited exclusively to the consumer goods sector. Industry, too, is increasingly having to combat this problem. Cheap fakes cost business dear: The German mechanical and plant engineering sector alone lost 6.4 billion euros of revenue in 2010, according to a survey by the German Engineering Federation (VDMA). Sales losses aside, low-quality counterfeits can also damage a company's brand image. Worse, they can even put people's lives at risk if they are used in areas where safety is paramount, ...

Scientists have discovered that the animal with the most genes--about 31,000--is the near-microscopic freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulex, or water flea. By comparison, humans have about 23,000 genes. Daphnia is the first crustacean to have its genome sequenced. The water flea's genome is described in a Science paper published this week by members of the Daphnia Genomics Consortium, an international network of scientists led by the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics (CGB) at Indiana University (IU) Bloomington and the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute. "Daphnia's ...

The aggressive wolverine may not be powerful enough to survive climate change in the contiguous United States, new research concludes. Wolverine habitat in the northwestern United States is likely to warm dramatically if society continues to emit large amounts of greenhouse gases, according to new computer model simulations carried out at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo. "The researchers have combined regional-scale climate projections with knowledge of a single species and its unique habitat to examine its vulnerability to a changing ...

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Loyola University Health System researchers are reporting on a promising new approach to treating diabetic wounds, bed sores, chronic ulcers and other slow-to-heal wounds. It may be possible to speed healing by suppressing certain immune system cells, researchers wrote in the February, 2011, issue of the journal Expert Review of Dermatology. The cells are called neutrophils and natural killer T (NKT) cells. These white blood cells act to kill bacteria and other germs that can infect wounds. NKT cells also recruit other white blood cells to the site ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Although the effects of the controversial health care reform act will be somewhat muted for many older Americans, it will inevitably have enough of an impact that seniors will discover that there is plenty to like and dislike about the law, a University of Illinois expert on elder law cautions in published research. Law professor Richard L. Kaplan says the virtues of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 are a "mixed bag," and how it will affect any one person depends on that person's specific situation. "You have to expect some negative ...