Prenatal micronutrient supplementation boosts children's cognition in Nepal
2010-12-22
In developing countries where iron deficiency is prevalent, prenatal iron-folic acid supplementation increased offspring intellectual and motor functioning during school age, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They examined the intellectual and motor functioning of children whose mothers received micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy and found that aspects of intellectual functioning including working memory, inhibitory control, and fine motor functioning were positively associated with prenatal iron and folic acid ...
Beautiful people convey personality traits better during first impressions
2010-12-22
A new University of British Columbia study has found that people identify the personality traits of people who are physically attractive more accurately than others during short encounters.
The study, published in the December edition of Psychological Science, suggests people pay closer attention to people they find attractive, and is the latest scientific evidence of the advantages of perceived beauty. Previous research has shown that individuals tend to find attractive people more intelligent, friendly and competent than others.
The goal of the study was to determine ...
Science advisor to the US EPA to speak to industry, academic leaders on sustainability innovations
2010-12-22
TUCSON, Ariz. (December 21, 2010) -- A researcher known widely for his groundbreaking work on the design, manufacture and use of minimally toxic, environmentally friendly chemicals will speak to sustainability practitioners on Jan. 12.
Dr. Paul Anastas, science advisor to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD), is speaking at the International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering, ICOSSE '11, in Tucson, Ariz. This is only the second meeting of ICOSSE and this conference ...
34 percent of Galician secondary schools exceed maximum recommended radon levels
2010-12-22
Researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) have analysed levels of radon, a natural radioactive gas, in 58 secondary schools in Galicia. The results show that 34% of these schools exceed the limit of 400 Bequerels/m3 recommended by the European Union. Excessive inhalation of radon is associated with lung cancer.
"Out of all the secondary schools where samples were taken, 34% had radon levels in excess of 400 Bequerels/m3 in some of their classrooms or offices", Juan José Llerena, co-author of the study and a member of the USC's Radiation Analysis ...
Blue-green algae tested for treating ALS
2010-12-22
Nutritional supplementation with Spirulina, a nutrient-rich, blue-green algae, appeared to provide neuroprotective support for dying motor neurons in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, University of South Florida neuroscientists have found. Although more research is needed, they suggest that a spirulina-supplemented diet may provide clinical benefits for ALS patients.
A spirulina dietary supplement was shown to delay the onset of motor symptoms and disease progression, reducing inflammatory markers and motor neuron ...
Mathematical model forecasts fewer workplace accidents in 2011 and 2012
2010-12-22
The number of workplace accidents in Spain will fall progressively over 2011 and 2012, according to the predictions made by a mathematical model developed by researchers from the University of Castilla-La Mancha. The biggest drop will be in the number of accidents that take place during travel between people's homes and places of work.
Two researchers from the University of Castilla-La Mancha have combined mathematical models (univariate and multivariate) to generate a new one that makes it possible to predict the evolution of workplace accidents at varying levels of ...
Fruit fly study digs deeper into poorly understood details of forming embryos
2010-12-22
CINCINNATI – Using fruit flies as a model to study embryo formation, scientists report in Nature Cell Biology that molecular breakdown of a protein called Bicoid is vital to normal head-to-tail patterning of the insect's offspring.
Published online by the journal Dec. 19, the study shows how Bicoid is targeted for molecular degradation by a newly identified protein the researchers named Fates-shifted (Fsd). Without the interaction between Bicoid and Fsd, fruit fly embryos are improperly formed and misshaped, according to scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical ...
Reading 'Avatar's' DNA
2010-12-22
Tel Aviv -- You know when you're watching a pirated film downloaded from the Internet -- there's no mistaking the fuzzy footage, or the guy in the front row getting up for popcorn. Despite the poor quality, pirated video is a serious problem around the world. Criminal copyright infringement occurs on a massive scale over the Internet, costing the film industry -- and the U.S. economy -- billions of dollars annually.
Now Dr. Alex Bronstein of Tel Aviv University's Department of Electrical Engineering has a new way to stop video pirates. With his twin brother Michael and ...
Preserving a piece of history, whatever the weather
2010-12-22
The Whitworth Meteorological Observatory is a fully-automated, state of the art meteorological facility, replacing the original observatory set up and located in Whitworth Park in August 1892.
The new site, funded by the legacy of Sir Joseph Whitworth, will fulfil his wish to maintain the original observatory as a source of data for scientific, education and popular interest following the demise of the original in 1958.
Data from the new observatory will be used in support of scientific research projects focusing on urban climatology.
They will also be used to support ...
BUSM researchers uncover cellular mechanism responsible for chronic inflammation, Type 2 diabetes
2010-12-22
(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have demonstrated that certain T cells require input from monocytes in order to maintain their pro-inflammatory response in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The study also showed, for the first time, how a loss in homeostasis in this group of T cells most likely promotes chronic inflammation associated with T2D.
Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD, an associate professor of microbiology and medicine at BUSM, is the senior author of the study, which is currently featured in an online edition of the Journal ...
New Miscanthus hybrid discovery in Japan could open doors for biofuel industry
2010-12-22
In the minds of many, Miscanthus x giganteus is the forerunner in the race of viable feedstock options for lignocellulosic bioenergy production. But researchers believe "putting all their eggs in one basket" could be a big mistake. Scientists at the University of Illinois recently reported the first natural occurrence in several decades of Miscanthus hybrid plants in Japan.
"If M. x giganteus is the only variety available, there are certainly risks involved such as diseases or pests causing widespread establishment problems or yield losses," said Ryan Stewart, assistant ...
Tumor cells in blood may signal worse prognosis in head and neck cancer patients
2010-12-22
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study suggests that the presence of tumor cells in the circulating blood of patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck may predict disease recurrence and reduced survival. An increased number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) also correlates with a worse outcome.
Those are the early findings from an ongoing, prospective study of the prognostic importance of CTCs by a team of researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
The study is ...
Smoking may worsen pain for cancer patients
2010-12-22
Philadelphia, PA, December 21, 2010 – The relationship between smoking and cancer is well established. In a study published in the January 2011 issue of Pain, researchers report evidence to suggest that cancer patients who continue to smoke despite their diagnosis experience greater pain than nonsmokers. They found that for a wide range of cancer types and for cancers in stages I to IV, smoking was associated with increased pain severity and the extent to which pain interfered with a patient's daily routine.
"To elucidate important relations between pain and smoking among ...
Being good moms couldn't save the woolly mammoth
2010-12-22
VIDEO:
Western Ph.D. student Jessica Metcalfe discusses the reasons why woolly mammoths roaming the Yukon Territories thousands of years ago waited so long to eat plants and how she and her...
Click here for more information.
New research from The University of Western Ontario leads investigators to believe that woolly mammoths living north of the Arctic Circle during the Pleistocene Epoch (approx. 150,000 to 40,000 years ago) began weaning infants up to three years later than ...
Parents favor genetic testing for melanoma in their children
2010-12-22
Salt Lake City, Dec.21, 2010—The vast majority of parents who tested positive for a genetic mutation that increases the risk of melanoma (the most serious form of skin cancer) support genetic testing of their children or grandchildren. Results of the two-year study at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U) appear in the December issue of the journal Genetics in Medicine. The data could lead to the establishment of formal, evidence-based guidelines for genetic testing of people younger than 18 years.
The study, led by Sancy A. Leachman, M.D., ...
Top research highlighted in fight against heart disease and stroke
2010-12-22
Research on reducing risks, improving medical treatment and improving lifestyle behaviors to fight the battle against heart disease and stroke are among the key scientific findings that make up this year's top cardiovascular and stroke research recognized by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
The association has been compiling an annual list of the top 10 major advances in heart disease and stroke research since 1996. This year, for the first time, two separate lists have been compiled that highlight the top ten research advances in each respective ...
The universe's most massive stars can form in near isolation, new study finds
2010-12-22
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---New observations by University of Michigan astronomers add weight to the theory that the most massive stars in the universe could form essentially anywhere, including in near isolation; they don't need a large stellar cluster nursery.
This is the most detailed observational study to date of massive stars that appear (from the ground) to be alone. The scientists used the Hubble Space Telescope to zoom in on eight of these giants, which range from 20 to 150 times as massive as the Sun. The stars they looked at are in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf ...
Seminal papers on election law and election administration
2010-12-22
New Rochelle, NY, December 21, 2010—A festschrift honoring Daniel H. Lowenstein, a pioneering legal scholar, Professor at UCLA School of Law, and Founding Co-Editor of Election Law Journal, who devoted his career to advancing election law and campaign finance reform, highlights the current issue of Election Law Journal, a peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The issue is available free online.
"Dan quite literally founded the field of election law," says UCLA School of Law professor and colleague of Lowenstein's, Adam Winkler in his introduction. Winkler ...
Women war veterans face higher risk of mental health problems during pregnancy
2010-12-22
New Rochelle, NY, December 21, 2010—Pregnancy among women veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan appears to increase their risk for mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a study published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The paper is available free online.
The stress associated with military service in a war zone may later contribute to an increased risk of mental health problems if a woman veteran becomes pregnant. Because the hormonal ...
Long-lasting chemicals threaten the environment and human health
2010-12-22
Every hour, an enormous quantity and variety of manmade chemicals, having reached the end of their useful lifespan, flood into wastewater treatment plants. These large-scale processing facilities, however, are designed only to remove nutrients, turbidity and oxygen-depleting human waste, and not the multitude of chemicals put to residential, institutional, commercial and industrial use. So what happens to these chemicals, some of which may be toxic to humans and the environment? Do they get destroyed during wastewater treatment or do they wind up in the environment with ...
CSHL scientists show in unprecedented detail how cortical nerve cells form synapses with neighbors
2010-12-22
Cold Spring Harbor, NY-- Newly published research led by Professor Z. Josh Huang, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) sheds important new light on how neurons in the developing brain make connections with one another. This activity, called synapse validation, is at the heart of the process by which neural circuits self-assemble, and is directly implicated in pathology that gives rise to devastating neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and schizophrenia.
In the mammalian brain, even in its early stages of postnatal development, the cortex, the seat ...
Obesity increases risk of death in severe vehicle crashes, study shows
2010-12-22
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Moderately and morbidly obese persons face many health issues -- heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, gallbladder disease and others.
Now, increased chances of dying while driving during a severe auto accident can be added to the list.
In a severe motor vehicle crash, a moderately obese driver faces a 21 percent increased risk of death, while the morbidly obese face a 56 percent increased risk of not surviving, according to a study posted online ahead of print in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Dietrich Jehle, MD, professor of ...
Polar bears no longer on 'thin ice': researchers say polar bears could face brighter future
2010-12-22
VIDEO:
Science team placing radio collars on polar bears.
Click here for more information.
PORTLAND, Ore. December 21, 2010. "When I first picked up the cub, she was biting my hand," explains wildlife biologist Bruce Marcot. He was trying to calm the squirming cub while its sedated mother slept nearby.
In the snowy spring of 2009, Portland-based Marcot traveled with several colleagues onto the frozen Arctic Ocean north of Alaska to study and survey polar bear populations. ...
Psychologists find skill in recognizing faces peaks after age 30
2010-12-22
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 21, 2010 -- Scientists have made the surprising discovery that our ability to recognize and remember faces peaks at age 30 to 34, about a decade later than most of our other mental abilities.
Researchers Laura T. Germine and Ken Nakayama of Harvard University and Bradley Duchaine of Dartmouth College will present their work in a forthcoming issue of the journal Cognition.
While prior evidence had suggested that face recognition might be slow to mature, Germine says few scientists had suspected that it might continue building for so many years ...
Shopping differences between sexes show evolution at work
2010-12-22
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The last-minute holiday dash is on: Men tend to rush in for their prized item, pay, and leave. Women study the fabrics, color, texture and price.
The hunting and gathering ritual of yesteryear continues today in malls around the world. Understanding the shopping behavior of your partner can help relieve stress at the stores, according to a researcher at the University of Michigan.
Daniel Kruger of the U-M School of Public Health says that gathering edible plants and fungi is traditionally done by women. In modern terms, think of filling a basket by ...
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