ATHENS, Ohio (April 12, 2011) – Birds are known more for their senses of vision and hearing than smell, but new research suggests that millions of years ago, the winged critters also boasted a better sense for scents. A study published today by scientists at the University of Calgary, the Royal Tyrrell Museum and the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine tested the long-standing view that during the evolution from dinosaurs to birds, the sense of smell declined as birds developed heightened senses of vision, hearing and balance for flight. The team compared ...

Individuals with fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability, often develop epilepsy, but so far the underlying causes are unknown. Researchers have now discovered a potential mechanism that may contribute to the link between epilepsy and fragile X syndrome. The protein that is missing in fragile X syndrome, FMRP, controls the production of a protein that regulates electrical signals in brain cells, scientists at Emory University School of Medicine have found. The results were published April 13 in the Journal of Neuroscience. Individuals ...

In recent years, the United States has seen one of the most uncertain economic times in its history. The housing market has suffered perhaps more than any other area of our economy. According to CoreLogic, over 10.8 million homes are underwater, where the borrower owes more than the home is worth. That number is actually down from the second quarter of 2010, when over 11 million properties were underwater. But CoreLogic cautions that the decline in the number of properties with negative equity may be a result of a spike in foreclosures as opposed to a rebound in the ...

An appetite-stimulating hormone causes people and animals to sniff odors more often and with greater sensitivity, according to a new study in the April 13 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings suggest ghrelin may enhance the ability to find and identify food. Researchers led by Jenny Tong, MD, and Matthias Tschöp, MD, at the University of Cincinnati found the appetite-related hormone also influences smell. The new study shows ghrelin, made mainly in the stomach, binds to molecules in the brain's olfactory bulb, suggesting the hormone is directly involved in ...

Older adults at risk for stroke have significantly increased risk for some types of cognitive decline, according to a multicenter study led by University of California scientists. The study, which involved 73 older women and men who had not had a stroke and did not have dementia, showed that participants had substantially greater risk for decline in some aspects of "executive function" – specifically in verbal fluency and the ability to ignore irrelevant information. Verbal memory and short term, or "working memory," were not affected. The finding is reported in a ...

Travelzest owned VFB Holidays has revealed it is cutting the cost of going to France with a special promotional offer on return ferry crossings, running right through till the 30th of April 2011. The special offers will mean that customers can book a holiday cottage in France with VFB Holidays at any time during the month of April 2011 and they will get a discounted rate on a return ferry crossing with Sea France, which will save them GBP226 on the normal peak crossing rate for a car. The offer is exclusive to VFB Holidays and gives travellers the ability to make ...

Mothers' exposure during pregnancy to pollutants created by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and other organic material may lead to behavioral problems in their children, according to a new study. Researchers found that within a sample of 215 children monitored from birth, those children with high levels of a pollution exposure marker in their cord blood had more symptoms of attention problems and anxiety/depression at ages 5 and 7 than did children with lower exposure. The study, "PAH/Aromatic DNA Adducts in Cord Blood and Behavior Scores in New York City Children," ...

Osteoporosis constitutes a major public health problem through its association with age-related fractures, most notably those of the hip. As life expectancy rises around the world, along with the number of elderly people in every geographic region, the incidence of hip fractures is estimated to reach 6.3 million in 2050 - assuming a constant age-specific rate of fracture in men and women. A new review paper by a scientific working group of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) shows however that age-specific hip fracture rates have changed during recent decades ...

Animal and bird species found only on a single island should still be common within that island. This is the finding of a new model developed by researchers from the University of Leeds and Imperial College London. The model could apply both to actual islands and isolated areas of habitat on the mainland that are home to unique species, such as the table top mountains of South America. The natural history of islands is littered with examples of unusual species found only in one place, such as the Hawaiian Goose, Galápagos Tortoises and Dodo that may once have been ...

Cutting Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions by a half within 20 years is achievable, a study suggests. Scientists say greener transport and cleaner power generation could help deliver big savings on CO2 emissions. The researchers say the use of smart meters for homes and businesses, improved recycling, and greener building designs could make a difference. They also recommend carbon capture and storage to reduce emissions from carbon-intensive industry and coal-fired power plants. The study, carried out at the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences and Business ...

SENTIDO has been recognised by HolidayCheck, the largest German language travel and holiday portal on the web, with the hotel company winning three awards. The four-star SENTIDO hotel Djerba Beach has enjoyed an especially large number of satisfied guests and so has captured the HolidayCheck Award 2011. It was voted one of the world's 99 most popular hotels and one of the best resorts in the category "Popular among guests aged below 30". The four-star SENTIDO Djerba Beach is located on Djerba, Tunisia, not far from the island's capital of Houmt Souk and 25 kilometres ...

Current UK and European policies on biofuels encourage unethical practices, says a report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics today following an 18-month inquiry. Policies such as the European Renewable Energy Directive are particularly weak when it comes to protecting the environment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and avoiding human rights violations in developing countries. They also include few incentives for the development of new biofuel technologies that could help avoid these problems. "Biofuels are one of the only renewable alternatives we have for transport ...

Natural gas extracted from shale formations has a greater greenhouse gas footprint - in the form of methane emissions - than conventional gas, oil and coal over a 20 year period. This calls into question the logic of its use as a climate-friendly alternative to fossil fuels, according to Robert Howarth and colleagues, from Cornell University in New York. Their work (1) is published online in Springer's journal, Climatic Change Letters (2). Shale gas* has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States over the past decade. Howarth and team ...

Grand Imperial London has put a spin on authentic Hong Kong cuisine by creating a collection of exquisite chocolate dim sum dumplings - ideal for chocolate lovers looking to indulge in an Easter celebration with Asian flair. Each crispy dumpling is freshly prepared and filled with a warm silky chocolate sauce made with 70% cacao. The platter comes with four individual parcels; the crispy 'Canton Cracker' pastry, the 'Pumpkin Bundle', a miniature pumpkin made with pumpkin essence and lemon zest, the 'Cashew Crescent', a half moon pastry topped with cashew nuts and icing ...

A new study finds that the general public thinks getting a suntan poses a greater public health risk than nanotechnology or other nanoparticle applications. The study, from North Carolina State University, compared survey respondents' perceived risk of nanoparticles with 23 other public-health risks. The study is the first to compare the public's perception of the risks associated with nanoparticles to other environmental and health safety risks. Researchers found that nanoparticles are perceived as being a relatively low risk. "For example, 19 of the other public-health ...

This release is available in German. Reactive nitrogen compounds from agriculture, transport, and industry lead to increased emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) from forests in Europe. Nitrous oxide emission from forest soils is at least twice as high as estimated so far by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This is one of the key messages of the first study on nitrogen in Europe (European Nitrogen Assessment, ENA) that is presented this week at the International Conference "Nitrogen and Global Change 2011" in Edinburgh, Scotland. Reactive ...

Northern Rock has announced the launch of its Easy ISA Issue 2. Following the success of its recently launched Easy ISA, Northern Rock has improved the variable rate cash ISA account, which offers a competitive tax-free* interest rate for a minimum deposit of just GBP1. Easy ISA can now be opened and administered by post, as well as in branch. The Easy ISA Issue 2 account provides a variable rate of interest, and easy access to savings funds. With a minimum deposit of GBP1, a competitive flat rate of 2.65% tax free*/AER** pa, and the option to transfer across any ...

By cleverly linking five Wii Balance Boards, a team of Rice University undergraduates has combined the appeal of a video game with the utility of a computerized motion-tracking system that can enhance the progress of patients at Shriners Hospital for Children-Houston. The Rice engineering students created the new device using components of the popular Nintendo game system to create a balance training system. What the kids may see as a fun video game is really a sophisticated way to help them advance their skills. The Wii Balance Boards lined up between handrails will ...

NewBlue, Inc., the fastest growing provider of integrated video effects technologies, and CommNexus, a nonprofit technology industry association that works to accelerate the success of the technology industry in the region, today announces that NewBlue has been accepted into EvoNexus, San Diego's only community-supported, fully pro-bono technology incubator. Founded by proven, experienced entrepreneurs in digital media, NewBlue was created on the premise that video would become an integral part of popular culture and a critical player in the consumer marketplace. EvoNexus ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Many patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) worry how quickly the disease will progress. Now, by noting the presence of certain markers in a commonly performed diagnostic test, Mayo Clinic researchers can predict whether patients will suffer a faster onset of disability and counsel them to help ease anxiety. The research is being presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. Progressive MS is a disease of the central nervous system that can damage the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Over time, this damage ...

All of those Twitter tweets and Facebook friends may have value after all, according to Penn State researchers. Updates on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other real-time content sites could be worth more than $30 million a day, or nearly $10.9 billion a year, to advertisers, said Jim Jansen, associate professor, information sciences and technology. "Real-time content is particularly interesting because it's a window into a person's world at a particular moment in time," said Jansen. "What we wanted to determine is if real-time search could be monetized." Jansen defines ...

A Johns Hopkins study of 769 men from across the United States recently diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer shows that forgoing immediate surgery to remove the tumor or radiation poses no added risk of death. Delaying treatment is fine, the results show, so long as the cancer's progression and tumor growth are closely monitored through "active surveillance" and there is no dramatic worsening of the disease over time. None of the men, mostly 65 and older, have so far died from prostate cancer since the study began in 1995. However, one-third of study participants, ...

Mortgage shoppers in the UK may be interested in new research from Lloyds TSB which shows property sales have fallen significantly across England and Wales since 2007 amid a widening North-South housing divide. The number of property sales in England and Wales has almost halved over the past three years, but there has been a clear North-South divide with property sales in the South down by 42% compared with a 51% drop in the North1. Overall, there were 649,957 home sales in England and Wales in 2010; 47% less than in 2007 (1,222,402). The South West sees the smallest ...

AUSTIN, Texas-Drinking alcohol primes certain areas of our brain to learn and remember better, says a new study from the Waggoner Center for Alcohol and Addiction Research at The University of Texas at Austin. The common view that drinking is bad for learning and memory isn't wrong, says neurobiologist Hitoshi Morikawa, but it highlights only one side of what ethanol consumption does to the brain. "Usually, when we talk about learning and memory, we're talking about conscious memory," says Morikawa, whose results were published last month in The Journal of Neuroscience. ...

This release is available in German. The expectations people have about how others will behave play a large role in determining whether people cooperate with each other or not. And moreover that very first expectation, or impression, is hard to change. "This is particularly true when the impression is a negative one," says Michael Kurschilgen from the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn, summarising the key findings of a study in which he and his colleagues Christoph Engel and Sebastian Kube examined the results of so-called public good games. ...