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Science13 Apr 2011

Retired Expats' Worries about Weak Pound

A survey by Lloyds TSB International has found that retired Britons stationed abroad are increasingly concerned about the falling value of the Sterling. - Concerns about reduced pensions income, new research finds - More than two thirds of expat pensioners now worried about currency fluctuations - Pensioners shifting bank accounts offshore as Sterling weakness continues Lloyds TSB International Banking has conducted a survey that shows a growing concern among expat pensioners about their money in the wake of the financial crisis. Over two thirds of respondents to ...

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Space13 Apr 2011

Report provides NASA with direction for next 10 years of space research

COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬— During the past 60 years, humans have built rockets, walked on the moon and explored the outer reaches of space with probes and telescopes. During these trips in space, research has been conducted to learn more about life and space. Recently, a group of prominent researchers from across the country published a report through the National Academy of Sciences that is intended as a guide as NASA plans the next 10 years of research in space. Rob Duncan, the University of Missouri Vice Chancellor for Research, led the team that developed a blueprint for fundamental ...

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Science13 Apr 2011

Bruegger's Offers 2011 Tax Day Special

This year, Bruegger's, a national bagel leader with more than 300 locations across the U.S., is offering IRS-weary guests its popular Big Bagel Bundles for just $10.40. Because of this year's tax day extension, Bruegger's will offer the deal from April 15 through April 18, 2011. Tax day may have lightened guests' wallets, but Bruegger's wants to help them enjoy America's Best Bagels at a special price. With 13 bagels and two tubs of Bruegger's cream cheese included, a Big Bagel Bundle for $10.40 is a big savings on a gift to share with friends and colleagues or a treat ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Clinical study suggests estrogen levels and breast health can be altered

WASHINGTON, D.C… April 11, 2011 … Researchers from Canada and the United States today told attendees of the Experimental Biology 2011 Scientific Meeting that they have uncovered a possible means of enabling women to favorably influence whether the estrogens in their bodies take a "beneficial path" or a "disease-potential" path. The researchers tested a nutritional combination of indole-3 carbinol, milk thistle extract, calcium-D-glucarate, Schizandra chinensis fruit extract, stinging nettle, lignans extracted from the Norway spruce, and vitamin D (a combination available ...

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Environment12 Apr 2011

Cephalopods experience massive acoustic trauma from noise pollution in the oceans

Noise pollution in the oceans has been shown to cause physical and behavioral changes in marine life, especially in dolphins and whales, which rely on sound for daily activities. However, low frequency sound produced by large scale, offshore activities is also suspected to have the capacity to cause harm to other marine life as well. Giant squid, for example, were found along the shores of Asturias, Spain in 2001 and 2003 following the use of airguns by offshore vessels and examinations eliminated all known causes of lesions in these species, suggesting that the squid deaths ...

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Science12 Apr 2011

Corticosteroid use during pregnancy not linked to facial clefts in infants

The use of corticosteroids during pregnancy does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of orofacial clefts in infants, according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101063.pdf. Many previous studies have shown associated risks with use of oral corticosteroids, although they were small studies. Corticosteroids are used for asthma, allergies, eczema and psoriasis, autoimmune diseases and cancer. Use of corticosteroids during pregnancy has been associated with orofacial clefts ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Obesity may shut down circadian clock in the cardiovascular system

WASHINGTON, DC – Obese individuals typically suffer more medical problems than their leaner counterparts. They are more likely to be diagnosed with insulin resistance, diabetes, increased stress hormones, hypothyroidism, and sleep apnea. Researchers at the Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta have also found the potential for something else, using an animal model. They have found that a master clock gene – which regulates the cardiovascular system – does not fluctuate regularly as it does in non-obese animals. This means that a key gene clock of the cardiovascular ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

UCSF scientists discover link between inflammation and pancreatic cancer

Solving part of a medical mystery, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have established a link between molecules found in an inflamed pancreas and the early formation of pancreatic cancer – a discovery that may help scientists identify new ways to detect, monitor and treat this deadly disease. Scientists have known for many years that pancreatitis, a painfully inflamed pancreas, is a common risk factor for pancreatic cancer – along with things like smoking and diet. But nobody knew exactly why. Now the UCSF team, led by Matthias Hebrok, Ph.D., ...

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Space12 Apr 2011

Space jets in a bottle

By creating space-like conditions in a slim 4m vessel, Italian researchers have helped confirm the behaviour of astrophysical jets – streams of charged particles shot out by supermassive black holes and young stars, which stretch several hundred thousand light years across space. The streams of initially charged particles – known as astrophysical jets - which can travel close to the speed of light have previously only been understood through computer simulations but are now being brought to life in lab-produced vacuums. Research published today, Tuesday, 12 April, in ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Social wasps show how bigger brains provide complex cognition

Across many groups of animals, species with bigger brains often have better cognitive abilities. But it's been unclear whether overall brain size or the size of specific brain areas is the key. New findings by neurobiologists at the University of Washington suggest that both patterns are important. The researchers found that bigger-bodied social wasps had larger brains and devoted up to three times more of their brain tissue to regions that coordinate social interactions, learning, memory and other complex behaviors. Within a species, queens had larger central processing ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Haiti cholera epidemic could have been blunted with use of mobile stockpile of oral vaccine

SEATTLE – Had a large stockpile of oral cholera vaccine been available and deployed to inoculate the majority of Haitians most at risk after the outbreak following last year's earthquake, the illness and death from the cholera epidemic could have been reduced by about half, according to new research. The findings, by Ira Longini, Ph.D., and colleagues in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, are published in the April 11, 2011 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using computer models ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Scientists ignore cultural barriers to find the cause of a rare disease

CAMBRIDGE, Mass (April 11, 2011)—In a research collaboration blind to affairs of politics, ethnicity, and religion, an international team led by Israeli scientists has identified the genetic cause of a neurological disorder afflicting members of a Palestinian family. By combining the latest genome sequencing technology with a sophisticated "guilt-by-association" technique known as disease-network analysis, the team from Whitehead Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem has found a heretofore unknown genetic mutation responsible ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Nasal spray vaccines more effective against flu

Nasal vaccines that effectively protect against flu, pneumonia and even bioterrorism agents such as Yersinia pestis that causes the plague, could soon be a possibility, according to research presented at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate. Professor Dennis Metzger describes how including a natural immune chemical with standard vaccines can boost their protective effect when delivered through the nose. The respiratory tract is a major entry site for various viral and bacterial pathogens. However there are few approved vaccines that can ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Is the wrist bone connected to heart risk?

Measuring the wrist bone may be a new way to identify which overweight children and adolescents face an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to research in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. "This is the first evidence that wrist circumference is highly correlated to evidence of insulin resistance," said Raffaella Buzzetti, M.D., senior study author and professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy. "Wrist circumference is easily measured and if our work is confirmed by future studies, ...

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Physics12 Apr 2011

Diesel-engine exhaust filter reduces harmful particles by 98 percent

A commercially available particle trap can filter microscopic pollutants in diesel-engine exhaust and prevent about 98 percent of them from reaching the air, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. Inhaling exhaust particles increases the risk of dying from heart and lung diseases. Air pollution, including diesel exhaust as a major contributor, causes 800,000 premature deaths annually in the world, according to the World Health Organization. "This study focused on cardiovascular effects in men exposed in the laboratory ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Bacteria in wasp antennae produce antibiotic cocktails

Bacteria that grow in the antennae of wasps help ward off fungal threats by secreting a 'cocktail' of antibiotics explains a scientist at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate. Dr Martin Kaltenpoth describes how this is the first known example of non-human animals using a combination prophylaxis strategy similar to the one used in human medicine. This discovery could help us find novel antimicrobials for human use and lead to more effective strategies for using them. Female beewolf digger wasps cultivate symbiotic Streptomyces bacteria ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Combating plant diseases is key for sustainable crops

Climate change is likely to make plants more vulnerable to infectious disease, which will threaten crop yield and impact on the price and availability of food. Dr Adrian Newton, presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate, explains how exploiting diversity in crops is the best option to improve food security in a changing climate. Pest and disease management has helped double food production in the last 40 years, but 10-16% of the global harvest is still lost to plant diseases each year costing an estimated US$220 billion. ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Vitamin D may help reduce heart risk in African-Americans

WASHINGTON – In recent years supplementation with Vitamin D has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people who are deficient in the vitamin. Now new research from the Georgia Prevention Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta indicates that supplementation with the "sunshine vitamin" may be particularly beneficial for overweight African-American adults, a population at increased risk for both CVD and Vitamin D deficiency. According to Ryan A. Harris, PhD, assistant professor, the Georgia team's research suggests that Vitamin ...

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Science12 Apr 2011

Women's voices remain steady throughout the month

WASHINGTON – In recent years several studies have suggested that women's voices change at different times over the menstrual cycle, with the tone rising as ovulation approaches. Now a study conducted by researchers at the West Texas A&M University in which women's voices were subjected to computerized acoustical analysis contradicts those findings. After assessing 175 samples provided by 35 study participants at various points throughout the menstrual cycles, the researchers say that changes in hormonal status have no significant impact on eight distinct voice parameters. Neal ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Therapeutically promising new findings for combating hypertension and cardiovascular disease

WASHINGTON – More than one-third of the world's population suffers from hypertension (commonly known as high blood pressure) and cardiovascular disease (disorders that affect the heart and/or blood vessels). The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research has reported that Americans spent $29 billion for non-prescription cardiovascular drugs alone in 2008. With the number of individuals afflicted on the rise, and the costs for treatment on the increase, scientists and policymakers are looking for new approaches to combat these disorders. A team of Wisconsin and Texas ...

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Science12 Apr 2011

Primary care targeted for suicide prevention efforts

Forty-five percent of the 32,000 Americans who take their own lives each year visit their primary care provider within one month of their death. Ninety percent have a mental health or substance abuse disorder, or both. Yet only in the last decade has suicide been considered a preventable public health problem. "In our society, we have separated mental health and physical health for quite some time," said Dr. Judith Salzer, Associate Dean for Strategic Management at the Georgia Health Sciences University College of Nursing. Salzer, a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Pharmacogenetics testing offers way to reduce deaths from drug toxicity

On average, a drug on the market works effectively for only 50% of the people who take it. Would you want to prevent a potential adverse drug effect or even toxicity through a simple test? It's not science fiction, but a reality. Pharmacogenetics (PGx) is the study of an individual's variation in DNA sequence related to drug response. The goal is to select the right drug at the right dose, and to avoid adverse drug reactions or ineffective treatment. Dr. Tara Sander, Associate Professor of Pathology, Pediatric Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, and Scientific Director ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Empire Medical Training Offers Great New Way to Train Your Medical Staff - Send 3 Office Members at a Time

Empire Medical Training - a recognized source for CME Education and Procedural Training for the past 10 years - knows how difficult it can be to schedule trainings for a larger practice. That's why they've created their Office Membership Program. A great new way to train staff, large practices can send up to three staff members to all of Empire's training programs - including their incredibly popular Advanced Aesthetic Workshop - over the course of two years - all for one incredibly low price. About Empire Medical Training's Office Membership Program: Instead of ...

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Engineering12 Apr 2011

Tissue engineers use new system to measure biomaterials, structures

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Tissue engineering makes biologists builders, but compared to their civil engineering counterparts, they don't know much about the properties of the materials and structures they use, namely living cells. To improve that knowledge, Brown University researchers have developed a simple and reliable system for measuring the power that cells employ to assemble into three-dimensional tissue. The research appears online the week of April 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition to helping engineers evaluate how ...

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Medicine12 Apr 2011

Distribution of cancers in the HIV/AIDS population is shifting

As treatments for HIV/AIDS improve and patients are living longer, the distribution of cancers in this population has undergone a dramatic shift in the United States. While cases of the types of cancer that have been associated with AIDS progression have decreased, cases of other types of cancer are on the rise. These results, reported by scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were published online April 11, 2011, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The ...

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