Washington, DC, 22 October 2010 — Autism was described as early as 1940, but a marked increase in the prevalence for the broader class of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) during the past decade highlights the demand for treatment of affected individuals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the prevalence of ASD was one in 110 children in 2006 and increased at an average annual rate of 57% between 2002 and 2006.1 The rising prevalence has heightened concern about the financial impact of treating ASDs in the private and public health care ...

A variant of last year's pandemic influenza linked to fatal cases carried a mutation that enabled it to infect a different subset of cells lining the airway, according to new research. The study, due to be published next week in the Journal of Virology, suggests that the mutant virus could have impaired the lungs' ability to clear out germs. The researchers behind the study, from Imperial College London, the Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research and the University of Marburg said the findings highlight the potential for deadlier strains of flu ...

BOSTON—Compared with adult cancer patients, parents of children with cancer were more likely to be dissatisfied with the informed consent process for participating in clinical trials, according to a study from Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center. The findings will be presented at the 42nd Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) in Boston on Saturday, Oct. 23. Parents who had agreed to their children's enrollment in treatment trials said they felt hurried in making the decision, the researchers said. They also perceived themselves ...

The bankers who brought the global economy to its knees two years ago may have enjoyed the sensation of losing hundreds of billions of pounds and plunging the world into recession, according to an academic at Cardiff University. In an article published in Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, Dr Paul Crosthwaite claims that the willingness of banks to deal in sub-prime loans and related derivatives, which were bound to result in disastrous losses, can only be understood if the bankers unconsciously desired the destruction of their own institutions. Such catastrophic ...

Since September 1st, 2009 the sale and import of incandescent light bulbs – more accurately known as tungsten filament bulbs – with the lowest energy efficiency classifications F and G have been banned in Switzerland. In addition, on the same day this country also adopted the EU's incandescent light bulb ban, which legislates for a step-by-step phasing-out of these inefficient light sources. In accordance with the new EU rules, 100 Watt bulbs were banned on September 1st, 2009, and a year later all bulbs rated between 75 and 100 Watts will be withdrawn from the market. ...

When the gap between the haves and have-nots gets larger, one would think the have-nots would want more help, most likely in the form of government programs, to fight rising inequities. Not so, says Nate Kelly, assistant professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Kelly, along with Peter Enns of Cornell University, conducted a study analyzing economic inequality and public opinion toward government intervention. The study has been published in the October edition of the American Journal of Political Science and can be viewed by visiting ...

Princeton scientists have identified genes responsible for controlling reproductive life span in worms and found they may control genes regulating similar functions in humans. The work suggests that someday researchers may be able to develop ways to maintain fertility in humans, allowing women who want to delay having children to preserve that capacity and extend their reproduction, and to prevent maternal age-related birth defects. The research, led by Coleen Murphy, an assistant professor of molecular biology and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, ...

Today´s 70-year-olds do far better in intelligence tests than their predecessors. It has also become more difficult to detect dementia in its early stages, though forgetfulness is still an early symptom, reveals new research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, based on the H70 study. The H70 study provides data on cognitive symptoms that researchers have used to predict the development of dementia, and also to investigate whether the symptoms have changed in recent generations. The study involves a large proportion of 70-year-olds from Gothenburg, Sweden, who have ...

WORCESTER, Mass. – With a failure rate as high as 50 percent, bone tissue grafts pose a significant obstacle to orthopedic surgeons attempting to repair complex fractures or large areas of bone loss, such as those often caused by trauma and cancer. Current synthetic substitutes rarely possess the bone-like properties needed for successful grafting and are often difficult for surgeons to manipulate in the operating room. In response to these challenges, researchers at UMass Medical School have developed an easy-to-produce, inexpensive, synthetic bone material called FlexBone. ...

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are developing vaccines to help protect healthy farm-raised catfish against key diseases. Working as a team, microbiologist Phillip H. Klesius and molecular biologists Julia Pridgeon and Craig Shoemaker with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at the agency's Aquatic Animal Health Research Unit in Auburn, Ala., and Joyce J. Evans, aquatic pathologist at the Auburn unit's lab in Chestertown, Md., are developing vaccines against Streptococcus iniae, S. agalactiae and other pathogens. ARS is USDA's principal intramural ...

Succimer, a drug used for treating lead poisoning, does not effectively remove mercury from the body, according to research supported by the National Institutes of Health. Some families have turned to succimer as an alternative therapy for treating autism. "Succimer is effective for treating children with lead poisoning, but it does not work very well for mercury," said Walter Rogan, M.D., head of the Pediatric Epidemiology Group at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of NIH, and an author on the paper that appears online in the Journal ...

The annual "Euromelanoma Day" campaign is designed to prevent skin cancer among the general public. While there has been considerable interest, it has proved difficult to reach out to some of the at-risk groups. As such, new ways of encouraging these people to go to a dermatologist are being introduced, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg presented at the dermatologist conference in Sweden. John Paoli is a researcher at the Sahlgrenska Academy and specialist at Sahlgrenska University Hospital's dermatology clinic, and one of the speakers at the conference. "In ...

VIDEO: The Swift observatory can rapidly rotate 50 degrees in less than 75 seconds to quickly observe the afterglow from a gamma ray burst (GRB). Click here for more information. Astronomers in Japan, using an X-ray detector on the International Space Station, and at Penn State University, using NASA's Swift space observatory, are announcing the discovery of an object newly emitting X-rays, which previously had been hidden inside our Milky Way galaxy in the constellation ...

New Orleans, LA – Research conducted by scientists at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans has found that two proteins in the brain act as valves to turn the hormone that regulates water retention in the body on and off. Their findings may lead to advances in treatment for diseases like high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and cirrhosis of the liver. The research is published in the November 1, 2010 issue of Endocrinology. Daniel Kapusta, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and Richard Wainford, PhD, LSUHSC Instructor ...

Saratoga Springs, NY: Don't ban it, move it. This is one conclusion of a new Cornell University study. In one set of schools, sales of fruit increased by 100% when it was moved to a colorful bowl. Salad bar sales tripled when the cart was placed in front of cash registers. These findings presented today at the School Nutrition Association's New York conference, underscore the easiest way to lunchroom choices is to make an apple more convenient, cool, and visible than a cookie. The conclusion of six different studies with over 11,000 middle and high school studies ...

Rice University has created a Green Carbon Center to bring the benefits offered by oil, gas, coal, wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other energy sources together in a way that will not only help ensure the world's energy future but also provide a means to recycle carbon dioxide into useful products. Whether or not one believes in anthropogenic climate change, the fact is humans are throwing away a potentially valuable resource with every ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, said James Tour, Rice's T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor ...

Mount Sinai researchers have discovered that microglia, the immune cells that reside in the brain, have a unique origin and are formed shortly after conception. It was previously thought that microglia originated at the same time as macrophages, which are other immune cells that are thought to develop at birth. This groundbreaking discovery has the potential to lead to future treatments of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. The study is published online October 21 in Science Express. Microglia are thought ...

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells survive and thrive not just by their own innate wiles, but by also acquiring aid and support from host cells in their surrounding environment. In a paper published online this week in The Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers led by cancer specialists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and the Moores UCSD Cancer Center identify a particular relationship that can promote notably aggressive leukemias and lymphomas. "The microenvironment is the term used to describe ...

The following are highlights of new cancer research being released at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO) 52nd Annual Meeting to be held October 31 through November 4, 2010, in San Diego. For full copies of the abstracts and press releases, contact Nicole Napoli at nicolen@astro.org or Beth Bukata at bethb@astro.org. Studies are embargoed until October 25, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. Adding radiation to hormone therapy for prostate cancer treatment will increase survival chances Prostate cancer patients who are treated with a combination of hormone ...

HOUSTON, Oct. 22, 2010 – Researchers can spend entire careers producing outstanding work but still not see their efforts featured in the pages of Science, one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals. That won't be the case, though, for two junior faculty members in engineering at the University of Houston (UH). Jacinta Conrad and Jeff Rimer, both assistant professors in Cullen College of Engineering's department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, had papers featured in consecutive issues of Science this month. "Jacinta and Jeff are both extremely ...

What's the mechanism that makes a political video go viral? What causes a video clip to spread from a few people to millions, sometimes in a matter of hours? Is it a top-down process led by elite gatekeepers or bottoms up, driven by people at the grass roots? And how do blogs affect the life cycle of a viral video? Common wisdom might suggest that a posse of political blogs triggers virality, but research from the University of Washington indicates it often springs from just two elite blogs followed by top general interest outlets that aren't considered political. A ...

A new meta-analysis study, "The Neuroimaging of Love," conducted by Syracuse University Professor Stephanie Ortigue, reveals that falling in love can elicit not only the same euphoric feeling as using cocaine, but also affects intellectual areas of the brain. Researchers also found falling in love only takes about a fifth of a second. Ortigue is an assistant professor of psychology and an adjunct assistant professor of neurology, both in The College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University. Results from Ortigue's team revealed when a person falls in love, 12 areas ...

Typhoon Megi has run into winds that are weakening the storm, but it is forecast to make landfall in southeastern China late at night (EDT) on Oct. 22 (11 a.m. local time Hong Kong, Oct. 23) as a Category One Typhoon. NASA satellites have been monitoring the storm's rainfall, changing cloud cover, and changing eye as it weakens. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite traveled directly above Megi on October 21 at 1401 UTC (10:01 a.m. EDT) when wind speeds were estimated to be about 100 knots (~115 mph). Megi caused at least 27 deaths in the Philippines ...

Tropical Storm 04B grew quickly into powerful Cyclone Giri and was making landfall in Burma today as a powerful Category Four Cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale. NASA's TRMM satellite noticed that the storm contained some heavy rainfall in addition to the powerful winds. Giri is the second tropical cyclone of 2010 to form in the Bay of Bengal and was seen by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Cyclone Giri was seen clearly by the TRMM satellite twice on Oct. 21. The first good view was at 1534 UTC (11:34 a.m. EDT) when TRMM data showed a very well ...

The GOES-13 satellite is watching Tropical Storm Richard work its way through the western Caribbean, and residents of eastern Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula are bracing for its impacts as it is forecast to strengthen to hurricane status this weekend. Richard is going to be a big rainmaker for those countries. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite called GOES-13 captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Richard at 1732 UTC (1:32 p.m. EDT) on Oct. 22. GOES satellites are managed by NOAA. NASA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard ...