HOUSTON -- (Nov. 11, 2010) -- Future computers may run a little sweeter, thanks to a refinement in the manufacture of graphene at Rice University. Rice researchers have learned to make pristine sheets of graphene, the one-atom-thick form of carbon, from plain table sugar and other carbon-based substances. They do so in a one-step process at temperatures low enough to make graphene easy to manufacture. The lab of Rice chemist James Tour reported in the online version of the journal Nature this week that large-area, high-quality graphene can be grown from a number of ...

JUPITER, FL, November 9, 2010 – For Immediate Release – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified for the first time a novel mechanism that regulates circadian rhythm, the master clock that controls the body's natural 24-hour physiological cycle. These new findings could provide a new target not only for jet lag, shift work, and sleep disturbances, but also for disorders that result from circadian rhythm disruption, including diabetes and obesity as well as some types of cancer. The study is published in the November 12, 2010 ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010 – Arsenic, a toxic compound with a reputation as a good tool for committing homicide, has a significant positive effect on the survival of patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), when administered after standard initial treatment, according to a new, multi-center study led by a researcher at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. While arsenic trioxide (As2O3) is known by clinicians to be a highly effective treatment for patients with relapsed APL, its benefit earlier in treatment, after first remission, ...

INDIANAPOLIS – Researchers report that a drug commonly used to treat diabetes may also retard the growth of fluid-filled cysts of the most common genetic disorder, polycystic kidney disease. PKD does not discriminate by gender or race and affects one in 1,000 adults worldwide. Researchers from the schools of Science and Medicine at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic report this month in the online peer-reviewed journal PPAR Research that pioglitazone appears to control the growth of PKD cysts. Using a rat model that ...

Montreal, November 11, 2010 – People affected by anxiety and depression should receive an additional cardiac test when undergoing diagnosis for potential heart problems, according to a new study from Concordia University, the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Montreal Heart Institute. As part of this study, published in the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention, a large sample of patients received a traditional electrocardiogram (ECG), where they were connected to electrodes as they exercised on a treadmill. Patients also received a more complex ...

New research from the University of Warwick, to be presented at the World's largest supercomputing conference next week, pits China's new No. 1 supercomputer against alternative US designs. The work provides crucial new analysis that will benefit the battle plans of both sides, in an escalating war between two competing technologies. Professor Stephen Jarvis, Royal Society Industry Fellow at the University of Warwick's Department of Computer Science, will tell some of the 15,000 delegates in New Orleans next week, how general-purpose GPU (GPGPU) designs used in China's ...

BATON ROUGE – LSU's Sibel Bargu, along with her former graduate student Ana Garcia, from the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences in LSU's School of the Coast & Environment, has discovered toxic algae in vast, remote regions of the open ocean for the first time. The recent findings were published in the Nov. 8 edition of one of the most prestigious scientific journals, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, or PNAS. Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, are reported as increasing both geographically and in frequency along populated coastlines. Bargu's ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Provisions of new federal health care reforms will move the country toward a primary care medical home for patients, but the nation may not have enough primary care doctors to handle the workload, according to a study by the University of Michigan Health System. Still, the concept of shifting patients to a medical home could save time and money and allow specialists to focus on complex patient care, according to the study published online ahead of print in the journal Medical Care. "I don't think anyone would question that there are too few primary ...

(Geneva, Switzerland) – A Pneumonia Report Card released today by the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on behalf of the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia reveals where urgent efforts are needed to reach target levels of coverage for the life-saving interventions that can prevent, protect against and treat pneumonia in children. Pneumonia is the world's leading infectious killer of young children, taking the lives of nearly 1.6 million children under age five every year – more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. The Pneumonia Report Card evaluates ...

A new research study co-spearheaded by Virginia Tech researchers highlights problems with some brass products in plumbing systems that can leach high levels of lead into drinking water, even in brand new buildings – and suggests that such problems may often go undetected. Lead is heavy metal that can harm the nervous system and brain development, and is especially dangerous for pregnant women, infants and children. The study, published in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Water Works Association, is the result of collaborative research between ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new field study confirms that an invasive weed called medusahead has growth advantages over most other grass species, suggesting it will continue to spread across much of the West, disrupt native ecosystems and make millions of acres of grazing land almost worthless. The research, by scientists from Oregon State University and the Agricultural Research Service, was one of the most comprehensive studies ever done that compared the "relative growth rate" of this invasive annual grass to that of other competing species in natural field conditions. It ...

New Rochelle, NY, November 11, 2010—Yoga has a greater positive effect on a person's mood and anxiety level than walking and other forms of exercise, which may be due to higher levels of the brain chemical GABA according to an article in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online. Yoga has been shown to increase the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA, a chemical in the brain that helps to regulate nerve activity. GABA activity is reduced in people with ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – November 11, 2010 – A new study from researchers in Colorado shows that women offered a female endoscopist were not more likely to undergo a screening colonoscopy than those who were not offered this choice. Past surveys have shown preferences for female endoscopists seem to be common among women. In this study, a patient outreach program failed to support the notion that rates of screening colonoscopy can be increased by offering women the option of a screening colonoscopy performed by a female endoscopist. The study appears in the November issue of GIE: ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Irregular work schedules appear harmful to the well-being of cohabiting parents, a growing segment of the U.S. population, a study by Michigan State University researchers finds. Working nights, weekends and other nonstandard schedules is increasingly common as the United States moves toward a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week economy, according to the study, which appears in the journal Social Science Research. Compared with married parents, cohabiting parents – who live together but are not married – tend to have lower-paying jobs that may not ...

URBANA – A University of Illinois metabolic engineer has improved a strain of E. coli, making it grow faster. Don't worry, he believes his efforts will benefit human health, not decimate it. "The average person hears E. coli and thinks of E. coli 0157:H7, a microorganism that causes horrific food poisoning, but we've developed a strain of E. coli that is suitable for mass production of high-quality DNA that could be used in vaccines or gene therapy," said Yong-Su Jin, a U of I assistant professor of microbial genomics and a faculty member in its Institute for Genomic ...

(Garrison, NY) To celebrate 40 years of pioneering bioethics publication, the Hastings Center Report, the world's first bioethics journal, looked to the future, asking young scholars to write about what the next generation of bioethicists should take up. Out of 195 compelling submissions, four of the best essays were selected for publication in the November-December issue. Three of the essays envision bioethics forging into new areas, such as the ethical obligations of pharmaceutical industry, questions around the emerging field of regenerative medicine, and public ...

Paris, France—The international scientific community has identified five Grand Challenges that, if addressed in the next decade, will deliver knowledge to enable sustainable development, poverty eradication, and environmental protection in the face of global change. The Grand Challenges for Earth system science, published today, are the result of broad consultation as part of a visioning process spearheaded by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in cooperation with the International Social Science Council (ISSC). The consultation highlighted the need for research ...

St. Louis, MO, November 11, 2010 – The November 2010 issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Official Journal of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, has published a set of 9 articles on traumatic brain injury (TBI) that will accelerate future research in the field by establishing common language for the degree of injury, how it is measured and classified, treatment and potential outcomes. It provides the first set of recommendations intended to promote greater consistency and collaboration among researchers on TBI and psychological health ...

Leatherback turtles are remarkably versatile divers. Routinely diving to depths of several hundred meters, leatherbacks are occasionally known to plunge as deep as 1250m. The animals probably plumb the depths to avoid predators, search for prey and avoid heat in the tropics. However it wasn't clear how these mammoth reptiles regulate their buoyancy as they plunge down. Sabrina Fossette from Swansea University explains that no one knew how the turtles descended so far: do they swim down or become negatively buoyant and plummet like a stone? Curious to find out how nesting ...

Any parent that takes their kid out for a walk knows that children tire more quickly than adults, but why is that? Do kids and small adults walk differently from taller people or do they tire faster for some other reason? Peter Weyand from Southern Methodist University, USA, is fascinated by the effect that body size has on physiological function. 'This goes back to Max Kleiber's work on resting metabolic rates for different sized animals. He found that the bigger you are the slower each gram of tissue uses energy,' explains Weyand, who adds, 'It's interesting to know how ...

This year, governments, foundations, businesses, multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations and health care professional associations publicly pledged more than $ 40 billion* to improve maternal and child health and save million of lives. How do you ensure that they will live up to these commitments? One way is to bring all of the stakeholders together -- from government to civil society to academia to health professionals to the UN -- to develop concrete strategies for action on financing, policies and service delivery. This is the goal of a "Pledges ...

A business owner's culture and religion can play a role in the way she runs a business. So when she is considering creating a partnership with another business owner, the two must discuss how these deeply-rooted characteristics will fit in - and whether they will allow the partnership to work. Cultural and Religious Differences in a Business Partnership is the latest article by entrepreneurial expert Michele DeKinder-Smith. The article discusses the importance of considering culture and religion when launching a business partnership. Based on continuing professional ...

A team of young entrepreneurs have just announced the upcoming launch of their innovative "mobile treasure hunt" smartphone application in their home town of Melbourne, Australia, after successful U.S. trials earlier this year. The application is called DreamWalk and it allows people to hunt for and collect real treasure hidden around their city using the GPS built into their mobile phones. Treasures are contributed to the DreamWalk map by advertisers, who use DreamWalk as a marketing platform to promote their businesses, brands and products in an interactive and entertaining ...

Yellowfin's latest Business Intelligence (BI) application for the iPhone and iPad is now available from Apple's App Store. BI software analyzes and reports on a range of corporate data to generate actionable insights and support strategic organizational decision-making. The application gives users full access to the Melbourne based BI vendor's easy-to-use reporting and analytics solution straight from their iPhone or iPad, whenever and wherever they need it. Users have the ability to access all of Yellowfin's real-time reporting capabilities remotely. "Yellowfin's ...

What happens on the pink carpet, stays on the pink carpet? I don't think so. It was no secret how fiery hot Wednesday night's event was in the city that never sleeps. It was a star-studded night as celebrity guests made their way through the pink carpet for the annual Victoria Secret show in New York City. As the press line set up, Fashion News Live got an exclusive sneak peak of behind the scenes set-up prior to the show. Stage managers walked Fashion News Live cameras through the glittery process of setting up the runway and backdrops. Have we mentioned that the night ...