BURLINGTON, VT—A 2008 study found that organic apples represented 4.6% of total apple sales in the United States, up from 3.5% in 2007. In Vermont, apples have been the most important fruit crop for many years, playing an important role in the state's economy—so important, in fact, that apples were named the state's official fruit in 1999. Vermont apple growers, facing a host of challenges such as increasing production costs and intensifying competition from imported apples, are looking for ways to succeed in the emerging organic food market. Qingbin Wang and Robert Parsons ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Researchers have discovered that women, female monkeys and female mice have major similarities when it comes to how bisphenol A (BPA) is metabolized, and they have renewed their call for governmental regulation when it comes to the estrogen-like chemical found in many everyday products. A study published online in the Sept. 20 NIH journal Environmental Health Perspectives ties rodent data on the health effects of BPA to predictions of human health effects from BPA with the use of everyday household products. The study was authored by researchers at the ...

Teaneck, NJ – The Cornea and Laser Eye Institute, with Principal Investigator, Peter S. Hersh M.D., is conducting a research study to study the safety and effectiveness of corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) using Riboflavin/Dextran and Hypotonic Riboflavin in patients with progressive keratoconus and corneal ectasia. Keratoconus is a disease of the cornea, the clear front lens of the eye (like the crystal on a watch), that occurs in the overall population at a rate of about one in 2000. It usually begins in the teens and 20's and can worsen over time. It is often ...

The scientists who put an innovative tree of life online last year now have made that same resource available -- free -- for smartphones. The new "TimeTree" application lets anyone with an Apple iPhone harness a vast Internet storehouse of data about the diversity of life, from bacteria to humans. The intuitive interface is designed to answer a simple question, quickly and authoritatively: how long ago did species A and species B share a common ancestor? "Our new iPhone app can be fun for people who want to learn how long ago their cat and dog began evolving down different ...

Four East Tennessee homes completed this month showcase how scientific research can make dramatic changes in the cost of heating and cooling our homes. A ribbon-cutting ceremony held today celebrated the opening of all four homes as laboratories, a major milestone of the first ZEBRAlliance project. ZEBRAlliance, a public-private partnership founded by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Schaad Companies, is both a research project and a multi-faceted energy-efficiency education campaign. The four houses, located in the Wolf Creek subdivision ...

A landmark report on the Global Economic Impact of Dementia finds that Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are exacting a massive toll on the global economy, with the problem set to accelerate in coming years. The World Alzheimer Report 2010 – issued on World Alzheimer's Day by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) – provides the most current and comprehensive global picture of the economic and social costs of the illness. The Report was jointly authored by Professor Anders Wimo of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and Professor Martin Prince, Institute ...

BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, September 21, 2010 -- A new weight loss study conducted by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers reveals that dieters who consumed milk or milk products lost more weight on average than those who consumed little to no milk products. Regardless of diet, researchers also found participants with the highest dairy calcium intake, equal to 12 oz. of milk or other dairy products (580 mg of dairy calcium), lost about 12 pounds (6 kg.) at the end of the two years. In comparison, those with the lowest dairy calcium intake averaging about ...

Washington, DC – In a presentation today at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference Health Braintrust meeting, Faina Shtern, M.D., president and CEO of AdMeTech Foundation, unveiled overwhelming support from Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members and patient advocacy organizations for the Prostate Research, Imaging, and Men's Education Act of 2010 (PRIME Act). This support builds on the rapidly growing number of Congressional co-sponsors for the legislation, including 25 CBC members who are particularly concerned about the disproportionate ...

Los Angeles, CA (September 17, 2010) Playing a violent video game can increase aggression, and when a player keeps thinking about the game, the potential for aggression can last for as long as 24 hours, according to a study in the current Social Psychological and Personality Science (published by SAGE). Violent video game playing has long been known to increase aggression. This study, conducted by Brad Bushman of The Ohio State University and Bryan Gibson of Central Michigan University, shows that at least for men, ruminating about the game can increase the potency of ...

The large Nordic twin study investigating the heritability of subarachnothe role of genetic factors underlying the development of SAH suggests that the role of genetic factors underlying the development of SAH is less than previously believed. The prevalence of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is almost three times as high in Finland and Japan as among other nationalities. In Finland, some 1,000 cases are diagnosed every year, with almost half of the cases ending in death. SAH predominantly affects the working age population. Haemorrhage occurs when an aneurysm, a balloon-like ...

A rare bronze signet ring with the impression of the face of the Greek sun god, Apollo, has been discovered at Tel Dor, in northern Israel, by University of Haifa diggers. "A piece of high-quality art such as this, doubtlessly created by a top-of-the-line artist, indicates that local elites developing a taste for fine art and the ability to afford it were also living in provincial towns, and not only in the capital cities of the Hellenistic kingdoms," explains Dr. Ayelet Gilboa, Head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Haifa, who headed the excavations ...

Jerusalem, Sept. 19, 2010 -- A new type of nanoparticle resembling the six-pointed Star of David (Magen David) that is the symbol on the flag of Israel has been discovered by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (One nanometer is a billionth of a meter.) The discovery, the researchers say, may lead to new ways for sensing of glucose in diagnosing diabetes or provide a catalyst to capture the sun's energy and turn it into clean fuel. Their work, they further believe, greatly contributes to understanding how hybrid nanoparticles form. Hybrid nanoparticles ...

The multi-welled microplate, long a standard tool in biomedical research and diagnostic laboratories, could become a thing of the past thanks to new electronic biosensing technology developed by a team of microelectronics engineers and biomedical scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Essentially arrays of tiny test tubes, microplates have been used for decades to simultaneously test multiple samples for their responses to chemicals, living organisms or antibodies. Fluorescence or color changes in labels associated with compounds on the plates can signal ...

MOSCOW and NEW YORK, 20 September – A group of Russian AIDS activists are charging that the Russian Ministry of Health is denying that there are drug stock-outs that prevent patients from starting or continuing treatment. "In this situation, people with HIV face a choice: to die quietly at home or try to attract the attention of the government and the media," said Alexey Yaskovich, a Russian activist from Novgorod. "Therefore, activists will continue to go to the streets of Moscow and hold public events dedicated to saving their lives." Activists continue to mount protests ...

The seasonal flu vaccine is associated with a 19% reduction in the rate of first heart attack and early vaccination in the fall further increases the benefits, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091891.pdf. As heart attacks increase significantly in winter when pneumonia and flu are prevalent, it has been suggested there may be a link between respiratory infections and heart attacks. The study, by researchers from the United Kingdom, looked at 78 706 patients aged 40 years or ...

A large waistline and high triglyceride levels in pregnant women could be an early screening tool for gestational diabetes, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100378.pdf. Gestational diabetes is a significant public health concern, with potential negative effects on women and their babies, yet tests to diagnose are costly, time-consuming and unpleasant for pregnant women. As well, results are not available until relatively late in pregnancy, at about six months. Previous ...

NKX3.1, a protein that suppresses the development of prostate tumors, promotes the growth of a different type of tumor in the blood, according to an article published online on September 20 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org). Paul-Henri Romeo and colleagues find that TAL1, a protein abundantly expressed in approximately 40% of patients with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), drives expression of NKX3.1. Eliminating NKX3.1 halted the growth of TAL1-expressing T-ALL cells in culture and after injection into mice. It's not yet clear how ...

A team of researchers, led by Scott Oakes, at the University of California, San Francisco, has identified a way to prevent symptom onset, weight loss, and paralysis and extend survival in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), providing a new avenue of research for the development of therapeutics for ALS and other motor neuron diseases. ALS and other motor neuron diseases are neurological disorders that selectively affect nerve cells that control voluntary muscle activities such as speaking, walking, breathing, swallowing, ...

EDITOR'S PICK: Preserving nerve cells in motor neuron disease A team of researchers, led by Scott Oakes, at the University of California, San Francisco, has identified a way to prevent symptom onset, weight loss, and paralysis and extend survival in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), providing a new avenue of research for the development of therapeutics for ALS and other motor neuron diseases. ALS and other motor neuron diseases are neurological disorders that selectively affect nerve cells that control voluntary ...

The widespread use of true random number generators (TRNGs) has taken a step closer following the creation of the most lightweight designs to date by researchers at Queen's University Belfast's Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT). Members of the Institute's cryptography research team have produced a series of circuits that are up to 50 per cent smaller than anything else currently available. Optimised for digital circuits, FPGA and ASIC, they push efficiency to the limit by using just one logic gate, one look-up table and four transistors ...

A protein linked to Parkinson's disease may cause neurodegeneration by inhibiting autophagy—the process in which cells digest some of their contents—according to a study in the September 20 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology (www.jcb.org). Autophagy serves to clear a variety of toxic waste from cells, including misfolded proteins and defective mitochondria. These two types of cellular trash accumulate in neurons from Parkinson's patients, suggesting that autophagy could be impaired in these cells. A commonly amassed protein in Parkinson's disease is alpha-synuclein, ...

SEATTLE – Super-sized electromagnetic coils are helping explain how aquatic life might be affected by renewable energy devices being considered for placement along America's coastal waters and in the nation's rivers. Scientists with the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are examining whether a variety of fish and invertebrates change their behavior during and after exposure to an electromagnetic field similar to those produced by marine and hydrokinetic power devices that capture energy from ocean waves, tides, currents and rivers. Research began ...

Caring for children can be a tough job, particularly if you are a female cichlid fish. Native to the crater lakes of Nicaragua, cichlid fish look after their young by defending them against would-be predators. While male and female cichlid fish generally share parental responsibilities, research shows that this is not always the case. Conducted by an international team of researchers that included two biologists from Monash University, and published in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, new research has shown that male cichlid fish have a propensity ...

Patterned feathers, previously thought to be used only for camouflage in birds, can play an important role in attracting a mate and fending off rivals, a University of Melbourne study reveals. Ms Thanh-Lan Gluckman, co-author of the paper and Masters of Philosophy student from the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne, Australia, said this finding brought a new perspective to research in animal communication and evolution. "The implication of this study is that feathers don't need to be bright and showy to be used in sexual signalling and hence this changes ...

A protein called PU.1 is essential for the development of dendritic cells, the sentinels of the immune system, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have shown. Dendritic cells (DC) are immune cells that present proteins from foreign invaders, such as viruses, to the killer T cells of the immune system, allowing a full immune response to be mounted against the invaders. Researchers from the Immunology division have been studying dendritic cells and how different molecules regulate their development. Dr Li Wu said one of the molecules ...