You say, ‘bio-math,’ I say, ‘math-bio’: Crossing science education divide

BETHESDA, MD, SEPT 2, 2010⎯The old joke is a joke no more. In a special September issue of the ASCB’s online journal, CBE — Life Sciences Education (CBE-LSE), the adage that biology is for science students who don’t do math is laid to rest for…

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K-State research project offers insight into superstitious behavior

MANHATTAN, KAN. — People who believe that fate and chance control their lives are more likely to be superstitious — but when faced with death they are likely to abandon superstition altogether, according to a recent Kansas State University undergr…

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Edible nanostructures

Sugar, salt, alcohol and a little serendipity led a Northwestern University research team to discover a new class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food and medical technologies. And the compounds are edible.
The porous crys…

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Edible nanostructures

Sugar, salt, alcohol and a little serendipity led a Northwestern University research team to discover a new class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food and medical technologies. And the compounds are edible.
The porous crys…

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Safety cultures in EMS agencies vary widely, Pitt study finds

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 2 — A survey of emergency medical services (EMS) agencies from across the country found wide variation in perceptions of workplace safety culture — providing a tool that might point to potential patient safety threats, according…

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Biomedical research policy needed for therapies, economic growth, education and security

Washington, DC — Bold and coordinated leadership at the federal level is essential to create secure, long-term, sustainable biomedical research funding policies based on strategic priorities, say the authors of a commentary about America’s fledglin…

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Hormel Institute study reveals capsaicin can act as cocarcinogen

The September cover story of the nation’s leading cancer journal, “Cancer Research,” features a new study from The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota, that links capsaicin, a component of chili peppers, to skin cancer. While the molecular mec…

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EMAS publishes position statements about the post-reproductive health of women

Amsterdam, 2 September, 2010 – Elsevier announced today the publication of four important position statements from the European Menopause and Andropause Society (EMAS) in the journal Maturitas (http://www.maturitas.org/) on common management problem…

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Dynamic memory mapping delivers additional flexibility to virtual resource management

The Department of Computer Science and Technology, Peking University, Beijing, China, has shown that a novel dynamic memory mapping (DMM) model brings about additional flexibility to virtual resource management, leading to the feature-adjustable des…

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Effect of heat treatment on the superconducting properties of Ag-doped Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 compounds

The Key Laboratory of Applied Superconductivity, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and China Research have collaborated to reveal the heat treatment effects on the superconducting properties of Ag-doped Sr0.6…

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Image-based modeling of inhomogeneous single-scattering participating media

The State Key Laboratory of Virtual Reality Technology and Systems, Beihang University in Beijing, has proposed an image based modeling method for inhomogeneous single-scattering participating media whose density fields may contain high frequency de…

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Medicinal cannabis review highlights dilemmas facing health care professionals

Nurses have a responsibility to respect and support patients who use cannabis for medicinal purposes, but must stay within the law and follow professional guidance at all times, according to a research review in the September issue of the Journal of…

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Recipe for water: Just add starlight

ESA’s Herschel infrared space observatory has discovered that ultraviolet starlight is the key ingredient for making water in space. It is the only explanation for why a dying star is surrounded by a gigantic cloud of hot water vapour.
Every r…

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Bochum’s researchers discover proton diode

Biophysicists in Bochum have discovered a diode for protons: just like the electronic component determines the direction of flow of electric current, the “proton diode” ensures that protons can only pass through a cell membrane in one direction….

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Head start for migraine sufferers

For severe migraine sufferers, psychological treatments build on the benefits of drug therapy, according to a new study1 by Elizabeth Seng and Dr. Kenneth Holroyd from Ohio University in the US. Their comparison of the effects of various treatment c…

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Ancient brew masters tapped antibiotic secrets

A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discove…

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Connection between light at night (LAN) and cancer revealed in additional study

A new study from the Center for Interdisciplinary Chronobiological Research at the University of Haifa has found an additional link between Light At Night (LAN) and cancer. This research joins a series of earlier studies carried out at the Universit…

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Scientists find organic farms have higher quality fruit, better soil, lower environmental impact

Side-by-side comparisons of organic and conventional strawberry farms and their fruit found the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier and more genetically diverse.
“Our findings have global i…

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Researchers create new class of piezoelectric logic devices using zinc oxide nanowires

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new class of electronic logic device in which current is switched by an electric field generated by the application of mechanical strain to zinc oxide nanowires.
The devices, …

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Caltech mineral physicists find new scenery at Earth’s core-mantle boundary

PASADENA, Calif. — Using a diamond-anvil cell to recreate the high pressures deep within the earth, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have found unusual properties in an iron-rich magnesium- and iron-oxide mineral that…

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New guidelines to ease sleepless nights

London, UK (September 2, 2010) — Insomnia and other sleep disorders are very common, yet are not generally well understood by doctors and other health care professionals. Now the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) has released up-to-…

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Chronic Lyme disease: How often is it diagnosed and treated?

Cincinnati, OH, September 2, 2010 — The existence of chronic Lyme disease is an issue of sharp debate within the medical community. Some health care workers who call themselves “Lyme literate” insist that chronic Lyme disease is frequently diagnos…

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Pivotal study finds link between PTSD and dementia

Results of a study reported in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggest that Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a greater risk for dementia than Veterans without PTSD, even those who suffere…

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Risk of marijuana’s ‘gateway effect’ overblown, new UNH research shows

DURHAM, N.H. — New research from the University of New Hampshire shows that the “gateway effect” of marijuana — that teenagers who use marijuana are more likely to move on to harder illicit drugs as young adults — is overblown.
Whether teen…

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Carlos ’97 free kick no fluke, say French physicists

Roberto Carlos’ free kick goal against France in 1997′s Tournoi de France is thought by many to have been the most skilful free kick goal – from 35m with a powerful curling banana trajectory – ever scored; but by others to have been an incredible fl…

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16.6 million small business employees could benefit from ACA provisions starting this year

New York, NY, September 2, 2010 — 16.6 million small business employees work in firms that will be eligible for tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. The credits, designed to offset health insu…

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U-M researchers receive largest single collection of psoriasis DNA samples

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Millions of Americans struggling with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are one step closer to a cure with the release of the first National Psoriasis Victor Henschel BioBank DNA samples for use in research at the University of M…

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A single interaction affects the way a child seeks information, Queen’s University study finds

Seven-year-old children only need to interact with a person once to learn who to trust and seek information from, according to a study by Queen’s University researchers.
“It shows that kids really pay attention to people’s accuracy and they don’t f…

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Saundra McGuire co-authors article with Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann

BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Saundra McGuire, assistant vice chancellor for learning and teaching in LSU’s Division of Student Life and Enrollment Services, recently co-authored an American Scientist article with Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Roald Hoffmann. …

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Neonatal intensive care units critical to infant survival

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Sept. 1, 2010 — Very low birthweight and very preterm infants are more likely to die if they are not born at hospitals with neonatal intensive care units specially equipped to care for seriously ill newborns, in contrast to sim…

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New process promises to revolutionize manufacturing of products

WATERLOO, Ont. (Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010) – A new “smart materials” process – Multiple Memory Material Technology – developed by University of Waterloo engineering researchers promises to revolutionize the manufacture of diverse products such as med…

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Infrared NASA image shows strong convection in new Atlantic Depression 9

The Atlantic Ocean is in overdrive this week, and NASA satellite imagery captured the birth of the ninth tropical depression in the central Atlantic Ocean today, trailing to the east of Tropical Storm Fiona.
NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sound…

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Stopping smoking cessation treatments too soon may reduce odds of success for 45 percent of smokers

PORTLAND, Ore. — A study led by researchers in the Oregon Health & Science University Smoking Cessation Center may change the way clinicians make treatment decisions for their patients who smoke.
Their findings published online in the journal …

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NASA and NOAA’s newest GOES satellite ready for action

GREENBELT, Md. — NASA and NOAA’s latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-15, has successfully completed five months of on-orbit testing and has been accepted into service. The satellite has demonstrated operational read…

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NASA infrared data sees convection building in Fiona’s clouds

Infrared satellite imagery from NASA’s Aqua satellite showed some strong convection building in Tropical Storm Fiona, and her maximum sustained winds increased from 40 mph yesterday to 60 mph this morning
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AI…

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Hurricane warnings posted on US East Coast, NASA sees Earl’s heavy rainfall

NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM satellite looked at the rate rain was falling in Hurricane Earl yesterday, and it was intense.
The TRMM satellite passed close to Hurricane Earl’s position early on August 31 at 0439 UTC (12:…

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Resource-savvy communities generate healthy, sustainable changes

COLUMBIA, Mo. — As the nation becomes more aware of health issues related to nutrition and lifestyle choices, communities are struggling to find ways to make healthy living easier. The University of Missouri is helping communities turn healthy…

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Airline passengers in developing countries face 13 times crash risk as US: INFORMS study

Passengers who fly in Developing World countries face 13 times the risk of being killed in an air accident as passengers in the First World. The more economically advanced countries in the Developing World have better overall safety records than th…

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Targeted strategies needed to find, prevent and treat breast cancer among Mexican-origin women

HOUSTON – Specific prevention and education strategies are needed to address breast cancer in Mexican-origin women in this country, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, which was published online in the journal …

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A model system for group behavior of nanomachines

For the casual observer it is fascinating to watch the orderly and seemingly choreographed motion of hundreds or even thousands of fish, birds or insects. However, the formation and the manifold motion patterns of such flocks raise numerous ques…

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