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Earth & Environment

Smallest waterlily in the world brought back from the brink of extinction at Kew Gardens

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's top propagation 'code-breaker', horticulturist Carlos Magdalena, has cracked the enigma of growing a rare species of African waterlily -- believed to be the smallest waterlily in the world with pads than can be as little as 1cm in diameter -- bringing it back from the brink of extinction; a fitting success story to celebrate International Day for Biological Di

May 18, 2010

Health

Behavior therapy effective in reducing tics in children with Tourette syndrome, study finds

Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by tics like grimacing, blinking and vocalizations, is normally treated in children and teens with one of several antipsychotic medications. But such drugs usually don't eliminate all the tics, and worse, they can often have side effects, acting as sedatives, causing weight gain and impairing cognitive function.

May 18, 2010

Health

Gene fusions may be the 'smoking gun' in prostate cancer development, U-M study finds

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Prostate cancer treatments that target the hormone androgen and its receptor may be going after the wrong source, according to a new study. Researchers have found that when two genes fuse together to cause prostate cancer, it blocks the receptor for the hormone androgen, preventing prostate cells from developing normally.

May 18, 2010

Technology

Nanotech discovery at Rensselaer could lead to breakthrough in infrared satellite imaging technology

Troy, N.Y. -- Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new nanotechnology-based "microlens" that uses gold to boost the strength of infrared imaging and could lead to a new generation of ultra-powerful satellite cameras and night-vision devices.

May 18, 2010

Health

Team led by Scripps Research scientists discovers body's own molecular protection against arthritis

LA JOLLA, CA -- May 17, 2010 -- An international team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute in California and the National Research Institute for Child Health and Development in Japan has discovered that a natural molecule in the body counters the progression of osteoarthritis. The findings could one day lead to new therapies for some common diseases of aging.

May 18, 2010

Uncategorized

Asking 'why' instead of 'how' helps consumers achieve goals of saving money or losing weight

People who become focused on how to achieve a goal may have a harder time achieving their aims than people who think abstractly about why they want to do something, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.

May 18, 2010

Health

U of Minn. study finds rising levels of dioxins from common soap ingredient in Mississippi River

Specific dioxins derived from the antibacterial agent triclosan, used in many hand soaps, deodorants, dishwashing liquids and other consumer products, account for an increasing proportion of total dioxins in Mississippi River sediments, according to University of Minnesota research.

May 18, 2010

Health

Study looks at major advances in pediatric epilepsy surgery at UCLA over 2 decades

By the age of 5, Rachel, who lives on a farm near a small town in Iowa, had been struggling with seizures brought on by intractable epilepsy for nearly three years.

May 18, 2010

Health

Surgical options for female incontinence found to be effective but with different complications

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Two popular procedures for female stress incontinence were found to be equivalent in efficacy but differed in side effects, according to data published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' 58th Annual Clinical Meeting.

May 18, 2010

Health

Push to understand basis of childhood brain tumors leads to a new treatment target

The most comprehensive analysis yet of the genetic imbalances at the heart of childhood brain tumors known as high-grade gliomas (HGGs) identified a cancer gene that is unusually active in some tumors and is now the focus of a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital clinical trial.

May 17, 2010

Technology

APS urges rapid action on House reauthorization of 2007 bipartisan America COMPETES bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The American Physical Society (APS), a leading organization of physicists, today called for swift action on the U.S. House reauthorization of the 2007 bipartisan America COMPETES legislation, after the bill was sent back to the Science & Technology Committee for legislative changes.

May 17, 2010

Health

New evidence caffeine may slow Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, restore cognitive function

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, May 17, 2010 -- Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated.

May 17, 2010

Technology

A new distribution designed which communicates computers so that they can work in parallel

Iker Castaños (Zalla, 1980), a student of Technical Engineering in Computerised Management at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), has designed the very first distribution which, initiated either from a DVD or by installation, communicates computers so that they can work in parallel.

May 17, 2010

Health

Neiker-Tecnalia underlines the need to maintain programs for monitoring pathogens in wildlife

The Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development (Neiker-Tecnalia) has completed a study commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Land Use Planning, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Basque Government, in which individuals of various species of wild carnivores were investigated in order to know the types and frequencies of diseases affecting them.

May 17, 2010