http://www.sciencecentric.com/ Latest news in natural sciences and technology provided by Science Centric en-gb Copyright 2009, Science Centric contact@sciencecentric.com (Stanislav Abadjiev) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:40:00 GMT Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:40:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss/ http://www.sciencecentric.com/images/sc_logo_news.jpg http://www.sciencecentric.com/ University of Utah chemists demonstrated the first conclusive link between the size of catalyst particles on a solid surface, their electronic properties and their ability to speed chemical reactions. The study is a step toward the goal of designing cheaper, more efficient catalysts to increase energy production, reduce Earth-warming gases and manufacture a wide variety of goods from medicines to gasoline... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110652-how-size-matters-catalysts http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110652-how-size-matters-catalysts Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:40:00 GMT As health insurers require people to base more treatment decisions on out-of-pocket costs, physicians should learn to talk to patients about money, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110651-higher-health-insurance-costs-force-doctors-talk-about-money-with-patients http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110651-higher-health-insurance-costs-force-doctors-talk-about-money-with-patients Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:37:00 GMT An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers from the University of Maryland, the World Resources Institute and Save America's Forests... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110650-researchers-hail-innovative-plan-save-rainforest-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110650-researchers-hail-innovative-plan-save-rainforest-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:34:00 GMT When it comes to plants' innate immunity, like many of the dances of life, it takes two to tango. A receptor molecule in the plant pairs up with a specific molecule on the invading bacteria and, presto, the immune system swings into action to defend against the invasion of the disease-causing microbe... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110649-study-reveals-how-plants-bacteria-talk-thwart-disease http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110649-study-reveals-how-plants-bacteria-talk-thwart-disease Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:31:00 GMT Most biopsies following mammograms reveal benign abnormalities, not cancer. But women may not have to endure the medical costs, stress and potential complications that accompany such invasive biopsies forever... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110648-researcher-optical-biopsy-breast-cancer-increasingly-accurate http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110648-researcher-optical-biopsy-breast-cancer-increasingly-accurate Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:28:00 GMT School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110647-physical-education-key-improving-health-low-income-adolescents http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110647-physical-education-key-improving-health-low-income-adolescents Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:25:00 GMT Rush University Medical Centre has opened the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic to offer patients suffering from major depression a safe, effective, non-drug treatment. TMS therapy is the first FDA-approved, non-invasive antidepressant device-based treatment clinically proven for treatment of depression... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110646-new-tms-clinic-offers-noninvasive-treatment-major-depression http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110646-new-tms-clinic-offers-noninvasive-treatment-major-depression Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:22:00 GMT International scientists, researchers and decision makers met at the 'Space and the Arctic workshop' to identify the needs and challenges of working and living in the rapidly changing Arctic and to explore how space-based services can help to meet those needs... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110645-tackling-new-arctic-challenges-from-space http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110645-tackling-new-arctic-challenges-from-space Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:18:00 GMT Results of a long QT syndrome (LQTS) study published in the current issue of Circulation play an important role in understanding genetic testing's role in diagnosing disease, according to the senior author, Michael Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D. A paediatric cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, Dr Ackerman directs Mayo's Long QT Syndrome Clinic and is the director of the Mayo Clinic Windland Smith Rice Sudden Death Genomics Laboratory... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110644-research-findings-key-understanding-interpreting-genetic-testing-long-qt-syndrome http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110644-research-findings-key-understanding-interpreting-genetic-testing-long-qt-syndrome Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:15:00 GMT One of the first set of studies to examine what tourists and recreation enthusiasts actually think about coral reef ecosystems suggests they are a rare exception to controversies over human use versus environmental conservation - their stunning beauty is so extraordinary that almost everyone wants them protected in perpetuity... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110643-coral-reefs-inspire-rare-consensus-just-save-them http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110643-coral-reefs-inspire-rare-consensus-just-save-them Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:12:00 GMT Whether it's magnetic nanoparticles (mNPs) giving an army of 'therapeutically armed' white blood cells direction to invade a deadly tumour's territory, or the use of mNPs to target specific nerve channels and induce nerve-led behaviour (such as the life-dependant thumping of our hearts), mNPs have come a long way in the past decade... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110642-magnetic-nanoparticles-simultaneously-diagnose-monitor-treat http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110642-magnetic-nanoparticles-simultaneously-diagnose-monitor-treat Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:09:00 GMT A study at Johns Hopkins Children's Centre found that girls diagnosed with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) who watched a short educational video were three times more likely to discuss their condition with their partners and to ensure partner treatment than girls diagnosed and treated without seeing the film... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110641-teen-girls-diagnosed-with-sti-more-likely-seek-treatment-partners-after-watching-video http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110641-teen-girls-diagnosed-with-sti-more-likely-seek-treatment-partners-after-watching-video Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:06:00 GMT For the first time, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre have reported the use of a radiolabeled antibody to deliver targeted doses of radiation, followed by a stem cell transplant, to successfully treat a group of leukaemia and pre-leukaemia patients for whom there previously had been no other curative treatment options... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110640-first-use-antibody-stem-cell-transplantation-successfully-treat-advanced-leukaemia http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110640-first-use-antibody-stem-cell-transplantation-successfully-treat-advanced-leukaemia Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:03:00 GMT The Alps are growing just as quickly in height, as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result could be proven by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists. Due to glaciers and rivers about exactly the same amount of material is eroded from the Alp slopes as is regenerated from the deep Earth's crust. The climatic cycles of the glacial period in Europe over the past 2.5 million years have accelerated this erosion process. In the latest volume of the science magazine 'Tectonophysics' the scientists prove that today's uplifting of the Alps is driven by these strong climatic variations... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110639-are-the-alps-growing-or-shrinking http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110639-are-the-alps-growing-or-shrinking Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT As global temperatures and energy costs continue to soar, renewable sources of energy will be key to a sustainable future. An attractive replacement for gasoline is biofuel, and in two studies published online in Genome Research (www.genome.org), scientists have analysed the genome structures of bioethanol-producing microorganisms, uncovering genetic clues that will be critical in developing new technologies needed to implement production on a global scale... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110638-genomes-biofuel-yeasts-reveal-clues-that-could-boost-fuel-ethanol-production-worldwide http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110638-genomes-biofuel-yeasts-reveal-clues-that-could-boost-fuel-ethanol-production-worldwide Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:57:00 GMT A boat tail is a tapering protrusion about two metres in length mounted on the rear of a truck. The boat tail had already proved itself during wind tunnel experiments and computer simulations, both conducted at Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands; TU Delft), in theory and using small-scale models. Now an articulated lorry fitted with a boat tail has also undergone extensive testing on public highways... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110637-boat-tail-reduces-truck-fuel-consumption-by-7-5-percent http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110637-boat-tail-reduces-truck-fuel-consumption-by-7-5-percent Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:54:00 GMT An international team of researchers has decoded the genome of the domestic horse Equus caballus, revealing a genome structure with remarkable similarities to humans and more than one million genetic differences across a variety of horse breeds. In addition to shedding light on a key part of the mammalian branch of the evolutionary tree, the work also provides a critical starting point for mapping disease genes in horses... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110636-horse-genome-sequence-analysis-published-science http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110636-horse-genome-sequence-analysis-published-science Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:51:00 GMT Carnegie Mellon University's Lucio Soibelman, H. Scott Matthews and Jose M.F. Moura received a three-year $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to identify inexpensive ways to track energy consumption in buildings. Bosch Research and Technology Centre North America (Bosch RTC-NA), the R and D arm of the global automotive, industrial, consumer goods and building technology supplier, will assist with the broad-based project to track energy consumption... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110635-carnegie-mellon-researchers-receive-grant http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110635-carnegie-mellon-researchers-receive-grant Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:48:00 GMT Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that first scents really do enjoy a 'privileged' status in the brain... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110634-early-scents-really-do-get-etched-the-brain http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110634-early-scents-really-do-get-etched-the-brain Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:45:00 GMT The ATS has issued an official statement that outlines the Society's position on research, training, education, patient care and advocacy. The statement, which appears in the November 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, also makes specific recommendations on how elements of the organisation can make these policies a part of new and ongoing projects... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110633-new-statement-outlines-ats-positions-on-research-education-advocacy http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110633-new-statement-outlines-ats-positions-on-research-education-advocacy Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:42:00 GMT Antibiotic over-prescription is promoted by paediatricians' perception of parents' expectations. Research published in the open access journal BMC Pediatrics shows that paediatricians are more likely to inappropriately prescribe antibiotics for respiratory tract infections if they perceived parents were expecting a prescription... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110632-perceived-parent-pressure-causes-excessive-antibiotic-prescription http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110632-perceived-parent-pressure-causes-excessive-antibiotic-prescription Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:39:00 GMT Many parents like to meddle in their children's lives. Sometimes this can be beneficial, if the meddling is in the form of parental guidance or setting rules. However, numerous studies have found that in Western countries, when parents are very controlling and dominating over their children, the children suffer psychologically. It has also been suggested that this effect may not be as strong in East Asian countries - researchers have posited that certain aspects of East Asian culture may make children more accepting of their parents' intrusive behaviour. In a new report in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychologists Eva Pomerantz from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and Qian Wang of The Chinese University of Hong Kong review evidence comparing the effects of parental control in the United States and China... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110631-parents-just-dont-understand http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110631-parents-just-dont-understand Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:36:00 GMT Higher levels of phosphorus in the blood are linked to increased calcification of the coronary arteries - a key marker of heart disease risk, according to a study in an upcoming issue of Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). 'This may help to explain why even early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk that is not otherwise explained by traditional risk factors,' comments Katherine R. Tuttle, MD (Providence Medical Research Centre, Spokane, WA)... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110630-small-increases-phosphorus-mean-higher-risk-heart-disease http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110630-small-increases-phosphorus-mean-higher-risk-heart-disease Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:33:00 GMT A strategy that combines gene therapy with blood stem cell therapy may be a useful tool for treating a fatal brain disease, French researchers have found. These findings appear in the 6 November 2009 issue of the journal Science, which is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110629-gene-therapy-technique-slows-brain-disease http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110629-gene-therapy-technique-slows-brain-disease Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:30:00 GMT A new study indicates dentists can play a potentially life-saving role in health care by identifying patients at risk of fatal heart attacks and referring them to physicians for further evaluation... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110628-study-suggests-dentists-can-identify-patients-at-risk-fatal-cardiovascular-event http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110628-study-suggests-dentists-can-identify-patients-at-risk-fatal-cardiovascular-event Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:27:00 GMT A few million years before the catastrophic event that led to the extinction of dinosaurs (with the exception of birds), several species of hadrosaurs coexisted in the Iberian Peninsula. This is what a Spanish team of palaeontologists have demonstrated in a research article published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110627-the-last-european-hadrosaurs-lived-the-iberian-peninsula http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110627-the-last-european-hadrosaurs-lived-the-iberian-peninsula Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:24:00 GMT Scientists from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK and the University of Freiburg in Germany have uncovered a gene in plants that is responsible for controlling the size of seeds, which could lead to ways of improving crops to help ensure food security in the future... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110626-key-seed-size-gene-identified http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110626-key-seed-size-gene-identified Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:21:00 GMT Since her teens, Jennifer Jablon had watched family members deal with breast cancer during their 40s, 50s, and 60s. She wondered whether it would be her fate too... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110625-plastic-surgeons-offer-microsurgery-technique-breast-reconstruction-tummy-tuck-after-mastectomy http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110625-plastic-surgeons-offer-microsurgery-technique-breast-reconstruction-tummy-tuck-after-mastectomy Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:18:00 GMT Researchers at Yale University have developed synthetic molecules capable of enhancing the body's immune response to HIV and HIV-infected cells, as well as to prostate cancer cells. Their findings, published online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could lead to novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110624-new-synthetic-molecules-trigger-immune-response-hiv-prostate-cancer http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110624-new-synthetic-molecules-trigger-immune-response-hiv-prostate-cancer Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:15:00 GMT A drug already approved for the treatment of lymphoma may also slow the growth of the most deadly bone cancer in children and teens, according to an early-stage study published online today in the International Journal of Cancer. The study drug, Bortezomib, was found to be effective against bone cancer in human cancer cell studies and in mice. While key experiments were in animals, the cancer studied closely resembled the human form and the drug has already been proven to be safe in human patients... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110623-approved-lymphoma-drug-shows-promise-early-tests-against-bone-cancer http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110623-approved-lymphoma-drug-shows-promise-early-tests-against-bone-cancer Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:12:00 GMT A University of Colorado at Boulder team has developed the first atlas of bacterial diversity across the human body, charting wide variations in microbe populations that live in different regions of the human body and which aid us in physiological functions that contribute to our health... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110622-cu-boulder-map-human-bacterial-diversity-shows-wide-interpersonal-differences http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110622-cu-boulder-map-human-bacterial-diversity-shows-wide-interpersonal-differences Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:09:00 GMT A new class of supernova was discovered by scientists at Berkeley and may be the first example of a new type of exploding star. A team of astrophysicists at UC Santa Barbara had predicted this kind of explosion in their theoretical work... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110621-new-type-supernova-explosion-reported;-predicted-by-theoretical-physicists-at-ucsb http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110621-new-type-supernova-explosion-reported;-predicted-by-theoretical-physicists-at-ucsb Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:06:00 GMT An unusual supernova rediscovered in seven-year-old data may be the first example of a new type of exploding star, possibly from a binary star system where helium flows from one white dwarf onto another and detonates in a thermonuclear explosion... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110620-rapid-supernova-could-be-new-class-exploding-star http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110620-rapid-supernova-could-be-new-class-exploding-star Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:03:00 GMT A gene associated with longevity in roundworms and humans has been shown to affect the function of stem cells that generate new neurones in the adult brain, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study in mice suggests that the gene may play an important role in maintaining cognitive function during ageing... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110619-stanford-study-shows-neural-stem-cells-mice-affected-by-gene-associated-with-longevity http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110619-stanford-study-shows-neural-stem-cells-mice-affected-by-gene-associated-with-longevity Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:00 GMT In diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cells of the immune system infiltrate the brain tissue, where they cause immense damage. For many years, it was an enigma as to how these cells can escape from the bloodstream. This is no trivial feat, given that specialised blood vessels act as a barrier between the nervous system and the bloodstream. Until now, tissue sections provided the sole evidence that the immune cells really do manage to reach the nerve cells. Now, a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, the University Medical Centre Goettingen, and other institutes, has witnessed the movements of these cells 'live' under the microscope for the very first time. In the process, they discovered several new behavioural traits of the immune cells. The consolidated findings mark a significant step forward in our understanding of this complex disease... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110618-crossing-the-line-how-aggressive-cells-invade-the-brain http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110618-crossing-the-line-how-aggressive-cells-invade-the-brain Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:57:00 GMT A key player in a cascade that likely begins with stress and leads to high blood pressure and kidney damage has been identified by researchers who say the finding may lead to better ways to control both... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110617-key-player-identified-cascade-that-leads-hypertension-related-kidney-damage http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110617-key-player-identified-cascade-that-leads-hypertension-related-kidney-damage Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:53:00 GMT Terahertz radiation still lies in a metrological no man's land - a metrology gap. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) can now close this gap. For the first time, a commercial Terahertz laser was traced back to the international system of units (SI) by measuring its output power absolutely. PTB achieved this success with a power meter which had been calibrated beforehand against a cryogenic radiometer, Germany's primary standard for power measurement of electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, this laser, namely a SIFIR-50 manufactured by the US company Coherent Inc., is the first THz laser in the field with a reliably proven output power enabled by a novel calibration capability set up at the PTB... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110616-ptb-terahertz-calibration-satisfies-us-laser-manufacturer http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110616-ptb-terahertz-calibration-satisfies-us-laser-manufacturer Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:50:00 GMT The same genes that are chemically altered during normal cell differentiation, as well as when normal cells become cancer cells, are also changed in stem cells that scientists derive from adult cells, according to new research from Johns Hopkins and Harvard... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110615-scientists-reveal-how-induced-pluripotent-stem-cells-differ-from-embryonic-stem-cells http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110615-scientists-reveal-how-induced-pluripotent-stem-cells-differ-from-embryonic-stem-cells Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:47:00 GMT People living in volcanic areas may be at a higher risk for thyroid cancer, according to a new study published online November 5 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110614-higher-incidence-thyroid-cancer-volcanic-area-sicily http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110614-higher-incidence-thyroid-cancer-volcanic-area-sicily Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:44:00 GMT Community-based education and awareness programs minimised the death toll from the recent Samoan tsunami, though there are still ways to improve the warning and evacuation process, according to a team of researchers that travelled to Samoa last month... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110613-community-education-evacuation-planning-saved-lives-29-september-samoan-tsunami http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110613-community-education-evacuation-planning-saved-lives-29-september-samoan-tsunami Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:41:00 GMT A unique large-scale research device from Juelich went into operation in the USA yesterday. At the strongest neutron source in the world, the spallation source SNS in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Forschungszentrum Juelich inaugurated a so-called neutron spin echo (NSE) spectrometer. The NSE spectrometer enables detailed observations to be made of the motion of proteins and polymers. It will thus help to develop improved plastics or to understand metabolic processes in cells... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110612-juelich-neutron-scientists-inaugurate-unique-device-the-us http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110612-juelich-neutron-scientists-inaugurate-unique-device-the-us Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:38:00 GMT Despite their fearsome fangs, male sabertoothed cats may have been less aggressive than many of their feline cousins, says a new study of male-female size differences in extinct big cats... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110611-male-sabertoothed-cats-were-pussycats-compared-macho-lions http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110611-male-sabertoothed-cats-were-pussycats-compared-macho-lions Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:35:00 GMT Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo's DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Cells carry out different functions according to a developmental plan, by expressing, i.e. turning on, different combinations of genes. These patterns of gene expression are controlled by transcription factors: molecules which bind to stretches of DNA called cis-regulatory modules (CRMs), and, once bound, switch the relevant genes on or off. Thanks to scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, it is now possible to accurately predict when and where different CRMs will be active. The study, published today in Nature, is a first step towards forecasting the expression of all genes in a given organism and demonstrates that the genetic regulation that is crucial for correct embryonic development is more flexible than previously thought... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110610-deciphering-the-regulatory-code http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110610-deciphering-the-regulatory-code Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:32:00 GMT Picture it: One jerk in a bar spends the night delivering bad come-ons to women. By the end of the evening, the women aren't receptive to even the nicest guys around... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110609-mom-was-right-nice-guys-dont-always-finish-last http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110609-mom-was-right-nice-guys-dont-always-finish-last Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:29:00 GMT From their very first days, newborns' cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study published online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110608-babies-language-learning-starts-from-the-womb http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110608-babies-language-learning-starts-from-the-womb Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:26:00 GMT Infants who are exposed to higher levels of air pollution are at increased risk for bronchiolitis, according to a new study... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110607-air-pollution-increases-infants-risk-bronchiolitis http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110607-air-pollution-increases-infants-risk-bronchiolitis Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:23:00 GMT Parents who dress their children in inappropriate clothing could be inadvertently hampering their child's physical activity in childcare settings. The study, reported in BioMed Central's open access journal, International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, suggests that inadequate or inappropriate clothing could restrict children's outdoor play... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110606-all-dressed-up-nowhere-go http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110606-all-dressed-up-nowhere-go Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:20:00 GMT Researchers reporting in BioMed Central's open access journal Conflict and Health found that the discrepancy in media reporting of casualty numbers in the Iraq conflict can potentially misinform the public and contribute to distorted perceptions and gross underestimates of the number of civilians killed in the armed conflict... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110605-the-first-casualty-war http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110605-the-first-casualty-war Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:17:00 GMT Declining kidney function is linked to a higher risk of heart failure, heart attack, peripheral arterial disease, and early death in individuals with or without kidney disease, according to a pair of studies appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The findings indicate that poor kidney function may raise an individual's risk for cardiovascular complications. To evaluate heart health, clinicians should factor in not only their patients' current level of kidney function, but also changes in kidney function over time... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110604-kidney-function-decline-increases-risk-heart-failure-premature-death http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110604-kidney-function-decline-increases-risk-heart-failure-premature-death Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:14:00 GMT The impact of airborne nitrogen released from the burning of fossil fuels and wide-spread use of fertilisers in agriculture is much greater that previously recognised and even extends to remote alpine lakes, according to a study published 6 November in the journal Science... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110603-airborne-nitrogen-shifts-aquatic-nutrient-limitation-pristine-lakes http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110603-airborne-nitrogen-shifts-aquatic-nutrient-limitation-pristine-lakes Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:11:00 GMT Scientists are making progress toward development of an 'artificial leaf' that mimics a real leaf's chemical magic with photosynthesis - but instead converts sunlight and water into a liquid fuel such as methanol for cars and trucks. That is among the conclusions in a newly-available report from top authorities on solar energy who met at the 1st Annual Chemical Sciences and Society Symposium. The gathering launched a new effort to initiate international cooperation and innovative thinking on the global energy challenge... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110602-chemists-describe-solar-energy-progress-challenges-including-the-artificial-leaf http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110602-chemists-describe-solar-energy-progress-challenges-including-the-artificial-leaf Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:08:00 GMT When paramedics rush to the scene of a multi-car pileup or a terror attack, their first task is to assess who needs immediate care. But blood haemorrhaging can obscure damage, and the gruesome mess means paramedics can't always determine who should be treated first... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110601-keeping-hearts-pumping-with-lifeflow http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110601-keeping-hearts-pumping-with-lifeflow Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:05:00 GMT The study, entitled 'Moonlighting Proteins HAL3 and VHS3 Form a Heteromeric PPCDC with YKL088w in Yeast CoA Biosynthesis' and published in Nature Chemical Biology, was carried out by researchers of the UAB Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, under the coordination of Dr Joaquin Arino... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110571-new-discoveries-the-yeast-saccharomyces-cerevisiae http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110571-new-discoveries-the-yeast-saccharomyces-cerevisiae Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:54:00 GMT Research examining issues surrounding homeless veterans and the types of relationships they had with their fathers was presented Nov. 4 at the VA Veteran Homelessness Summit in Washington, D.C. The research was a collaboration between Gary Dick, associate professor of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, and Brad Schaffer, social worker for the Veterans Administration Cincinnati Medical Centre. The summit, organised by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, launched an initiative to end homelessness among veterans in the next five years... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110570-uc-research-on-homeless-veterans-presented-washington-dc http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110570-uc-research-on-homeless-veterans-presented-washington-dc Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:51:00 GMT Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder patients. This is exposed in a recent study carried out at the Learning and Memory Lab in the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology. The study, carried out by research student Eti Ganon-Elazar under the supervision of Dr Irit Akirav, was published in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110569-use-cannabinoids-could-help-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-patients http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110569-use-cannabinoids-could-help-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-patients Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:48:00 GMT New insight into how nature handles some fundamental processes is guiding researchers in the design of tailor-made proteins for applications such as artificial photosynthetic centres, long-range electron transfers, and fuel-cell catalysts for energy conversion... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110568-mimicking-nature-scientists-can-now-extend-redox-potentials http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110568-mimicking-nature-scientists-can-now-extend-redox-potentials Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:45:00 GMT One of the many mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is how protein-like snippets called amyloid-beta peptides, which clump together to form plaques in the brain, may cause cell death, leading to the disease's devastating symptoms of memory loss and other mental difficulties... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110567-hybrid-molecules-show-promise-exploring-treating-alzheimers http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110567-hybrid-molecules-show-promise-exploring-treating-alzheimers Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:42:00 GMT A team from the University of Miami, University of El Paso and University of Rochester have employed Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images compiled over a decade to study volcanic activity in the African Rift. The study, published in the November issue of Geology, studies the section of the rift in Kenya... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110566-study-uses-satellite-imagery-identify-active-magma-systems-east-africa-rift-valley http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110566-study-uses-satellite-imagery-identify-active-magma-systems-east-africa-rift-valley Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:39:00 GMT While studying how the heart is formed, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine serendipitously found a novel cellular source of atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of abnormal heart beat. Jonathan Epstein, M.D., William Wikoff Smith Professor, and Chair, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Vickas Patel, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, have identified a population of cells in the atria of the heart and pulmonary veins of humans and mice that appear to be the seat of AF. The finding may lead to a more precise way to treat AF, with reduced side effects. Their findings appear online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110565-penn-researchers-describe-cellular-source-most-common-type-abnormal-heart-beat http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110565-penn-researchers-describe-cellular-source-most-common-type-abnormal-heart-beat Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:36:00 GMT Green tea extract has shown promise as cancer prevention agent for oral cancer in patients with a pre-malignant condition known as oral leukoplakia, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Centre... http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110564-green-tea-shows-promise-as-chemoprevention-agent-oral-cancer http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09110564-green-tea-shows-promise-as-chemoprevention-agent-oral-cancer Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:33:00 GMT