Evolutionary studies of aging typically utilize small, short-lived animals (insects, worms, mice) under benign conditions – constant temperature and humidity, no parasites, superabundant food – in the laboratory. Oddly enough, very little is known about aging in such animals in their harsh, stressful natural environments. Could it be that these laboratory "guinea pigs" actually age much more slowly in captive luxury than do their wild cousins?
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A group of scientists affiliated with the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) have proposed a new framework to account more accurately for the effects of aerosols on precipitation in climate models. Their work appears in the 5 September issue of Science magazine.
The increase in atmospheric concentrations of man-made aerosols—tiny particles suspended in the air—from such sources as transportation, industry, agriculture, and urban land use not only poses serious problems to human health, but also has an effect on weather and climate.
Bats' ability to echolocate may have evolved more than once, according to research published this week by Queen Mary, University of London scientists.
Species of bat with the ability to echolocate do not all group together in the evolutionary tree of life - some are more related to their non-echolocating cousins, the fruit bats. This has raised the question of whether echolocation in bats has evolved more than once, or whether the fruit bats somehow lost their ability to echolocate.
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Researchers from the departments of Department of Nutrition and Bromatology and Department of Chemistry-Physics of the University of Granada have carried out a study in which they have revealed the need of counterbalancing the diet of the university population who follows Ramadan.
Mammalian fatty acid synthase is one of the most complex molecular synthetic machines in human cells. It is also a promising target for the development of anti-cancer and anti-obesity drugs and the treatment of metabolic disorders. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have determined the atomic structure of a mammalian fatty acid synthase. Their results have just been published in Science magazine.
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---After 20 years of construction, a machine that could either verify or nullify the prevailing theory of particle physics is about to begin its mission.
CERN's epic Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project currently involves 25 University of Michigan physicists and students. More than 100 U-M researchers have been involved in the project over the years. CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, located in Geneva, Switzerland.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A computerized reminder system used in community-based primary care doctors' offices increased colorectal cancer screening rates by an average of 9 percent, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.
The reminder system, called ClinfoTracker, was developed by family medicine doctors at UMHS to help track and manage primary care. The system encourages doctors and patients to follow guidelines for managing chronic diseases or for prevention screenings.
Tooth cavities are usually closed with plastic fillings. However, the initially soft plastic shrinks as it hardens. The tension can cause gaps to appear between the tooth and the filling, encouraging more caries to form. For the first time, researchers have simulated this process.
Linseed is said to protect against cancer -- but not everybody likes the taste. Researchers have now isolated the valuable components of the flax seeds. Incorporated in bread, cakes or dressings, they support the human organism without leaving an unpleasant aftertaste.
Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (5 September, 2008) – In the face of technology that will soon be able not only to track an individual's movements but predict them too, people are far too relaxed about protecting their privacy, according to social psychologist Saadi Lahlou, writing in a special issue of Social Science Information on cognitive technologies, published today by SAGE.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Free drug samples provided to physicians by pharmaceutical companies could actually be costing uninsured patients more in the long run, according to a study done by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.
PHILADELPHIA – Scientists at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have developed a risk prediction assessment for lung cancer specifically for African Americans that suggests a greater risk from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a report published in the September issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
New York, NY, September 5, 2008—Private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will be paid an average 12.4 percent more per enrollee in 2008 compared to what the same enrollee would have cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund. Even if the payment reductions to MA plans mandated by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) – scheduled to take effect beginning in 2010 – had been fully in place in 2008, MA plans still would have been paid 10.6 percent more than expected fee-for-service costs.
Heidelberg, 5 September 2008 – Even scientists define 'a gene' in different ways, so it comes as little surprise that the media also have various ways of framing the concept of a gene, according to a new study appearing in the October 2008 issue of EMBO reports.
The study, Frame that gene, is based on the analysis of 300 articles in British and Norwegian newspapers: The Guardian, The Sun and The Daily Mail from the UK; and Aftenposten, Dagbladet, and VG from Norway.
Better guidance is urgently needed for doctors in child protection cases to prevent them from being deterred from acting to protect children, says an editorial on bmj.com today.