About 75% of fertilizers and fertilizer technology used around the world today were developed or improved during the 1950s to 1970s by scientists and engineers at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in the United States, says John Shields, a former TVA official. Shields is now Interim Director of IFDC, An International Center for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development, based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
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LONDON, ON – With hurricane season upon us, many wonder if the roof over their heads will hold firm in the face of high winds. This week, inaugural tests at The University of Western Ontario's 'Three Little Pigs' project at The Insurance Research Lab for Better Homes will begin to provide answers as researchers 'raze the roof'.
Tumor cells in a particular subset of breast cancer patients churn out too much of a protein called ErbB2 -- also often called HER2 -- which drives the cells to proliferate unchecked. Patients unlucky enough to be in this group -- about one in four -- have poorer prognoses and clinical outcomes than those who don't.
For the first time in Michigan, a diseased kidney has been surgically removed at Henry Ford Hospital using highly sophisticated 3D robotics through a single incision.
"We made several improvements in the technique that could allow us to perform this type of procedure routinely," says Craig Rogers, M.D., Henry Ford's director of robotic renal surgery. He performed the delicate operation last week using the da Vinci Surgical System, which has already been used in thousands of successful surgeries for complete and partial removal of diseased prostates.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The ostentatious, sometimes bizarre qualities that improve a creature's chances of finding a mate may also drive the reproductive separation of populations and the evolution of new species, say two Indiana University Bloomington biologists.
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Researchers from Monash University have designed a nano-sized "trojan horse" particle to ensure healing antioxidants can be better absorbed by the human body.
Dr Ken Ng and Dr Ian Larson from the University's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have designed a nanoparticle, one thousandth the thickness of a human hair, that protects antioxidants from being destroyed in the gut and ensures a better chance of them being absorbed in the digestive tract.
Cork, Ireland – August 25, 2008 – Data from a recent study demonstrate the anti-inflammatory and pathogen protection benefits of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 a probiotic bacterial strain of human origin. Gastrointestinal benefits of probiotics have been well-documented, but more and more research is revealing that probiotic benefits extend to the entire body. The report was published in the August issue of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens.
A group of Yale undergraduates have discovered dozens of potentially beneficial bioactive microorganisms within plants they collected in the Amazon rain forest, including several so genetically distinct that they may be the first members of new taxonomical genera.
The analysis of 135 endophytes - fungal and bacterial microorganisms living within the inner tissue of plants - by members of the Rain Forest Expedition and Laboratory course at Yale will be published Monday in the journal PLoS ONE.
AMES, Iowa – The Food and Drug Administration's new (Aug. 22) regulation that will allow irradiation pasteurization to be used on fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce to kill illness-causing bacteria is a step that two Iowa State University professors have long advocated.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The media constantly inform the public of new health information, but many Americans have difficulty recognizing what they should, or should not do to improve their health. University of Missouri researchers conducted a national survey and found that the majority of health journalists have not had specialized training in health reporting and face challenges in communicating new medical science developments.
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, August 22, 2008 -- Happiness and optimism may play a role against breast cancer while adverse life events can increase the risk of developing the disease, according to a study by Professor Ronit Peled, at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. An article on the study titled "Breast Cancer, Psychological Distress and Life Events among Young Women," was just published in the British journal BMC Cancer (8:245, August 2008).
Certain kinds of research can help improve social problems, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Participatory action research is the subject of the study by authors Julie L. Ozanne and Bige Saatcioglu (Virginia Tech). According to the authors, this type of research actively seeks to change the behavior or situation of the consumer. "This article introduces the participatory action research paradigm, which is based upon the goal of helping people and employs methodologies that are different from traditional consumer research," explain the authors.
Many Americans make investment decisions with their retirement funds. But they don't always make informed judgments. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research introduces a new tool that investors can use to choose investments based on their financial goals and risk attitudes.