TUCSON, AZ—The apple trees of yesteryear are slowly disappearing. Many apple varieties common in the United States a century ago can no longer be found in today's orchards and nurseries. But some historic apple trees still survive in abandoned farmsteads and historic orchards throughout the U.S. Now, scientists interested in conserving these horticultural treasures have set out to identify and catalogue them, working to discover if the last remnants of historical trees may still be alive in American landscapes.
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St. Louis, MO, November 4, 2009 – Americans continue to get heavier. Most weight control methods short of bariatric surgery are generally considered ineffective in preventing obesity or reducing weight. The term energy gap was coined to estimate the change in energy balance (intake and expenditure) behaviors required to achieve and sustain reduced body weight outcomes in individuals and populations.
Using portable 3D laser technology, scientists have electronically preserved a rare 110 million-year-old fossilized dinosaur footprint that was previously excavated and built into the wall of a bandstand at a Texas courthouse in the 1930s.
The laser image preserves a "type specimen" footprint — an original track used to describe a species of dinosaur identified in the 1930s as ichnospecies Eubrontes glenrosensis, says paleontologist Thomas L. Adams at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
The hormones, called androgens, are important in the development of masculine characteristics such as aggression and strength. It is also thought that prenatal androgens affect finger length during development in the womb. High levels of androgens, such as testosterone, increase the length of the fourth finger in comparison to the second finger. Scientists used finger ratios as an indicator of the levels of exposure to the hormone and compared this data with social behaviour in primate groups.
BETHLEHEM, P.A. – November 4, 2009 – An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science written by a team of ecologists, including Robert Booth, assistant professor of earth and environmental science at Lehigh University, examines some of the potential problems with current prediction methods and calls for the use of a range of approaches when predicting the impact of climate change on organisms.
A University of Adelaide study may have shed light on the rise in childhood asthma in developed countries like Australia in recent decades.
Researchers from the University's Robinson Institute have identified a link between folic acid supplements taken in late pregnancy and allergic asthma in children aged between 3 and 5 years, suggesting that the timing of supplementation in pregnancy is important.
A team of researchers at Queen's University Belfast's Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) is working to develop futuristic communications systems that could help protect frontline troops.
Building on work completed recently for the UK Ministry of Defence, the project is aimed at investigating the use of arrays of highly specialised antennas that could be worn by combat troops to provide covert short-range person-to-person battleground communications.
Searching for a needle in a haystack may seem futile, but it's worth it if the needle is a hard-to-detect protein that may identify a person at high risk of a heart attack circulating within a haystack of human serum (liquid component of blood).
(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Center found that yoga may be more effective than standard treatment for reducing chronic low back pain in minority populations. This study appears in the November issue of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.
A world first study by Monash University researchers into the health of families who drink rainwater has found that it is safe to drink.
The research was led by Associate Professor Karin Leder from the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine in conjunction with Water Quality Research Australia (previously the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment).
CHAPEL HILL – Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco have developed and experimentally tested a technique to predict new target diseases for existing drugs.
Chevy Chase, MD— Postmenopausal women who have higher testosterone levels may be at greater risk of heart disease, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome compared to women with lower testosterone levels, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). This new information is an important step, say researchers, in understanding the role that hormones play in women's health.
Chevy Chase, MD— According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), eating a meal quickly, as compared to slowly, curtails the release of hormones in the gut that induce feelings of being full. The decreased release of these hormones, can often lead to overeating.
Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine report that cutting back on the consumption of processed and fried foods, which are high in toxins called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), can reduce inflammation and actually help restore the body's natural defenses regardless of age or health status. These benefits are present even without changing caloric or nutrient intake.
San Diego, Calif -- Patients with early stage, non-small cell lung cancer who are not able to undergo surgery, now have a highly effective treatment option. Physicians say that option, radical stereotactic radiosurgery performed with CyberKnife, leads to a 100 percent overall survival after three years in patients with good lung function before treatment. These are the results of a study presented today at the annual CHEST meeting in San Diego. The study is a semifinalist for an Alfred Soffer Research Award, selected for "outstanding original scientific research."