The biological clock: What really makes us tick
HOUSTON, March 25, 2004 From sleep patterns to health conditions, biological clocks get down to what makes us tick. The University of Houston is home to one of the world's leading centers for biological rhythms research. With five laboratories and a team of more than 30 scholars led by five ...For some gorillas, local kin may mean local peace
... researchers collected DNA samples to characterize patterns of paternity within and among western gorilla soci...d some other African apes, suggesting that kinship patterns both within and among groups may have played an important role in shaping the social world of early ...Cross-species comparison reveals shared features between tumorigenesis and organogenesis
... ability to easily compare and identify meaningful patterns of gene expression between species such as mouse a...n specialized functions. By analyzing the changing patterns of expression of more than 2000 genes in the developing cerebellum in mice and comparing these to ge...New toxicity test could cut animal testing
...e, liver cells in culture are known to alter their patterns of gene expression and no longer behave like liver cells in vivo. For example they often lose the ability to produce drug-activating and modifying enzymes. Cultured MMH-GH cell lines do not suffer from this problem, retaining features of liver cells ...Ambient light influences the evolution of colour signals
...t males display more conspicuous sexually selected patterns than females. Colours of light and background are also likely to influence the evolution of visual signals in other light-contrasted ecosystems....Natural enemies help scientists untangle tropical forest food webs
...itises both of them - may interact indirectly. The patterns that result parallel those caused by traditional competition for food, hence the name given to the effect: 'apparent competition'. To test the theory scientists conducted a painstaking field experiment in Belize, Central America, measuring the effect...Challenging shrubland fire management
..., at about 2.7 percent each year. "Historical fire patterns and quantitative measures of hazard therefore refute the common assumption that fire probabilities in shrublands are strongly driven by vegetation age, and that large fires are necessarily caused by a buildup of older fuels," according to the study. ...Ontario researchers see increase in taste and odour-causing algae problems
...plains Dr. Smol. "The timing indicates that these patterns are the result of one or more human-caused stresses operating at a broad, regional scale," says lead investigator Andrew Paterson, a former doctoral student at Queen's. "We present new evidence suggesting that disturbances such as acid rain and clima...Other highlights in the March 3 issue of JNCI
...nosing Cancer: Recent reports about using protein patterns in serum to diagnose ovarian and prostate cancers have generated much excitement about the potential future applicability of such analyses. In a Commentary, Eleftherios P. Diamandis of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto summarizes some of the shortcomin...Cancer rates in teens and early 20s rising
...sk. Professor Birch said that good quality data on patterns and trends in cancer incidence were essential for ...cer registration in this age group. "We understand patterns of childhood cancer fairly well because there are specialised registries internationally. But childh...The ecological equivalent of Ellis Island: from ancestry to biodiversity
...a book by Steve Hubbell. Hubbell claimed that many patterns in nature could be explained by a simple theory stating that all species are equivalent in competition for resources. In a letter to Ecology Letters, Rampal Etienne and Han Olff from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands will present a nove...Just how much water do we really need? The answer may depend on our age
..., little is known about water intake and excretion patterns in free-living individuals, because fluid intake, particularly from noncaloric, nonalcoholic, and noncaffeinated beverages is poorly documented. The 1977-1978 National Food Consumption Survey is one of the few sources of information on water intake, ...Cell cycle research earns biologist Virginia's top scientist award
...mical interactions and then simulates the changing patterns of molecular activity in time and space. These calculations can be compared with great precision to the observed behavior of living cells to determine how well the equations simulate life. The computational approach to cell biology promises to lead a...UNC study may improve gene therapy safety
...ng thousands of genes simultaneously by displaying patterns of gene expression. Exposure to AAV either as an i...or shell affected gene expression minimally and in patterns not associated with potential harm to the host organism, the report said. In addition, exposure to t...URI oceanographer awarded NSF grant to study function of jellyfish in coastal ecosystems
...tanding of community feeding rates, prey selection patterns and the underlying feeding mechanisms that have led to the success and evolutionary longevity of the most diverse group of medusae," said Gifford. "The study will also provide evolutionary ecologists with a greater understanding of the biomechanical ...Genetics, alcohol sensitivity, and behavior
..., individual responses to alcohol, and alcohol-use patterns among people."...Risk and food are on the same plate: World food safety experts offer new methods to assess risk
...orism and possible threats to food security. New patterns of food production, distribution and consumption, including increased travel, eating away from home, and the higher demand for a wide variety of food (issues of trade). Recent recalls and industry losses such as the Pilgrim's Pride Listeria outbrea...Study of dyslexic brain finds three word forms responsible for reading success
... and powerful new methods to model the inheritance patterns and map genomic locations of genes involved in dyslexia, the researchers are drawing on genetic material gathered from 111 families with a total of 898 members. "A variety of molecular genetic approaches have been taken to locate genes for component...New study suggests brains of autistic children can be trained to recognize faces
...in face processing. The MRIs allow them to examine patterns of brain activity while the subjects process infor...or more directed exposure) to faces lead to normal patterns of brain activation? If the latter were the case, the researchers hypothesized that a face with whic......abilities Center's effort to model the inheritance patterns and to map the location of genes involved in dyslexia. This multi-generational study of 111 families with at least one dyslexic child involves genetic material from 898 individuals. "While we hope to identify more locations where reputed genes for ...