Scientists build on case connecting inflammatory disease and depression
...ry disorders or for those receiving immunotherapy, say Robert Dantzer and Keith Kelley, professors in the department of animal sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "For the first time, we have evidence of a strong relationship between a molecular event and the development of psycho......n that controls hunger and metabolism. Researchers say this peptide, or small protein, is one of the body's most powerful metabolism booster signals, sending a fast, strong message to the brain to burn calories. This message is then sent to another part of the hypothalamus, where another peptide is prod...DNA tests point to extinction of 2 distinctive arctic bird populations
...s identified in this study are definitely at risk, say the researchers. In the Aleutian Islands this is due to foxes that were introduced in the 18th century for fur farming, while in Newfoundland the birds are hunted by people as small game. "Reclassification of these two populations should immediately ...Impact of Earth's rising atmospheric carbon dioxide found in world oceans
...AA and the Department of Energy, is unprecedented, say scientists, with 10 times more observations and 10 times better accuracy than the previous global survey in the 1970s. "This research presents the first complete synthesis of modern global ocean inorganic carbon measurements," said James Yoder, direc...Gene expression patterns may help predict risk and progression of prostate cancer
...ase progression based on gene expression patterns, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. "It is not clear what molecular events are responsible for the progression of prostate cancer to a lethal form of the disease," said Jian-Hua Luo, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study and assistant...Carnivore extinction risk determined more by biology than human population density, says study
...human population with whom they share their space, say scientists in a study published this week. Researchers looking at all 280 carnivore species around the world estimated the risk of their extinction by 2030 based on a variety of different threats. They found that while a high human population densit...Tips from the Journals of the American Society for Microbiology
...a breeding ground for potentially harmful bacteria say researchers from San Diego State University, Calif...veals are constituted of lush microbial biofilms," say the researchers. In the study DNA samples were taken from four vinyl shower curtains in differe...Protective mechanism exploited by tumors may provide new cancer treatment
...hat normally help keep the immune system in check, say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia. When the researchers looked into the lymph nodes where tumors drain typically the first place tumors spread they found a subset of normal host immune cells were expressing IDO, an immunosuppressive enz...'Anti-plume' found off Pacific Coast
...e moves at about the rate a fingernail might grow say three centimeters a year. But when these swarms take place, the movement may be more like a meter in a two-week period." On Monday, July 12, the region was jolted by a 4.9 magnitude quake just offshore from Dziak's Newport lab one that was felt mo...When sun's too strong, plankton make clouds
People say size doesn't matter, and that may be true for tiny plankton, those free-floating ocean plants that make up the bottom of the marine food-chain. Little plankton may be able to change the weather, and longer term climate, in ways that serve them better...Confidentiality of genetic databases questioned by Stanford researchers
... have paid too little attention to privacy issues, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Their findings, published in the July 9 issue of Science, suggest that traditional means of ensuring confidentiality do not apply to genetic data and that additional safeguards are needed to ...Asian bird flu became highly pathogenic through continued circulation and gene swapping
...e viruses infect the same animal. The researchers say that their study of the genetic makeup of H5N1 subtypes collected since 1997 traces the evolution of the virus into a dangerous pathogen through a series of reassortment events. Results of the study indicate that domestic ducks in southern China play...Human periodontal ligament stem cells isolated for the first time
...our teeth in their sockets. The scientists also say these cells have "tremendous potential" to regenerate the periodontal ligament, a common target of advanced gum (periodontal) disease. This enthusiasm is based on follow up experiments, in which the researchers implanted the human adult stem cells i...Vacuum assisted deliveries are safe alternative to forceps
...ng vacuumdeliveries argue against the FDA warning, say the authors. Encouraging instrumental vaginal deliveries may help to reduce the rates ofcaesarean section. Although delivery by vacuum extraction does have risks,it remains a safe alternative to forceps delivery. These results also underscore the nee...Microscopy scans show how brain cells process energy
... brain-cell metabolism), the Cornell biophysicists say they have both confirmed and redefined the controversial "astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle" hypothesis for brain energy metabolism. "Over the past decade scientists have passionately debated whether the activated brain burns glucose completely to wa...Highlights of the July Journal of the American Dietetic Association
...ot following the Pyramid's guidelines. The authors say larger portions, increases in daily calorie intake and a sedentary lifestyle are the real reasons why so many Americans are battling the bulge. In 1992, the United States Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services introduced the Food Gu...Gene alteration points to longevity, thinness
... only one of the life-determinant genes. But I can say that when the function of this single gene is knocked down, the animal can extend its lifespan." University of Connecticut researchers were the first to recognize the relationship between Indy short for 'I'm not dead yet' and longevity when they fo......s may not produce the same conservation benefits," say Mas and Dietsch. The study shows the important t...eet regional conservation goals. In the meantime, say Mas and Dietsch, coffee consumers can have confidence that current certification programs distinguis...Mice with hyperactive Wnt10b gene eat all they want, but have half the body fat of normal mice
...kin of the transgenic mice are any indication, I'd say we have to tread carefully. I think we'd all like to be thicker-skinned, but only in the figurative sense."...Finding the hole in the defenses of cavity-creating microbes
...heir own acids may offer one way to stop cavities, say microbiologists at the University of Rochester Medical Center who have discovered a chink in the armor that bacteria use to survive the hostile environment of the human mouth. Streptococcus mutans or S. mutans, the dominant bacterium in our mouths, ...