Carbon sink or carbon source? Aerosols play role in shifts
..., as is the case with direct radiation, additional increases do not necessarily cause increased photosynthesis. It doesn't matter how much more radiation you add, the plant is not going to absorb more CO2. But at lower levels of radiation, as is the case with diffuse radiation, any increase in radiation transl...Birds, butterflies, bacteria same law of biology appears to apply
...that the number of species present the diversity increases as the area they occupy increases. "The results s... is crucial." The idea that the number of species increases as the area increases - referred to as the "species-area relationship" - may seem obvious to anyone ...US researchers warn of possible fertility risk to men using laptop computers on their laps
...ian 2.8C. Several previous studies have shown that increases in testicular or scrotal temperatures of between 1C and 2.9C are associated with a sustained and considerable negative effect on spermatogenesis and fertility. Lead researcher Dr Yefim Sheynkin, Associate Professor of Urology and Director, Male ...Global warming good news for coral reefs: research
...y due to an enhancement in coral metabolism and/or increases in photosynthetic rates of red algae, according to...ocean carbon cycles. "Our results show that increases in coral reef calcification associated with ocean warming outweigh decreases associated with increas...Gene therapy reduces skin cancer to sunburn in mouse model
...s of ultraviolet (UV) light. Exposure to UV light increases the risk for all cancers, but exposed skin is most prone to the disease.With a 10,000-fold increase in cancer risk, many XP sufferers eventually succumb to tumors at an early age. Mice with mutations in the gene Xpa suffer from XP and develop can...Global bird populations face dramatic decline in coming decades, study predicts
...rees and other plants have resulted in significant increases in insect pests and consequent plant damage," the authors wrote, adding that the extreme specializations of many insectivorous birds, especially in the tropics, make it unlikely that other organisms will be able to replace the birds' crucial role in ...Vaccinating wildlife can reduce human risk for Lyme disease
...disease from a tick bite. "Vaccinating wildlife increases our prevention options," said principal investigator Durland Fish, professor of epidemiology at Yale, who led the study with Jean Tsao, now at Michigan State University and microbiologist Alan Barbour at University of California at Irvine. "Despite a...Cigarette smoking exacerbates alcohol-induced brain damage
.... "Results indicate that chronic cigarette smoking increases the severity of brain damage associated with alcohol dependence," said Durazzo. "That is, the combined effects of alcohol dependence and chronic smoking are associated with greater regional brain damage than chronic alcoholic drinking or smoking alo...Alcoholism and excessive food intake may share chemical pathways in the brain
...unction with previous findings that alcohol intake increases galanin in the paraventricular nucleus, have led the authors to speculate that galanin may play a role in the development of alcohol dependence through what they call "a positive feedback mechanism." "Current data show that galanin can increase alcoh...Desires for fatty foods and alcohol share a chemical trigger
...othalamus to produce more galanin, which, in turn, increases the appetite for fat. In a healthy person, however, there are counteracting signals that break this loop, said Hoebel. In animals given galanin and access to alcohol, the role of the chemical appeared to be subverted: it boosted alcohol intake ins...Hummingbirds lose power at high altitudes
...primarily because the stroke amplitude of the wing increases to account for the thinner air," added coauthor Robert Dudley, Altshuler's advisor when both were at the University of Texas, Austin. "If the bird can only flex its wings through a maximum of 180 degrees, that leaves less power available for other th...Stowers researcher publishes DNA double-strand break repair discovery in Science
... Dr. Kusch's findings show that the dTip60 complex increases DNA accessibility at sites of damage for optimal DNA repair and at the same time removes the DNA damage-marker phospho-H2A.X/v to signal the cell that this defect has been successfully repaired. "These findings answer fundamental questions abou...15-year study shows strong link between fast food, obesity and insulin resistance
...hildren's Hospital Boston, reported that fast food increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The results of this 15-year study will be published in the Jan. 1 issue of The Lancet . Participants who consumed fast food two or more times a week gained approximately 10 more pounds and had twice as gre......the authors, although there is no doubt that fiber increases stool bulk and frequency, the role of dietary fiber to treat chronic constipation is exaggerated. A low fiber diet has been proven not to be the cause of constipation and the success of fiber intake as treatment is modest. The study reviewed conduc...Zebrafish may hold key to understanding human nerve cell development
...f humans that make hearing possible. This research increases our understanding of how nerve cells develop and whether it may be possible to regenerate these types of cells in humans one day," said Tatjana Piotrowski, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Utah School of Med...Story tips from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, January 2005
... activities and materials research. This technique increases the processing tools available to materials scientists to customize performance and achieve major improvements in properties without the need of adding expensive alloy additions. The research could result in benefits to the steel, heat-treating, forg...Stowers researcher answers fundamental question of cell death
...pstream of mitochondria. Loss of function of Bruce increases the level of p53, making cells more sensitive to apoptosis. The transcriptional activity of p53 is responsible for the activation of genes including Pidd, Bax, and Bak. These in turn activate mitochondria, leading to apoptosis. "The identification o...High sugar levels increase cancer and mortality risk
...at glucose intolerance may be one way that obesity increases cancer risk and that the rising obesity rates may increase future cancer rates. "This study provides more information on glucose intolerance, an emerging cause of cancer. It points to increased cancer risk as another adverse consequence of rising obe...Scientists detect probable genetic cause of some Parkinson's disease cases
... chronic and progressive. Incidence of the disease increases with age, with an average onset at about 60 years....Study identifies the most common genetic cause of Parkinson's disease
...simple tasks. The incidence of Parkinson's disease increases with age. Until recently, it was thought that environmental factors were the primary cause of Parkinson's disease. A genetic link was thought to exist in the rare early onset form of the disease in people diagnosed before age 40 (children as young as...