Researchers call for expanding the repertoire in studying birdsong
...h years than those who only learn in the first few months or first year." "One of the great things about songbirds is there is great variety in the manner in which different species learn to sing," said Brenowitz, a neurobiologist. "They are great models, but we should take advantage of the diversity of w...New imaging method gives early indication if brain cancer therapy is effective, U-M study shows
...high mortality rate, with people surviving only 10 months after diagnosis. Typically, patients receive seven... through seven weeks of treatment only to find two months later that it had no effect? Using MRI tumor diffusion values to accurately predict the treatment re...Gene variations explain drug dose required to control seizures
... said. "For someone at the higher end, it can take months to get their seizures under control. This study uncovers factors that might determine, in advance, which patients will need the higher dose." Before any such pharmacogenetic approaches can be put into practice, they must be explicitly evaluated for c...Babies born preterm cost businesses big money: Hospital charges estimated at $7.4 billion annually
...s spend nearly 17 days in the hospital over the 12 months following birth, compared to 2 to 3 days for healt...eraged 29.1 days away from the office over the six months following delivery, compared to 18.9 days for mothers of full-term babies. According to the analys...Researchers reveal the infectious impact of salmon farms on wild salmon
...0 km of migration route; an enormous data set from months of laborious fieldwork; and state of the art models of disease transfer. "Our research shows that the impact of a single farm is far reaching," says lead author Marty Krkosek. "Sea lice production from the farm we studied was four orders of magnitude...Inexpensive treatment stops multi-drug resistant TB in its tracks
...administration of drugs for at least the first two months of treatment, an uninterrupted supply of all essential drugs, and a rigorous assessment of treatment and outcomes. The results of the Mexican study "strongly suggest that DOTS reduces transmission of resistant strains by curing cases of TB that othe...Social stress boosts immune system's flu-fighting abilities
...have on the immune system's memory response. Three months later, the researchers injected either a small amount of saline solution or influenza virus into the footpad of one hind paw of each mouse. This kind of viral challenge caused what scientists call a "delayed-type hypersensitivity" response; the skin ...In anoxia, why can't humans be more like western painted turtles?
...er a Western painted turtle can survive anoxia for months without apparent tissue damage. Why, and how? "Key to surviving anoxia is the shutting off of energy-utilizing cellular activities, such as the synthesis of proteins and perhaps most importantly reducing the activity of energy intensive ion pumps," a...Moderate aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular and nervous system function in HIV+
...ise program. HIV+ subjects were positive within 24 months of the study, and asymptomatic. Results both expected and "striking" Arterial compliance was augmented in HPF vs. HPU (probability, or p=.006). This finding was not surprising. "We expected to see an improved circulation in our HPF group over that...Cranberry juice modulates atherosclerotic vascular dysfunction
...f taking cranberry juice powder regularly over six months and found a pronounced improvement in the vascular... atherosclerosis and vascular dysfunction by eight months of age, very similar to the way human beings do." She noted that the FH pigs' blood vessels don't fu...14 highlighted physiology papers from IUPS 2005: From 'genomics to functions'
... Taking cranberry juice powder regularly over six months saw a pronounced improvement in vascular function ... the western painted turtle can survive anoxia for months without apparent tissue damage. University of Toronto scientists studied a newly discovered potassiu...American Phytopathological Society opens access to several years of research in online journals
...ll offer free access to research articles after 24 months of publication in Phytopathology, Plant Disease, and Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (MPMI). For each journal, a two-year-old issue will gain free-access status when the current month's issue is published on APS's website at www.apsnet.org . ...Researchers peer inside embryonic/fetal hearts to discover causes of congenital heart disease
...ing inside fetal hearts and spotting abnormalities months before babies are born. Through fetal diagnosis, doctors can actually see the heart and valve structures and detect the most serious form of heart disease in children by 20 weeks of gestation, the mid-point in pregnancy. In some cases, Dr. Keller tur...Alcohol consumption disrupts breastfeeding hormones
... 17 women who were nursing infants between 2 and 4 months of age. While in a controlled clinical setting away from their infants, each woman drank a beverage containing alcohol in orange juice on one day and plain orange juice on a different day. The dose of alcohol was equivalent to that found in one to tw...Joslin Diabetes Center announces new nutrition guidelines
...itians, exercise physiologists and educators spent months reviewing the scientific literature to draw up new guidelines. "The search was on for guidelines that would improve insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular health and reduce body fat. And most importantly, we wanted to deliver a plan that makes clear wha...Talking robots, green buildings, and shockwave healing
...union fractures, those that fail to heal after 6-9 months (1aBB1). Joerg Hausdorf of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich ( joerg.hausdorf@med.uni-muenchen.de ) found that shock waves increased the presence of molecular compounds that promote bone healing (1aBB3). Orthopedic surgeon John P. Furia o...Surgery season and vitamin D intake may predict successful lung cancer surgery
...ents with high vitamin D intake who had surgery in months with lots of sun were more than twice as likely to be alive five years after surgery, compared to patients with low vitamin D intake who had wintertime operations. The mechanism behind the link between vitamin D and surgery outcome is not known, and...Scientists infuse rat spinal cords with brain-derived human stem cells
...spinal cord where motor neurons are located. After months of trial and error, Klein finally ascertained through staining tests that the progenitor cells were indeed gathering near the neurons and releasing GDNF in the area. Svendsen says the approach could be regarded as a novel form of gene therapy where ...Readers of genome decipher signatures of cancer patient outcomes
... survival length of 51.3 months, compared to 25.37 months for the AA variant patients. "Perhaps the most significant finding from our study of MTHFR was that the combination of the two variant alleles was associated with significantly reduced risks of recurrence and death," Wu said. "This joint effect exce......is remains poor with a median survival of about 10 months following diagnosis. For this reason, scientists are anxious to find novel methods that could improve short- and long-term survival from this disease. "The attenuated vaccine strain of measles virus is an oncolytic virus which has shown anti-tumor ac...