Empathy, altruistic behavior seen increasing
In the nation’s first survey of altruistic love, scholars have found that people who have strong feelings of love for people in general are more likely to have strong romantic relationships.
The survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, found wide support for altruistic love on a number of items and compared altruistic values and behaviors with those in a similar study from 2002, and fou
Icy chunks of frozen methane and water are not responsible for the periodic increases in atmospheric methane recorded in Greenland ice cores, according to a Penn State geoscientist.
The ice core samples from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project II cover the last 40,000 years and present a picture of the Earth’s climate over that time span.
“There are two hypotheses for the cause of the rapid increase in methane seen in the ice core records,” says Dr. Todd Sowers, resear
Pulmonary emphysema is caused primarily by cigarette smoking, and the underlying cellular mechanisms are thought to involve smoke-induced activation of tissue degrading enzymes known as proteases. Elastases are proteases that specifically degrade the structural protein elastin and include enzymes such as MMP-12 (matrix metalloproteinase –12, also called macrophage metalloelastase), which is secreted by inflammatory cells called macrophages.
Now, researcher A. McGarry Houghton and col
Poor reading puts first graders at risk for later aggressive behavior
Does your first grader help other children? Does he comfort other children when they are upset? If so, say a silent thanks –your child’s prosocial skills may predict good reading skills by the third grade. That’s the finding from a study published in the January/February 2006 issue of the journal Child Development. The study, from researchers from Stanford University, also finds that children with low readi
Information may spur new therapeutic approaches to addiction and abuse
Cocaine-binding antibodies have shown some promise in their ability to neutralize cocaine toxicity, but their binding ability is severely impaired by high concentrations of the drug. A catalytic monoclonal antibody such as 7A1, on the other hand, has the ability to regenerate after each new dose of the drug, making it far more effective than others in metabolizing cocaine.
The study, which will be publi
Kitchen chemistry is alive and well at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) as chemical researchers report cooking up a new and more water- soluble strain of carbon nanotubes. An article about this work, “Rapidly Functionalized, Water-Dispersed Carbon Nanotubes at High Concentration,” appeared Jan. 11, 2006, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The team led by Somenath Mitra, PhD, acting chair and professor, department of chemistry and environmental sciences, and Iqbal Za
A unifying physics principle that describes design in nature predicts, in surprisingly straightforward fashion, the basic features of global circulation and climate, according to researchers at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering and the University of Evora in Portugal. They said the new approach to climate may have important implications for forecasting environmental change.
The researchers found that the “constructal theory” can predict the global circulation that
OHSU study on mice is first to link disorder with enzyme pathway; may be key to preventing human diseases
Removing a gene involved in repairing damaged DNA causes mice to develop the metabolic syndrome, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered.
Scientists at OHSU, the University of Texas Medical Branch and the University of Alabama found that generating mice that lack the gene encoding the DNA repair enzyme NEIL1 causes them to develop severe
Research has identified the most effective way to insert breathing tubes in air ambulance patients on the way to the hospital. The finding, that a combination of sedative and paralytic drugs increased the chance of success by almost fourfold, may also apply to other types of pre-hospital care.
“Having solid evidence for what method is most effective allows us to offer the best care possible to patients in these life-or-death situations,” said William Bozeman, M.D., lead auth
RIT astronomer uses NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to study massive stars
The discovery of dusty disks–the building blocks of planets–around two of the most massive stars known suggests that planets might form and survive in surprisingly hostile environments.
The discovery was made through NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope observations of two hypergiant stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud–the Milky Way’s nearest neighboring galaxy–by a team led by Joel
A study from the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Research Institute
A study by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and Children’s Research Institute concludes that the risk of death for injured children is significantly lower when care is provided in pediatric trauma centers than in non–pediatric centers. Children’s Research Institute is part of the Children’s Hospital and Health System. The study on “Outcomes and Delivery of
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have developed a mouse model that could help scientists develop better drugs to fight autoimmune and inflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Inflammation is a process by which the white blood cells and chemicals of the immune system rally to protect the body from infection and foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses. In autoimmune diseases, however, this
Columbia research highlights importance of early oral health screenings
New research from Columbia University Medical Center has shown that the destruction of the gums can start in diabetic children as young as six years old. While the link between diabetes and periodontal disease was previously established, it was believed that the regression of gums began much later and increased with age.
The study, a collaboration among researchers at the Columbia University College of
The next time you mutter about the high cost of relationship maintenance, take comfort in knowing that microbes share your pain. In the first study to examine the cost of sexuality in microbes, Jianping Xu, associate professor of biology at McMaster University, found that sex exacts physical, morphological and behavioural stress on microbes. His findings are published in the recent edition of Genetics, published by the Genetics Society of America.
“There was always an assumption that mic
Researchers have identified a key component of the mechanism spermatozoa use to abruptly convert their tail motion from a steady swimming undulation to the whip-cracking snap that thrusts them into an egg. The finding opens a new research pathway that the researchers said could help scientists both recognize new forms of male infertility and design new contraceptives to thwart sperm entry into the egg.
What’s more, they said, the exquisitely delicate analytical technique they used t
Coinciding with the Winter Olympics, the MobiLife project will showcase its innovative array of third-generation mobile services and applications at an exhibition in Turin, demonstrating to winter sports fans how emerging technologies can improve their lives on the piste and off it.
The MobiLife exhibit will be at the Experimenta innovation exhibition between 17 and 21 February giving visitors the chance to use and see applications that in the future are likely to become part o
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