Is greenness in your genes? A new study by University of Leicester psychologists aims to find out.

It will also reveal if people really are friendlier up north- environmentally friendlier that is. And it could reveal which is the ’greener sex’.

The National Environment & Personality Survey has been launched today (3 APRIL) by a team in the University of Leicester’s School of Psychology.

The study will examine regional and social differences in en

Whether a tiny yellow pigment is the main thing standing between many older people and macular degeneration is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

Researchers are measuring this macular pigment that sits on the retina at the fovea, the point of highest vision acuity and best color vision, to better understand what a healthy, normal pigment looks like, says Dr. John Nolan, vision scientist and Fulbright postdoctoral fellow in the MCG Department of Ophthalmology.

Police, magistrates and Youth Offending Teams feel that they have little choice than to hand out harsher punishments for young offenders despite the government’s emphasis on tackling the underlying causes of their criminal behaviour, new research has revealed.

A senior police officer has told researchers from the University of Bath that parts of the youth justice system work against each other in ways that disadvantage young offenders and keep them on the path to re-offending.

Eighty-three per cent of college girls surveyed diet to lose weight, regardless of their current body weight. A study published today in the open access journal Nutrition Journal (http://www.nutritionj.com/) also reveals that college girls practice unhealthy behaviours, such as smoking or skipping breakfast, to lose weight. By contrast, only 19% of them exercise enough to promote weight loss. The authors of the study conclude that all college girls, regardless of whether they are normal weight

Multi-site vaccinations could protect against all four dengue viruses

An innovative new study explains, for the first time, the failure of previous attempts to vaccinate against the four known Dengue viruses, and it suggests a very simple solution – injecting the four vaccines simultaneously at different locations on the body.
A mosquito-born disease, Dengue kills tens of thousands of people per year and sickens 100 million more. Known as “bone-break disease,” Dengue is ch

The unchecked activity of a cell signaling pathway crucial in embryonic development and the liver’s response to injury leads to liver cancer, researchers from Duke University Medical Center and John Hopkins University School of Medicine have found.

Because the pathway, called Hedgehog, is present only in immature, stem-like liver cells, the discovery offers hope for targeted treatment of liver cancer, one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in the world. Laborat

According to a study conducted by two biologists at the University of California, San Diego, Argentine ants in Southern California need wet soil to live and breed. So residents plagued by indoor infestations of the pesky little critters may find relief by simply shutting off or substantially limiting the use of their outdoor irrigation.

The scientists report in the March 30 issue of the Journal of Animal Ecology that they were able within a matter of weeks to increase the abunda

Physicians with more experience are better able to detect a third heart sound that is an indicator of heart disease, according to a study on stethoscope accuracy in cardiac patients at UCSF Medical Center.

Greater experience in auscultation– listening to body sounds with a stethoscope– provides better outcomes in detecting pathologic heart disorders, underscoring the importance of skilled instruction in the use of a stethoscope, the researchers said. Their findings appear in

A rare frog that lives in rushing streams and waterfalls in east-central China is able to make itself heard above the roar of flowing water by communicating ultrasonically, scientists reported March 16 in the journal Nature. Attributes that enable the frog to hear ultrasounds are made possible by the presence of an ear canal, which most other frogs don’t have.

“Our research points out an elegant and novel solution to the problem of communication in high levels of background noise

As the population ages, arthritis will become more prevalent. It would be helpful to know more about the causes and treatments of cartilage wear.

Michael Furey, Virginia Tech professor emeritus of mechanical and biomedical engineering, recently conducted the first study of wear in human cartilage. Furey will report his research and results at the 231st American Chemical Society National Meeting in Atlanta March 26-30.

Furey has been studying lubrication and wear of

Data shows condom use and awareness programs are helping to slow infection rates

A University of Toronto Indo-Canadian study reports a remarkable one-third decline in new HIV infections in the worst hit regions of India, indicating that with condom use and awareness programs, the country’s AIDS epidemic is far from hopeless.

The study, which appears online in the Lancet’s March 30 issue, tracked HIV prevalence among young women attending pregnancy or antena

Association Internationale pour la Recherche sur la Maladie d’Alzheimer (AIRMA) now is taking applications for funding from French-based scientific teams studying Alzheimer’s disease, announced Janet R. Michaels, the organization’s chairwoman.

“Association Internationale pour la Recherche sur la Maladie d’Alzheimer is looking forward to providing funding for French-based scientific teams conducting research on Alzheimer’s disease,” Michaels said. “We are committed to funding research to

Even preschoolers approach the world much like scientists: They are convinced that perplexing and unpredictable events can be explained, according to an MIT brain researcher’s study in the April issue of Child Development.

The way kids play and explore suggests that children believe cause-and-effect relationships in the world are governed by fundamental laws rather than by mysterious forces, said Laura E. Schulz, assistant professor of cognitive science and co-author of

Stem cells can repair damaged spinal tissue and help restore function in rats with spinal cord injuries, according to a new study. The findings may eventually lead to insights that result in new treatments for humans with spinal cord injuries.

Michael Fehlings, MD, PhD, and his colleagues at the Krembil Neuroscience Center at Toronto Western Research Institute and the University of Toronto also identified a critical window during which stem cell transplants may be effective, say

A recently completed economic study of timber demand projections for the next two decades in southeast Alaska explains four alternatives describing how the forest products industry could develop. The peer-reviewed study now in process of being published, Timber Products Output and Timber Harvests in Alaska: Projections for 2005-25, was prepared by Pacific Northwest Research Station scientists Allen Brackley, Thomas Rojas, and Richard Haynes.

“The projections of future demand are repre

Investment in new PhD studentships represents unique opportunity for Bournemouth University to raise its research standing and capacity

Bournemouth University will recruit an unprecedented 80 new researchers into PhD studentships over the coming months.

Over £1 million will go directly into the studentships as part of the University’s new investment strategy to build on its research achievements and develop world-class centres of academic excellence. The PhD studentships