Yerkes and CBN researchers find variations in genetic code affect social behavior

Why are some people shy while others are outgoing? A study in the current issue of Science demonstrates for the first time that social behavior may be shaped by differences in the length of seemingly non-functional DNA, sometimes referred to as junk DNA. The finding by researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center of Emory University and the Atlanta-based Center for Behavioral Neuroscien

Researchers demonstrate NEXRAD radar helps National Weather Service forecasters save lives

Tornado warnings have improved significantly and the number of tornado casualties has decreased by nearly half since a network of Doppler weather radars were installed nationwide by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service a decade ago, according to a study published in the June issue of Weather and Forecasting, a journal of the American Meteorolog

Today sees the launch of the new “Xplora” portal, a new European gateway for science education. Such initiatives will be an important part of improving Europe’s economic position in coming years, as more researchers are needed to drive innovation. “Xplora” provides resources for primary and secondary education, and is aimed at teachers, pupils, scientists, communication professionals and others involved in science education. Xplora has been developed with funds from the Science and Society ac

New study shows tiny RNAs intimately associated with cancer

In discoveries that may open a new chapter in understanding and diagnosing cancer, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators and their colleagues have established that tiny microRNAs provide a novel genetic route to the initiation of some forms of cancer. The researchers published their discoveries in independent papers in the June 9, 2005, issue of the journal Nature. Their findings show that distinctive patterns of a

Despite — or perhaps because of — the barrage of information about food that they consume while watching television, kids are getting the wrong message about healthy eating.

A study has found that the more television kids watch, the more confused they are about which foods are — and which aren’t — going to help them grow up strong and healthy.

Increased television viewing had, in fact, a double-negative effect on the children in the study. Regardless of their i

Village elders, destitute widows and students in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sierra Leone weigh in

A new study by researchers at the Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts University found that local people in war-torn societies view peace and security in vastly different ways than international military and aid personnel serving there.
The report, entitled “Mapping the security environment: Understanding the perception of local communities, peace support operations,

Many of Britain’s traditional fishing communities are turning to tourism in an attempt to offset economic decline and to preserve links with their heritage, a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne surveyed North Sea fishing towns and witnessed the emergence of a ‘virtual’ fishing industry where new developments and events branded with a fishing ‘icon’ may offer a greater source of income than fishing itself.

But the team also warns tha

Actual 13 percent risk causes relief for women asked to estimate risk

While breast cancer is a significant health threat – striking 211,000 American women each year – a new study finds most women have a distorted view of their risk. When asked to estimate the lifetime risk of breast cancer, 89 percent of women overestimated their risk, with an average estimate of 46 percent – more than three times the actual risk of 13 percent, according to a study by University of Michigan Heal

In a head-to-head matchup between a new blood-based tuberculosis (TB) test and the traditional tuberculin skin test, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in India found that the two methods of detecting latent TB infection are equally good.

The results of the study, to be published in a special June 8 theme issue on tuberculosis in the Journal of the American Medical Association, mean that switching to the m

A new Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center study links regions of two chromosomes to susceptibility for a type of autism characterized by regression in development. Developmental regression can include the loss of previously acquired language, social skills or both.

Moreover, the study is the first to identify involvement of chromosome 21 in this type of autism. This may explain the increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) among children with Down syndrom

Most people in the UK believe lone parents with children should be first in line for government subsidies for childcare and wages, according to research published today by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr). However, the public also supports measures to encourage single mothers with school age children to take jobs by placing conditions on their benefits.

The chapter on public attitudes by Peter Taylor-Gooby, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Kent, is pa

At a time when the Government is aiming to increase the number of students in higher education (HE), a new book offers an analysis of the impact of higher tuition fees for students from low-income families and looks at how HE is organised in terms of progression for students from “alternative” entry routes.

Closing the Equity Gap: the impact of widening participation strategies in the UK and the USA – published by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and edited by

Researchers supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have found that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, and that despite effective treatments, there are long delays — sometimes decades — between first onset of symptoms and when people seek and receive treatment. The study also reveals that an untreated mental disorder can lead to a more severe, more difficult to treat illness, and to the development of co-occurring mental illnesses.

Journal of the American College of Cardiology study

A simple blood test can quickly identify what type of congestive heart failure (CHF) a patient has, improving diagnostic accuracy; eliminating the need for extensive diagnostic tests, such as heart muscle biopsy or exploratory surgery; and enabling the patient to be treated sooner, according to a study published in the June 7 Journal of the American College of Cardiology. After blood is drawn, the test results are ready in 15 minu

Although morphine is well known as a highly effective analgesic, its clinical utility is severely limited by the development of drug tolerance, the requirement for increasing doses to maintain analgesic effect, and the development of physical dependence. In the June 7 issue of Current Biology, researchers report a new study showing that the administration of a drug cocktail containing morphine along with small doses of two versions of methadone, a related opioid drug, significantly reduced both tole

New data suggest that the accumulation of genetic changes is not solely determined by natural selection. A study by University of Chicago researchers contradicts conventional theory by showing that the percentage of mutations accepted in evolution is also strongly swayed by the speed at which new mutations arrive at a gene: the faster the speed of new mutations, the greater the percentage of those mutations accepted.

“We’ve discovered a striking phenomenon that challenges a para