EurekAlert! - Breaking NewsThe premier online source for science news since 1996. A service of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.'Early bird' project really gets the worm- June 26, 2008 Scientists from the LSU Museum of Natural Science, or MNS, recently participated in a project joining together the most prominent ornithological research programs in the world. This study -- the largest study of bird genetics ever completed -- has not only shaken up the avian evolutionary tree, but completely redrawn it. The results of this massive research project, which relied heavily upon the LSU MNS' genetic resources collection, will be published in Science on June 27.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/lsu-bp062608.php A simple therapy for brain injury- June 26, 2008 Severe brain injury due to blunt force trauma could be reduced by application of a simple polymer, polyethylene glycol or PEG, mixed in sterile water and injected into the blood stream -- as reported in BioMed Central's Journal of Biological Engineering.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/bc-ast062508.php New clinical trial for patients with asbestos-associated lung cancer- June 26, 2008 The Mesothelioma Center within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center is now recruiting patients for a clinical research study of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung's lining that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/nyph-nct062608.php Doctors must step up to the challenge of climate change- June 26, 2008 Doctors must lead by example on climate change, according to experts in this week's BMJ.Health professionals were powerful catalysts in changing society's view of smoking from a normal lifestyle choice to that of a harmful addiction, and they must do the same for climate change, writes professor Mike Gill from the University of Surrey.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/bmj-dms062508.php Asteroid-hunting satellite a world first- June 26, 2008 Canada is building the world's first space telescope designed to detect and track asteroids as well as satellites. Called NEOSSat, this spacecraft will provide a significant improvement in surveillance of asteroids that pose a collision hazard with Earth and innovative technologies for tracking satellites in orbit high above our planet.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uoc-asa062508.php Elevated biomarkers predict risk for prostate cancer recurrence- June 26, 2008 A simple blood test screening for a panel of biomarkers can accurately predict whether a patient who has had prostate cancer surgery will have a recurrence or spread of the diseasehttp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/aafc-ebp062608.php Starvation hormone makes for small mice, study finds- June 26, 2008 Chronically high levels of a recently discovered starvation hormone markedly stunt the growth of mice, reveals a new study in the July Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press. The liver-produced hormone known as FGF21 does so by causing the mice to become resistant to growth hormone.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/cp-shm061908.php Hard work while fatigued affects blood pressure- June 26, 2008 A new study in the July issue of the International Journal of Psychophysiology, finds that when fatigued individuals perceive a task as being achievable and worth doing, they increase their effort to make up for their diminished capability due to fatigue. As a result, blood pressure tends to rise and remain elevated until the task is completed or individuals stop trying because they think success is impossible or too difficult to be justified.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/uoaa-hww062608.php Faulty DNA repair could be a risk factor for lung cancer in nonsmokers- June 26, 2008 People who have never smoked but whose cells cannot efficiently repair environmental insults to DNA are at higher risk of developing lung cancer than those with effective genomic repair capability, according to researchers from the department of epidemiology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/aafc-fdr062608.php What it's like to be a bat- June 26, 2008 Not many people think about what it's like to be a bat, but for those who do, it's enlightening and potentially groundbreaking for understanding aspects of the human brain and nervous system.http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/nsf-wil062608.php |