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Training parents is good medicine for children with autism behavior problems
Genetic risk for elevated arsenic toxicity discovered
Number of Dead California Sea Otters Recovered in 2011 a Record High
In a new microchip, cells separate by rolling away
Preview of a Forthcoming Supernova
Light-Emitting Nanocrystal Diodes Go UltraViolet
Researchers Identify Structure of Key Control Element Behind Protein Misfolding That Can Lead to Disease
Statins linked with lower depression risk in heart patients
Could Type 2 Diabetes Drug Benefit Teen and Young Adult Type 1 Diabetics?
Depression: an evolutionary byproduct of the ability to fight infection?
Sleepless in the South: Penn Medicine Study Discovers State and Regional Prevalence of Sleep Issues
European Medicines Agency approves granisetron transdermal patch for prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy
A study describes liquid water diffusion at molecular level
Observing Single Atoms during Relaxation toward Equilibrium
Novel bioactive peptides promote wound healing in vivo

Training parents is good medicine for children with autism behavior problems

Posted: 25 Feb 2012 05:25 AM PST

Children with autism spectrum disorders who also have serious behavioral problems responded better to medication combined with training for their parents than to treatment with medication alone, Yale researchers and their colleagues report in the February issue of Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Genetic risk for elevated arsenic toxicity discovered

Posted: 25 Feb 2012 05:05 AM PST

One of the first large-scale genomic studies conducted in a developing country has discovered genetic variants that elevate the risk for skin lesions in people chronically exposed to arsenic. Genetic changes found near the enzyme for metabolizing the chemical into a less toxic form can significantly increase an individual's risk for developing arsenic-related disease.

Number of Dead California Sea Otters Recovered in 2011 a Record High

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:52 PM PST

The California or southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) appears to be experiencing an unprecedented increase in mortality from attacks by sharks, according to federal and state scientists.

Since 1968, biologists and veterinarians at the U.S. Geological Survey and California Department of Fish and Game have documented and examined all reported sea otter "strandings" — counting the number of dead, sick or injured sea otters recovered along California’s coast each year.

In a new microchip, cells separate by rolling away

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 12:31 PM PST

Cell rolling is a common mechanism cells use to navigate through the body. During inflammation, for example, the endothelial cells that line blood vessels present certain molecules that attract white blood cells just enough to divert them from the rest of the vessel’s cellular traffic. White blood cells then roll along the vessel wall, slowing down to help in the healing of inflamed areas.

Preview of a Forthcoming Supernova

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 12:21 PM PST

At the turn of the 19th century, the binary star system Eta Carinae was faint and undistinguished. In the first decades of the century, it became brighter and brighter, until, by April 1843, it was the second brightest star in the sky, outshone only by Sirius (which is almost a thousand times closer to Earth). In the years that followed, it gradually dimmed again and by the 20th century was totally invisible to the naked eye.

Light-Emitting Nanocrystal Diodes Go UltraViolet

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 12:12 PM PST

A multinational team of scientists has developed a process for creating glass-based, inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that produce light in the ultraviolet range. The work, reported this week in the online Nature Communications, is a step toward biomedical devices with active components made from nanostructured systems.

Researchers Identify Structure of Key Control Element Behind Protein Misfolding That Can Lead to Disease

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 12:01 PM PST

The gold standard for nanotechnology is nature’s own proteins. These biomolecular nanomachines – macromolecules forged from peptide chains of amino acids – are able to fold themselves into a dazzling multitude of shapes and forms that enable them to carry out an equally dazzling multitude of functions fundamental to life. As important as protein folding is to virtually all biological systems, the mechanisms behind this process have remained a mystery. The fog, however, is being lifted.

Statins linked with lower depression risk in heart patients

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 11:54 AM PST

Patients with heart disease who took cholesterol-lowering statins were significantly less likely to develop depression than those who did not, in a study by Mary Whooley, MD, a physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

The study was published electronically in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (February 21, 2012).

Could Type 2 Diabetes Drug Benefit Teen and Young Adult Type 1 Diabetics?

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 10:15 AM PST

University at Buffalo researchers whose small, preliminary study last year found that liraglutide, used to treat type 2 diabetes, could also help type 1 diabetics, have been awarded a $600,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association to further study the drug in type 1 diabetics.

If the UB team's initial findings are confirmed in this larger, prospective, randomized study, they could mean the first significant, new treatment for type 1 diabetes since insulin was discovered and made available in the 1920s.

Depression: an evolutionary byproduct of the ability to fight infection?

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 09:42 AM PST

Depression is common enough – afflicting one in ten adults in the United States -- that it seems the possibility of depression must be “hard-wired” into our brains. This has led biologists to propose several theories to account for how depression, or behaviors linked to it, can somehow offer an evolutionary advantage.

Sleepless in the South: Penn Medicine Study Discovers State and Regional Prevalence of Sleep Issues

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 09:26 AM PST

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have put sleeplessness on the map — literally. The research team, analyzing nationwide data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has produced the first state-by-state sleep maps for the United States, revealing that residents of Southern states suffer from the most sleep disturbances and daytime fatigue, while residents on the West Coast report the least amount of problems. The results are published online in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

European Medicines Agency approves granisetron transdermal patch for prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 09:14 AM PST

European Medicines Agency Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the medicinal product granisetron (Sancuso) 3.1 mg/24 h transdermal patch intended for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with moderately or highly emetogenic chemotherapy.

A study describes liquid water diffusion at molecular level

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:36 AM PST

Researchers at the universities of Granada and Barcelona have described for the first time the diffusion of liquid water through nanochannels in molecular terms; nanochannels are extremely tiny channels with a diameter of 1-100 nanometers that scientists use to study the behavior of molecules (nm. a unit of length in the metric system equal to one billionth of a meter that is used in the field of nanotechnology).

Observing Single Atoms during Relaxation toward Equilibrium

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:22 AM PST

Scientists from Freie Universität Berlin, the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich) have succeeded for the first time in simulating the dynamic behavior of strongly correlated individual atoms in solids. They were able to string atoms in so-called optical lattices and observe their dynamic behavior, which is determined by complex interactions with other atoms.

Novel bioactive peptides promote wound healing in vivo

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:14 AM PST

Researchers have combined bioactive peptides to successfully stimulate wound healing. The in vitro and in vivo study, published today in PLoS ONE, demonstrates that the combination of two peptides stimulates the growth of blood vessels and promotes re-growth of tissue. Further development of these peptides could lead to a new treatment for chronic and acute wounds.