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How does Dolomite form? The influence of marine bacteria on mineral formation
Successful Pregnancies Possible for Women Following Liver Transplantation
Alzheimer's vaccine trial a success
Adolescents and Young Adults with Mental Health Disorders at Risk of Long-Term Opioid Use
Stress may delay brain development in early years
Sea temperatures less sensitive to carbon dioxide levels 13 million years ago
How plants make cocaine
Researchers Demonstrate Technique To Give Us Better Understanding of Human Tissues
Homo heidelbergensis was only slightly taller than the Neanderthal

How does Dolomite form? The influence of marine bacteria on mineral formation

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 06:37 AM PDT

The formation of the mineral dolomite is still puzzling scientists. Researchers from the Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean" and GEOMAR | Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel together with colleagues from Switzerland and Spain have now shown that bacteria can facilitate the formation of dolomite. The study has been published online in the international journal "Geology".

Successful Pregnancies Possible for Women Following Liver Transplantation

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 05:15 AM PDT

New research confirms that successful pregnancies are common for female liver transplant recipients. The study appearing in the June issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, found miscarriage risk was lower and the live birth rate higher among women following liver transplantation than in the general U.S. population.

Alzheimer's vaccine trial a success

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 04:59 AM PDT

A study led by Karolinska Institutet reports for the first time the positive effects of an active vaccine against Alzheimer's disease. The new vaccine, CAD106, can prove a breakthrough in the search for a cure for this seriously debilitating dementia disease. The study is published in the distinguished scientific journal Lancet Neurology.

Adolescents and Young Adults with Mental Health Disorders at Risk of Long-Term Opioid Use

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 03:59 PM PDT

Long-term use and abuse of opioid painkillers, such as OxyContin and Vicodin, has markedly increased in the United States in the last two decades. Of note, prescription opioids constitute 86.9 percent of prescription drug misuse among high school students. And last week in a two-day U.S. Food and Drug Administration public meeting, officials questioned the use of long-term opioids for chronic pain due to a lack of evidence for the effectiveness and concerns about the potential risk for addiction.

Stress may delay brain development in early years

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 01:57 PM PDT

Stress may affect brain development in children — altering growth of a specific piece of the brain and abilities associated with it — according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sea temperatures less sensitive to carbon dioxide levels 13 million years ago

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 01:53 PM PDT

In the modern global climate, higher levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are associated with rising ocean temperatures. But the seas were not always so sensitive to this CO2 "forcing," according to a new report. Around 5 to 13 million years ago, oceans were warmer than they are today -- even though atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were considerably lower.

How plants make cocaine

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 09:47 AM PDT

Cocaine is one of the most commonly used (and abused) plant-derived drugs in the world, but we have almost no modern information on how plants produce this complex alkaloid. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have just discovered a key reaction in cocaine formation in the coca plant from South America, and identified the responsible enzyme. This enzyme was shown to belong to the aldo-keto-reductase protein family revealing some exciting new insights into the evolution of cocaine biosynthesis.

Researchers Demonstrate Technique To Give Us Better Understanding of Human Tissues

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 09:36 AM PDT

Research from North Carolina State University demonstrates that a relatively new microscopy technique can be used to improve our understanding of human tissues and other biomedical materials. The study focused specifically on eye tissues, which are damaged by scarring in diabetic patients.

Homo heidelbergensis was only slightly taller than the Neanderthal

Posted: 06 Jun 2012 08:07 AM PDT

The reconstruction of 27 complete human limb bones found in Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) has helped to determine the height of various species of the Pleistocene era. Homo heilderbergensis, like Neanderthals, were similar in height to the current population of the Mediterranean.

Along with its enormous quantity of fossils, one of the most important features of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) site in Atapuerca, Burgos, is the splendid state of the findings. They are so well conserved that the 27 complete bones from some 500,000 years ago have been reconstructed.