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Many Options, Good Outcomes, for Early-Stage Follicular Lymphoma
Multiple factors, including climate change, led to collapse and depopulation of ancient Maya
Thinking and Choosing in the Brain
Soybeans Susceptible to Man-Made Materials in Soil
New Marker for Identifying Precursors to Insulin-Producing Cells in Pancreas
Time with parents is important for teens' well-being
Study to examine trends in urban agriculture
Biomarkers in Blood May Detect Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Sensor detects glucose in saliva and tears for diabetes testing
Researchers Highlight Treatment, Research Needs For Homeless Families
Smoking during pregnancy increases risk of asthma in children
Spirituality on the way to globalisation

Many Options, Good Outcomes, for Early-Stage Follicular Lymphoma

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:33 PM PDT

A University of Rochester Medical Center study challenges treatment guidelines for early stage follicular lymphoma, concluding that six different therapies can bring a remission, particularly if the patient is carefully examined and staged at diagnosis.

Multiple factors, including climate change, led to collapse and depopulation of ancient Maya

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 12:30 PM PDT

A new analysis of complex interactions between humans and the environment preceding the 9th century collapse and abandonment of the Central Maya Lowlands in the Yucatán Peninsula points to a series of events – some natural, like climate change; some human-made, including large-scale landscape alterations and shifts in trade routes – that have lessons for contemporary decision-makers and sustainability scientists.

Thinking and Choosing in the Brain

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 11:47 AM PDT

The frontal lobes are the largest part of the human brain, and thought to be the part that expanded most during human evolution. Damage to the frontal lobes—which are located just behind and above the eyes—can result in profound impairments in higher-level reasoning and decision making. To find out more about what different parts of the frontal lobes do, neuroscientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) recently teamed up with researchers at the world's largest registry of brain-lesion patients.

Soybeans Susceptible to Man-Made Materials in Soil

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:44 AM PDT

Researchers contend that manufactured nanomaterials--now popular in consumer products such as shampoos, gels, hair dyes and sunscreens--may be detrimental to the quality and yield of food crops, as reported in a paper in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Manufactured nanomaterials are man-made materials produced by manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Their effects on human health and the environment are the subject of much scientific study.

New Marker for Identifying Precursors to Insulin-Producing Cells in Pancreas

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:37 AM PDT

For the millions of people worldwide with type 1 diabetes who cannot produce sufficient insulin, the potential to transplant insulin-producing cells could offer hope for a long-term cure. The discovery of a marker to help identify and isolate stem cells that can develop into insulin-producing cells in the pancreas would be a critical step forward and is described in an article in BioResearch Open Access, a new bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the BioResearch Open Access website.

Time with parents is important for teens' well-being

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:33 AM PDT

Teenagers are famous for seeking independence from their parents, but research shows that many teens continue to spend time with their parents and that this shared time is important for teens' well-being, according to Penn State researchers.

Study to examine trends in urban agriculture

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 09:31 AM PDT

Farming in the city is a hot topic in some circles, but an exact picture of urban agriculture has not yet been painted. Researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, along with faculty from New York University, will soon begin a study of urban agriculture in the United States.

"The State of Urban Farming in the United States: Enhancing the Viability of Small and Medium-Sized Commercial Urban Farms" is funded by a $453,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Biomarkers in Blood May Detect Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:37 AM PDT

Efforts to develop a blood test for Alzheimer's disease are progressing, as a new study co-authored by experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) found a group of biomarkers that hold up in statistical analyses in three independent groups of patients. The study, a unique collaborative effort between researchers at Penn, Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta and Washington University in St. Louis as well as the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), was just published online in Neurology.

Sensor detects glucose in saliva and tears for diabetes testing

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 08:05 AM PDT

Researchers have created a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears and urine and might be manufactured at low cost because it does not require many processing steps to produce.

Researchers Highlight Treatment, Research Needs For Homeless Families

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:53 AM PDT

A new paper from North Carolina State University calls for more research on how to help homeless families with children who are facing mental-health problems, as well as changes in how shelters are treating these families.

Smoking during pregnancy increases risk of asthma in children

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:48 AM PDT

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with wheeze and asthma in preschool children, even among children who were not exposed to maternal smoking late in pregnancy or after birth, according to a new study where scientists at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet have participated.

Spirituality on the way to globalisation

Posted: 21 Aug 2012 07:43 AM PDT

Spirituality is not what it once was – that much is certain, according to anthropologist Peter van der Veer. Working at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, he has examined the significance of the spiritual and its transformation processes in modern societies using the example of China and India. He has found that contradictions to the concept of spirituality are part of this and have by no means stood in the way of an international career. However, many of the modern trends contradict the original idea of spirituality.