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Link between creativity and mental illness confirmed
Green leaf volatiles increase plant fitness via biocontrol
Researcher Pieces Together AML Prognosis Puzzle
Medication Beliefs Strongly Affect Individuals’ Management of Chronic Diseases, Expert Says
Gold Nanoparticle Prostate Cancer Treatment Found Safe in Dogs, Study Shows
Researchers Unlock Ferromagnetic Secrets of Promising Materials
Computers less helpful on college drinking
Researchers' discovery revives hope in promising lymphoma treatment
Quantum Oscillator Responds to Pressure
Bacterial protein in house dust spurs asthma according to NIH study
Gene Suppression Can Reduce Cold-induced Sweetening in Potatoes
Higher-dose use of certain statins often best for cholesterol issues
Why are some mice more nervous than others?

Link between creativity and mental illness confirmed

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 05:04 AM PDT

People in creative professions are treated more often for mental illness than the general population, there being a particularly salient connection between writing and schizophrenia. This according to researchers at Karolinska Institutet, whose large-scale Swedish registry study is the most comprehensive ever in its field.

Green leaf volatiles increase plant fitness via biocontrol

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 04:52 AM PDT

To solve the acute, global problem of securing food resources for a continuously growing population, we must work constantly to increase the sustainability and effectiveness of modern agricultural techniques. These efforts depend on new insights from plant ecology, particularly from work on native plants that grow in the primordial agricultural niche.

Researcher Pieces Together AML Prognosis Puzzle

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 12:19 PM PDT

When patients suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) express high levels of the gene, MN1, an already aggressive leukemia is accelerated and shortens survival time. While that's a known fact, the mechanisms involved aren't well understood which is why a Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researcher decided to take a closer look.

Medication Beliefs Strongly Affect Individuals’ Management of Chronic Diseases, Expert Says

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 11:01 AM PDT

Nearly half of patients taking medications for chronic conditions do not strictly follow their prescribed medication regimens. Failure to use medications as directed increases patients’ risk for side effects, hospitalizations, reduced quality of life and shortened lifespans. Now, a University of Missouri gerontological nursing expert says patients’ poor adherence to prescribed medication regimens is connected to their beliefs about the necessity of prescriptions and concerns about long-term effects and dependency.

Gold Nanoparticle Prostate Cancer Treatment Found Safe in Dogs, Study Shows

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:56 AM PDT

Currently, large doses of chemotherapy are required when treating certain forms of cancer, resulting in toxic side effects. The chemicals enter the body and work to destroy or shrink the tumor, but also harm vital organs and drastically affect bodily functions. Now, scientists at the University of Missouri have proven that a new form of prostate cancer treatment that uses radioactive gold nanoparticles, and was developed at MU, is safe to use in dogs.

Researchers Unlock Ferromagnetic Secrets of Promising Materials

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:49 AM PDT

Spintronic technology, in which data is processed on the basis of electron “spin” rather than charge, promises to revolutionize the computing industry with smaller, faster and more energy efficient data storage and processing. Materials drawing a lot of attention for spintronic applications are dilute magnetic semiconductors – normal semiconductors to which a small amount of magnetic atoms is added to make them ferromagnetic.

Computers less helpful on college drinking

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:31 AM PDT

Colleges have increased use of computer-delivered interventions to provide alcohol counseling because they can reach more students while using fewer resources. But in a new systematic review, researchers found that the impact of CDIs on students was weaker and more short-lived than the effect of face-to-face counseling.

“The question is would your resources allow you to do something better if something better existed — and we do know now that there are intervention modalities that might be better.”Kate Carey

Researchers' discovery revives hope in promising lymphoma treatment

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:26 AM PDT

Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered the mechanism by which an experimental drug known as GCS-100 removes from lymphoma cells a protein that prevents the cells from responding to chemotherapy.

Quantum Oscillator Responds to Pressure

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:16 AM PDT

In the far future, superconducting quantum bits might serve as components of high-performance computers. Today already do they help better understand the structure of solids, as is reported by researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in the Science magazine. By means of Josephson junctions, they measured the oscillations of individual atoms “tunneling” be-tween two positions. This means that the atoms oscillated quantum mechanically. Deformation of the specimen even changed the frequency.

Bacterial protein in house dust spurs asthma according to NIH study

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 10:02 AM PDT

A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, according to research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Duke University. The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment.

Scientists from the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Duke University Medical Center published their findings in people and mice online Oct. 14 in the journal Nature Medicine.

Gene Suppression Can Reduce Cold-induced Sweetening in Potatoes

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 09:54 AM PDT

Preventing activity of a key enzyme in potatoes could help boost potato quality by putting an end to cold-induced sweetening, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.

Cold-induced sweetening, which occurs when potatoes are put in long-term cold storage, causes flavor changes and unwanted dark colors in fried and roasted potatoes. But long-term cold storage is necessary to maintain an adequate supply of potatoes throughout the year.

Higher-dose use of certain statins often best for cholesterol issues

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 09:34 AM PDT

A comprehensive new review on how to treat high cholesterol and other blood lipid problems suggests that intensive treatment with high doses of statin drugs is usually the best approach.

But some statins work much better for this than others, the review concluded, and additional lipid-lowering medications added to a statin have far less value. And medications, of course, should be considered after first trying diet, weight loss and exercise.

Why are some mice more nervous than others?

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT

A new study has identified a gene that drives anxiety in mice. The researchers also showed that inactivation of this gene decreased anxiety in the laboratory mice.