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Latest research uses membrane technology for ‘energy efficient’ gas separation
Young zebra finches are able to learn their fathers’ song via their brothers
Females fend off gut diseases
Do Women Know that a Healthy Diet and Exercise Can Help Prevent Cancer – and Do They Follow the Recommendations?
Frequent Soccer Ball 'Heading' May Lead to Brain Injury
The dangers of selfing: mutations, loss of diversity
“Popcorn” particle pathways promise better lithium-ion batteries
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment: Genetic Predictor of Response to Exposure Therapy

Latest research uses membrane technology for ‘energy efficient’ gas separation

Posted: 12 Jun 2013 07:15 AM PDT

New research shows that exposing polymer molecular sieve membranes to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation in the presence of oxygen produces highly permeable and selective membranes for more efficient molecular-level separation, an essential process in everything from water purification to controlling gas emissions.

Young zebra finches are able to learn their fathers’ song via their brothers

Posted: 12 Jun 2013 06:14 AM PDT

The song of songbirds is usually transmitted from one generation to the next by imitation learning and is thought to be similar to the acquisition of human speech. Although song is often learnt from an adult model, there is some evidence of active vocal learning among siblings.

Females fend off gut diseases

Posted: 11 Jun 2013 01:00 PM PDT

At least among mice, females have innate protection from certain digestive conditions, according to a new Michigan State University study.

While it’s tricky to draw conclusions for human health, the findings could eventually help scientists better understand and treat the 1.4 million Americans suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases, or IBD.

Do Women Know that a Healthy Diet and Exercise Can Help Prevent Cancer – and Do They Follow the Recommendations?

Posted: 11 Jun 2013 10:12 AM PDT

The lifetime risk for cancer is greater than 1 in 3 for women in the U.S., but most women do not make the lifestyle choices recommended by the American Cancer Society to reduce that risk and prevent cancer. A multifaceted new survey determined how women view diet and exercise in relationship to cancer and whether they believe they are engaging in healthy behaviors, and whether their diet and exercise choices really meet the minimum recommendations. The results are presented in Journal of Women’s Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

Frequent Soccer Ball 'Heading' May Lead to Brain Injury

Posted: 11 Jun 2013 08:17 AM PDT

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have shown that soccer players who frequently head the ball have brain abnormalities resembling those found in patients with concussion (mild traumatic brain injury). The study, which used advanced imaging techniques and cognitive tests that assessed memory, published online today in the journal Radiology.

The dangers of selfing: mutations, loss of diversity

Posted: 11 Jun 2013 08:09 AM PDT

It's called self-fertilizing or "selfing" and, although it guarantees reproduction, a new study shows plants that practise this strategy face harmful mutations and possibly even extinction.

Many plants are self-fertilizing but the study, published in the scientific journal Nature Genetics, found that this leads to reduced diversity and the accumulation of harmful mutations across the plant's genome that can arise more rapidly than previously thought..

“Popcorn” particle pathways promise better lithium-ion batteries

Posted: 11 Jun 2013 07:32 AM PDT

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have confirmed the particle-by-particle mechanism by which lithium ions move in and out of electrodes made of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4, or LFP), findings that could lead to better performance in lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles, medical equipment and aircraft.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment: Genetic Predictor of Response to Exposure Therapy

Posted: 11 Jun 2013 07:07 AM PDT

There is growing evidence that a gene variant that reduces the plasticity of the nervous system also modulates responses to treatments for mood and anxiety disorders. In this case, patients with posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, with a less functional variant of the gene coding for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), responded less well to exposure therapy.