Ascribe Higher Education News Service articles from April 2008

Ascribe Higher Education News Service archives from April 2008

Pilot Study Could Shake Up College Rankings; Research Experiment in Gauging Level of Campus Tolerance Produces Initial Concerns on Women's Safety, Bias Against Minorities, Intellectual Intimidation.(Report)
April 1, 2008... Byline: Public Agenda NEW YORK, April 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- When families weigh their choices on which college their children should attend, they tend to focus on cost, academic reputation and campus amenities. The Campus Tolerance...

Educators Call for Major Overhaul of California's School Finance System; New Report Released by Berkeley Law's Institute on Race, Ethnicity and Diversity.(Report)
April 2, 2008... Byline: University of California, Berkeley - School of Law (Boalt Hall) BERKELEY, Calif., April 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new report calling for a major overhaul of the state's K-12 school finance system was released today by the Chief...

Researchers ID Gene Linked to Lung Cancer; Same Gene Can Influence Smoking Behavior.
April 2, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, April 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins, as part of a large, multi-institutional study, have found one gene variant that is linked to an increased risk of lung cancer....

Possible Link Found Between Earthquakes Along Cascadia and San Andreas Faults.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Seismological Society of America SAN FRANCISCO, April 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Seismic activity on the southern Cascadia Subduction fault may have triggered major earthquakes along the northern San Andreas Fault, according to new...

Researchers Learn How Signaling Molecule Orchestrates Breast Cancer's Spread.
April 3, 2008... Byline: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center NEW YORK, April 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- A study led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) has uncovered how breast tumors use a particular type of molecule to promote...

Air Tran Takes Top Air Quality Ratings Spot, Industry Score Falls to New Low.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Wichita State University WASHINGTON, April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Air Tran has taken the top spot in the 18th annual national Airline Quality Ratings (AQR) study. Last year, Air Tran ranked third in the AQR. The study, ranking the...

Frequent Flyer Programs Help Airfares Gain Altitude, Says New Study From University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Rotman School of Management TORONTO, April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Loyalty has its rewards. But a recent study shows that it has its costs too, with frequent flyer programs driving airfares at key hub airports up by about 5 percent....

Carnegie Mellon's Nadine Aubry, Colleague Pushpendra Singh Work to Find Method for Improved Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Carnegie Mellon University PITTSBURGH, April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Carnegie Mellon University's Nadine Aubry and colleague Pushpendra Singh of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) are leading a research team to develop a...

'Revolutionary' CO2 Maps Zoom in on Greenhouse Gas Sources.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new, high-resolution, interactive map of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has found that the emissions aren't all where we thought. "For...

Less Sleep, More TV Leads to Overweight Infants and Toddlers.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Harvard University Medical School BOSTON, April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Infants and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours a day are twice as likely to become overweight by age 3 than children who sleep longer. In addition, high...

Regional Nuclear Conflict Would Create Near-Global Ozone Hole, Says University of Colorado at Boulder Study.
April 7, 2008... Byline: University of Colorado, Boulder BOULDER, Colo., April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- A limited nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and India using their current arsenals could create a near-global ozone hole, triggering human health...

Your Baby's Brain on Drugs (and Alcohol and Tobacco); Study Finds Effects of Fetal Exposure Persist Into Early Adolescence.
April 7, 2008... Byline: Children's Hospital Boston BOSTON, April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Although behavioral studies clearly indicate that exposure to drugs, alcohol and tobacco in utero is bad for a baby's developing brain, specific anatomic brain effects...

More Genes for Lou Gehrig's Disease Identified, According to Penn Researchers.
April 7, 2008... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- In recent months a spate of mutations have been found in a disease protein called TDP-43 that is implicated in two neurodegenerative disorders:...

Scripps Research Scientists Automate Molecular Evolution; Results Show Genetic Adaptation to Selective Pressure at Work in Real Time.
April 7, 2008... Byline: The Scripps Research Institute LA JOLLA, Calif., April 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Under the control of a computer at The Scripps Research Institute, a population of billions of genes morphed through 500 cycles of forced adaptation to...

Solving Z Ring's Mysteries May Lead to New Antibiotics; Researchers Discover How Proteins Control Process When Bacteria Multiply.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- A team led by Johns Hopkins researchers has solved important puzzles concerning how certain proteins guide the reproduction of bacteria, discoveries that could lead...

Needle-Size Device Created to Track Tumors, Radiation Dose.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Engineers at Purdue University are creating a wireless device designed to be injected into tumors to tell doctors the precise dose of radiation received and...

Rochester Institute of Technology Team Simulates First Merger of Three Black Holes on a Supercomputer; Campanelli, Lousto and Zlochower Test Their Breakthrough Formula.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Rochester Institute of Technology ROCHESTER, N.Y., April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- The same team of astrophysicists that cracked the computer code simulating two black holes crashing and merging together has now, for the first time,...

Is Two Better Than One? Double Binding Sites on Tumor Target May Provide Future Combination Therapy, Suggest Penn Researchers.
April 8, 2008... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues at Merck Serono Research in Germany have found that two drugs...

Manufactured Buckyballs Don't Harm Microbes That Clean the Environment.
April 8, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Even large amounts of manufactured nanoparticles, also known as Buckyballs, don't faze microscopic organisms that are charged with cleaning up the environment,...

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Reveals Earliest Step in Human Development; Finding Reinforces Limitations of Using Other Cell Types in Research, Scientists Say.
April 9, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, April 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins have uncovered the molecular underpinnings of one of the earliest steps in human development using human embryonic stem cells....

Fork in the Road? Penn Researchers Find That Cells on Path to Becoming Mature T-Cells More Flexible Than Commonly Thought; Findings May Shed Light on T-Cell Leukemias and Immunodeficiencies.
April 9, 2008... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, April 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- Contrary to the currently accepted model of T-cell development, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have found that...

Penn Researchers Find Promising Discovery for Developing Cancer Treatments Directed at Critical Developmental Pathway; Implications for Future Clinical Trials.
April 10, 2008... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, April 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and colleagues discovered that the Notch signaling pathway, which determines...

Flowers' Fragrance Diminished by Air Pollution, University of Virginia Study Indicates.
April 10, 2008... Byline: University of Virginia CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- Air pollution from power plants and automobiles is destroying the fragrance of flowers and thereby inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow...

Blood Vessels: The Pied Piper for Growing Nerve Cells.
April 10, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, April 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that blood vessels in the head can guide growing facial nerve cells with blood pressure controlling proteins....

Penn Researchers Discover 'Modus Operandi' of Heart Muscle Protein; Implications for Cardiac Development and Health.
April 10, 2008... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, April 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a protein called leiomodin (Lmod) promotes the assembly of...

Small RNAs May Play Big Role in Embryonic Stem Cells; New Study, Led by Scripps Research Scientists, Could Increase Understanding of Stem Cells and Advance Development of Potential Therapies.
April 10, 2008... Byline: The Scripps Research Institute LA JOLLA, Calif., April 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- An international team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute has used a new method to discover an unusual molecular signature in human...

New Scripps Research Study Finds T Cell Multiplication Unexpectedly Delayed After Infection; Lag May Provide Protection Against Autoimmune Reaction.
April 10, 2008... Byline: The Scripps Research Institute LA JOLLA, Calif., April 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- In a surprising outcome that overturns the conventional wisdom on the body's immune response to infection, scientists at The Scripps Research Institute...

Where's the Glue? Scientists Find a Surprise When They Look for What Binds in Superconductivity.
April 11, 2008... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., April 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- The following news release was issued by Princeton University. It describes research on a new pairing mechanism for high-temperature superconductors....

A Genetic Cause for Iron Deficiency: Rare Syndrome May Provide General Insight Into Iron Deficiency, and Suggests New Treatments for Iron Disorders.
April 13, 2008... Byline: Children's Hospital Boston BOSTON, April 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- The discovery of a gene for a rare form of inherited iron deficiency may provide clues to iron deficiency in the general population - particularly iron deficiency...

Study Looks at New York City's Efforts to Address Health Care Needs of Inmates Returning to Local Communities.
April 14, 2008... Byline: John Jay College of Criminal Justice NEW YORK, April 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- John Jay College faculty and Bellevue Hospital health care professionals have released a study entitled "Mapping the Innovation in Correctional Health...

Is the Answer to HIV-Associated Diarrhea Found in South America's Rain Forest?
April 14, 2008... Byline: Program for Wellness Restoration HOUSTON, April 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- As more and more shamans (traditional healers) in the Amazonian rain forest die as they age, the new generations of indigenous people are moving on to jobs in...

Risk of Women's Heart Attack, Stroke, Lowered by 'DASH' Diet; Study in Archives of Internal Medicine Led by Simmons School for Health Studies.
April 14, 2008... Byline: Simmons College BOSTON, April 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- Women who adhered to the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), which is high in fruits and vegetables and low in animal protein, significantly lowered their risk...

Scientists Create First Successful Libraries of Avian Flu Virus Antibodies; Novel Project Could Help Thwart Worldwide Influenza Threat.
April 14, 2008... Byline: The Scripps Research Institute MENLO PARK, Calif. April 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- An international group of American and Turkish research scientists, led by Sea Lane Biotechnologies, has created the first comprehensive monoclonal...

Pediatricians Asked to Screen for Spousal Abuse.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, April 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- Because children often witness spousal abuse, pediatricians have two reasons to routinely screen their patients' mothers or other caregivers for signs of...

New Method of Measuring Insulin Promises Improvements in Diabetes Treatment.
April 15, 2008... Byline: Vanderbilt University NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new method that uses nanotechnology to rapidly measure minute amounts of insulin is a major step toward developing the ability to assess the health of the...

Study Suggests Why Parents Are Stricter With Older Children.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- If you think your parents let your younger siblings get away with everything, you're probably right. A new study from researchers at Duke University, Johns Hopkins...

When Parents Crack Down on Teen Sex: Lessons of Game Theory.
April 16, 2008... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Parents are more likely to punish their teenager's risky sexual activity when there are younger kids in the family, driven by a desire to set a...

Gene Therapy Reduces Cocaine Use in Rats; Flooding Brain With 'Pleasure Chemical' Receptors Works on Cocaine, as on Alcohol.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have shown that increasing the brain level of receptors for dopamine, a...

Hunting Down Cancer Susceptibility Genes: Breast Cancer Risk Amplified by Additional Genes in Combination With Damaged BRCA Genes; North American Coalition of International Consortium Headed by Penn Cancer Epidemiologist.
April 16, 2008... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Many women with a faulty breast cancer gene could be at greater risk of the disease due to extra risk-amplifying genes, according to research...

Road Losses Add Up, Taxing Amphibians and Other Animals.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.. April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- When frogs hit the road, many croak. Researchers found more than 65 animal species killed along a short stretch of roads in a Midwestern county. Nearly 95...

RIT Study: Sign Language Interpreters at High Ergonomic Risk; Interpreting Places Greater Stress on Extremities Than Industrial Activities.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Rochester Institute of Technology ROCHESTER, N.Y., April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Sign language interpreting is one of the highest-risk professions for ergonomic injury, according to a new study conducted by Rochester Institute of...

Unearthing Clues of Catastrophic Earthquakes: 'An Inviting Tale of Destruction'.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Seismological Society of America SANTA FE, N.M., April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- The destruction and disappearance of ancient cultures mark the history of human civilization, making for fascinating stories and cautionary tales. The...

New Hazard Estimates Could Downplay Quake Dangers in New Madrid, Charleston Areas.
April 16, 2008... Byline: Seismological Society of America SANTA FE, N.M., April 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- The dangers posed by a major earthquake in the New Madrid and Charleston, South Carolina zones in the Midwestern and Southern parts of the United States...

Tiny Tremors Can Track Extreme Storms in a Warming Planet.
April 17, 2008... Byline: Seismological Society of America SANTA FE, N.M., April 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Data from faint earth tremors caused by wind-driven ocean waves - often dismissed as "background noise" at seismographic stations around the world -...

Historic Soviet Nuclear Test Site Offers Insights for Today's Nuclear Monitoring.
April 17, 2008... Byline: Seismological Society of America SANTA FE, N.M., April 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Newly published data from the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site, the Soviet Union's primary nuclear weapons testing ground during the Cold War, can help...

Yeast Rises to the Occasion: Penn Researchers Find Potential in Yeast for Selecting Lou Gehrig's Disease Drugs.
April 17, 2008... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, April 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are developing a novel approach to screen for drugs to combat neurodegenerative...

New Vaccine May Give Long-Term Defense Against Deadly Bird Flu and Its Variant Forms.
April 17, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new vaccine under development may provide protection against highly pathogenic bird flu and its evolving forms, according to researchers at Purdue University...

New Research Shows Slight of Hand Is Not So Slight.
April 17, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Typing on a keyboard or scribbling on paper may be similar activities, but there is a significant difference in how the body moves, according to new motor...

Purdue Researchers Present New Technologies at Boston Symposium.
April 18, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- A transistor that outperforms its silicon counterpart and a method that improves detection of food-borne pathogens, such as salmonella and E. coli, were two new...

Engineering Students: Headset Muffles Loud, Unnerving MRI Noises.
April 22, 2008... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla., April 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Having an MRI exam, an experience many people describe as stressful and uncomfortable, could soon become a bit more pleasant, thanks to the work of a team of...

Findings a Step Toward Making New Optical Materials.
April 22, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Chemical engineers have developed a "self-assembling" method that could lead to an inexpensive way of making diamondlike crystals to improve optical...

Why College Men May Hear 'Yes' When Women Mean 'No'.
April 22, 2008... Byline: University of California, Davis DAVIS, Calif., April 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Faulty male introspection may explain why men so often misinterpret women's indirect messages to stop or slow down the escalation of sexual intimacy,...

Researchers Reveal Structure of Protein That Repairs Damage to Cancer Cells.
April 23, 2008... Byline: University of Chicago CHICAGO, April 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- A team of University of Chicago scientists has shown how two proteins locate and repair damaged genetic material inside cells. One protein detects and repairs damage...

Nanotubes Grown Straight in Large Numbers.
April 23, 2008... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., April 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Duke University chemists have found a way to grow long, straight cylinders only a few atoms thick in very large numbers, removing a major roadblock in the pursuit of...

Different Processes Govern Sight, Light Detection; Findings Could Point Toward Help for SAD, Insomnia Patients.
April 23, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, April 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Johns Hopkins University biologist, in research with implications for people suffering from seasonal affective disorder and insomnia, has determined that the eye...

Leading Research Association Announces Guidelines, Disclosure Recommendations on Cell Phones in Surveys.
April 25, 2008... Byline: American Association for Public Opinion Research OLATHE, Kan., April 25 (AScribe Newswire) -- The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) today released a task force report that identifies a wide range of guidelines...

Study Links Low Frequency Hearing to Shape of the Cochlea.
April 25, 2008... Byline: Vanderbilt University NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 25 (AScribe Newswire) -- Shape matters, even in hearing. Specifically, it is the shape of the cochlea -A- the snail-shell-shaped organ in the inner ear that converts sound waves...

University of Maryland Study Finds That Minimally Invasive Robotic Bypass Surgery Provides Health and Economic Benefits.
April 26, 2008... Byline: University of Maryland Medical System BALTIMORE, April 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- Minimally invasive heart bypass surgery using a DaVinci robot means a shorter hospital stay and faster recovery for patients, as well as fewer...

Purdue Professor Studies Chemical Compounds in Plastics.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Purdue University researcher says there is a need to evaluate the health effects of exposure to combinations of chemical compounds found in plastics and other...

Brookhaven Scientists Explore Brain's Reaction to Potent Hallucinogen; Increasingly Popular Recreational Drug, Salvia, Shows Rapid Uptake, Short Duration in Animals.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., April 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- Brain-imaging studies performed in animals at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provide researchers with clues about why...

'Sticky Nanotubes' Hold Key to Future Technologies.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Purdue University are the first to precisely measure the forces required to peel tiny nanotubes off of other materials, opening up the...

Tight Blood Pressure Control Not Enough to Temper Kidney Disease in African Americans; Other Unknown Factors at Play in Worsening This Condition.
April 28, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, April 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- Even when their blood pressure is kept strictly under control with the best available medicine, African-American patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD)...

Immune System Kick-Started in Moist Nasal Lining in Sinusitis, Asthma and Colds; Study Explains Why Steroid Therapy Loses Its Punch Over Time.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, April 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at Johns Hopkins have outlined a new path for potential therapies to combat inflammation associated with sinusitis and asthma based on a new...

Scientists Determine Drug Target for the Most Potent Botulinum Neurotoxin.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., April 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Botulinum neurotoxin - responsible for the deadly food poisoning disease botulism and for the beneficial effects of smoothing out facial wrinkles - can also...

Concordia University Researchers Validate 125-Year-Old Theory.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Concordia University - Montreal MONTREAL, April 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- For more than a century, researchers have believed Nobel Prize winner J.J. Thomson's theory on the stability of vortex rings was mathematically sound, but...

Maternal Respect Stronger Among African-American and Latina Girls.
April 29, 2008... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla., April 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Young African-American and Latina girls treat their mothers with greater deference than do whites but their mothers take it harder when tempers flare,...

Three Scripps Research Scientists Elected to National Academy of Sciences.
April 29, 2008... Byline: The Scripps Research Institute LA JOLLA, Calif., April 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Three members of The Scripps Research Institute faculty have been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, it was announced today. Scripps...

You Are What You Eat? Maybe Not for Ancient Man.
April 29, 2008... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, April 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Careful analysis of microscopic abrasions on the teeth of early human "cousins" by resesarchers at Johns Hopkins, University of Arkansas, Cambridge...

Paleontologist to Appear on PBS 'First Flower' Documentary May 6.
April 30, 2008... Byline: University of Chicago CHICAGO, April 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- University of Chicago paleontologist Sir Peter Crane is among the scientists featured in the 2007 NOVA documentary, "The First Flower," which PBS will rebroadcast at 8...

Scientists Find Rings of Jupiter Are Shaped in Shadow.
April 30, 2008... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists from the University of Maryland and the Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany appear to have solved a...

New Seymour Melman Work Debuts in Vanderbilt Journal; AmeriQuests Publishes War, Inc., a Critique of America's Permanent War Economy.
April 30, 2008... Byline: Vanderbilt University NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- A posthumous book by social critic Seymour Melman has been published by the Vanderbilt University online journal AmeriQuests. War, Inc., is a concise...