Ascribe Higher Education News Service articles from August 2006

Ascribe Higher Education News Service archives from August 2006

Domestic Violence During Pregnancy Increases Risk of Early Childhood Mortality.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Bloomberg School of Public Health BALTIMORE, Aug. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Domestic violence towards mothers during pregnancy significantly raises the risk of death for their children during the earliest stages of childhood,...

At an Underwater Volcano, Evidence of Man's Environmental Impact.
August 1, 2006... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla., Aug. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists studying hydrothermal vents, those underwater geysers that are home to bizarre geological structures and unique marine species, have discovered...

NASA Selects Hopkins-Led 'Adept' Space Mission for Concept Development.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, Aug. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Johns Hopkins astrophysicist is principal investigator of a proposal, accepted today by NASA, to design a space mission to determine the properties of the...

Little Explored World Has Big Implications for Global Climate Change, Medicine.
August 3, 2006... Byline: The Evergreen State College OLYMPIA, Wa., Aug. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Hanging by a thin rope at the top of a 30 story, 900 year old tree is just another day in the office for Evergreen State College professor Nalini Nadkarni. ...

Hopkins Nursing Summer Issue Focuses on Research and Researchers.
August 4, 2006... Byline: School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, Aug. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- Johns Hopkins Nursing Summer 2006 explores the depth and diversity of nursing research conducted at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing...

Penn Researchers Determine Structure of Smallpox Virus Protein Bound to DNA Structure Could Aid in Anti-Viral Drug Design.
August 4, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have determined the structure of an important smallpox virus enzyme and how it...

Researchers Plot Future of Reefs During Annual Coral Spawning in NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary KEY WEST, Fla., Aug. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- Preserving the coral reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary will be much more than a nine to five job for a team of researchers...

On Eve of Welfare Reform's 10th Anniversary, New Brookings Institution Report 'Follows the Money'; Temporary Assistance Is No Longer 'Welfare' But Many Policymakers Have Yet to Adjust to New Realities.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Communications Consortium WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Brookings Institution is releasing a national report on how states spend Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (Temporary Assistance) block grant funds. The...

Palm Deaths Accelerating on Florida Coast; Likely Cause Is Rising Seas.
August 7, 2006... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla., Aug. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Palm trees on Florida's west coast appear to be dying more rapidly than in previous years because of sea level rise tied to global warming. University of...

Digital Darwinian World Reveals Architecture of Evolution.
August 7, 2006... Byline: University of Chicago CHICAGO, Aug. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- The architecture that pervades biological networks gives them an evolutionary edge by allowing them to evolve to perform new functions more rapidly than an alternative...

Surprise Finding for Stretched DNA.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Most of us are familiar with the winding staircase image of DNA, the repository of a biological cell's genetic information. But few of us realize...

Carnegie Mellon Researchers Develop New Type of Mobile Robot That Balances, Moves on a Ball Instead of Legs or Wheels.
August 9, 2006... Byline: Carnegie Mellon University PITTSBURGH, Aug. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new type of mobile robot that balances on a ball instead of legs or wheels. "Ballbot" is a self-contained,...

SuperNova/Acceleration Probe Wins NASA Support for Joint Dark Energy Mission.
August 9, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA has announced that it will support an advanced mission concept study for the SNAP experiment, proposed by the Department of Energy's Lawrence...

West Virginia University Researchers Study Alternative Fuels, Engine Emissions.
August 9, 2006... Byline: West Virginia University MORGANTOWN, W.Va., Aug. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- With rising concerns about gas prices and air quality, alternative fuels and engine emissions are hot research areas, and the West Virginia University...

'Dead Zone' Causing a Wave of Death off Oregon Coast.
August 9, 2006... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., Aug. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- The most severe low-oxygen ocean conditions ever observed on the West Coast of the United States have turned parts of the seafloor off Oregon into a carpet of...

How Well Can Buildings Withstand Big Earthquakes? Caltech Researchers and Their Collaborators Unveil New Simulation Protocol.
August 10, 2006... Byline: Seismological Society of America EL CERRITO, Calif., Aug. 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- How much damage will certain steel-frame, earthquake-resistant buildings sustain when a large temblor strikes? It's a complicated, multifaceted...

Mayo Clinic Provides New Recommendations for Use of Bisphosphonates in Treatment of Multiple Myeloma.
August 10, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., Aug. 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- Mayo Clinic's multiple myeloma (MM) research team has jointly issued a consensus statement regarding the use of bisphosphonates to prevent or treat bone disease in MM....

Emory Scientists Develop New Map of Genetic Variation in Human Genome; Genome Insertions and Deletions (INDELs) Provide Expanded View of Human Genetic Differences.
August 10, 2006... Byline: Emory Medical Center ATLANTA, Aug. 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- Emory University scientists have identified and created a map of more than 400,000 insertions and deletions (INDELs) in the human genome that signal a little-explored type...

Penn Researchers Discover 'Remote Control' for Expression of Human Growth Hormone Gene; Mistakes in Expression Implied in Growth Disorders.
August 11, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine recently discovered a novel mechanism that works over an extensive genomic...

A New Window Into the Deformation of Nanoscale Materials.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- Materials on the nanoscale don't always have the same properties they would in bulk; for one thing, nanomaterials are often a lot harder. Unlike...

Research Pinpoints West Nile Virus Antibody Binding Site.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers have learned the precise location where an antibody binds to the West Nile virus, and they have suggested a mechanism for how this antibody...

More News Tips From Johns Hopkins Medicine XVI International Conference on AIDS, Aug. 13-18, Toronto, Canada.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions TORONTO, Aug. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- Johns Hopkins Medicine today released the following tips. - - - - "ELITE SUPPRESSORS" OF HIV TO CHANGE HOW SCIENTISTS MONITOR SPREAD OF DISEASE...

NASA's Spitzer Telescope Digs Up Troves of Possible Solar Systems in Orion Nebula.
August 14, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 14 (AScribe Newswire) -- Astronomers have long scrutinized the vast and layered clouds of the Orion nebula, an industrious star-making factory visible to the naked eye in the sword of...

'Hidden' Milky Way Deuterium Found; 'Heavy Hydrogen' Abundance Will Force Astronomers to Revise Theories.
August 15, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, Aug. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists using NASA's Johns Hopkins University-operated Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer satellite have learned that far more "heavy" hydrogen remains in our...

Mathematicians Maximize Knowledge of Minimal Surfaces.
August 15, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, Aug. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- For most people, soap bubbles are little more than ethereal, ephemeral childhood amusements, or a bit of kitsch associated with the Lawrence Welk Show. But for...

More Carbon Dioxide May Help Some Trees Weather Ice Storms.
August 15, 2006... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- The increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere predicted for later this century may reduce the damage that future ice storms will cause to commercially important...

New Study Finds America Not Land of Equal Opportunity.
August 15, 2006... Byline: Lehigh University BETHLEHEM, Pa., Aug. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Lehigh University sociology professor takes issue with the long-held notion that America is a land of equal opportunity, where anyone has a shot at success no matter...

Lake Tahoe Clarity Holds Steady in 2005.
August 15, 2006... Byline: University of California, Davis DAVIS, Calif., Aug. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- The waters of Lake Tahoe were clear to an average depth of 72.4 feet in 2005, according to UC Davis scientists who have monitored the lake since 1968. That...

Strokes Will Cost U.S. $2.2 Trillion by 2050 If Prevention, Treatment Don't Improve, University of Michigan Study Predicts; Outsize Costs Predicted for African-Americans, Latinos, Due to Their Extra Stroke Risk at Younger Ages, Other Inequalities.
August 16, 2006... Byline: University of Michigan Health System ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Unless Americans do more to lower their risk of stroke and improve stroke care, the nation will pay $2.2 trillion over the next 45 years to care...

NASA Findings Suggest Jets Bursting From Martian Ice Cap.
August 16, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Every spring brings violent eruptions to the south polar ice cap of Mars, according to researchers interpreting new observations by NASA's Mars Odyssey...

'Signature' of Chromosome Instability Predicts Cancer Outcomes; Research Suggests Broad Tool for Diagnosis, Drug Screening.
August 20, 2006... Byline: Children's Hospital Boston BOSTON, Aug. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- Microscopic examination of tumor specimens cannot always predict a cancer's aggressiveness, leading to increased interest in molecular approaches to diagnosis. Now,...

Extreme Ultraviolet Emission From Galaxy Clusters Observed: Drexler's Dark Matter Relativistic Protons May be the Cause.
August 21, 2006... Byline: The Drexler Foundation LOS ALTOS HILLS, Calif., August 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from some spiral galaxy clusters has been observed by astronomers for the past ten years, at much higher levels than...

Paper From Cambridge Health Alliance's Chief of Surgery Discusses Microchips: In Surgery, Operating Rooms, and Beyond.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Cambridge Health Alliance CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Steven Schwaitzberg, Chief of Surgery at Cambridge Health Alliance, released a paper titled "The Emergence of Radiofrequency Identification Tags (RFID):...

Burning Wetlands Unleash Sequestered Mercury in Wake of Climate Change.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Michigan State University EAST LANSING, Mich., Aug. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Climate change appears to be contributing to the waking of a dangerous sleeping giant in the most northern wetlands of North America - mercury. ...

New Methods for Screening Nanoparticles.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., Aug. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a screening method to examine how newly made nanoparticles -...

Trap-Jaw Ants Set Speed Record; Dr. Brian Fisher of the California Academy of Sciences Finds Trap-Jaw Ants in Costa Rica, Clocks Mandibles at 145 Miles Per Hour.
August 21, 2006... Byline: California Academy of Sciences SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new record has just been set in the category of fastest self-powered strike - and it doesn't belong to a cheetah, a lizard tongue, or a Nolan Ryan fast...

Major Genetic Risk Factor Found for Prostate Cancer With Highest Impact in Younger African Americans; Study Validates Power of New Method in Hunt for Genetic Causes of Complex Disease.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Harvard University Medical School BOSTON, Aug. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Harvard Medical School researchers have identified a DNA segment on chromosome 8 that is a major risk factor for prostate cancer, especially in African American...

Astronomers: Dark, Normal Matter Forced Apart in Massive Collision.
August 21, 2006... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla. , Aug. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Dark matter and normal matter have been wrenched apart by the tremendous collision of two large clusters of galaxies, providing the strongest support yet for...

Researcher Hits Bulls-Eye for Antibiotic Target.
August 21, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Purdue University researcher has opened the door for possible antibiotic treatments for a variety of diseases by determining the structure of a protein that...

Drexler's Dark Matter Relativistic Protons May Be the Cause of Extreme Ultraviolet Emission From Galaxy Clusters.
August 21, 2006... Byline: The Drexler Foundation LOS ALTOS HILLS, Calif., August 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from some spiral galaxy clusters has been observed by astronomers for the past ten years, at much higher levels than...

Asthma Tops School Health Issues but Not Parents' Back-To-School Priorities, According to American Lung Association Poll; Association Study Shows Substantial Differences in Asthma Rates Among Hispanic and Asian Subgroups in California.
August 22, 2006... Byline: American Lung Association OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- As millions of students with asthma pour back into the nation's classrooms over the next month, the startling results of an American Lung Association poll of...

Sturgeon's General Warning: Caviar Source Stable for Now, But Beware.
August 22, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- They take a long time before they mate and, once old enough, don't mate every year. Even so, sturgeons are heavily sought after for their eggs, which are made...

Scientists Identify a Region of Human Genome Leading to Elevated Prostate Cancer Risk in African American Men; Region Appears to Explain a Substantial Fraction of the Higher Incidence of This Disease.
August 22, 2006... Byline: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute BOSTON, Aug. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School have found a region of the human genome that accounts for the higher risk of prostate cancer...

Study: 9/11 Hurt Arab and Muslim Men's Wages.
August 23, 2006... Byline: University of Illinois at Chicago CHICAGO, Aug. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Wages and weekly earnings for Arab and Muslim men living in the United States fell 10 percent following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a new study...

Study Finds Lower Blood Alcohol Limits Save Lives, Reduce Crashes; U.S. Sets Standard at .08, But Many Countries Move to .05 and Even .02.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation CALVERTON, Md., Aug. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- While some critics claim the .08 blood alcohol limit for American drivers is unduly harsh, industrialized nations around the globe are...

Fast-Growing Trees Could Take Root as Future Energy Source.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- A tree that can reach 90 feet in six years and be grown as a row crop on fallow farmland could represent a major replacement for fossil fuels. Purdue...

Largest Review of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome to Date; Identification of More Genetic Perturbations Paints Clearer Picture for Diagnosis.
August 23, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Aug. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- At least three severe, potentially fatal genetic diseases leave patients with aortas so flimsy that they can rupture in pregnancy and labor or even lesser...

African Parasite Makes Component of Fat Differently From All Other Organisms; Johns Hopkins Researchers Shed Light on Culprit Behind 'Sleeping Sickness'.
August 24, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Aug. 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- Studying the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, scientists at Johns Hopkins have discovered a previously unknown way of making fatty acids, a...

One-Two Particle Punch Poses Greater Risk for Astronauts.
August 24, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., Aug. 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- It doesn't just matter how much radiation an astronaut is exposed to, time and the order in which charged particles strike human cells are important factors...

Toxic Molecule May Cause Most Common Type of Muscular Dystrophy.
August 24, 2006... Byline: University of Virginia Health System CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Aug. 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- Doctors at the University of Virginia Health System have shown for the first time that getting rid of poisonous RNA (ribonucleic acid) in...

Everything in Its Place: Researchers Identify Brain Cells Used to Categorize Images; Findings Shed Light on Brain Processes Behind Learning, Memory.
August 27, 2006... Byline: Harvard University Medical School BOSTON, Aug. 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- Socks in the sock drawer, shirts in the shirt drawer, the time-honored lessons of helping organize one's clothes learned in youth. But what parts of the brain...

Hopkins Develops Online Tool to Aid Research on Certain 'Orphan Diseases'; All Have Links to Tiny, Hair-Like Cilia, Implications for Common Disorders.
August 28, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Aug. 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- Many people are afflicted with rare illnesses of unknown cause, and finding a common link to such under-studied or "orphaned" diseases as Bardet-Biedl,...

New Data Show Economic Recovery Has Not Benefited Children; National Center for Children in Poverty Responds to Release of Annual Census Data on Poverty.
August 29, 2006... Byline: National Center for Children in Poverty NEW YORK, Aug. 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Today the U.S. Census Bureau released new data showing that in 2005, the child poverty rate in the U.S. remained at 18 percent. The National Center for...

Study: Washington Monthly's College Ranking System 'Biased and Flawed'.
August 29, 2006... Byline: Center for Media & Public Affairs WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- The Statistical Assessment Service (http://www.STATS.org ) - a non-profit, non-partisan media research organization affiliated with George Mason University...

Island Ferries Take on Role of Research Vessels Collecting Data About Nantucket Sound.
August 29, 2006... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., Aug. 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Ferries that connect Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are taking on another role - research vessels. Woods Hole...

A Decade of Welfare Reform: How Are Low-Income Families Faring?
August 30, 2006... Byline: The Urban Institute WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- How well low-income families have fared since the nation's welfare system was overhauled in August 1996 depends on whether they stayed on welfare, left, or avoided it...

NASA, NOAA Data Indicate Ozone Layer Is Recovering.
August 30, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new study using NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data finds consistent evidence that Earth's ozone layer is on the mend. ...

Bacteria Beat the Heat.
August 30, 2006... Byline: American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- How do some microorganisms manage to exist and even thrive in surroundings ranging from Antarctica to boiling hot springs? A team of...

Time in Space.
August 30, 2006... Byline: American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Stars may lead fascinating lives, but sometimes it's in death that they really shine. Some stars finish up as black holes but, a moment...

Silence of the Amoebae: Weizmann Institute Scientists Render a Disease-Causing Pathogen Harmless.
August 30, 2006... Byline: American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Freedom of expression is great, but silence is golden - at least when it comes to amoebae, which are intestine-dwelling parasites that...

A Better Water Test.
August 30, 2006... Byline: American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science NEW YORK, Aug. 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Water is essential for life. Nevertheless, even small amounts of water in the wrong places - such as fuels, lubricants, or organic...

Eternal Life of Stardust Portrayed in New NASA Image.
August 31, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., Aug. 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is helping astronomers understand how stardust is recycled in galaxies. The cosmic portrait shows the...

University of Colorado Professor Finds Racial Achievement Gap Narrowed by Reducing Stress from Negative Stereotypes.
August 31, 2006... Byline: University of Colorado, Boulder BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- An in-class writing assignment designed to boost students' sense of identity and personal integrity reduced the achievement gap between African-American...

High-Flying Balloons Begin Tracking Hurricane Formation.
August 31, 2006... Byline: National Center for Atmospheric Research BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- In a unique collaboration, U.S. and French researchers are launching large, specialized balloons into the stratosphere to drop nearly 300...

Consumer Reports Tests Show that E85 Ethanol Offers Cleaner Emissions - But Poorer Fuel Economy.
August 31, 2006... Byline: Consumers Union YONKERS, N.Y., Aug. 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- Tests and an investigation by Consumer Reports conclude that E85 ethanol will cost consumers more money than gasoline and that there are concerns about whether the...

Scientists: Wildlife Corridors Benefit Plant Biodiversity, Native Plants.
August 31, 2006... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla., Aug. 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- Wildlife corridors appear to support not only wildlife but also plants -especially the oft-threatened native variety. A six-year study at the world's...