Ascribe Higher Education News Service articles from February 2006

Ascribe Higher Education News Service archives from February 2006

American Philanthropy Failing the Poor, Says Article in Stanford Social Innovation Review.
February 1, 2006... Byline: Stanford Graduate School of Business STANFORD, Calif., Feb. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- "If public policies governing philanthropy, such as tax subsidies, are worsening social inequalities, then American philanthropy is failing," writes...

Discovery of Mutation in Brain Cells of Descendants of Abraham Lincoln Suggest President Suffered From Movement Disorder.
February 2, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Feb. 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in the descendants of Abraham Lincoln's grandparents that...

Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Maps Ancient Greek Shipwreck; Robots Can Do in Days What Humans Take Years to Accomplish at Archaeological Sites.
February 2, 2006... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., Feb. 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- After lying hidden for centuries off the coast of Greece, a sunken 4th century B.C. merchant ship and its cargo have been surveyed by an...

A Bouquet of Responses: Olfactory Nerve Cells Expressing Same Receptor Display Varied Set of Reactions; Findings Help Researchers Revise Models of Mammalian Sense of Smell.
February 2, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- In a mouse model, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers discovered that olfactory sensory neurons expressing the same receptor...

Ironing Out New Details of Tuberculosis Infection.
February 2, 2006... Byline: Howard Hughes Medical Institute CHEVY CHASE, Md., Feb. 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists in India, led by a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) international research scholar, have identified five key genes that enable...

Research Highlights Importance of Ameriquest Settlement Exposing Widespread Appraisal Fraud, Predatory Lending Practices.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Demos NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Today Demos, a national public policy organization that conducts research on economic security issues in the United States, re-released its 2005 reports "Home Insecurity: How Widespread...

Gene Thwarts Some Pathogens, Gives Access to Others, Could Save Crops.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- A single gene apparently thwarts a disease-causing invader that creates a fuzzy gray coating on flowers, fruits and vegetables. But the same gene provides access...

NASA's 'Deep Impact' Team Reports First Evidence of Cometary Ice.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Brown University PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Comet Tempel 1, which created a flamboyant Fourth of July fireworks display in space last year, is covered with a small amount of water ice. These results, reported by...

HIV Subtype Predicts Likelihood of Early Death from AIDS.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Feb. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Johns Hopkins scientists say an infected person's HIV subtype is a better predictor than viral load for determining rapid death from AIDS. Traditional...

Scientists Re-engineer a Well-Known Antibiotic to Counter Drug Resistance; New Molecule Could Help in Treating Hospital Infections.
February 6, 2006... Byline: The Scripps Research Institute LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have successfully re-engineered a well-known antibiotic to insure its effectiveness against sensitive as well...

New Sonar Method Offers Way to Assess Health of Squid Fisheries; Scientists Devise Technique to Detect Squid Egg Clusters on Seafloor.
February 7, 2006... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., Feb. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- California's $30-million-a-year squid fishery has quadrupled in the past decade, but until now there has been no way to assess the continuing...

Video Research Shows How Bats Make Short Work of Flying Toward Prey.
February 7, 2006... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., Feb. 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Unlike most humans and visually guided animals, bats rely on hearing, rather than vision, to fly and forage in darkness. They perform split-second...

Berkeley Researchers Lay Groundwork for Cell Version of DNA Chip; New Technique Developed for Attaching Biological Cells to Non-Biological Surfaces.
February 7, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new technique in which single strands of synthetic DNA are used to firmly fasten biological cells to non-biological surfaces has been developed...

'Roof of the World' Tells Tale of Colliding Continents, Earth's Interior.
February 8, 2006... Byline: University of Chicago CHICAGO, Feb. 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Geologists have learned that the height of the Tibetan Plateau, a vast, elevated region of central Asia sometimes called "the roof of the world," has remained remarkably...

Disks Encircling Hypergiant Stars May Spawn Planets in Inhospitable Environment; RIT Astronomer Uses NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to Study Massive Stars.
February 8, 2006... Byline: Rochester Institute of Technology ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- The discovery of dusty disks -- the building blocks of planets -- around two of the most massive stars known suggests that planets might form and...

Biologists Visualize Protein Interaction That May Initiate Viral Infection.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- Biologists at Purdue University have taken a "snapshot" of a Velcro-like protein on a cell's surface just after it attached to the dengue virus, a linkup thought...

A New Way of Looking at Molecular Motors.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Howard Hughes Medical Institute CHEVY CHASE, Md., Feb. 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- An innovative method of categorizing myosin -- one of three molecular "motors" that produce movement within the cells of the body -- has dramatically...

Study Finds Room for Improvement in Angioplasty, Shows What Can Be Done to Help Cut Risks to Heart Patients; Significant Gains Made Through Multi-Hospital Cooperative Effort Led by University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, Funded by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
February 13, 2006... Byline: University of Michigan Health System ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Each year, more than 600,000 Americans have angioplasty procedures to open clogged arteries near their hearts, and treat or prevent a heart attack....

University of Florida Study: World Shark Attacks Dipped in 2005, Part of Long-Term Trend.
February 13, 2006... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla.. Feb. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Assertive and even aggressive human behavior could explain why shark attacks worldwide dipped last year, continuing a five-year downward trend in close...

Men With Heart Disease May Be at Risk for Death With Blood Sugar in 'Normal' Range, UCLA Study Suggests; Women at Lower Risk.
February 13, 2006... Byline: UCLA LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Men with cardiovascular disease may be at considerably increased risk for death even when their blood sugar level remains in the "normal" range, suggests a new study by a team of...

Danforth Center Researcher Finds Potential Therapy for Rare Insulin Disorder in Green Tea; Collaboration With Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Merges Plant Science, Human Health.
February 15, 2006... Byline: Donald Danforth Plant Science Center ST. LOUIS, Feb. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- A research team led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center has discovered that green tea could provide a potential new therapy for a rare and often...

Gene Design Program From Johns Hopkins Simplifies, Automates, Speeds Design of 'Artificial' Genes.
February 15, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Feb. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- Johns Hopkins researchers have announced the development of a Web-based, automated computer program that they say greatly simplifies the time-consuming and...

Moral Hazard in Hunting: Economists Find Increased Freedom in Deer Hunting Leads to Increase in Accidental Shootings.
February 15, 2006... Byline: University of Virginia CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- There can be a moral hazard in hunting. University of Virginia economist John Pepper has examined the interaction of hunting regulations and hunter...

Johns Hopkins Scientists Map Brain Area That May Aid Hunt for Human Brain Stem Cells; Discovery of 'Displaced' Cells Also Suggestive of Stem Cell Activity.
February 16, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Feb. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- A study led by a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon has provided the first comprehensive map of a part of the adult human brain containing astrocytes, cells known...

Rome's First 3-D Seismic Model; Geophysicists Find That Complex River-Sediment Geology Leaves Historic City Vulnerable to Distant Earthquakes.
February 16, 2006... Byline: Seismological Society of America EL CERRITO, Feb. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Calif., U.S. and Italian geophysicists have discovered that Rome's ancient structures are vulnerable to a wider range of earthquake hazards than previously...

Penn Researchers Create Technique to Engineer Nerve Tissue 'Jumper Cables' to Repair Spinal Cord Injury, in Animal Model; Technique Holds Promise for Spinal-Cord Repair in Humans.
February 16, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have created -- in a rodent model -- a completely new way to engineer nerve...

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Researcher Studies Effects of Cancer Treatment Among Children of Survivors.
February 16, 2006... Byline: Vanderbilt Medical Center NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Can the high doses of chemotherapy and radiation that young cancer patients receive cause inherited health problems for their children? Vanderbilt-Ingram...

Next Good Dinosaur News Likely to Come From Small Packages, Says Michigan State University Zoologist.
February 16, 2006... Byline: Michigan State University ST. LOUIS, Feb. 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Dinosaurs seem bigger than life - big bones, big mysteries. So it's a delicious irony that the next big answers about dinosaurs may come from small - very small...

Warmer Than a Hot Tub: Atlantic Ocean Temperatures Much Higher in the Past; Study Suggests Climate Models Underestimate Future Warming.
February 17, 2006... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., Feb. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists have found evidence that tropical Atlantic Ocean temperatures may have once reached 107 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) - about...

Pomona College Professor Makes Groundbreaking Discovery of Molecular Mechanism Behind Learning, Memory.
February 17, 2006... Byline: Pomona College CLAREMONT, Calif., Feb. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- It has been understood that for learning and memory to take place, certain synapses must be strengthened. Exactly how this takes place has remained a mystery, until...

Capturing Emerging Nanotechnology: Researchers Scrutinize 'Spintronics' as History in the Making.
February 17, 2006... Byline: University of California, Santa Barbara ST. LOUIS, Feb. 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Electronic mail, Web sites, conversations, and experiments about the emerging field of nanotechnology might quickly slip into the past without the work...

Florida's 2,000-Pound Canary: Red Tide Toll Increasing for Manatees ... and Humans.
February 18, 2006... Byline: Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution ST. LOUIS, Feb. 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- According to statistics released in January 2006, the year 2005 was the second deadliest on record for Florida's endangered manatee population. One of...

Besides Food, Farming Can Provide Wildlife Habitat and Reduce Global Warming, Says Michigan State University Professor.
February 18, 2006... Byline: Michigan State University ST. LOUIS, Feb. 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- When people hear the word "agriculture," most think of food. But the benefits of agriculture are much more than farm fresh corn or dairy products. Now scientists...

Marine Mammals Are on Frontline of Failing Ocean Health; Diseases May be Early Warning Sign for Humans, Say Scientists.
February 20, 2006... Byline: SeaWeb ST. LOUIS, Feb. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- Leading scientists, physicians, and veterinarians are uncovering new links between land-based pollution and diseases in marine mammals, with implications for human health. ...

East Africa's Rapid Development Presents Complex Push and Pull, Says Michigan State University Professor.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michigan State University St. LOUIS, Feb. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- The landscape is changing in East Africa, and quickly. A migrating and growing population, emerging economies and an increase in agricultural production are leaving...

Despite Wetland Loss, Mississippi Delta Surprisingly Stable, Tulane Professor Says.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Tulane University NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- While erosion and wetland loss is a huge problem along Louisiana[sup.1]s coast, the Earth[sup.1]s crust below much of the Mississippi Delta is surprisingly stable and...

Mayo Clinic Researchers: Use of Simple, Noninvasive Test May Help Show Heart Disease Risk in Adults With No Symptoms.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., Feb. 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Mayo Clinic research team used a simple, noninvasive tool (arterial tonometer) to discover an association between stiffness in arteries and the presence and amount of...

Deep-Spied Fish: Atlantic Expeditions Uncover Secret Sex Life of Deep-Sea Nomads.
February 21, 2006... Byline: Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution HONOLULU, Feb. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- For centuries scientists have thought of deep-sea pelagic fish as nomadic wanderers, in part because information about them was so limited. However, new...

University of Virginia Scientists Hot on Trail of Therapies for Deadly Lung Failure.
February 21, 2006... Byline: University of Virginia Health System CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System have identified a molecular target, or receptor, for potential drugs to treat acute...

Microbe DNA Helps Scientists Understand Ocean.
February 21, 2006... Byline: MIT CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Using DNA analysis, MIT researchers and colleagues have gained new insight into how marine microbes thrive and survive at different depths of the ocean. "Microbes are the...

Monitoring Baleen Whales With Autonomous Underwater Vehicles: First Passive Recordings From Ocean Gliders Provide Insight Into Whale Behavior for Some Endangered Species.
February 21, 2006... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., Feb. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Like robots of the deep, autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, are growing in number and use in the oceans to perform scientific missions...

We Are Pushing the Seas to the Brink.
February 21, 2006... Byline: Mother Jones Magazine SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- In a 31-page cover package including three features plus numerous sidebars, graphs, photos, and illustrations, Mother Jones magazine (March/April 2006) paints a...

Effects of Asthma Medications May Vary Between Obese, Lean People; Inhaled Steroid May Work Better for Normal-Weight People; Singulair Pill Shows More Promise for Obese People, University of Michigan-Led Study Finds.
February 22, 2006... Byline: University of Michigan Health System ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- As the nation's collective waistline has swelled in recent decades, rates of asthma diagnoses also have accelerated. Indeed, much research has...

New Instrumentation May Help Scientists Understand Earthquake Mechanics; $1 Million Grant From W.M. Keck Foundation Will Support Project.
February 22, 2006... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., Feb. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Hundreds of earthquakes occur every day around the world, most of them underneath the oceans, while the vast majority of instruments used to...

University of Virginia Researchers Demonstrate Value of First Genetic Test for High Blood Pressure, Sensitivity to Salt.
February 22, 2006... Byline: University of Virginia Health System CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers led by University of Virginia Health System pathologist Robin Felder, Ph.D., have demonstrated that looking for several variations...

At Berkeley: Intelligently Designed Molecular Evolution.
February 23, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Evolutionary paths to new therapeutic drugs, as well as a wide assortment of other enzyme products, have been created through, of all things,...

A Better Tool to Study Role of Iron in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's.
February 23, 2006... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla., Feb. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Engineers have found a way to pinpoint and identify the tiny iron oxide particles associated with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases in the brain....

Venerable Ultraviolet Satellite Returns to Operations.
February 23, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, Feb. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer astronomy satellite is back in full operation, its aging onboard software control system rejuvenated and its mission...

New Evidence That Natural Selection Is a General Driving Force Behind the Origin of Species.
February 23, 2006... Byline: Vanderbilt University NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Charles Darwin would undoubtedly be both pleased and chagrined. The famous scientist would be pleased because a study published online this week provides the...

Largest Study of Human 'Interactome' Reveals Novel Way to Find Disease Targets; Analysis of Protein Interactions Dispels Old Notions of What's Important About Them.
February 24, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Feb. 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- Discoveries made during the first large-scale analysis of interactions between proteins in our cells hold promise for identifying new genes involved in...

Nanoscale Tubing That Assembles Itself Instantly.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- Making tubes useful often means joining them to other tubes and linking them together in networks. Easy enough to do with standard water pipes --...

Predators Keep the World Green, Ecologists Find.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- Predators are, ironically, the key to keeping the world green, because they keep the numbers of plant-eating herbivores under control, reports a research team lead by John...

New Research Forecasts Better Weather Forecasts.
February 28, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Purdue University researcher and his team have used improved satellite imaging and powerful computer modeling to more accurately forecast the likelihood and...