Ascribe Higher Education News Service articles from July 2006

Ascribe Higher Education News Service archives from July 2006

Birds Going Extinct Faster Due to Human Activities.
July 5, 2006... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- Human activities have caused some 500 bird species worldwide to go extinct over the past five millennia, and 21st-century extinction rates likely will accelerate to...

Orbiting Space Shield Could Help to Image Earth-Like Planets, Says University of Colorado Study.
July 5, 2006... Byline: University of Colorado, Boulder BOULDER, Colo., July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- A gigantic, daisy-shaped space shield could be used to block out pesky starlight and allow astronomers using an orbiting telescope to zero in on Earth-like...

Terror Research: Government Deterrence Strategies of Limited Effectiveness.
July 5, 2006... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- Government attempts to deter terrorism can backfire and promote invigorated reprisals and a cycle of violence, according to a new study by...

Life Cycle of Operons Yields New Look at Bacterial Genetics.
July 5, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- In a breakthrough that will immediately benefit biologists who study bacteria, a team of researchers has determined the life cycle of operons,...

Berkeley Lab Wins Four Prestigious 2006 'R&D 100' Awards for Technology Advances.
July 5, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- Four of R&D Magazine's prestigious R&D 100 Awards for 2006, the editors' choices for the 100 most significant proven technological advances of the...

Study Looks at Ways to Sustain Lobster Fishery.
July 5, 2006... Byline: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WOODS HOLE, Mass., July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- In the world of the lobster fishery, less may indeed be more. A new study may give hope to lobstermen struggling with declining lobster stocks,...

Corals Switch Skeletons as Seawater Changes.
July 5, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- Leopards may not be able to change their spots, but corals can change their skeletons, building them out of different minerals depending on the chemical composition of...

NASA Satellites Find Balance in South America's Water Cycle.
July 5, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., July 5 (AScribe Newswire) -- For the first time, NASA scientists using space-based measurements have directly monitored and measured the complete cycle of water movement for an entire...

Major Initiative Proposed to Address Amphibian Crisis.
July 6, 2006... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., July 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Fifty of the leading amphibian researchers in the world have called for a new Amphibian Survival Alliance, a $400 million initiative to help reduce and prevent...

Midgets and Giants in the Deep Sea.
July 10, 2006... Byline: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute MONTEREY, Calif., July 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- How is the deep sea like a desert island? It sounds like a child's riddle, but it's actually a serious scientific question with implications...

Book Examines Meaning of Mexican Ballads to Migrants.
July 11, 2006... Byline: St. Lawrence University CANTON, N.Y., July 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- "Corridos in Migrant Memory," a new book by St. Lawrence University Assistant Professor of Global Studies Martha I. Chew Sanchez, examines the role of traditional...

University of California, Santa Barbara Political Scientist Explores Rift Between U.S. and Its Oldest European Allies.
July 11, 2006... Byline: University of California, Santa Barbara SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- The war in Iraq has undermined the United States' credibility abroad, and perceptions of American unilateralism are now widespread among...

'Curious Footprints': New Book by Nancy Pick and Frank Ward About Amherst College's Dinosaur Tracks.
July 12, 2006... Byline: Amherst College AMHERST, Mass., July 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- Few people realize that Amherst College holds the world's largest collection of dinosaur tracks. A new book explores how an evangelical minister named Edward Hitchcock...

Study Shows That Parasites Form the Thread of Food Webs.
July 12, 2006... Byline: University of California, Santa Barbara SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists have discovered that parasites are surprisingly important in food webs and their findings appear in a report published this week...

New Source of Multipotent Adult Stem Cells Discovered in Human Hair Follicles; Implications for Personalized Approaches to Transplants.
July 12, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, July 12 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have isolated a new source of adult stem cells that appear to have the potential...

First Direct Observations of Spinons and Holons.
July 13, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., July 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- The theory has been around for more than 40 years, but only now has it been confirmed through direct and unambiguous experimental results. Working...

Igniting the Creative Spark in Organizations: UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Professor Barry Staw Finds Individualistic Culture Promotes Innovation.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley BERKELEY, Calif., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Firms that focus on individual employee achievement and uniqueness are more conducive to generating innovative ideas than companies that emphasize...

Russian Scientists and Drexler: Dark Matter of the Universe May Radiate Ultraviolet Light.
July 17, 2006... Byline: The Drexler Foundation LOS ALTOS HILLS, Calif., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Ever since the concept of galaxy-orbiting relativistic proton dark matter was developed by Jerome Drexler over five years ago, he has been aware that his...

Polling Location Can Influence Voters, According to New Research at Stanford Business School.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Stanford Graduate School of Business STANFORD, Calif., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- What would you say influenced your voting decisions in the most recent local or national election? Political preferences? A candidate's stance on a...

Disclosure Adds Shareholder Value: Lessons from Sarbanes-Oxley's Predecessor -- by Michael Greenstone, Paul Oyer and Annette Vissing-Jorgensen.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Stanford Graduate School of Business STANFORD, Calif., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- The following opinion editorial is by Michael Greenstone, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Paul Oyer, Stanford Graduate School of Business;...

Lowering Switching Costs Has Made Cellular Services More Competitive, According to Stanford Business School Research.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Stanford Graduate School of Business STANFORD, Calif., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Since November 2003, mobile phone customers have been able to change carriers and keep their phone number. Wireless local number portability (LNP)...

Arranged Marriages in Contemporary Times: What's Love (or Chance) Got to Do With It? Rochester Institute of Technology Economics Professor Studies Ins and Outs of Chance and Uncertainty in His New Book.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Rochester Institute of Technology ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Although difficult to comprehend for many Westerners, the arranged marriage is the dominant form of matrimony in other parts of the world - among rich...

Gatekeeping: Penn Researchers Find New Way to Open Ion Channels in Cell Membranes; Implications for Channel-Related Disorders, Drug Design.
July 17, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, Pa., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Using an enzyme found in the venom of the brown recluse spider, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have...

Structure Determined for p53 Tumor Suppressor Protein as Bound to DNA for Anti-Cancer Activity.
July 17, 2006... Byline: The Wistar Institute PHILADELPHIA, July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- More than half of human cancers involve mutations in the p53 tumor-suppressor gene, suggesting the critical role played by the normal p53 protein in defending against...

Discovery of Agile Molecular Motors Could Aid in Treating Motor Neuron Diseases.
July 17, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Over the last several months, the labs of Yale Goldman, MD, PhD, Director of the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute at the University of Pennsylvania...

Scientists Coax Nerve Fibers to Regrow After Spinal Cord Injury.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- In tests on rats, researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Michigan have developed a treatment that helps spinal cord nerves regrow after injury....

Scientists Discover What Keeps Human Cornea Transparent and Free of Blood Vessels, Thereby Allowing for Vision; Results Hold Promise for Treatments of Eye Disease, Cancer.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Schepens Eye Research Institute BOSTON, July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology's Schepens Eye Research Institute and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) are the first to learn why...

Molecular DNA Switch Found to Be the Same for All Life.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- The molecular machinery that starts the process by which a biological cell divides into two identical daughter cells apparently worked so well...

Mutations Point the Way to New Leukemia Drugs.
July 17, 2006... Byline: Howard Hughes Medical Institute CHEVY CHASE, Md., July 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- New research indicates that drugs that target a cell growth pathway known as the JAK-STAT pathway are likely to be effective against certain chronic...

Host Protein Triggers Infection by Smallpox-Related Viruses.
July 18, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., July 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- For the first time, scientists have shown that a protein in the nucleus of victims' cells triggers progression of smallpox-related illnesses, a finding that...

Pollution Threatens Coral Health by Preventing Lesions From Healing, University of Central Florida Study Shows; Declining Coral Reefs Can Harm Economy, Increase Hurricane Risks.
July 18, 2006... Byline: University of Central Florida ORLANDO, Fla., July 18 (AScribe Newswire) -- Coral tissue damage that normally heals on its own will not mend when the colonies are near pollution sources on land that release industrial chemicals, fuel...

Gas Escaping From Ocean Floor May Drive Global Warming.
July 19, 2006... Byline: University of California, Santa Barbara SANTA BARBARA, Calif., July 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- Gas escaping from the ocean floor may provide some answers to understanding historical global warming cycles and provide information on...

Mayo Clinic Researchers Discover a Genetic Cause for Atrial Fibrillation.
July 19, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., July 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- Mayo Clinic investigators have discovered a gene mutation causing chaotic electrical activation of the heart muscle and atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart-rhythm...

Scientists Discover a Genetic Code for Organizing DNA Within the Nucleus.
July 19, 2006... Byline: American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science REHOVOT, Israel, July 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- DNA - the long, thin molecule that carries our hereditary material - is compressed around protein scaffolding in the cell...

Long-term Ibuprofen Treatment After Brain Injury Worsens Cognitive Outcome in Animal Model; Possible Implications for Traumatic Brain Injury Patients.
July 21, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, July 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that chronic ibuprofen therapy given after brain injury worsens cognitive...

Hopkins Researchers Develop New Tool to Watch Real-Time Chemical Activity in Cells; Study Has Implications for Speeding New Drug Design.
July 21, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, July 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Attempts to identify potential drugs that interfere with the action of one particular enzyme linked to heart disease and similar health problems led...

Israeli Attacks Risk as Much Harm as Good, Suggests University of Maryland Research.
July 21, 2006... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., July 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- Israel's response to terror attacks on its northern border risks doing as much harm as good, says a University of Maryland researcher who has...

Men With Multiple Sclerosis Pass Disease to Offspring More Often Than Women in Families With Multiple Cases of Disease, Study Finds.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., July 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- According to a new study, men transmit multiple sclerosis (MS) to their children 2.2 times more often than women in families where the father or mother and a child have...

Ice Sheets Drive Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels, Inverting Previous Ice-Age Theory, New Study Shows.
July 24, 2006... Byline: University of Virginia CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- In the early 20th century, Milutin Milankovitch, a leading astronomer and climatologist of the time, proposed that the Earth's ice-age cycles could be...

Research Project Tests Remote Sensing to Measure Earth's Water Cycle.
July 24, 2006... Byline: Iowa State University AMES, Iowa, July 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- This summer's dry Iowa weather has helped drive home the importance of soil moisture not just to farmers, but also to gardeners, homeowners and consumers looking for...

Heat Therapy for Cancer May Be Key to 'Lance Armstrong Effect'.
July 25, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, July 25 (AScribe Newswire) -- Experts at Johns Hopkins have linked scientific evidence spanning more than 30 years to suggest an explanation for why testicular cancer patients like...

Brookhaven Lab Wins R&D 100 Award for X-Ray Focusing Device.
July 25, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., July 25 (AScribe Newswire) -- The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory has won a 2006 R&D 100 award for developing the first device able to focus a large...

Recurring 'Dead Zone' off Oregon is Spreading, Suggests New Trend.
July 26, 2006... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., July 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- A hypoxic "dead zone" has formed off the Oregon Coast for the fifth time in five years, according to researchers at Oregon State University. A fundamental...

Purdue University Creates New Low-Cost System to Detect Bacteria.
July 27, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., July 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Purdue University have developed a new low-cost system that analyzes scattered laser light to quickly identify bacteria for applications in...

Scientists Develop New, Molecular Approach to Early Cancer Detection.
July 27, 2006... Byline: University of Florida GAINESVILLE, Fla., July 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists have pioneered a new approach to detecting cancer cells, one that could eventually allow doctors to discover many malignancies earlier than currently...

Volcanic Activity Beneath Pacific Ocean May Indicate Earth's Upper Mantle Is More 'Liquefied' Than Previously Thought.
July 27, 2006... Byline: University of Hawaii HONOLULU, July 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- University of Hawaii at Manoa researcher Stephanie Ingle and a team of scientists from Japan and California have found evidence for the existence of partial melt in the...

'Domino' Transplant Program Makes Best Use of Altruistic Donated Kidneys.
July 27, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, July 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- A team of Johns Hopkins researchers reporting their early experiences with "domino" kidney donation suggest that wider use of this strategy could...

California Agriculture Magazine: When Transgenes Wander, Should We Worry?
July 27, 2006... Byline: University of California Division of Agriculture OAKLAND, Calif., July 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- Just like their traditionally bred counterparts, transgenic crops have definitively been shown to crossbreed with crops or native plants...

California Agriculture Magazine: Conservation Tillage Helps Growers Save Time, Money, the Environment.
July 27, 2006... Byline: University of California Division of Agriculture OAKLAND, Calif., July 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- As fuel prices rise and agricultural profit margins narrow, California farmers may find some relief with conservation tillage, in which...

Cassini Finds Lakes on Titan's Arctic Region.
July 27, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., July 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found lakes on Saturn's moon Titan. The lakes are most likely the source of hydrocarbon smog in the frigid moon's...

Secrets of a Cellular Machine: New Clues to the Architecture of Flagella and Cilia.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory BERKELEY, Calif., July 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- Kenneth Downing and Haixin Sui of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Life Sciences Division have pioneered the use of cryo-electron...

Scientific Debate Continues on Post-Wildfire Logging, Forest Regeneration.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., July 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- In separate comments to be published Friday in the journal Science, two groups of researchers from Oregon State University and the USDA Forest Service will...

Lebanon's History, Hezbollah's Ideology, Background to Current Mid-East Crisis Explored in Scholarly Books; Publicly Available 'Books for Understanding: Syria & Lebanon' Bibliography Guides Librarians, Journalists, Researchers to Valuable Information.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Association of American University Presses NEW YORK, July 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- Lebanon's civil infrastructure is being destroyed, its still-fragile democracy is endangered, and a tragic loss of life in both Israel and Lebanon...

Chemicals in Curry, Onions May Help Prevent Colon Cancer; Johns Hopkins Study Shows Combination of Curcumin and Quercetin Greatly Reduces Size, Number of Colorectal Polyps.
July 31, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, Aug. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- A small but informative clinical trial by Johns Hopkins investigators shows that a pill combining chemicals found in turmeric, a spice used in curries, and...

Innovative Method for Creating a Human Cytomegalovirus Vaccine Outlined.
July 31, 2006... Byline: The Wistar Institute PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Each year, about 40,000 children are born infected with human cytomegalovirus, or CMV, and about 8,000 of these children suffer permanent disabilities due to the virus...