Ascribe Higher Education News Service articles from March 2006

Ascribe Higher Education News Service archives from March 2006

High-Tech Testing of Space Shuttle's Foam.
March 1, 2006... Byline: Iowa State University AMES, Iowa, March 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Joe Gray picked up 18-inches of space shuttle foam and turned the inch-thick sample on its side to show the layers within the foam. The spray-on foam that...

New Method for Identifying Microbes: Genomic 'Tags' Quickly Catalog Species, Distinguish Pathogens From Harmless Relatives.
March 3, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., March 3 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a new, high-throughput technique for identifying the many species...

Rheumatoid Arthritis Does Not Increase Risk of Hearing Loss, Mayo Clinic Study Finds.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., March 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Mayo Clinic researchers have found that people with rheumatoid arthritis are no more likely to have hearing loss than other members of the general population. The finding...

Hurricanes, Other Vortices Seize Energy Via 'Hostile Takeovers'; Research Could Lead to Better Understanding of Typhoons, Oceanic Flows.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, March 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- For decades, scientists who study hurricanes, whirlpools and other large fluid vortices have puzzled over precisely how these vast swirling masses of gas or liquid...

Studies Suggest New Targets for Tuberculosis Treatments; Details of Protein-Cleaving Complex Key to Microbe's Survival May Improve Drug Design.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., March 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- With the hope of designing more effective treatments for tuberculosis (TB), scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory...

Johns Hopkins Scientists Exploit Novel Route to Reverse Enlarged Hearts in Obese Mice; Nerve Growth Factor Makes End Run Around Leptin, a Brain Hormone Linked to Appetite Regulation.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, March 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Working on genetically engineered obese mice with seriously thickened hearts, a condition call cardiac hypertrophy, scientists at Johns Hopkins have used a...

Coalition of Essential Schools Announces First Recipients of Theodore R. Sizer Dissertation Scholars Award; Recipients' Research Focuses on Effects of High-Stakes Testing on Student Engagement, Impact of Advisory Programs on School Connectedness.
March 6, 2006... Byline: Coalition of Essential Schools OAKLAND, Calif., March 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Doctoral students Melissa Chabran and Sarah Brody Shulkind have been selected as the first recipients of the Theodore R. Sizer Dissertation Scholars...

New Research Show Bats Have Complex Skills to Deal With 'Clutter'.
March 6, 2006... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., March 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- A little clutter on the way to the refrigerator might mean taking a few extra seconds to navigate your way to a late night snack. For a bat flying...

Johns Hopkins Researchers Discover Unsuspected Genetic Switch That Turns Off an Oxygen-Poor Cell's Combustion Engine, Turns on Its Electric One; Finding Has Potential to Limit Toxic Molecules.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTMORE, March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered a previously unrecognized role played by the gene HIF-1 as it helps cell survive when a lack of oxygen decreases...

New Cell Imaging Method Identifies Aggressive Cancer Cells Early.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 6 (AScribe Newswire) -- Fluorescence that illuminates a specific protein within a cell's nucleus may be a key to identifying cancer virulence and to developing individualized treatment,...

Vanderbilt University Medical Center Launches New Avian Flu Vaccine Trial for 18- to 64-Year-Old Participants.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Vanderbilt Medical Center NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- As tensions rise over the growing possibility of an avian flu pandemic, this week Infectious Diseases researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are...

Twentieth Anniversary of Olof Palme Assassination: Mystery Solved?
March 7, 2006... Byline: Cornell University Press ITHACA, N.Y., March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- If Americans are haunted by unanswered questions about the Kennedy assassination, the unsolved murder of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme twenty years ago in...

MIT Research Holds Promise for Huntington's Treatment.
March 7, 2006... Byline: MIT CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at MIT and Harvard Medical School have identified a compound that interferes with the pathogenic effects of Huntington's disease, a discovery that could lead to...

Duke Study: Homework Helps Students Succeed in School, as Long as There Isn't Too Much.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Duke University DURHAM, N.C., March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- It turns out that parents are right to nag: To succeed in school, kids should do their homework. Duke University researchers have reviewed more than 60 research...

'Shuttling' Protein Possibly Key to Resilience of Cancer Cells.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a molecular mechanism that may play a crucial role in cancer's ability to resist chemotherapy and radiation...

New Strategy Developed to Study Disease: Reveals Insights Into Cancer, Treatment Leads.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- For the first time, Johns Hopkins researchers were able to easily jumpstart the activity of a well-known cancer protein in live cells with a small molecule,...

Researchers Discover Key Component of Gasping Mechanism Thought to Fail in SIDS Victims.
March 7, 2006... Byline: Medical College of Wisconsin MILWAUKEE, March 7 (AScribe Newswire) -- A team lead by a physiologist at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has linked a specific serotonin receptor in the brain to the success or failure of...

Fine Particles Increase Hospital Admissions for Heart Failure, Cardiovascular Disease.
March 8, 2006... Byline: Bloomberg School of Public Health BALTIMORE, March 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter -- the microscopic particles that pollute the air -- increased hospital admissions for cardiovascular and...

MIT Tool May Reveal Architectural Past.
March 8, 2006... Byline: MIT CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- A computer design tool originally created for animation may soon unlock the secrets of the structure of ancient cathedrals, according to MIT Assistant Professor John Ochsendorf of...

Newly Identified Interaction Between Ion Channels Sheds Light on Epilepsy, Other Neurological Disorders.
March 8, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, March 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered the mechanism that facilitates how two ion channels collaborate in...

Chemically Squeezing Every Drop of Ethanol From Corn.
March 8, 2006... Byline: Iowa State University AMES, Iowa, March 8 (AScribe Newswire) -- Brent Shanks is going down to the molecules to find a little extra ethanol. Shanks, an Iowa State University associate professor of chemical and biological...

Nanotechnology Could Improve Satellites, Solar Cells; Rochester Institute of Technology Scientist Ryne Raffaelle Wins $847,109 Federal Grant.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Rochester Institute of Technology ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- More efficient space solar cells could mean better imagery satellites and improved solar energy technology. Scientists at the NanoPower Research...

Study Offers Preview of Ice Sheet Melting, Rapid Climate Changes.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., March 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- The behavior of a massive ice sheet that existed in northern Europe at the end of the last Ice Age has been outlined for the first time, and researchers believe...

New Handheld Instruments to Transform Explosives Detection, Environmental Monitoring.
March 9, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 9 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers from Purdue University who have developed battery-powered, miniature instruments that could one day be deployed in wireless sensor networks in...

Computer Simulation Hints at New HIV Drug Target.
March 10, 2006... Byline: Howard Hughes Medical Institute CHEVY CHASE, Md., March 10 (AScribe Newswire) -- For more than a year, researchers watched patiently as a few computer-simulated HIV protease molecules squirmed into more than 15,000 slightly...

Penn Researchers Develop New Test To Detect Rare Proteins in Blood; Applications of New Method Will Make Possible Earliest Warning of Cancer, Other Diseases.
March 13, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, March 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have developed a paradigm-shifting method for detecting small amounts of proteins...

New Data Demonstrate Carotid Artery Stenting in Clinical Practice Has Comparable Major Adverse Event Rate With That Seen in Pivotal Sapphire Trial; Data Presented at American College of Cardiology Meeting Corroborate Findings of Landmark Study on Carotid Artery Stenting in High Surgical-Risk Patients.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Edelman Public Relations WARREN, N.J., March 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Cordis Endovascular, a division of Cordis Corporation, announced today that preliminary results of its CASES peri-approval study (CASES-PMS) showed that high...

Single Dose of Azithromycin Prevents Recurrence of Inturned Eyelashes.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, March 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- A Johns Hopkins Medicine study finds that a single dose of the oral antibiotic azithromycin taken after trichiasis eye surgery can reduce the frequency...

'Genetic Network' Guards Against Lethal DNA Damage; Discovery in Yeast Opens Door to New Source of Information on DNA Damage, Repair, Cancer.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, March 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- The discovery in yeast cells of a genetic network that guards against lethal DNA damage is a first step in the creation of a database of disease-causing...

Shrinking Magnetic Storage Media Down to the Nanoscale.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory BALTIMORE, Md., March 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- In the world of electronic and magnetic devices, the goal is to get smaller. "The smaller space one bit of information can occupy, the more data you can...

The Science of Freezing Magnets With Magnets.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory BALTIMORE, March 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- A "spin liquid" is a very unique, dynamic material in which each spin - the tiny magnetic field carried by an electron - is not frozen into place, producing...

MSU Researchers Shake Out Basis for Rice Domestication.
March 13, 2006... Byline: Michigan State University EAST LANSING, Mich., March 13 (AScribe Newswire) -- Michigan State University scientists have identified the genetic mutation that reduces grain shattering during rice domestication - research that will...

Brookhaven Lab Scientists Working Toward Practical Hydrogen-Storage Materials.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory UPTON, N.Y., March 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- Hydrogen-storage materials hold the promise of supporting many exciting new technologies, such as clean, efficient hydrogen fuel cells for automobiles. At...

A New View of Asthma's Cause: Previously Unrecognized Immune Cell May Provide Better Target for Therapy.
March 15, 2006... Byline: Children's Hospital Boston BOSTON, March 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- A newly recognized type of immune cell may play an important role in causing asthma, perhaps explaining why current therapies sometimes fail, report researchers from...

Astronomers Report Unprecedented Double Helix Nebula Near Center of Milky Way.
March 15, 2006... Byline: UCLA LOS ANGELES, March 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- Astronomers report an unprecedented elongated double helix nebula near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, using observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The part of the...

Atoms in New State of Matter Behave Like Three Musketeers: All for One, One for All.
March 15, 2006... Byline: University of Chicago CHICAGO, March 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- An international team of physicists has converted three normal atoms into a special new state of matter whose existence was proposed by Russian scientist Vitaly Efimov...

New Satellite Data on Universe's First Trillionth Second.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins University BALTIMORE, March 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists peering back to the oldest light in the universe have new evidence for what happened within its first trillionth of a second, when the universe suddenly...

Minor Mutations in Avian Flu Virus Increase Chances of Human Infection; Few Adaptations Are Needed to Transform It Into Potential Pandemic Virus.
March 16, 2006... Byline: The Scripps Research Institute LA JOLLA, Calif., March 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology have identified what the...

U. T. Dallas Nanotechnologists Demonstrate Artificial Muscles Powered by Highly Energetic Fuels; Muscles for Prosthetic Limbs, Autonomous Robots, Smart Surfaces Reported in March 17 Issue of Science.
March 16, 2006... Byline: University of Texas at Dallas RICHARDSON, Texas, March 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) nanotechnologists have made alcohol- and hydrogen-powered artificial muscles that are 100 times stronger than...

Purdue University Chemical-Analysis Method Promises Fast Results.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at Purdue University have shown how a new ultra-fast chemical-analysis tool has numerous promising uses for detecting everything from cancer in the...

New Wrinkle in Mystery of High-Temperature Superconductors.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory BALTIMORE, Md., March 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- In the twenty years since the discovery of high-temperature (Tc) superconductors, scientists have been trying to understand the mechanism by which...

Newspaper Coverage of Neurologic Conditions Incorrect 20 Percent of the Time, Study Shows.
March 16, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., March 16 (AScribe Newswire) -- Twenty percent of all examined newspaper articles about common neurologic conditions had medical errors or exaggerations, according to a study partnering Mayo Clinic...

Experts Call for Battle Against Invasive Species.
March 17, 2006... Byline: University of California, Davis DAVIS, Calif., March 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- Top experts, including a UC Davis marine scientist, are calling for national action to arrest the natural and economic damage being done in the United...

Sea Coral's Trick Helps Scientists Tag Proteins.
March 19, 2006... Byline: Howard Hughes Medical Institute CHEVY CHASE, Md., March 19 (AScribe Newswire) -- The glow emitted by a variety of sea coral helped Russian scientists harness the protein that generates the light to create a tiny fluorescent tag that...

Novel Vaccine Approach Stimulates Protective Immunity Against Listeria; Could Also Protect Against Other Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens.
March 20, 2006... Byline: Harvard University Medical School BOSTON, March 17 (AScribe Newswire) -- When bacterial pathogens attack the surface of a cell, vaccine-induced antibodies can mount a formidable defense and fend off the bad bugs. The trouble comes...

Scientists Use Satellites to Help Detect Deep-Ocean Whirlpools.
March 20, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., March 20 (AScribe Newswire) -- Move over, Superman, with your X-ray vision. Marine scientists have figured out a way to see through the ocean's surface and detect what's below, with the...

Sick Eyes May Occur in Sick Bodies, Related to Smoking, Obesity, Other Unhealthy Behaviors; Study Published in April Issue of Nutrition.
March 20, 2006... Byline: Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary BOSTON, March 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- People who have elevated levels of the amino acid homocysteine (HCY) and high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in their blood, both of which are systemic...

New Book by Stanford Business School Faculty Members Calls for Corporate Management Based on Facts.
March 21, 2006... Byline: Stanford Graduate School of Business STANFORD, Calif., March 21 (AScribe Newswire) -- "If doctors practiced medicine the way many companies practice management, there would be far more sick and dead patients, and many more doctors...

New Lipid Molecule Holds Promise for Gene Therapy.
March 22, 2006... Byline: University of California, Santa Barbara SANTA BARBARA, Calif., March 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara have created a new molecule that holds promise in fighting disease via gene...

MIT Makes Move Toward Vehicles That Morph.
March 22, 2006... Byline: MIT CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Picture a bird, effortlessly adjusting its wings to catch every current of air. Airplanes that could do the same would have many advantages over today's flying machines,...

Discovery About Protein Sorting in Pigment Cells Sheds Light on Melanoma, Alzheimer's Disease.
March 22, 2006... Byline: University of Pennsylvania Health System PHILADELPHIA, March 22 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered how a protein called Pmel17 is sorted by pigment cells in the...

Arctic, Antarctic Melting May Raise Sea Levels Faster Than Expected.
March 23, 2006... Byline: National Center for Atmospheric Research BOULDER, Colo., March 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Ice sheets across both the Arctic and Antarctic could melt more quickly than expected this century, according to two studies that blend computer...

Junk DNA May Not Be So Junky After All; Researchers Develop New Tool to Find Gene Control Regions.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions BALTIMORE, March 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- Researchers at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins have invented a cost-effective and highly efficient way of analyzing...

Ocean Virus Identified in Human Blood Samples, Raises Concerns.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., March 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- A virus of ocean origin that can cause a range of diseases in several animal species has been found in human blood samples. The virus, or antibodies to it, was...

Study of Martian Meteorite Reveals Markings Similar to Bacteria-Etched Rocks on Earth.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Oregon State University CORVALLIS, Ore., March 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- A new study of a meteorite that originated from Mars has revealed a series of microscopic tunnels that are similar in size, shape and distribution to tracks...

Professor Chronicles Women's Social Movements in India.
March 23, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- The small groups of rural women in India fighting for change is something the rest of the world needs to take note of, says a Purdue University social movements...

Study Shows Rituximab Effective in Treating Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease; Life-Threatening Complication of Donor Bone Marrow, Stem Cell Transplants Affects 60-70 Percent of Long-Term Survivors.
March 24, 2006... Byline: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute BOSTON, March 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- A study by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers offers the strongest evidence yet of the effectiveness of a novel therapy for chronic graft-versus-host disease...

Tweaking Taxol Points Way to a Greener, More Productive Future.
March 24, 2006... Byline: Michigan State University EAST LANSING, Mich., March 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- As the effective cancer-treatment drug Taxol enters its next generation, Michigan State University announces discoveries which point to both...

University of Maryland Device Could Make Web Shopping More Secure; Student Team Will Demonstrate SecureGo Device March 25 at 'March Madness of the Mind' Event in Portland, Oregon.
March 24, 2006... Byline: University of Maryland, College Park COLLEGE PARK, Md., March 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- Each year more and more people are shopping online. Some estimates already put the annual value of online commerce at well over $100 billion in...

Pilot Study by Medical College of Wisconsin Researchers in Milwaukee Shows ResQ-Valve With CPR Improves Survival Rate in Cardiac Arrest Patients; To Undergo Large Scale Clinical Trials.
March 24, 2006... Byline: Medical College of Wisconsin MILWAUKEE, March 24 (AScribe Newswire) -- The ResQ-Valve Study is one of the promising new treatments for cardiac arrest and severe traumatic injury that will be studied under the umbrella of the...

Evolutionary Biology Research Techniques Predict Cancer.
March 26, 2006... Byline: The Wistar Institute PHILADELPHIA, March 26 (AScribe Newswire) -- In diverse ecosystems, packed with wildly different species, evolution whizzes along. As different species accumulate mutations, some adapt particularly well to...

Modeling the Chemical Reactions of Nanoparticles.
March 27, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory ATLANTA, March 27 (AScribe Newswire) -- As science enters the world of the very small, researchers will be searching for new ways to study nanoparticles and their properties. For the past several...

Cerium Oxide Nanotubes Get Noticed.
March 28, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory ATLANTA, March 28 (AScribe Newswire) -- Chemists and materials scientists often study "nanotubes" - capsule-shaped molecules only a few billionths of a meter (nanometers) in width. In nanotube form,...

Media Teleconference to Discuss Embargoed Results of Largest Study to Examine Effects of Third-Party Prayer (Prayer Provided by Others); Findings to Be Published in April 4 Issue of American Heart Journal.
March 29, 2006... Byline: Edelman Public Relations NEW YORK, March 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Edelman Public Relations today released the following media advisory. - - - - WHAT: On Tuesday, April 4, the American Heart Journal will publish the...

Cassini Finds 'Missing Link' Moonlet Evidence in Saturn's Rings.
March 29, 2006... Byline: Jet Propulsion Laboratory PASADENA, Calif., March 29 (AScribe Newswire) -- Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have found evidence that a new class of small moonlets resides within Saturn's rings. There may be as many as 10...

From Europa to the Lab, a New Recipe for Oxygen on Icy Moons.
March 30, 2006... Byline: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory ATLANTA, March 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Some may be surprised to learn that bleach-blondes and the enabler of life elsewhere in our solar system have something in common. And, no, it's not...

Diagnostic Method Drives Better Tire Testing for Industry.
March 30, 2006... Byline: Purdue University WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 30 (AScribe Newswire) -- Mechanical engineers at Purdue University have developed a system that uses sensors and mathematical models to detect defects in newly manufactured tires better...

Using Probes to Control Chemistry -- Molecule by Molecule.
March 31, 2006... Byline: Brookhaven National Laboratory ATLANTA, March 31 (AScribe Newswire) -- Using probes originally designed to detect and image topographical features on surfaces, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National...

Mayo Clinic Study Finds Two Genes Predict Outcome for Breast Cancer Patients; Two-Gene Expression Profile of HOXB13 and IL17BR in a Woman's Breast Cancer Predicts Risk of Recurrence in Node-Negative Patients Treated With Tamoxifen.
March 31, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., April 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Mayo Clinic researchers report that the expression of two novel genes within the tumors of women with early stage breast cancer may allow identification of women who are...

Mayo Clinic Researchers Discover Cancer Cells May Move via Wave Stimulation; Finding Helps Understand Cancer Cell Metastasis.
March 31, 2006... Byline: Mayo Clinic ROCHESTER, Minn., April 1 (AScribe Newswire) -- Mayo Clinic researchers have uncovered a new cellular secret that may explain how certain cancers move and spread -- a feature of cancers that makes treatment especially...