Global warming link to amphibian declines in doubt
Evidence that global warming is causing the worldwide declines of amphibians may not be as conclusive as previously thought, according to biologists. The findings, which contradict two widely held views, could help reveal what is killing the frogs and toads and aid in their conservation. (2008-11-13) Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:04 +0100
Friendly bacteria reduce hospital infections
A probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum 299, has been used to out-compete the dangerous bacteria that cause respiratory illness in ventilated patients. (2008-11-06) Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:04 +0100
In the war against diseases, nerve cells need their armor
In a new study, researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University, and the Université de Montréal have discovered an essential mechanism for the maintenance of the normal structure of myelin, the protective covering that insulates and supports nerve cells (neurons). (2008-11-13) Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:04 +0100
Measuring water from space
Observations from satellites now allow scientists to monitor changes to water levels in the sea, in rivers and lakes, in ice sheets and even under the ground. As the climate changes, this information will be crucial for monitoring its effects and predicting future impacts in different regions. (2008-11-13) Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:04 +0100
UNC study: text messaging may help children fight off obesity
A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggests that cell phone text messaging could be used to reduce children's chances of becoming overweight or obese later in life, by helping them monitor and modify their own behaviors now. (2008-11-12) Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:04 +0100
Kidney injury puts elderly individuals at high risk for developing serious kidney disease
Acute kidney injury (AKI)which is often caused by trauma, illness, or surgerypredisposes elderly individuals to the most serious form of chronic kidney disease (CKD), known as end stage renal disease (ESRD), according to a study appearing in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The findings indicate that close medical follow-up is important for maintaining the health of patients who have experienced kidney damage. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:40:07 +0100
Genetic screening no better than traditional risk factors for predicting type 2 diabetes
Screening for a panel of gene variants associated with the risk for type 2 diabetes can identify adults at risk for the disorder but is not significantly better than assessment based on traditional risk factors such as weight, blood pressure and blood sugar levels. A multi-institutional research team, led by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) physician, reports their analysis of data from the Framingham Heart Study in the November 20 New England Journal of Medicine. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:39:43 +0100
Biomarkers used to predict chronological and physiological age
Scientists at the Buck Institute for Age Research have identified for the first time biomarkers of aging which are highly predictive of both chronological and physiological age. Biomarkers are biochemical features that can be used to measure the progress of disease or the effects of treatment. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:39:14 +0100
Landmark study defines benefits of early HIV testing and treatment for infected infants
Testing very young babies for HIV and giving antiretroviral therapy (ART) immediately to those found infected with the virus dramatically prevents illness and death, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study found that giving ART to HIV-infected infants beginning at an average age of 7 weeks made them four times less likely to die in the next 48 weeks, compared with postponing ART until signs of illness or a weakened immune system appeared--the standard of care when the study began. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:38:32 +0100
Burying the greenhouse gas
To prevent global warming, researchers and policymakers are exploring a variety of options to significantly cut the amount of carbon dioxide that reaches the atmosphere. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:05 +0100
Water vapor confirmed as major player in climate change
Water vapor is known to be Earth's most abundant greenhouse gas, but the extent of its contribution to global warming has been debated. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:05 +0100
How often will you use that treadmill?
Why not buy that treadmill? You'll be exercising every day, right? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research examines why our expectations of our behavior so often don't match reality. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:34:05 +0100
US biologists: 3 common pesticides harm salmon
(AP) -- Farms and orchards that continue to use three pesticides that harm salmon will have to greatly expand buffer zones around their fields so the chemicals don't reach streams, federal biologists ruled Tuesday. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:12:26 +0100
Researchers reshape the future of drug discovery
Scientists in Leeds have devised a new way to create the next generation of man-made molecules in a breakthrough that could revolutionise drug development. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:02:34 +0100
Garlic chemical tablet treats diabetes I and II orally
(PhysOrg.com) -- A drug based on a chemical found in garlic can treat diabetes types I and II when taken as a tablet, a study in the new Royal Society of Chemistry journal Metallomics says. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:44:16 +0100
New penguin species found in New Zealand
(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian and New Zealand researchers have used ancient DNA from penguin fossils to make a startling discovery that may change the way we view species extinctions. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:43:32 +0100
ScienceDaily: Nature News
Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:05:01 EST
Low Concentrations Of Pesticides Can Become Toxic Mixture For Amphibians
Ten of the world's most popular pesticides can decimate amphibian populations when mixed together even if the concentration of the individual chemicals are within limits considered safe, according to new research. Such "cocktails of contaminants" are frequently detected in nature, a new article notes. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:00:00 EST
New National Survey Says Public Reveres Bison
Americans are woefully out of touch with the fact that the American bison, or buffalo, is in trouble as a wild, iconic species, but they do love them as an important symbol of their country -- and as an entree on the dinner table. These sentiments were found in a public survey by the Wildlife Conservation Society at a national conference on restoring bison populations in the North America. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST
Alpine Rivers Hold Important Clues For Preserving Biodiversity And Coping With Climate Change
Marginal plants, particularly trees, play a crucial role in sustaining the biodiversity of Europe's big river systems, according to new research. This finding provides important clues for protecting Europe's rivers against a combined onslaught from human development and climate change, which are tampering with existing ecosystems and changing both the physical and biological forces acting upon them. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST
Shifts In Soil Bacterial Populations Linked To Wetland Restoration Success
Researchers have found that restoring degraded wetlands -- especially those that had been converted into farm fields -- actually decreases soil bacterial diversity. More than half of original wetland acreage in the U.S. has been destroyed or degraded, but some has been restored in recent decades under the federal government's "no net loss" policy. Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:00:00 EST
Forests May Play Overlooked Role In Regulating Climate
Scientists show that forests may influence the Earth's climate in important ways that have not previously been recognized. Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST
'Enlightened' Atoms Stage Nano-Riot Against Uniformity
(PhysOrg.com) -- When atoms in a crystal are struck by laser light, their electrons, excited by the light, typically begin moving back and forth together in a regular pattern, resembling nanoscale soldiers marching in a lockstep formation. But according to a new theory developed by Johns Hopkins researchers, under the right conditions these atoms will rebel against uniformity. Their electrons will begin moving apart and then joining together again repeatedly like lively swing partners on a dance floor. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:37:59 +0100
Dancing droplets
Our blood, sweat and tears are three precious fluids that can answer lots of questions about the state of our health but testing small amounts of bodily fluids, without contaminating them through contact with solid surfaces or other fluids, is something that fluid mechanics have long pondered. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:44:46 +0100
Billions of particles of anti-matter created in laboratory
(PhysOrg.com) -- Take a gold sample the size of the head of a push pin, shoot a laser through it, and suddenly more than 100 billion particles of anti-matter appear. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:12:47 +0100
'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' game provides clue to efficiency of complex networks
As the global population continues to grow exponentially, our social connections to one another remain relatively small, as if we're all protagonists in the Kevin Bacon game inspired by "Six Degrees of Separation," a Broadway play and Hollywood feature that were popular in the 1990s. Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:55:28 +0100
Quantum calibration paves way for super-secure communication
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement has been developed with particular applications in optics and super-secure quantum communication. Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:25:26 +0100
Mammoth's genome pieced together
A US-Russian team announces that it has sequenced most of the genome of a woolly mammoth found in Siberia. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:34:56 GMT
Final plea on Earth observation
Leading Earth observation scientists urge Gordon Brown to back Europe's environmental monitoring project, GMES. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:53:15 GMT
Windpipe transplant breakthrough
Surgeons in Spain claim a major breakthrough by giving a woman a new windpipe with tissue grown from her own stem cells. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:28:49 GMT
Ancient turtle discovered on Skye
The earliest turtles to live in water have been discovered on - and named after - the Scottish island of Skye. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:59:27 GMT
Big cat fossil found in North Sea
A fossilised bone from a sabre-toothed cat has been dredged up from the seabed by a trawler off the UK coast. Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:38:51 GMT
Clinical neuropsychologists frequently evaluate individuals within a forensic context, and therefore must address questions regarding the possible presence of reduced effort, response bias and/or malingering. This volume offers a wide range of instructive real-world case examples involving the complex differential diagnosis where symptom exaggeration and/or malingering cloud the picture.
Written by expert forensic neuropsychologists, the scenarios described provide informed, empirically-based and scientifically-derived opinions on the topic. Issues related to malingering, such as response bias and insufficient effort, are discussed thoroughly with regard to a large number of clinical conditions and assessment instruments. Test data and non-test information are considered and integrated by the numerous experts.
Expert guidance for clinicians who must address the issue of malingering is provided in a straightforward and well-organized format. To date, there has not been a comparable collection of rich case material relevant to forensic practice in clinical neuropsychology.
Edited by Louise S. Röska-Hardy, Eva M. Neumann-Held
Human language, cognition, and culture are unique; they are unparalleled in the animal kingdom. The claim that we can learn what makes us human by studying other animal species provokes vigorous reactions and many deny that comparative research can shed any light on the origins and character of human distinctive capacities. However, Learning from Animals? presents empirical research and an analysis of comparative approaches for an understanding of human uniqueness, arguing that we cannot know what capacities are uniquely human until we learn what other species can do.
This interdisciplinary volume explores the prospects and problems of comparative approaches for understanding modern humans abilities by presenting: (1) the latest findings and theoretical approaches in primatology, comparative psychology, linguistics, and philosophy; (2) methodological reflections on the prospects and challenges of understanding human capacities through comparative research strategies; and (3) discussions of conceptual and ethical issues.
This is the first book to address the issues raised by comparative research from such a diverse perspective. It will therefore be of great interest to students, researchers, and professionals in comparative psychology, linguistics, primatology, biology, and philosophy.
Edited by John Colombo, Peggy McCardle, Lisa Freund
The behavioral and brain sciences are faced with important new challenges at the beginning of the new millennium. The enormous progress in cognitive neuroscience, and the importance of genetic factors and gene-environment interactions in shaping behavioral functions in early childhood, have both underscored the primacy of early experience and development on brain development and function.
The contributors to this volume discuss different paradigms and approaches in infant language and cognition, pushing the frontiers of research by innovatively combining methods, introducing new measures, and demonstrating the use of technologies and measurement approaches that can inform the study of word learning and categorization, gaze, attention, gesture, and physiological functions. The volume offers a blend of theories and empirical evidence to support, refute, or modify them. Most chapters examine the link between theory and methodology, and their appearance together in a single volume serves to inform and engage multiple disciplines, to engage everyone to think across disciplines and paradigms, to embrace the integration of creativity and science as the field continues to study in greater depth and with innovative measures and approaches, the infant pathways to language
This volume is derived from presentations and discussions from a workshop, sponsored jointly by the Merrill Advanced Studies Center, University of Kansas, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland.
Published October 15 2008 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Edited by Richard E. Petty, Russell H. Fazio, Pablo Brinol
This book tackles a subject that has captured the imagination of many researchers in the field: attitudes. Although the field has always recognized that peoples attitudes could be assessed in different ways, from direct self-reports to disguised observations of behavior, the past decade has shown several new approaches to attitude measurement.
Despite the fact that there is no monolithic point of view with respect to implicit attitudes or measures, this book proves informative in capturing the exciting developments that have taken place over the past decade in the study of attitudes, and point the way for future exploration. Although researchers in the field have long used physiological measures, more sophisticated approaches have now been developed that rely on brain imaging techniques to examine evaluative processes. This book addresses all of these new techniques, as well as the new wave of implicit measures and the contribution they have made to understanding attitudes and attitude change.
This volume will be an essential resource for students and researchers in social psychology with an interest in the core topic of attitudes.
Published October 09 2008 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
