Body

The problem with phosphorus, a critical element in fertilizers and food, is, as comedian Rodney Dangerfield would say, that it "can't get no respect."

Increasingly scarce, yet commonly overused in agricultural fields, polluting streams and lakes, this essential component of our bones, our DNA, the periodic table and the dinner table may soon join oil on the endangered species list – without change in attitudes of policy-makers, research ingenuity and sustainable strategies.

The gene, GFPT1, has been identified by researchers at Newcastle University working with international colleagues, as crucial in causing a variation of Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome (CMS).

The condition came to prominence in recent times in the UK with the plight of baby RB, who was at the centre of a "right-to-life" legal dispute.

Spanish legislation stipulates that at least 60% of waste paper and cardboard collected must be recycled, along with 60% of glass, 50% of metals and 22.5% of plastics. However, a study by researchers at the Jaume I (UJI) University in Castellón shows that this minimum requirement is only exceeded in the case of glass.

SAN FRANCISCO (February 11, 2011) — In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in San Francisco, researchers will present findings that show that use of non alcohol antibacterial mouth-rinse containing cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) decreases the incidence of preterm birth (PTB).

Every minute counts after the onset of a stroke. The more time that elapses before a patient receives an intravenous drug to help break up the clot that is blocking a blood vessel in the brain, the slimmer the chances of a good outcome.

Less than one-third of acute stroke patients treated with the clot-busting drug, called intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), receive it within 60 minutes of their hospital arrival, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2011.

SAN FRANCISCO (February 11, 2011) — In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in San Francisco, researchers will present findings that show that when women at high risk for preterm birth participated in a preterm birth prevention clinic, more women delivered full term babies and there were fewer cases of infant morbidity.

HOUSTON, Feb. 11, 2011 – Eliminating tens of thousands of manual lab experiments, two University of Houston (UH) professors are working toward a method to cut the development time of new antibiotics. While current practices typically last for more than a decade, a computerized modeling system being developed at UH will speed up this process.

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass.—While the tragic shooting in Arizona has spotlighted the vitriol that seems to pervade political commentary, objective research examining the scope of this disturbing phenomenon has been lacking. In the first published study of its kind, social scientists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences have found that outrage talk is endemic among commentators of all political stripes, but measurably worse on the political right, and is more prevalent than it was even during the turmoil of the war in Viet Nam and the Watergate scandal.

Detroit - While the American Stroke Association reports that stroke is the third leading cause of death and one of the top causes of disability in the United States, young adults showing signs of suffering a stroke are sometimes misdiagnosed in hospital emergency rooms, preventing them from receiving early effective treatment that can prevent serious damage.

A team of scientists has discovered that human-introduced, invasive species of plants can have positive ecological effects. Tomás Carlo, an assistant professor of biology at Penn State University, and Jason Gleditsch, a graduate student in the Department of Biology, have studied how invasive fruiting plants affect ecosystems and how those effects, contrary to prevailing ideas, sometimes can be beneficial to an ecological community.

SAN FRANCISCO (February 11, 2011) — In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in San Francisco, researchers will present findings that show that when women at high risk for preterm birth participated in a preterm birth prevention clinic, more women delivered full term babies and there were fewer cases of infant morbidity.

SAN FRANCISCO (February 11, 2011) — In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting ™, in San Francisco, researchers will present findings that show that despite fetal pulmonary maturity, babies delivered at between 36 to 38 weeks, still have a significantly increased risk of neonatal morbidities.

HOUSTON -- (Feb. 11, 2011) – Researchers using DNA microarrays to diagnose developmental disabilities or congenital anomalies in children may unexpectedly identify that some have been conceived through incest. This raises social and legal issues that institutions and the scientific community must address, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com/).

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Scientists are hoping that heat therapy could eventually replace a complex drug regimen as the first-line treatment of a parasitic skin infection common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.

The researchers successfully treated the skin infection with heat therapy in two patients whose immune systems were deficient, which lowered their bodies' ability to respond to medication. Both patients have remained free of the parasitic disease, called cutaneous leishmaniasis, for more than a year since receiving the heat treatment.