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A team of researchers from Warwick have isolated a gene responsible for regulating the expression of CONSTANS, an important inducer of flowering, in Arabidopsis.

'Being able to understand and ultimately control seasonal flowering will enable more predictable flowering, better scheduling and reduced wastage of crops', explained Dr Jackson.

In the third of five papers in the PLoS Medicine series on maternal, neonatal, and child health in sub-Saharan Africa, Sara Bennett and Freddie Ssengooba this week discuss the challenges of getting science into policy in Africa. Dr Bennett, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore USA, and Dr Ssengooba from Makerere University in Uganda argue that that the technical basis for improving maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) in sub-Saharan Africa is largely known, but too often policy and practice are not well informed by science.

Solomon Nwaka from the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) at the World Health Organization and colleagues discuss ANDI, the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation, which is intended to help stimulate health research and development on the African continent.

SALT LAKE CITY, June 29, 2010 – Female zebra finches don't sing but make one-note, low-pitch calls. Males sing over a wide range of frequencies. University of Utah scientists discovered how: The males' stronger vocal muscles, not the pressure of air flowing through their lungs, lets them sing from the B note above middle C all the way to a whistle beyond the high end of a piano keyboard.

Community-based lymphatic filariasis education in Orissa State, India, increased treatment compliance from around 50% to up to 90%, according to a study published June 29 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. In their study, researchers from the U.S.

DURHAM, N.C. -- A team of researchers from Duke University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has found a central part in the machinery that turns plants green when they sense light.

In the Rube Goldberg world of cellular mechanics, this key player turns out to be a garbage truck.

Light is so essential for plants that they have two different systems to take advantage of it, explains Meng Chen, an assistant professor of biology at Duke.

College Park, MD (June 29, 2010) -- Old glass is not the same as new glass -- and the difference is not just due to manufacturing techniques. Unlike crystalline solids, glasses change as they age, increasing packing density and stability. Ideally, a glass should be cooled slowly, maybe over 10,000 years or so, but that is not usually practical.

The first experimental evidence showing how atmospheric nitrogen can be incorporated into organic macromolecules is being reported by a University of Arizona team.

The finding indicates what organic molecules might be found on Titan, the moon of Saturn that scientists think is a model for the chemistry of pre-life Earth.

Researchers have been trying to determine the best strategy for women who can potentially benefit from repeat mammography screening. A recent meta-analysis shows that there is no one single intervention that is best, according to a study published online June 29 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Smoking, an established risk factor for colon cancer, may induce specific epigenetic changes and gene mutations that may be involved in the development of colon cancer, according to an online study published June 29 in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The deaths of nearby relatives has a curious effect on the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus -- surviving cells lose their stickiness.

In an analysis from the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial, one of the largest studies of its kind to determine whether intensive blood glucose (sugar) control worked better than standard blood sugar control among diabetics, results show that the benefits of intensive therapy need to be balanced against the increase in total and cardiovascular disease-related death, increased weight gain, and high risk for severe low blood sugar.

PHILADELPHIA — Even with health insurance, low-income women had lower rates of mammography screening than middle-class women, but a counseling program increased the likelihood of screening.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James) have discovered how a substance that is produced when eating broccoli and Brussels sprouts can block the proliferation of cancer cells.

Compelling evidence indicates that the substance, indole-3-carbinol (I3C), may have anticancer effects and other health benefits, the researchers say. These findings show how I3C affects cancer cells and normal cells.

A new study shows the Arctic climate system may be more sensitive to greenhouse warming than previously thought, and that current levels of Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide may be high enough to bring about significant, irreversible shifts in Arctic ecosystems.