Body

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cells have two chances to fix the same mistake in their protein-making process instead of just one – a so-called proofreading step – that had previously been identified, according to new research.

Proteins are essential to life and do most of the work in cells, so avoiding mistakes during their production is a critical way to prevent a variety of harmful conditions that result when mutations cause damage or when cells die.

Researchers have taken a first look at the broad genetic changes that accompany reproductive declines in inbred populations.

Although scientists have known for more than a century that small populations of closely related plants or animals are likely to suffer from low reproductive success, the exact mechanism by which this "inbreeding depression" occurs is still the subject of debate.

In a national survey conducted by the University of Minnesota, primary care physicians report that they are more likely to ask patients with autism about complementary alternative medicine (CAM) use and desire more CAM education for this population. The study¹ of 539 U.S. physicians, published this week in Springer's Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, explores the attitudes and practices of primary care physicians caring for children with autism using CAM treatments.

Researchers in Japan have turned to mathematics to build a computerized 3D model of the female trunk that could help lingerie and other clothes designers make more sensuous, comfortable, and better fitting product ranges.

According to Kensuke Nakamura of Kyoto Institute of Technology and Takao Kurokawa of Osaka University, identifying body shape components is critical for designing close-fitting products, whether underwear, everyday clothes, or safety garments.

Children at high risk of obesity who live near parks and recreation areas are apt to participate in walking activities more often, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

With a campus situated in the Kansas Flint Hills and access to the Konza Prairie Biological Station, Kansas State University researchers certainly know grasslands. They're using that expertise to collaborate with researchers in Botswana and South Africa on studies of African grasslands.

"There are a lot of parallels between Konza and other grass-dominated ecosystems around the world," said K-State's David Hartnett, a university distinguished professor of biology.

Many state and local officials and private organizations are basing decisions -- such as how to build bridges or manage water supplies -- on the assumption that current climate conditions will continue, but that assumption is no longer valid. To produce the climate information these decision makers need and to deliver it to them effectively, federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency should expand their activities in these areas, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Improved patient-oriented research in Europe will benefit European citizens and the European medical industry and facilitate the transfer of scientific discoveries from the laboratory bench to the bedside. For Europe and for the rest of the world this effort will be of great importance for the quality of life of individuals and the wellbeing of society as a whole.

A group of scientists of the University of Granada has developed a new technique of forensic dating based on thermo-microbiology, which will allow to determine more accurately the time of a death which has not occurred under controlled natural conditions or as a consequence of a crime. This new system, of great interest in the field of criminology, establishes correspondences between the parametres of micro-organic growth on cadaverous remains and dates the time of death of such remains, as well as their relation with their temperature.

Every tumor, starting from a size of a few millimeters, depends on a supply of nutrients and oxygen. Therefore, using special growth factors, it induces vascular wall cells of neighboring blood vessels to sprout new capillaries in order to get connected to the blood circulation.

More than a third of patients who took part in an eight-week smoking cessation programme before and after planned surgery were able to give up and most of them were still smoke free after a year, according to research in the March issue of Anaesthesia.

They also experienced half as many complications after surgery as the patients who did not receive help to give up smoking, with 21 per cent experiencing problems as opposed to 41 per cent.

An international research team, involving Professor Rajeev Ahuja at Uppsala University and researchers in the USA, set out to understand the mechanism behind the catalytic effects of carbon nanomaterials. Experimental and theoretical efforts were combined in a synergistic approach and the results, published this week in the ASAP section of the journal Nano Letters, will fasten efforts to develop new catalysts.

Research at the new School of Creative Arts Therapies at the University of Haifa:Drawing enhances emotional verbalization among children who live under the shadow of drug-addicted fathers

*"The use of art seems to help with verbalizing trauma. It is usually difficult to express the trauma through speech, yet the body remembers it," said Prof. Rachel Lev-Wiesel, Head of the Graduate School of Creative Arts Therapies who carried out the study.*

Berkeley -- The long tails sported by many male birds in the tropics look like they're a drag to carry around and a distinct disadvantage when fleeing predators, but experiments by University of California, Berkeley, biologists shows that they exact only a minimal cost in speed or energy – at least in hummingbirds.

Are Americans flunking science? A new national survey commissioned by the California Academy of Sciences and conducted by Harris Interactive® reveals that the U.S. public is unable to pass even a basic scientific literacy test.