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Scientists identify chemical signals that promote aggregation in roundworms

Scientists have long seen evidence of social behavior among many species of animals, both on the earth and in the sea. Dolphins frolic together, lions live in packs, and hornets construct nests that can house a large number of the insects. And, right under our feet, it appears that nematodes-also known as roundworms-are having their own little gatherings in the soil. Until recently, it was unknown how the worms communicate to one another when it's time to come together.

13 Jan 2012

Age, marital status affect risk of going on medical leave or disability pension

Factors other than genetics and childhood environment affect the risk of going on medical leave or disability pension, reports a study in the January Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

13 Jan 2012

PLoS ONE journal publishes UVM team's study, Positivity of the English Language

"If it bleeds, it leads," goes the cynical saying with television and newspaper editors. In other words, most news is bad news and the worst news gets the big story on the front page. So one might expect the New York Times to contain, on average, more negative and unhappy types of words - like "war," " funeral," "cancer," "murder" - than positive, happy ones - like "love," "peace" and "hero."

13 Jan 2012

Study shows how brain reconfigures its connections to minimize distractions

A new UC Davis study shows how the brain reconfigures its connections to minimize distractions and take best advantage of our knowledge of situations.

13 Jan 2012

Research finds sex ratios influence financial decisions

The perception that women are scarce leads men to become impulsive, save less, and increase borrowing, according to new research from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

13 Jan 2012

Mass media information may turn out to be of help for health

It is time to leave apart the belief that mass media are always a source of bad habits. Television, newspaper and the Internet, when used to get information, may turn out to be of help for health.

13 Jan 2012

Processed meat consumption linked to pancreatic cancer

Eating too much processed meat may increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, new research published in the British Journal of Cancer finds today.

13 Jan 2012

Sign language helps deaf people to pick up on body language

Deaf people who use sign language are quicker at recognizing and interpreting body language than hearing non-signers, according to new research from investigators at UC Davis and UC Irvine.

12 Jan 2012

Racial discrimination may impact your health and wellness

Racial discrimination may be harmful to your health, according to new research from Rice University sociologists Jenifer Bratter and Bridget Gorman.

12 Jan 2012

Genetic link to prostate cancer discovered

A new study has found that men who inherit a rare genetic mutation are 10 to 20 times more likely than average to develop prostate cancer. The gene variant may help explain cases of the disease that run in families and strike men at unusually young ages.

12 Jan 2012

Workers who witness incivility towards colleagues feel negative emotions

Imagine the following scenarios: a co-worker is spoken to condescendingly, excluded from a meeting, or ignored by a supervisor. How does it make you feel? Do you feel differently depending on whether your co-worker is a man or a woman? According to a new study, workers who witness incivility towards colleagues feel negative emotions - especially when the incivility is aimed at workers of the same sex.

12 Jan 2012

New research project in rehabilitation

Intelligent wheelchairs that automatically guide you to the correct store while avoiding obstacles, specific colors on the walls and stairs in order to obtain better contrasts which would likely prevent potential falls, personal guides with special training for different types of disabilities- These scenarios could soon become a reality at Place Alexis Nihon due a new ambitious research project in rehabilitation involving some of the best Quebec researchers in this area.

12 Jan 2012

Scientists discover how sense of touch is wired in skin and nervous system

Neuroscientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have discovered how the sense of touch is wired in the skin and nervous system. The new findings, published Dec. 22 in Cell, open new doors for understanding how the brain collects and processes information from hairy skin.

12 Jan 2012

Scientists investigate specific role of IT neurons in 3D perception

The incredible ability of our brain to create a three-dimensional (3D) representation from an object's two-dimensional projection on the retina is something that we may take for granted, but the process is not well understood and is likely to be highly complex. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the January 12 issue of the journal Neuron provides the first direct evidence that specific brain areas underlie perception of different 3D structures and sheds light the way that the primate brain reconstructs real-world objects.

11 Jan 2012

Research into ground-breaking treatment for bowel cancer

Research into a ground-breaking treatment for bowel cancer at Queen's University Belfast has received a massive funding boost from Cancer Research UK.

11 Jan 2012

Findings support 'medical home' movement to improve health outcomes

Greater access to features of high-quality primary care -- comprehensiveness, patient-centeredness and extended office hours -- is associated with lower mortality, according to a new national UC Davis study. Published in the January-February issue of the Annals of Family Medicine, the research is the first to link the availability of three specific attributes of primary care with reduced risk of death.

11 Jan 2012

Chemical preservative in cosmetics can interrupt neurological development

Scientists, health officials, and manufacturers already know that a chemical preservative found in some products, including cosmetics, is harmful to people and animals in high concentrations, but a new Brown University study in tadpoles reports that it can also interrupt neurological development even in very low concentrations.

11 Jan 2012

Prevalence of cirrhosis may climb among older Americans

Older patients with cirrhosis have significant functional disability, require twice the amount of informal caregiving, and contribute added strain on the health care system, according to U-M research published in Hepatology.

11 Jan 2012

Study reveals trend in which US risks losing innovative young researchers

A new study by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy illustrates a disconnect between government funding of biomedical research by young investigators and a novel standard by which to judge it: the Nobel Prize.

11 Jan 2012

Novel nanosensors can lead to fewer experiments on animals

Countless mice, rats and rabbits die every year in the name of science - and the situation is getting worse. While German laboratories used some 2.41 million animals for scientific research in 2005, by 2009 this number had grown to 2.79 million. One third were destined for fundamental biology research, and the majority were used for researching diseases and developing medical compounds and devices.

11 Jan 2012