http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. The work of Forsyth scientist Peter Jezewski, DDS, Ph.D., has revealed that duplication and diversification of protein regions ('modules') within ancient master control genes is key to the understanding of certain birth disorders. Tracing the history of these changes within the proteins coded by the Msx gene family over the past 600 million years has also provided additional evidence for the ancient origin of the human mouth. http://www.physorg.com/news151141584.html Biology Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:46:24 EST news151141584 The use of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing as an initial screening step followed by triage with a standard Pap test (cytology) and repeat HPV DNA testing may increase the accuracy of cervical cancer screening, according to a study in the Jan. 13 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Compared to cytology alone, the screening strategy improved detection of precancerous growths without a substantial increase in the number of false-positive tests. http://www.physorg.com/news151090597.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:36:37 EST news151090597 When cells are under stress, they blow off steam by releasing minute amounts of nitrogen oxides and other toxic gases. In a recent paper,* researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology described a new method for creating gas detectors so sensitive that some day they may be able to register these tiny emissions from a single cell, providing a new way to determine if drugs or nanoparticles harm cells or to study how cells communicate with one another. Based on metal oxide nanotubes, the new sensors are a hundred to 1,000 times more sensitive than current devices based on thin films and are able to act as multiple sensors simultaneously. http://www.physorg.com/news151090490.html Nanotechnology Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:34:50 EST news151090490 Nanotubes, the tiny honeycomb cylinders of carbon atoms only a few nanometers wide, are perhaps the signature material of modern engineering research, but actually trying to organize the atomic scale rods is notoriously like herding cats. A new study* from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Rice University, however, offers an inexpensive process that gets nanotubes to obediently line themselves up -- that is, self-assemble -- in neat rows, more like ducks. http://www.physorg.com/news151090330.html Nanotechnology Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:32:10 EST news151090330 Physicists at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Maryland have proposed a recipe for turning ultracold `boson` atoms -the ingredients of Bose-Einstein condensates -into a `supersolid,` an exotic state of matter that behaves simultaneously as a solid and a friction-free superfluid. While scientists have found evidence for supersolids in complex liquid helium mixtures, a supersolid formed from such weakly interacting gas atoms would be simpler to understand, potentially providing clues for making a host of new `quantum materials` whose bizarre properties could expand physicists` notions of what is possible with matter. http://www.physorg.com/news151090051.html Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:27:31 EST news151090051 While exploring the properties of polymer formation, a team of scientists at the National Institute for Standards and Technology has made a fundamental discovery* about these materials that could improve methods of creating the stable crystalline films that are widely used in electronics applications -and also offer insight into a range of other phenomena. http://www.physorg.com/news151089776.html Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:22:56 EST news151089776 Mobile phone use is not associated with the risk of melanoma of the eye, researchers report in the January 13 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news151088968.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:09:28 EST news151088968 The National Institute of Standards and Technology has developed a method to accelerate stability testing of biodiesel fuel made from soybeans and also identified additives that enhance stability at high temperatures. The results, described in a new paper,* could help overcome a key barrier to practical use of biofuels. http://www.physorg.com/news151088426.html Chemistry Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:00:26 EST news151088426 The ability of biomolecules to flex and bend is important for the performance of many functions within living cells. However, researchers interested in how biomolecules such as amino acids and proteins function have long had to make inferences from a series of X-ray-like `still pictures` of pure crystalline samples. http://www.physorg.com/news151088065.html Physics Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:54:25 EST news151088065 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed and demonstrated a new type of light emitting diode (LED) with significantly improved lighting performance and energy efficiency. http://www.physorg.com/news151003742.html Physics Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:29:02 EST news151003742 (PhysOrg.com) -- With the same type of fiber optic cables used in telecommunications systems, researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a way to detect and pinpoint the excavation of tunnels during times of war, such as those used for smuggling weapons into Gaza. The findings will be presented at the Defense, Security and Sensing Conference of SPIE (an international society advancing light-based research) in April 2009 in Orlando, Florida. http://www.physorg.com/news150998298.html Technology Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:58:18 EST news150998298 (PhysOrg.com) -- It has a beautiful, but also an unpleasant side: crystallization determines the shape of precious stones, but also causes the lime scale in washing machines. How this comes about, has been known for a long time - or has it? http://www.physorg.com/news150998079.html Chemistry Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:54:39 EST news150998079 A study from a team of researchers led by Dr. Andrew P. Makrigiannis, Director of the Molecular Immunology Research Unit at the IRCM, has identified a new mechanism regulating interferon production. This discovery, co-authored by scientists from the International Medical Center of Japan (Tokyo), the National Cancer Institute at Frederick (Maryland) and the McGill Centre for the Study of Host Resistance, was published on December 22, 2008 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news150996491.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Jan 2009 15:28:11 EST news150996491 A compact fiber-optic probe developed for the space program has now proven valuable for patients in the clinic as the first non-invasive early detection device for cataracts, the leading cause of vision loss worldwide. http://www.physorg.com/news150993396.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:36:36 EST news150993396 Higher-than-normal levels of insulin place postmenopausal women at increased risk of breast cancer, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University report. Their findings, published in the January 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that interventions that target insulin and its signaling pathways may decrease breast cancer risk in these women. http://www.physorg.com/news150781398.html Medicine & Health Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:43:18 EST news150781398 Now, a pair of Scripps Research Institute scientists has taken a significant step toward answering that question. The scientists have synthesized for the first time RNA enzymes that can replicate themselves without the help of any proteins or other cellular components, and the process proceeds indefinitely. http://www.physorg.com/news150739469.html Chemistry Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:04:29 EST news150739469 Animal species that sleep for longer do not suffer as much from parasite infestation and have a greater concentration of immune cells in their blood according to a study published in the open-access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news150695460.html Biology Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:51:00 EST news150695460 A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted - and the trend shows no sign of abating. http://www.physorg.com/news150636855.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:34:15 EST news150636855 Scientists have identified mutations in a gene that predict a high likelihood of relapse in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Although the researchers caution that further research is needed to determine how changes in the gene, called IKZF1 or IKAROS, lead to leukemia relapse, the findings are likely to provide the basis for future diagnostic tests to assess the risk of treatment failure. By using a molecular test to identify this genetic marker in ALL patients, physicians should be better able to assign patients to appropriate therapies. http://www.physorg.com/news150571442.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:24:02 EST news150571442 During the past 20 years, researchers have identified thousands of cell protein interactions, with the ultimate goal of inventorying all that occur within cells of various organisms - a comprehensive catalogue known as the interactome. Such information will be critical to understanding the basic mechanics of cellular life, and how malfunctions in these processes contribute to cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news150482969.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:49:29 EST news150482969 Two children have a seizure. One child never has another seizure. Twenty years later, the other child has a series of seizures and is diagnosed with epilepsy. A study being led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is looking at what could possibly happen in the development of these two children that would lead to such extreme variations in their neurologic health. http://www.physorg.com/news150468657.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:50:57 EST news150468657 Scientists at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have demonstrated important new roles for the protein kinase complex Cdc7/Dbf4 or Cdc7/Drf1 (Ddk) in monitoring damage control during DNA replication and reinitiating replication following DNA repair. Since Ddk is often deregulated in human cancers, this new understanding of its role in DNA damage control could help shape new cancer therapies. The research was published in the December 24 issue of Molecular Cell. http://www.physorg.com/news150397201.html Biology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:00:01 EST news150397201 (PhysOrg.com) -- High blood pressure can be a trial of patience for doctors and for sufferers, whose blood pressure often has to be monitored over a long time until it can be regulated. This will now be made easier by a pressure sensor that is inserted in the femoral artery. http://www.physorg.com/news150393796.html Technology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:03:16 EST news150393796 (PhysOrg.com) -- Electronic systems designed to perform simple functions, such as monitor the temperature on a yogurt pot, mustn`t cost much: This is where printed electronics are at an advantage. Researchers are now significantly improving the properties of printed circuits. http://www.physorg.com/news150393653.html Technology Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:00:53 EST news150393653 (PhysOrg.com) -- Life on a planet ruled by two suns might be a little complicated. Two sunrises, two sunsets. Twice the radiation field. http://www.physorg.com/news150383704.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:15:04 EST news150383704 Just days after the first retinal cell gets infected with the common cytomegalovirus, contiguous cells start committing suicide and researchers believe their death may provide clues to better treatment of this potentially blinding infection. http://www.physorg.com/news150374176.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:36:16 EST news150374176 (PhysOrg.com) -- Storing and sending information using quantum phenomena is one of the hottest areas of research today; scientists across the globe are investigating how to make quantum communication possible for real-life applications. In a key step, a group of researchers was recently able to greatly improve the lifetime of a form of quantum memory. http://www.physorg.com/news150115833.html Physics Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:50:33 EST news150115833 Women who took beta carotene or vitamin C or E or a combination of the supplements had a similar risk of cancer as women who did not take the supplements, according to data from a randomized controlled trial in the December 30 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news149924804.html Medicine & Health Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:46:44 EST news149924804 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using tiny gold particles and infrared light, MIT researchers have developed a drug-delivery system that allows multiple drugs to be released in a controlled fashion. http://www.physorg.com/news149860678.html Nanotechnology Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:57:58 EST news149860678 In the comics, the Phantom is a masked crimefighter who protected the innocent from pirates, hijackers and other evildoers. While not as dashing or exciting as its costumed namesake, this electromagnetic phantom -- a carbon and polymer mixture that simulates the human body -- is being readied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for its upcoming role as a different kind of protector. The NIST phantom serves as a mannequin in a standardized performance test for walk-through metal detectors or WTMDs such as those used at airports. http://www.physorg.com/news149276153.html Physics Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:35:53 EST news149276153