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. (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have revealed how environmental irritants such as air pollution and cigarette smoke cause people to cough, in research published today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The authors of the study, from Imperial College London and the University of Hull, have identified the reaction inside the lungs that can trigger coughing when a person is exposed to particular irritants in the air. They suggest that their findings may ultimately lead to the development of new treatments for chronic coughing. http://www.physorg.com/news178200419.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:07:45 EST news178200419 (PhysOrg.com) -- Visually impaired people appear to be fearless, navigating busy sidewalks and crosswalks, safely finding their way using nothing more than a cane as a guide. The reason they can do this, researchers suggest, is that in at least some circumstances, blindness can heighten other senses, helping individuals adapt. http://www.physorg.com/news177773741.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:20:04 EST news177773741 A recent study determined there is a significant risk of seizure for individuals who currently smoke cigarettes. Boston-based researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School also found that long-term, moderate intake of caffeine or alcohol does not increase the chance of having a seizure or developing epilepsy. This is the first prospective study to examine the potential risks associated with cigarette smoking, caffeine intake, and alcohol consumption as they independently relate to epilepsy. Full findings of this study are currently available online and will appear in the February 2010 issue of Epilepsia, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the International League Against Epilepsy. http://www.physorg.com/news177763536.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:20:02 EST news177763536 Nearly 50 percent of women surveyed indicate they experience pain symptoms 2 to 3 years after breast cancer treatment, with women who were younger or who received supplemental radiation therapy more likely to have pain, according to a study in the November 11 issue of JAMA. http://www.physorg.com/news177096738.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:02 EST news177096738 Researchers Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered a mechanism that controls the brain's ability to create lasting memories. In experiments on genetically manipulated mice, they were able to switch on and off the animals' ability to form lasting memories by adding a substance to their drinking water. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal PNAS, are of potential significance to the future treatment of Alzheimer's and stroke. http://www.physorg.com/news177089678.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:35:20 EST news177089678 (PhysOrg.com) -- Becoming "hard of hearing" is a standard but unfortunate part of aging: A syndrome called age-related hearing loss affects about 40 percent of people over 65 in the United States, and will afflict an estimated 28 million Americans by 2030. http://www.physorg.com/news177007147.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:30:11 EST news177007147 (PhysOrg.com) -- A gene associated with longevity in roundworms and humans has been shown to affect the function of stem cells that generate new neurons in the adult brain, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study in mice suggests that the gene may play an important role in maintaining cognitive function during aging. http://www.physorg.com/news176651173.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:48:34 EST news176651173 (PhysOrg.com) -- By building a tiny microscope small enough to be carried around on a rats' head, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, have found a way to study the complex activity of many brain cells simultaneously while animals are free to move around. http://www.physorg.com/news176455156.html Biology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:20:01 EST news176455156 (PhysOrg.com) -- New research has shown that body images can be formed independently of external sensory inputs, and that the phantom limbs of amputees can be trained to carry out tasks that would be impossible for real limbs. http://www.physorg.com/news175938091.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:20:04 EST news175938091 Migraine with aura (temporary visual or sensory disturbances before or during a migraine headache) is associated with a twofold increased risk of stroke, finds a study published in the British Medical Journal today. Further risk factors for stroke among patients with migraine are being a woman, being young, being a smoker, and using oestrogen containing contraceptives. http://www.physorg.com/news175930820.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:50:01 EST news175930820 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study has found that even a short period of sensory deprivation is enough to produce hallucinations even in people who are not normally prone to them. http://www.physorg.com/news175504269.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:20:02 EST news175504269 Deep in the ear, 95 percent of the cells that shuttle sound to the brain are big, boisterous neurons that, to date, have explained most of what scientists know about how hearing works. Whether a rare, whisper-small second set of cells also carry signals from the inner ear to the brain and have a real role in processing sound has been a matter of debate. http://www.physorg.com/news175429348.html Medicine & Health Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:23:25 EST news175429348 (PhysOrg.com) -- Whether it`s the sound of a speeding car approaching from out of the blue, or the faint echo of footsteps following you along a dark street, such looming sounds not only make our ears prick up - but help us see better too. http://www.physorg.com/news174917281.html Medicine & Health Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:09:48 EST news174917281 Modern tissue engineering developed at the University of Michigan could improve the function of prosthetic hands and possibly restore the sense of touch for injured patients. http://www.physorg.com/news174747079.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:10:01 EST news174747079 (PhysOrg.com) -- While gripping, lifting or manipulating an object such as drinking from a cup or placing a book on a shelf is usually easy for most, it can be challenging for those with neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's, or for people who had a stroke. For them, the tight gripping can cause fatigue, making everyday tasks difficult. http://www.physorg.com/news174746473.html Medicine & Health Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:01 EST news174746473 A Japanese research group led by Prof. Makoto Tominaga and Dr. Sravan Mandadi (National Institute for Physiological Sciences: NIPS) found that ATP plays a key role in transmitting temperature information from skin keratinocytes to afferent sensory neurons. Their findings were presented in the Pflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology published on October 1, 2009. http://www.physorg.com/news174217663.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:48:18 EST news174217663 The human brain consists of about 100 billion (1011) neurons, which altogether form about 100 trillion (1014) synaptic connections with each other. A crucial mechanism for the generation of this complex wiring pattern is the formation of neuronal branches. The neurobiologists Dr. Hannes Schmidt and Professor Fritz G. Rathjen at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now discovered a molecule that regulates this vital process. At the same time they have succeeded in elucidating the signaling cascade induced by this molecule. http://www.physorg.com/news172769003.html Medicine & Health Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:40:01 EST news172769003 (PhysOrg.com) -- New research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that a common, over-the-counter pain salve rubbed on the skin during a heart attack could serve as a cardiac-protectant, preventing or reducing damage to the heart while interventions are administered. http://www.physorg.com/news172165395.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:00:03 EST news172165395 A new study that was carried out at the University of Haifa has identified another component in the chain of actions that take place in the neurons in the process of forming memories. This discovery joins a line of findings from previous studies that together provide a better understanding of the most complex processes in nature - the process of memory formation and storage in the human brain. The new study has been published in the prestigious Journal of Neuroscience. http://www.physorg.com/news171620105.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:30:01 EST news171620105 Biophysicists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen are leading an effort to develop and apply models of the so-called lateral-line system found in fish and some amphibians. This sensory organ enables an animal, even in murky water, to map its surroundings and recognize other animals. In Physical Review Letters, the researchers report mathematical models that capture essential elements of the system, agree with experimental data, and could be easy to implement technically, as in robots. http://www.physorg.com/news170673218.html Physics Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:14:27 EST news170673218 Your nostrils may seem to be a happy pair, working together to pick up scents. However, a study published online on August 20th in Current Biology reveals that there can actually be a kind of rivalry between the two. http://www.physorg.com/news169993741.html Biology Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:40:02 EST news169993741 Researchers in China have discovered the first protein-based toxin in an amphibian -a 60 amino acid neurotoxin found in the skin of a Chinese tree frog. This finding may help shed more light into both the evolution of amphibians and the evolution of poison. http://www.physorg.com/news169734166.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:25:14 EST news169734166 (PhysOrg.com) -- Do potato chips taste better if an advertisement describes their crunchy sound? Is popcorn more flavorful if its buttery aroma is also depicted in an ad? Researchers at the University of Michigan say yes. http://www.physorg.com/news169398111.html Other Sciences Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:02:54 EST news169398111 In a major step in spinal cord injury research, scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated that regenerating axons can be guided to their correct targets and re-form connections after spinal cord injury. Their findings will be published in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience on August 2. http://www.physorg.com/news168439968.html Medicine & Health Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:53:37 EST news168439968 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ohio State University researchers have developed a new method for making extremely pure, very small metal-oxide nanoparticles. http://www.physorg.com/news166271644.html Nanotechnology Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:34:43 EST news166271644 The Rosetta Stone of bacterial communication may have been found. http://www.physorg.com/news166162905.html Biology Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:30:11 EST news166162905 Since the 1970s, there has been much debate surrounding the fact that individuals with autism have difficulty in understanding speech in situations where there is background speech or noise. http://www.physorg.com/news165750637.html Medicine & Health Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:50:56 EST news165750637 A team of scientists have developed an innovative robot rat which can seek out and identify objects using its whiskers. The SCRATCHbot robot will be demonstrated this week at an international workshop looking at how robots can help us examine the workings of the brain. http://www.physorg.com/news165577956.html Electronics Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:54:10 EST news165577956 (June 21, 2009) - Notch signaling helps determine the fate of a number of different cell types in a variety of organisms, including humans. In an article that appears in the current issue of Nature Cell Biology, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine report that a new finding about the Notch signaling pathway in sensory organ precursor cells in the fruit fly could explain the mystery behind an immunological disorder called Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. http://www.physorg.com/news164809934.html Biology Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:10:02 EST news164809934 (PhysOrg.com) -- Recognising objects and groups of objects is something we humans take for granted. For computers, this is far from straightforward. A European project has come up with novel solutions to this conundrum. http://www.physorg.com/news163082204.html Technology Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:37:24 EST news163082204