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. As global temperatures and energy costs continue to soar, renewable sources of energy will be key to a sustainable future. An attractive replacement for gasoline is biofuel, and in two studies published online in Genome Research, scientists have analyzed the genome structures of bioethanol-producing microorganisms, uncovering genetic clues that will be critical in developing new technologies needed to implement production on a global scale. http://www.physorg.com/news176663972.html Biology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:20:23 EST news176663972 The transition zone can be one of the most challenging places to maintain high-quality turfgrass; changeable growing conditions in these regions often prove too hot for some grasses and too cold for others. Finding turfgrass that thrives in these challenging environments can be perplexing for turf management professionals and homeowners alike. http://www.physorg.com/news176565046.html Biology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:00:01 EST news176565046 In collaboration with researchers at VIB-UGent and the University of Antwerp (Belgium), scientists at the BioScience business group of Bayer CropScience AG in Gent have developed a technology that can significantly increase crop yields as well as make them more resistant to unfavorable growing conditions. It is based on selecting plants that make more efficient use of energy. http://www.physorg.com/news176467484.html Biology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:00:08 EST news176467484 Even the highly drought-resistant cowpea (a long type of legume) now has an increasingly difficult time surviving in the Sahel countries where climate change has resulted in shorter and less frequent rainy seasons. Wageningen University, The Netherlands, scientist Eugene Agbicodo recently localised genes of the cowpea that contribute to an improved drought tolerance. http://www.physorg.com/news176459183.html Biology Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:27:06 EST news176459183 A team of biologists in California led by researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the University of California, San Diego has solved the structure of a critical molecule that helps plants survive during droughts. Understanding the inner workings of this molecule may help scientists design new ways to protect crops against prolonged dry periods, potentially improving crop yields worldwide, aiding biofuels production on marginal lands and mitigating drought's human and economic costs. http://www.physorg.com/news175440942.html Biology Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:20:04 EST news175440942 Cowpea, a protein-rich legume crop, is immensely important in many parts of the world, particularly drought-prone regions of Africa and Asia, where it plays a central role in the diet and economy of hundreds of millions of people. http://www.physorg.com/news174672194.html Biology Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:50:01 EST news174672194 More research is required to establish whether Chinese herbal medicines can reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes, according to Cochrane Researchers. Although herbal medicines are widely used in Asian countries to treat pre-diabetes (impaired glucose tolerance or IGT), the precursor of the disease, researchers say there is still not enough hard scientific evidence to confidently recommend their use. http://www.physorg.com/news174112268.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:20:01 EST news174112268 It's been cultivated for at least 7,000 years and spread from South America to grow on every continent except Antarctica. Now the humble potato has had its genome sequenced. http://www.physorg.com/news173020272.html Biology Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:22:02 EST news173020272 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Queensland PhD candidate and nutritionist Christine Houghton is set to investigate whether broccoli could help in the fight against diabetes. http://www.physorg.com/news172499764.html Medicine & Health Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:40:04 EST news172499764 As college administrators, social scientists and law enforcement officials across the country continue to debate whether the drinking age should be 18 instead of 21, a Sam Houston State University economist challenges a related law: the "zero tolerance" policy. http://www.physorg.com/news172342531.html Other Sciences Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:20:02 EST news172342531 How hard and for how long should you exercise in order to shed excess abdominal fat and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease? http://www.physorg.com/news171733971.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:20:01 EST news171733971 Western societies are struggling to pay for their ever increasing medical budgets. In the US up to 393 billion US-$ were spent in 2005 for cardiovascular diseases alone. Based on epidemiologic studies in primary prevention it is reasonable to estimate that 30% of coronary heart disease and stroke could be prevented by 2.5 hours of brisk walking per week and approximately 284,886 cardiovascular deaths could be prevented per year in the US alone. With regard to metabolic disorders the figures are even more devastating: 91% of cases of diabetes type II may be attributed to high-risk behaviour including BMI>25, low fiber/high fat diet, sedentary lifestyle, and smoking. http://www.physorg.com/news170932587.html Medicine & Health Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:17:09 EST news170932587 (PhysOrg.com) -- To protect their systems from network failures and to make sure that their data is delivered as fast as possible, popular services such as Google may replicate their data centers on multiple continents and at multiple sites based on their proximity to population centers. This presents two critical challenges for network systems researchers: interconnecting multiple computers within a single data center; and synchronizing individual data centers in wide-area replication. http://www.physorg.com/news170618017.html Technology Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:10:01 EST news170618017 (PhysOrg.com) -- As the amounts of data being stored by databases around the world enters the realm of the petabyte (the amount of data stored in a mile-high stack of CD-ROM disks), efficient data management is becoming more and more important. Now computer scientists at Yale University have developed a new database system by combining the best features of multiple approaches to create an open source hybrid system called HadoopDB. http://www.physorg.com/news170525347.html Technology Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:09:43 EST news170525347 University of California, San Diego computer scientists have created software that they hope will lead to data centers that logically function as single, plug-and-play networks that will scale to the massive scale of modern data center networks. The software system -- PortLand -- is a fault-tolerant, layer 2 data center network fabric capable of scaling to 100,000 nodes and beyond. http://www.physorg.com/news169753059.html Technology Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:38:47 EST news169753059 He may study grasses by profession, but Texas AgriLife Research forage agronomist Dr. Dariusz Malinowski has a passion for flowers, particularly winter hardy hibiscus. http://www.physorg.com/news169471324.html Biology Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:23:10 EST news169471324 (PhysOrg.com) -- Supplementing obese rats with the nutrient carnitine helps the animals to clear the extra sugar in their blood, something they had trouble doing on their own, researchers at Duke University Medical Center report. http://www.physorg.com/news169300987.html Chemistry Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:10:48 EST news169300987 A Queen's University Belfast academic is working on research that could help protect the lives of military based in Afghanistan. http://www.physorg.com/news168096991.html Chemistry Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:37:11 EST news168096991 Rice is the world's most important food crop. Understanding its valuable genetic diversity and using it to breed new rice varieties will provide the foundation for improving rice production into the future and to secure global food supplies. http://www.physorg.com/news167563846.html Biology Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:50:03 EST news167563846 Although visceral hypersensitivity is considered a hallmark feature of IBS, conflicting evidence exists regarding somatic hypersensitivity in this patient population. Several investigators have found no evidence for heightened somatic pain sensitivity in IBS patients. Also, others have reported similar cold presser pain tolerance in IBS patients and controls. http://www.physorg.com/news167476283.html Medicine & Health Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:11:44 EST news167476283 Pluronic surfactants are synthetic copolymers based on ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. It has been reported that a nonionic L-81, effectively inhibits absorption of dietary lipids from the intestine and secretion of VLDL and LDL from the liver. Although L-81 is a potent anti-obesity drug, its potential in alleviating obesity-induced insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes has not been fully explored. http://www.physorg.com/news166266885.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:15:14 EST news166266885 Chemical dependency and recovery in patients and physicians are closely examined in a series of articles and editorials in the July 2009 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The subject is especially timely. As the immense challenges, including potential tragedies, of prescription chemical addiction and abuse are being discussed, these articles offer crucial overview, direction and optimism. http://www.physorg.com/news166205984.html Medicine & Health Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:20:31 EST news166205984 A test commonly used to help identify women with diabetes during pregnancy may be an accurate, convenient and inexpensive way to screen the general population for unrecognized diabetes and prediabetes, according to Emory University researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news165152614.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:43:58 EST news165152614 Dendritic cells are essential to the body's immune defenses. Now, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Germany) researchers show that they also have to protect the body from itself: They help to identify any immune cells that attack the body's own tissue and need to be destroyed or pacified. http://www.physorg.com/news156451710.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:49:00 EST news156451710 The discovery in common brewer's yeast of a new, infectious, misfolded protein -- or prion -- by University of Illinois at Chicago molecular biologists raises new questions about the roles played by these curious molecules, often associated with degenerative brain diseases like "mad cow" and its human counterpart, Creutzfeldt-Jakob. http://www.physorg.com/news156180264.html Biology Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:25:13 EST news156180264 Purdue University researchers have determined a process that regulates activity of genes that control seed germination and seedling development. http://www.physorg.com/news156014078.html Biology Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:15:29 EST news156014078 (Physorg.com) -- Although ecologists expect many species will be harmed by climate change, some species could be buffered by their potential to evolve or by changes in their surrounding ecosystems. http://www.physorg.com/news155490287.html Biology Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:45:23 EST news155490287 The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, was led by Jill P. Crandall, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine and director of the Diabetes Clinical Trials Unit at Einstein. http://www.physorg.com/news155323993.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:33:35 EST news155323993 Women have traditionally been viewed as being more social and cooperative than men. However, there is recent evidence that this may not be the case. In fact, studies have shown that men maintain larger social networks with other males compared to women and tend to have longer lasting friendships with members of the same-sex than do women. Psychologist Joyce F. Benenson from Emmanuel College, along with her colleagues from Harvard University and the Universite du Quebec a Montreal wanted to compare males' and females' levels of tolerance towards same-sex peers. http://www.physorg.com/news153576647.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:11:27 EST news153576647 Overweight siblings of children with type 2 diabetes are four times more likely to have abnormal glucose levels compared to other overweight children. Because abnormal glucose levels may indicate risk for diabetes or diabetes itself, these children could benefit from screening tests and diabetes prevention education. http://www.physorg.com/news148067860.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:57:40 EST news148067860