head in Biological News

Venomous sea snakes play heads or tails with their predators

... Rasmussen's surprise grew when he saw a second head emerge from the coral instead of the expected ... was only when the snake swam away that the first head was clearly seen to be a paddling tail. To ... bright yellow horseshoe marking on the tip of the head and the tail. The yellow was deeper than the ...

Freshwater fish at the top of the food chain evolve more slowly

... Biologists have long known that certain head and body shapes make some centrarchids better at ... tissue, they measured the fine parts of the head and mouth. "A fish mouth is much more complicated ... researchers were able to reconstruct how diet and head shape have changed over time. "It looks as if the ...

Discovery of a water snake that startles fish in a way that makes them flee into its jaws

... its prey so that the fish turn toward the snake's head to flee instead of turning away. In addition, the ... aims its strike at the position where the fish's head will be instead of tracking its actual movement. ... The snake forms an unusual "J" shape with its head at the bottom of the "J" when it is fishing. Then ...

'Platforms in space' to help businesses

... June 2009 at the University of Leicester by the head of the EU GMES bureau Dr Valere Moutarlier, Dr Steven Briggs, head of Earth Observation, Applications and Future ... the European Space Agency and Dr. David Williams head of the British National Space Centre. The ...

Ethanol production could jeopardize soil productivity

... and Agri-Food Canada scientists at the Indian head Research Farm in Indian head and the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research ... and soil organic nitrogen (SON) using the Indian head Long-Term Rotations established in 1958. These ...

New diagnostic advance seen for head, throat cancer

... at higher levels in the most aggressive types of head and neck cancers, in work that may help to ... and the aggressive nature of the cancer. head and neck squamous cell cancers are the sixth most ... tobacco use and alcohol consumption. "Serious head and throat cancer is pretty common, and mortality ...

Fossil fragments reveal 500-million-year-old monster predator

... , Hurdia had a segmented body with a head bearing a pair of spinous claws and a circular ... large carapace extending from the front of its head is a mystery. In many animals, a shell or ... that define the modern arthropods such as their head structures and limbs. As well as its bizarre ...

Researchers identify genetic markers for aggressive head and neck cancer

... that signal poor outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer. These findings could one day ... in the American Journal of Pathology . head and neck cancer refers to tumors in the mouth, ... about 40,000 men and women in the U.S. develop head and neck cancer, making it the sixth most common ...

Seven recommendations from Aarhus to COP15

... many conference participants and according to head of conference Professor Ellen Margrethe Basse ... For further information please contact head of conference, Professor Ellen Margrethe Basse, mobile: +45 23261829 or head of press relations at Aarhus University Anders ...

Origin of claws seen in 390-million-year-old fossil

... as the ancient arthropods trilobites. "With a head like the giant Cambrian aquatic predator ... Anomalocaris even though creatures with those head structures were thought to have become extinct by ... before Schinderhannes lived. The fossil's head section has large bulbous eyes, a circular mouth ...

Largest prehistoric snake on record discovered in Colombia

... appears in this week's Nature . Drs Jason head and David Polly carried out much of the ... Colombia, and together with lead-author Jason head now of the University of Toronto-Mississauga, ... the Earth today is not particularly unusual, head and Dr Jonathan Bloch, Assistant Curator of ...

At 2,500 pounds and 43 feet, prehistoric snake is the largest on record

... might have been like. Paleontologist Jason head of the University of Toronto-Mississauga, the ... the Earth today is not particularly unusual, head estimated a snake of Titanoboa's size would have ... differently than vertebrae closer to a snake's head or tail. Using a computer model he wrote, Polly ...

Here's venom in your eye: Spitting cobras hit their mark

... electromyography (EMG) to detect contractions of head and neck muscles. They found that cobras engage their head and neck muscles a split second before spitting. ... neck] muscles produce rapid oscillations of the head that disperse the venom, presumably maximizing ...

High numbers of right whales seen in Gulf of Maine

... Basin. Many female North Atlantic right whales head south in winter to give birth in the waters off ... eastward toward Georges Basin. By mid-summer they head north into the Bay of Fundy." The survey team ... colleagues from the Woods Hole Laboratory will head south to continue genetic sampling and tagging ...

UC Davis team refines cancer treatments to reduce potential nerve damage

... concerned about inadvertent exposures during head and neck cancer treatments to nerves responsible ... cancers of the tonsil, tongue, throat, and other head and neck organs: A number of patients reported ... "Radiation is an essential treatment for most head and neck cancers, and current technologies make ...

Oral rinses used for tracking HPV-positive head and neck cancers holds promise for cancer screening

... detection of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck cancers. In the study, researchers ... in patients with HPV16-positive and negative head and neck carcinomas (HNSCC) before and after ... between high-risk types of HPV and HPV-positive head and neck cancer. "There is no question of ...

A card-swipe for medical tests

... The information is retrieved by a read-out head that scans the disk and registers the magnetic changes. A read-out head based on the GMR effect can convert very small ... head. The current is the signal from the read-out head and its different strengths represent ones and ...

Streamlining brain signals for speed and efficacy

... for ambiguity when the brain needs to transform head motion into precise eye, head, and body movements ... or VOR, needs to be fast; for clear vision, head movements must be compensated for almost ... types of neurons: sensory neurons, which detect head movement; motor neurons, directing eye muscles to ...

Details of evolutionary transition from fish to land animals revealed

... provided the first detailed look at the internal head skeleton of Tiktaalik roseae , the ... (fins to limbs) but also to the internal head skeleton. "Exquisite specimens of Tiktaalik ... was a large aquatic predator with a flattened head and body. The body plan and nature of the ...

Researchers discover that growing up too fast may mean dying young in honey bees

... proteins Hsp70 and catalase were measured in head and thorax tissues using western blot. Total ... changes did not occur or were muted in forager head tissues and hive bee flight muscles and head tissues. The diurnal upregulation of ...

Origin of cells for connective tissues of skull and face challenged

... defects, as well as the evolution of the head that distinguishes vertebrates from other ... rise to skeletal and connective tissue of the head and face, as well as a wide diversity of other ... of skeletal and connective tissue of the head and face did not alter neural crest-derived ...

CAPHOSOL relieves oral mucositis and improves quality-of-life in cancer patients

... related symptoms, particularly in patients with head and neck cancer and those receiving chemotherapy. ... mucositis (NCI Clinical OM Grade 3-4) reported by head and neck cancer patients using CAPHOSOL in this ... 4). Historically, the incidence of severe OM in head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation ...

Tooth loss strongly linked to risk of esophageal, head and neck, and lung cancer

... and increased risk of three cancers esophageal, head and neck, and lung. They suggest that ... had a 68 percent increased risk of developing head and neck cancer and a 54 percent greater chance ... between tooth loss and cancer risk. For head and neck and esophageal cancers, there were clear ...

New surgery improves head and neck cancer treatment

... BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A new surgical procedure for head and neck cancer at the University of Alabama at ... damage to speech that can happen with treating head and neck cancers, said William Carroll, M.D., a ... to new places in the body," said Carroll, a head and neck surgeon within UAB's Division of ...

Researchers discover how stealthy HIV protein gets into cells

... their interiors, with hydrophilic (water-loving) head groups on their internal and external surfaces. The head groups generally carry a mildly negative charge, ... TAT protein would attract the negatively charged head groups on the surface of the membranes. This ...

Northern right whales head south to give birth, leave genetic 'fingerprints' with NOAA researchers

... Like many northerners who head south to warmer climates for the winter, many Northern right whales also head south in November and stay into April. Their ... sightings are expected by March, when the animals head north to their summer feeding and nursery grounds ...

Unveiling the underwater ways of the white shark

... travel timetable. Each winter the white sharks head out from the California coast, with some going to the Hawaiian Islands. Most, however, head to another hotspot, out in the middle of the ... fidelity; when they return to the mainland, they head for the same local neighborhoods that they favor ...

Skull survey could improve vehicle safety

... of more effective devices for protecting the head in vehicle collisions and other accidents. ... of a person's skull. Their approach is based on head scan images of 3000 patients at the Tianjin ... to find out how these differences translate into head impact response of male and female, and then we ...

'Swish-and-spit' test accurate for cancer

... be more than a breath freshener it could spot head and neck cancer, say scientists at the Johns ... M.D., says his group at Johns Hopkins asked 211 head and neck cancer patients and 527 individuals ... bits of chemically altered genes common only to head and neck cancers. Tumor and blood samples also ...

Unique porous copper structure enables new generation of military micro-detonators

... Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Indian head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, the ... over the copper foam material that Indian head had previously been evaluating. Produced with a ... Energetics Technology Department of the Indian head Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. ...

High-tech helmets reveal new information about the impact of hard hits to the head

... limit to the amount of impact a football player's head can handle before the player suffers a ... could lead to better guidelines for evaluating head injuries and deciding a player's playing status, ... heads experienced at impact, where on the head the players were hit and the directional force of ...

Researchers find signal that switches on eye development -- could lead to 'eye in a dish'

... When introduced in cells that would form the head area of the tadpole multiple eyes appeared to be ... in some cells that formed body parts outside the head area it could still produce an additional ectopic ... 9th chromosome is already known to cause severe head and eye defects. This suggests that this newly ...

Fungus genome yielding answers to protect grains, people and animals

... enable the fungus to cause the disease Fusarium head blight, or scab. In a recent issue of the ... mycotoxins. The fungus caused a widespread head blight epidemic during the 1990s in wheat- and ... Fusarium contamination is noticeable on plants, head blight has already damaged the grain. Xu is ...

UC Davis bioengineer receives Hartwell Foundation grant to address skull fusion disorder of infants

... child's brain grows. If left untreated, the disorder can cause abnormal head shape and increased pressure on the brain resulting in brain damage. In ... who is an internationally recognized expert on congenital anomalies of the head and face. ...

From cars to cancer: UH professor employs auto industry tools for tumor therapy

... doctors and technicians better plan radiation therapy for patients with head and neck cancer. Dr. Ali Kamrani, founding director of the Design and ... decide when to replan during the treatment course." Treatment for a head and neck tumor depends upon the type, size and stage of the cancer, where ...

ESA's Earth observation missions: Sharing teams and facilities boosts efficiency

... mission-specific Spacecraft Operations Manager. Manfred Warhaut, ESA's head of Mission Operations at ESOC, says that, "The launch of GOCE offered yet ... the most complex of technical problems. Pier Paolo Emanuelli, ESA's head of the Earth Observations Operations Division at ESOC, says that the ...

Protecting fresh-cut produce

... and Arizona) using 'Sniper', 'Desert Queen', and 'Sahara' varieties of head lettuce. Three different strengths of harpin were applied to groups at ... and during harvest. Micro-organisms increase in inner and outer leaves of head lettuce with excessive moisture at harvest, according to previous ....

Personalized treatment for early lung cancer

... for longer and better survival in lung cancer," said Prof Paris Kosmidis, head of the second Medical Oncology Department at Hygeia Hospital in Athens, ... on specific prognostic and predictive factors." Prof Walter Weder, head of thoracic surgery at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, adds: "At ...

Regulation of cell proliferation by the OGF-OGFr axis is dependent on nuclear localization signals

... Experiments with a human cancer cell, a squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, revealed that translation of OGFr required approximately 5 ... Phase II trials for pancreatic cancer and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck are in progress. Co-author Dr. McLaughlin states: "Given the ...

Health choices predict cancer survival, U-M study finds

... ANN ARBOR, Mich. head and neck cancer patients who smoked, drank, didn't exercise or didn't eat ... in the Journal of Clinical Oncology . The researchers surveyed 504 head and neck cancer patients about five health behaviors: smoking, alcohol ...