confirms in Biological News

Genetic study confirms the immune system's role in narcolepsy

Scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene associated with narcolepsy, a disorder that causes disabling daytime sleepiness, sleep attacks, irresistible bouts of sleep that can strike at any time, and disturbed sleep at night. The gene has a known role in the immu...

Study confirms amphibians' ability to predict changes in biodiversity

Biologists have long suspected that amphibians, whose moist permeable skins make them susceptible to slight changes in the environment, might be good bellwethers for impending alterations in biodiversity during rapid climate change. Now two University of California biologists have verified the ...

US Senate confirms Clemson University engineering Dean Esin Gulari to National Science Board

The U.S. Senate has confirmed the appointment of Esin Gulari, dean of the College of Engineering and Science at Clemson University, to serve on the National Science Board (NSB). President George W. Bush nominated Gulari for the post along with six other distinguished scientists. "This is a trem...

Genetic sequencing of protein from T. rex bone confirms dinosaurs' link to birds

Scientists have put more meat on the theory that dinosaurs' closest living relatives are modern-day birds. Molecular analysis, or genetic sequencing, of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein from the dinosaur's femur confirms that T. rex shares a common ancestry with chickens, ostrich...

Study confirms that low-calorie sweeteners are helpful in weight control

A recent review of the scientific literature concluded that low-calorie (or no-calorie) sweeteners may be of help in resolving the obesity problem. Although they are not magic bullets, low-calorie sweeteners in beverages and foods can help people reduce their calorie (energy) intakes. Low-calori...

Avian origins: new analysis confirms ancient beginnings

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Did modern birds originate around the time of the dinosaurs' demise, or have they been around far longer" The question is at the center of a sometimes contentious "rocks versus clocks" debate between paleontologists, whose estimates are based on the fossil record, and scient...

Native Americans descended from a single ancestral group, DNA study confirms

For two decades, researchers have been using a growing volume of genetic data to debate whether ancestors of Native Americans emigrated to the New World in one wave or successive waves, or from one ancestral Asian population or a number of different populations. Now, after painstakingly compari...

Adult brain can change, study confirms

CAMBRIDGE, MA (09/05/07)--It is well established that a child's brain has a remarkable capacity for change, but controversy continues about the extent to which such plasticity exists in the adult human primary sensory cortex. Now, neuroscientists from MIT and Johns Hopkins University have used con...

WHO data confirms low level of resistance to Tamiflu

New data published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed a low frequency of resistance to Tamiflu (oseltamivir) over 3 influenza seasons (2003 ?2006)1. The information, published by the Neuraminidase Inhibitor Susceptibility Network in the WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record, ha...

Cornell lab confirms deadly fish virus spreading to new species

A lethal fish virus in the Great Lakes and neighboring waterways is approaching epidemic proportions, according to Paul Bowser, Cornell professor of aquatic animal medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), which causes anemia and hemorrhaging in ...

Re-analysis of cigarettes confirms tobacco companies increased addictive nicotine 11 percent

A reanalysis of nicotine yield from major brand name cigarettes sold in Massachusetts from 1997 to 2005 has confirmed that manufacturers have steadily increased the levels of this agent in cigarettes. This independent analysis, based on data submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Healt...

Genetic surprise confirms neglected 70-year-old evolutionary hypothesis

Biologists at the University of Rochester have discovered that an old and relatively unpopular theory about how a single species can split in two turns out to be accurate after all, and acting in nature. The finding, reported in today's issue of Science, reveals that scientists must reassess the ...

New data from NIH lab confirms protocol to reverse type 1 diabetes in mice

New data published in the Nov. 24 issue of Science provide further support for a protocol to reverse type 1 diabetes in mice and new evidence that adult precursor cells from the spleen can contribute to the regeneration of beta cells. In 2001 and 2003, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospita...

New method confirms importance of fungi in Arctic nitrogen cycle

A new method to calculate the transfer of nitrogen from Arctic mushrooms to plants is shedding light on how fungi living symbiotically on plant roots transfer vital nutrients to their hosts. The analytical technique, developed by John E. Hobbie, MBL Distinguished Scientist and co-director of the la...

First human study confirms that immune cells can be a primary cause of bone loss in gum disease

Researchers at The Forsyth Institute have confirmed in human gingival tissue that immune cells play a destructive role in periodontal disease. Although researchers had suspected the correlation between bone loss in periodontal (gum) disease and immune cells, this is the first time that this has be...

Updated data on novel HPV vaccine confirms efficacy in large population

Updated data from a study on a promising new vaccine against a pre-cancerous cervical virus shows superior efficacy in preventing cervical pre-cancers and non-invasive cervical cancer, according to a study presented today during the American Association for Cancer Research's 4th Annual Frontiers in...

Ancient DNA confirms single origin of Malagasy primates

Yale biologists have managed to extract and analyze DNA from giant, extinct lemurs, according to a Yale study published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Radiocarbon dating of the bones and teeth from which the DNA was obtained reveal that each of the indiv...

LUCA technologies confirms real-time methane generation

Luca Technologies LLC today announced that its researchers have confirmed the presence of a resident, methane-generating community of microorganisms ("microbial consortium") in substrate samples taken from the 110,000 acre Monument Butte oilfield located in North Eastern Utah. This site represents ...

August 2009 Geology and GSA Today media highlights

...ng in the deep sea produces a different iron isotopic fingerprint in the pore fluids compared with previous studies on the coastal shelves. This study confirms the unique isotopic fingerprint of pore-fluid iron in coastal shelf settings, highlighting the potential for future research to use iron isotopes as a...

The last supper of the hominids establishes the times they lived at the sites

...ds of occupation, more variable dental wear would be expected", Rivals declared. In the case of the French cave of Arago, the study of the dental wear confirms that it was occupied in different ways. "With this method, we were able to prove that at the site, which belonged to Homo heidelbergensis , there is ...

World's largest ocean observatory takes shape

...red and installed by Alcatel-Lucent and its main subcontractors. "This extended cooperation with UVic in such an innovative and challenging project confirms our expertise and customer focus to address new market segments, such as scientific undersea observatories that can be highly beneficial to onshore re...

Who goes abroad for fertility treatment and why?

...imbursed at all. "This was a pilot study carried out in a small number of countries, and hence has limitations", said Dr. Shenfield. "However, it confirms information already gathered by patient support groups and reported in the media. For example, Spain and the Czech Republic are popular destinations...

Elsevier announces 2008 journal impact factor highlights

...h over the past five years. Glen Campbell, Senior Vice President of U.S. Health Sciences Journals said, "Each annual announcement of impact factors confirms the depth and excellence of our health sciences journal publishing program. The superior performance of so many of our journals this year is a sign of...

Study shows Chronix technology using serum DNA can identify early presence of disease

... San Jose, California, June 23, 2009 Chronix Biomedical today reported that a new study in a peer-reviewed journal further confirms the potential diagnostic and prognostic utility of using circulating fragments of DNA to detect early stage disease. These DNA fragments, referred to...

DNA template could explain evolutionary shifts

...ies of one family two children and a mother demonstrated that the event occurred during mitosis or cell division, a significant finding that further confirms the significance of the event. The researchers noted that finding this mitotic rearrangement of the gene in the mother, who did not have the disord...

A genetic link to premature ejaculation

...ual encounter. These common problems are often attributed to external factors, such as intoxication or nervousness due to peer pressure. This research confirms that such factors do cause erectile dysfunction. On the other hand, premature ejaculation appears to be strongly linked to genetic factors, and is not...

Princeton geoscientist offers new evidence that meteorite did not wipe out dinosaurs

...ing the Gulf of Mexico. To date no evidence of major disturbance has been found in the sediments. Keller says her team's newest research, however, confirms what she has found in earlier studies -- that the sandstone complex that overlays the impact layer was not deposited over hours or days by a tsunami b...

Songbird study from CSHL, CCNY provides concrete measure of biology's impact on culture

...ities and environmental variation might influence how birds evolve "song culture" and provides some pointers to how languages may evolve. The study confirms that zebra finches raised in complete isolation do not sing the same song as they would if raised normally, i.e., among other members of their species...

Wetlands likely source of methane from ancient warming event

...lf-life of 5,730 years, were too high in the methane to have come from clathrates, the researchers concluded. "This study is important because it confirms that wetlands and moisture availability change dramatically along with abrupt climate change," said Severinghaus. "This highlights in a general way th...

Peregrine's PS-targeting antibodies highlighted in AACR Annual Meeting studies

...or activity of its phosphatidylserine (PS) targeting antibodies. One study confirms the anti-tumor effects and immune stimulating ability of a fully human anti...ecreasing an important anti-inflammatory cytokine. The new data we present confirms that PGN635 also triggers immune cells to produce other chemokines and cyto...

Concordia University receives more than $22 million for genomics research

...deral Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear and Chairman of the Board of Genome Canada Dr. Calvin Stiller. "This accomplishment confirms Concordia's exceptional leadership in genomic research," says President and Vice-Chancellor Judith Woodsworth. "These remarkable grants will truly str...

When every photon counts

...is day, but those descendants that have later become diurnal - including us humans - have reverted to the conventional rod nuclear organisation. "This confirms the superiority of the conventional architecture", says Joffe. "Obviously, the inverted nuclear organisation also has - as yet unknown - disadvantages...

Early administration of antiretroviral therapy can improve survival

... as survival of infected patients, effectiveness of antiretroviral therapies and the best time to begin treatment. The study published in The Lancet confirms the findings that PISCIS had already published based on Catalan and Balearic data in the journal JAIDS ( J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr . 2008; 47(2):2...

Gutsy germs succumb to baby broccoli

...that had been genetically engineered to lack the Nrf2 gene that activates protective enzymes. "These knock-out mice didn't respond," Fahey says, which confirms previous findings for a role of Nrf2 in protection against H. pylori -induced inflammation and gastritis. Classified a carcinogen by the World He...

Men are the weaker sex

...ort, men are the weaker sex." This new evidence, Prof. Glezerman notes, confirms the old wives' tale that boy fetuses are more troublesome in the womb and t.... Glezerman also takes the notion one step further. "This research not only confirms an old wives' tale, but adds to what we know about the male gender. Males a...

As good as it gets: Octogenarian muscles don't get stronger with exercise

...he biopsy results confirmed the MRI results: there was no change in the size of the individual muscle strands, pre-training versus post-training. This confirms that the increase in the amount the women could lift with the quadriceps was unrelated to improvement in muscle strength. Instead, the results were pr...

Team IDs genesis of mass migrations

...ential to the conservation of marine ecosystems that vast oceanic fish shoals inhabit," the team writes in the March 27 issue of Science . It also confirms theories about the behavior of large groups of animals in general, from bird flocks to locust swarms. Until now those theories had only been predicted...

MCTP bought Genomatix NextGen Sequencing analysis stations

...cutive Officer at Genomatix, USA commented: "Placing our systems in these highly acclaimed labs at the University of Michigan makes us very proud, and confirms that Genomatix' technology is clearly at the leading edge of this important new genomic technologyright in step with the research that is being done h...

New wheat disease could spread faster than expected

...aid. "From this pathogen we've learned a lot about plant disease resistance in general, and also how pathogens can move and spread. And this new study confirms that it is crucial to get prepared for the rapid spread of a new variety of wheat stem rust that appeared in Uganda in 1999." That new type of whea...

Boehringer Ingelheim uses Genomatix' Next Generation Sequencing data analysis systems

...Adding the competent and well respected company Boehringer Ingelheim to our growing customer list for our NGS analysis systems makes us very proud. It confirms that Genomatix leading edge technology is going the right direction. More than a decade of research and development allows us to be at the forefront o...