New study challenges ‘critical period’ in childhood vision development
Early sensory stimulation may not be required for vision development.
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Urinary Tract Infection :: Treatments for urinary infections leave bacteria bald, happy and vulnerable
A different approach to treating urinary tract infections (UTIs) could defeat the bacteria that cause the infections without directly killing them, a strategy that could help slow the growth of antibiotic-resistant infections. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been working to create pharmaceuticals that essentially “defang” the bacteria by preventing them from assembling pili, microscopic hairs that enable the bacteria to invade host cells.
Diabetes :: Drug treatment slows macular vision loss in diabetics
A drug commonly used to slow the loss of central vision has shown promise in stemming a common precursor of blindness in diabetics, which involves the same central light-sensitive area of retina, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute scientists report.
UCR-led research team detects ‘top quark,’ a basic constituent of matter
A group of 50 international physicists, led by UC Riverside?s Ann Heinson, has detected for the first time a subatomic particle, the top quark, produced without the simultaneous production of its antimatter partner ? an extremely rare event.
Tata Steel, Corus get US anti-trust authorities’ approval
Indian steel major Tata Steel has received approval from US anti-trust authorities for the proposed acquisition of Anglo-Dutch firm Corus Group Plc.
Radar reveals view of land beneath polar ice
In the first test of a new radar instrument, scientists have seen through more than a mile of Greenland ice to reveal an image of land that has been hidden for millions of years. Ohio State University scientists and their colleagues will use what they learn from the instrument, dubbed GISMO (for Global Ice Sheet Mapping Orbiter), to determine how global climate change will affect the ice.
Gene :: New clues to how sex evolves
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley have found clues to part of the complex question of how sex evolves, through ongoing studies of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. They have identified a key family of genes that code for closely related zinc-finger proteins that help bring C. elegans chromosomes together during meiosis, the specialized cell division that produces gametes, or sex cells.
Perennial wheat research looks at options for producers
Perinneal wheat? The possibility is being looked at by a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher. Annual wheat, which is traditionally grown in the Great Plains, isplanted in the fall and dies after harvest in mid-summer. But Dr. CharlieRush, Experiment Station plant pathologist, is testing some perenniallines of wheat bred in Washington state.
Does natural selection drive the evolution of cancer?
The dynamics of evolution are fully in play within the environment of a tumor, just as they are in forests and meadows, oceans and streams. This is the view of researchers in an emerging cross-disciplinary field that brings the thinking of ecologists and evolutionary biologists to bear on cancer biology.
Fuel :: International Study Reveals Major UK Trucking Industry Pressures
Over 85% of the UK?s trucking industry leaders believe that current fuel prices are placing their business at risk, according to an international survey of 1,200 trucking industry leaders in the UK, France, US and Canada. The survey, commissioned by GE Capital Solutions – a leading global provider of financing for the commercial trucking industry – also revealed a serious driver shortage in the UK. Half of all UK trucking business leaders state a low availability of drivers, which could impact usual delivery times of goods by over 20%.