ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Viking buried with axe, sword and spear found with fully intact Viking boat burial in UK
• How plants sense low oxygen levels to survive flooding
• 'First step' to perfect drug combinations
• Complexities of DNA repair discovered
• Cardiac rehabilitation: Even minor fitness improvements are associated with decrease in mortality, especially in the least fit
• E-counseling shows dramatic results in lowering blood pressure; Online tool motivates patients to maintain a healthier lifestyle
• Female shift workers may be at higher risk of heart disease
• Billions of dollars at stake as Canada comes to grips with soaring heart failure costs
• Breakthrough in the production of flood-tolerant crops
• A protein shows plants the oxygen concentration of their surroundings
• Exceptional cognitive and physical health in old age leaves immunological fingerprint, study finds
• Children with certain dopamine system gene variants respond better to ADHD drug
• Feed a cold -- starve a tumor
• Elevated hormone levels add up to increased breast cancer risk, research finds
• Biggest ever study shows no link between mobile phone use and tumors

Viking buried with axe, sword and spear found with fully intact Viking boat burial in UK Posted: 23 Oct 2011 11:38 AM PDT The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been discovered by archaeologists working in the Scottish Highlands. The 5m-long grave contained the remains of a high status Viking, who was buried with an axe, a sword with a beautifully decorated hilt, a spear, shield boss and bronze ring-pin.

How plants sense low oxygen levels to survive flooding Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:57 AM PDT Scientists have discovered how plants sense low oxygen levels to survive flooding. The finding could lead eventually to the production of high-yielding, flood-tolerant crops, benefiting farmers, markets and consumers everywhere. The researchers identified a molecular mechanism that controls key plant proteins, causing the proteins to be unstable when oxygen levels are normal, and stable when roots/shoots are flooded and oxygen levels drop.

'First step' to perfect drug combinations Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a way of speeding up the creation of perfect drug combinations, which could help patients recovering from critical health problems such as stroke, heart attacks and cancer.

Complexities of DNA repair discovered Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT Scientists have discovered that DNA repair in cancer cells is not a one-way street as previously believed.

Cardiac rehabilitation: Even minor fitness improvements are associated with decrease in mortality, especially in the least fit Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT Cardiac rehabilitation boosts longevity, especially in patients with the lowest fitness levels, according to new research.

E-counseling shows dramatic results in lowering blood pressure; Online tool motivates patients to maintain a healthier lifestyle Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT E-counseling can significantly lower blood pressure, improve lifestyle and enhance quality of life, according to new research.

Female shift workers may be at higher risk of heart disease Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT Women hospital staff working night shifts may be compromising their own health as they try to improve the health of patients, according to new research. A recent study investigated the connection between shift work and risk factors for heart disease in female hospital employees who worked both shift and non-shift rotations.

Billions of dollars at stake as Canada comes to grips with soaring heart failure costs Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT Heart failure (HF) costs are headed for the economic stratosphere, even as researchers come up with simple tests and strategies to bring them back to earth. An assessment of the growing problem and a new initiative to curb costs and increase efficacy in dealing with heart failure patients when they present to emergency departments were the subject of two major studies presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011.

Breakthrough in the production of flood-tolerant crops Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT Across the globe agricultural production is at risk as catastrophic flooding becomes a world-wide problem. Prolonged flooding drastically reduces yields by cutting off the supply of oxygen crops need to survive. Now experts have identified the molecular mechanism plants use to sense low oxygen levels. The discovery could lead, eventually, to the production of high-yielding, flood-tolerant crops, benefiting farmers, markets and consumers across the globe.

A protein shows plants the oxygen concentration of their surroundings Posted: 23 Oct 2011 10:56 AM PDT Plants need water to grow, but every hobby gardener knows that you shouldn't carry this to excess either. During waterlogging or flooding, plants can't take up enough oxygen that they urgently need for their cellular respiration and energy production. Plants respond to this state of hypoxia with the activation of certain genes that help them cope with the stress. Until now it was unclear how plants are sensing the oxygen concentration. Recent experiments show that under hypoxia a protein that can activate genes, a so-called transcription factor, is released from the cell membrane to accumulate in the nucleus and trigger the expression of stress response genes.

Exceptional cognitive and physical health in old age leaves immunological fingerprint, study finds Posted: 21 Oct 2011 09:58 AM PDT Exceptional cognitive and physical function in old age leaves a tell-tale immunologic fingerprint, say researchers. Likewise, older adults who have mild impairments bear a distinct immunologic pattern, according to new findings.

Children with certain dopamine system gene variants respond better to ADHD drug Posted: 21 Oct 2011 09:55 AM PDT Children with certain dopamine system gene variants have an improved response to methylphenidate -- the most commonly prescribed medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to new research. The finding that could help eliminate the guesswork from prescribing effective medications for children with ADHD.

Feed a cold -- starve a tumor Posted: 21 Oct 2011 04:47 AM PDT The condition tuberous sclerosis, due to mutation in one of two tumor suppressor genes, TSC1 or TSC2, causes the growth of non-malignant tumors throughout the body and skin. New research shows that the growth of glucose-dependent TSC-related tumors can be restricted by 2-deoxyglucose, which blocks glucose metabolism, but not by restricting dietary carbohydrates.

Elevated hormone levels add up to increased breast cancer risk, research finds Posted: 21 Oct 2011 04:47 AM PDT Post-menopausal women with high levels of hormones such as estrogen or testosterone are known to have a higher risk of breast cancer. New research looked at eight different sex and growth hormones and found that the risk of breast cancer increased with the number of elevated hormones -- each additional elevated hormone level increased risk by 16 percent.

Biggest ever study shows no link between mobile phone use and tumors Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:18 PM PDT There is no link between long-term use of mobile phones and tumors of the brain or central nervous system, according to new research. In what is described as the largest study on the subject to date, Danish researchers found no evidence that the risk of brain tumors was raised among 358,403 mobile phone subscribers over an 18-year period.

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