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279,047 articles from PhysOrg

Hospital finds hope in umbilical cords

When Jennifer Garcia scheduled the birth of her daughter at South Miami Hospital, nurses asked her an unusual question: "After your baby is born, are you willing to donate the umbilical cord to save someone's life?"

Immigrants overcome great odds to raise children in foreign lands, say researchers

A recent surge in immigration rates has led psychologists to study how these families are coping and thriving in their adopted countries. In a special June issue of the Journal of Family Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association, researchers report that close family ties are crucial for immigrants' successful transition to their new country.

Policies for renewable energy boost economy and jobs

The study which was coordinated by Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Inno-vation Research ISI shows that, by improving current policies the target of 20% RES in final energy consumption in 2020 can be achieved, which will provide a net effect of about 410,000 additional jobs as well as a 0.24% additional gross domestic product (GDP). It is the first study to assess the economic effects of a...

Scientists discover new genetic immune disorder in children

Your immune system plays an important function in your health -it protects you against viruses, bacteria, and other toxins that can cause disease. In autoinflammatory diseases, however, the immune system goes awry, causing unprovoked and dangerous inflammation. Now, researchers from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes...

Study: Cigarette smoking does not affect everyone in same way

Cigarette smoking induced COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a disease that results in severe breathing difficulty. According to World Health Organization (WHO) it is the fourth leading killer worldwide. However the mechanisms responsible for some smokers developing COPD and others evading the disease have not been well understood.

Afghanistan releases its first-ever list of protected species

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that the Afghanistan's National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), in an effort to safeguard its natural heritage, has released the country's first-ever list of protected species now banned from hunting or harvest.

Bullies have harassed 14 percent of workers over past 6 months

avid Gonzalez and Jose Luis Grana have carried out a comprehensive study into the phenomenon of workplace abuse or bullying in Spain. The study includes data on 2,861 workers from various sectors, and confirms some commonly-held beliefs about workplace abuse while undermining others.

International research tests language tests

Unique Queen's University research will shed light on how motivation and anxiety affects language test scores, and on the relationship between the test scores and the social and educational contexts of the tests.

Midge keeps invasive mosquito in check, aiding native mosquitoes (w/Podcast)

In a drama played out across the southeastern U.S. in containers as small as a coffee cup, native and invasive mosquito larvae compete for resources and try to avoid getting eaten. One of the invasive mosquitoes, the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), can carry dengue fever, a viral disease that sickens 50 to 100 million people a year in the tropics, so this seemingly inconsequential...

Nanoparticle Scattering Improves Laser Performance

(PhysOrg.com) -- `Light scattering` and `optical performance` are two concepts that usually head in opposite directions, but they have recently been shown to walk happily hand-in-hand. The results are impressive laser output from some new composite materials and the potential for making commercially viable solid-state dye lasers.

Stellar family in crowded, violent neighborhood proves to be surprisingly normal

The massive Arches Cluster is a rather peculiar star cluster. It is located 25 000 light-years away towards the constellation of Sagittarius (the Archer), and contains about a thousand young, massive stars, less than 2.5 million years old [1]. It is an ideal laboratory to study how massive stars are born in extreme conditions as it is close to the centre of our Milky Way, where it experiences huge...

Study gives clues to how adrenal cancer forms

At the ends of chromosome are special pieces of DNA called telomeres. Think of it as the little tip that caps off a shoelace. The telomeres send signals to the cells to let them know it's the end point, not a break that should be repaired.

Why Things Become Unpopular

(PhysOrg.com) -- "Why is everybody suddenly wearing those new sandals and listening to that new band? It's so trendy!" A recent study has investigated this sentiment in order to understand why some cultural products and styles die out faster than others. According to the results, the quicker a cultural item rockets to popularity, the quicker it dies. This pattern occurs because people believe that...

'Shock and kill' research gives new hope for HIV-1 eradication

Latent HIV genes can be 'smoked out' of human cells. The so-called 'shock and kill' technique, described in a preclinical study in BioMed Central's open access journal Retrovirology, might represent a new milestone along the way to the discovery of a cure for HIV/AIDS.

What if there is only one universe?

(PhysOrg.com) -- Lee Smolin, author of the bestselling science book The Trouble with Physics and a founding member and research physicist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada, writes exclusively in the June issue of Physics World explaining why theories of cosmology that suggest that our universe is just one of many - the so-called multiverse - and thus perpetuate...

Illness, medical bills linked to nearly two-thirds of bankruptcies

Medical problems contributed to nearly two-thirds (62.1 percent) of all bankruptcies in 2007, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine that will be published online Thursday. The data were collected prior to the current economic downturn and hence likely understate the current burden of financial suffering. Between 2001 and 2007, the proportion of all...