Ski tourism raises stress levels among capercaillie and could harm the birds’ fitness and ability to breed successfully, write ecologists in the Journal of Applied Ecology. They warn that forests should be kept free from tourism if they are inhabited by capercaillie - a species whose numbers are declining markedly across central Europe.

The study by ecologists from Switzerland, Germany and Austria used a new technique to assess the impact of ski tourism on capercaillie. Working in the Southern Black Forest in Germany, they collected the birds’ droppings before and after the start of the ski season, and analysed them for levels of the breakdown products of the stress hormone corticosterone.

Adult stem cells may provide an explanation for the cause of a Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare disease that causes premature aging in children, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute. These findings, the first to indicate a biological basis for the clinical features of HGPS, also known as progeria, may also provide new insights into the biological mechanisms of normal aging.

“Studies like this of the biology of HGPS hold the potential to benefit children suffering this terrible illness and enlighten us as to the medical changes we all experience as we grow older.” said NCI Director John E. Niederhuber, M.D. “As our population ages, we have an increasing need for greater understanding of the biology of aging and age-related illness, such as cancer.”

An international team has achieved, by means of a controlled chemical process, that atoms of gold, silver and copper - intrinsically non-magnetic (not attracted to a magnet) - become magnetic.

According to the research, the magnetism appears reduce the dimensions of the material to nanometric dimensions and surround it with previously selected organic molecules. The magnetism of these nanoparticles is a permanent one (like iron) which, even at ambient temperature, is quite significant.

This amazing behavior has been obtained not just with gold (a phenomenon which had already been put forward as experimentally possible) but, in this research, nanoparticles of silver and copper (the atoms of which are intrinsically non-magnetic) with a size of 2 nm (0.000002 mm) have also been shown to be magnetic at ambient temperature.

LONDON, March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the surge in myxomatosis after the flooding last summer, vets are warning that other widespread killer diseases could also be on the rise, yet 11 million dogs, cats and rabbits are unprotected.

Sometimes scientists won't understand it even after they see it, but at least they'll believe it despite its improbability. Such is the case with bats, the bumblebee and the hummingbird, which according to classic wing theory should not be able to fly. Yet they seem to have forgotten to read that textbook.

In 1995, bumblebee flight got its answer. This week, the aerodynamics of a hovering bat species has been revealed. Its flight was studied in the wind tunnel laboratory of Lund University.

The wind tunnel at Lund University is specially crafted for research on bird flight. Birds fly “at the spot” against a headwind, allowing detailed investigation of wing movements using high speed video cameras.

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that causes people to fall asleep uncontrollably during the day. It also includes features of dreaming that occur while awake. Other common symptoms include sleep paralysis, hallucinations and cataplexy. About one out of every 2,000 people is known to have narcolepsy. It affects the same number of men and women.

The majority of patients with narcolepsy/cataplexy experience a number of symptoms of eating disorders, with an irresistible craving for food and binge eating as the most prominent features, according to a study published in the March 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

Low-fat diets are more effective in preserving and promoting a healthy cardiovascular system than low-carbohydrate, Atkins’-like diets, according to a new study by researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Public awareness of the 'obesity epidemic' has resulted in various dietary weight loss strategies. In America, it is estimated that 45 percent of women and 30 percent of men diet to lose weight.

“The nutrient-specific effects of these diets on cardiovascular health are largely unknown,” says David D. Gutterman, M.D.

“Low-carbohydrate diets are significantly higher in total grams of fat, protein, dietary cholesterol and saturated fats than are low-fat diets. While a low-carbohydrate diet may result in weight loss and improvement in blood pressure, similar to a low-fat diet, the higher fat content is ultimately more detrimental to heart health than is the low-fat diet suggested by the American Heart Association,” points out Shane Phillips, M.D.

The U.S. Army has awarded General Dynamics Robotic Systems an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with a total potential value of $40 million for production of the robotic Mobile Detection and Assessment and Response System (MDARS).

General Dynamics Robotic Systems will manufacture the semi-autonomous security vehicles and provide spare parts, training and technical services for a five-year period. The work will be done at its Westminster, Md., production facility.

Reported: a 42 year old female patient with a serious atopic dermatitis, abruptly appearing since age 8. During several hospitalizations, the patient underwent various therapies without reaching -she relates- any amelioration but on the other hand getting bad influences on the relationship, due to the deep hormonal diseases induced by the cortico therapy. Kept under observation from october 1995, the patient was subjected to an increasing treatment with cyclosporine, starting with a 2,5 mg/Kg/die at the end of an 8 months timeframe archiving a total recovery of the cutaneous pathology and being enabled to a normal social life.