A Duke University-led analysis of available records shows that while the North Atlantic Ocean’s surface waters warmed in the 50 years between 1950 and 2000, the change was not uniform. In fact, the subpolar regions cooled at the same time that subtropical and tropical waters warmed.

This striking pattern can be explained largely by the influence of a natural and cyclical wind circulation pattern called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), wrote authors of a study published Thursday, Jan. 3, in Science Express.

Winds that power the NAO are driven by atmospheric pressure differences between areas around Iceland and the Azores.

COPENHAGEN, January 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Summary: Genmab Has Announced a New Pre-clinical Antibody Program Called HuMax-CD32b.

Genmab A/S (OMX: GEN) announced today a new pre-clinical antibody program called HuMax-CD32b(TM). This fully human IgG1,k antibody targets the CD32b receptor found on immune cells and hematological tumors. HuMax-CD32b may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia, small lymphocytic lymphoma, Burkitt's lymphoma, follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

A recent study by University of Virginia researchers demonstrates that the use of an acute, localized static magnetic field of moderate strength can result in significant reduction of swelling when applied immediately after an inflammatory injury.

Thomas Skalak, professor and chair of biomedical engineering, and Cassandra Morris, a former Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering at U.Va., reported their findings in the November 2007 edition of the American Journal of Physiology.

In the study, the hind paws of anesthetized rats were treated with inflammatory agents in order to simulate tissue injury. Magnetic therapy was then applied to the paws. The research results indicate that magnets can significantly reduce swelling if applied immediately after tissue trauma.

Scientists from Tel Aviv University recently linked depression to a biological mechanism that affects the olfactory glands. It might explain why some women, without realizing it, wear too much perfume.

Scientific research that supports this theory was published this year in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism. “Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume,” explains researcher Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld, a member of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University. “We also believe that depression has biological roots and may be an immune system response to certain physiological cues.”

Women who are depressed are also more likely to lose weight.

Just as the risk of developing alcoholism is strongly influenced by genetic factors, mutations in gene coding – such as the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2*2) allele – also appear to protect against the risk. Scientists have only just begun to apply gene-therapy techniques to the alcohol-research field. A proof-of-principle study has found that administering an anti-Aldh2 antisense gene in rodents can curtail their urge to drink.

“An ‘experiment of nature’ is observed in some individuals of East Asian origin, who are 66 to 99 percent protected against alcoholism,” explained Yedy Israel, professor of pharmacological and toxicological chemistry at the Universidad de Chile, and adjunct professor of pathology, anatomy and cell biology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Psychologists at Harvard University using neuroimaging say they have resolved the century-old debate over the existence of Extra-Sensory Perception(ESP) - and it doesn't exist.

The research was led by Samuel Moulton, a graduate student in the department of psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University with Stephen Kosslyn, John Lindsley Professor of Psychology at Harvard and was published in the Jan. 2008 issue of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. The scientists used brain scanning to test whether individuals have knowledge that cannot be explained through normal perceptual processing.

"If any ESP processes exist, then participants' brains should respond differently to ESP and non-ESP stimuli," explains Moulton.

I interviewed Gary Taubes by phone a few weeks ago, shortly after he gave a talk about the main ideas of his new book — "Good Calories, Bad Calories" — at UC Berkeley. The interview lasted about 2 hours.

SETH: I just spoke to someone who reduced the carbohydrate in his diet, for various reasons, including your book. He found that his performance on mental problems started improving again. It had stopped improving; it had been constant for a long time, and then it started getting better. So it may be that when you reduce the carbohydrate in your diet, your brain starts working better.

Chemical research has traditionally been organized in either experiment-centric or molecule-centric models. This makes sense from the chemist's standpoint. When we think about doing chemistry, we conceptualize experiments as the fundamental unit of progress. This is reflected in the laboratory notebook, where each page is an experiment, with an objective, a procedure, the results, their analysis and a final conclusion optimally directly answering the stated objective. When we think about searching for chemistry, we generally imagine molecules and transformations.

ATLANTA, January 3 /PRNewswire/ --

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) today announced results for its second quarter ended November 30, 2007. For the second quarter, revenue grew 18 percent to US$308.8 million compared to US$260.7 million in the prior year. Excluding the impact of current period restructuring charges, diluted earnings per share grew 14 percent to US$0.48 compared to US$0.42 in the prior year quarter.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010221/ATW031LOGO )

LUGANO, Switzerland, January 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Helsinn Healthcare S.A., Switzerland, a privately owned pharmaceutical group and its partner, MGI Pharma (Nasdaq: MOGN), a biopharmaceutical company focused in oncology and acute care, today announced that a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Aloxi(R) (palonosetron hydrochloride) Capsules for oral administration was accepted for filing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Aloxi Injection is approved by the FDA for the prevention of acute nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of moderately and highly emetogenic cancer chemotherapy and for the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of moderately emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.