In the US, most deaths are attributable to chronic afflictions, such as heart disease and cancer. Typically the medical community has attributed these diseases to accumulated damage, such as plaque formation in arteries or mutations in genes controlling cellular replication. This view is changing. Scientists are now beginning to recognize that many of these chronic illnesses are due to microbial infections.

An unusual new species of whirligig beetle from India is being named Orectochilus orbisonorum in honor of the late rock ‘n’ roll legend Roy Orbison and his widow Barbara.

Arizona State University entomologist Quentin Wheeler announced the description and discovery of the beetle species Jan. 25 during a Roy Orbison Tribute Concert, part of a weekend of tribute events hosted by ASU’s Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture and the Tempe Center for the Arts.

Barbara Orbison attended the concert, as well as hundreds of fans, Orbison’s sons Wesley and Roy Kelton Orbison Jr., and songwriters and filmmakers who worked with the legendary musician.

“I have never seen an honor like that,” Barbara Orbison said in expressing her appreciation for the species naming.

Water has some amazing properties. It is the only natural substance found in all three states — solid, liquid and gas — within the range of natural Earth temperatures. Its solid form is less dense than its liquid form, which is why ice floats. It can absorb a great deal of heat without getting hot, has very high surface tension (helping it move through roots and capillaries — vital to maintaining life on Earth) and is virtually incompressible.

A less commonly known distinction of water, but one of great interest to physical chemists, is its odd behavior at its transition to the glassy phase. The “glassy state” is a sub-state of matter — glassy water and ice, for example, are chemically identical and have the same state (solid), but have a different structure.

In the first study to use imaging technology to see what goes on in the brain when we scratch, researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have uncovered new clues about why scratching may be so relieving – and why it can be hard to stop. The work is reported online in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and will appear in a future print issue.

“Our study shows for the first time how scratching may relieve itch,” said lead author Gil Yosipovitch, M.D., a dermatologist who specializes in itch. “It’s important to understand the mechanism of relief so we can develop more effective treatments. For some people, itch is a chronic condition that affects overall health.”

Tropical forests are immensely species-rich. The question of what causes this diversity is a perennial one in tropical biology. In the 1970s Daniel Janzen and Joseph Connell independently came up with the same explanation - if the seeds or seedlings of more common species have a higher probability of being killed by a pest or pathogen (what is known as density-dependent mortality), then less common species will be favoured. If the organisms that are responsible for most seed and seedling mortality are specialists - if they focus on just a few plant species - then the pathogens and seed predators that specialise on common tree species should be more abundant (since there’s more food for them). Janzen was able to demonstrate this with a few species of beetle whose larvae fed on (and killed) seeds. When seeds of the Hog Plum (Spondias mombin) were abundant, female bruchid beetles laid their eggs on (and ended up killed) well over 90% of the seeds. When the seeds were scattered, mortality rates were reduced. Unfortunately, while there were several good anecdotes, there was little evidence of density-dependent mortality playing a role at the community level. In fact, there was evidence that trees were more likely to be clumped than scattered, a finding which was not in keeping with Janzen and Connell’s hypothesis.

NEW YORK, January 31 /PRNewswire/ --

NET-A-PORTER.COM, the world's leading luxury online fashion retailer, has partnered with ASMALLWORLD to allow members of the exclusive social networking site to access and shop directly from the latest international designer collections.

From today, ASMALLWORLD's 'invitation only' community will be able to log on to www.asmallworld.net and enter a unique NET-A-PORTER micro-site, that will showcase must-have products and key looks from the runway from over 200 top fashion brands including Chloe, Fendi, Jimmy Choo, Miu Miu and Stella McCartney.

The site will be updated each week and will feature NET-A-PORTER's most-coveted items as well as a definitive Gift Guide to help shoppers find the perfect present.

A new study may explain why women with a mutation in the BRCA1 gene face up to an 85 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer; researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center found that BRCA1 plays a role in regulating breast stem cells, the small number of cells that might develop into cancers.

The study, in mice and in human breast cancer cells, found that BRCA1 is involved in the stem cells differentiating into other breast tissue cells. When BRCA1 is missing, the stem cells accumulate unregulated and develop into cancer.

“Our data suggest that an important reason women with BRCA1 mutations get breast cancer is that BRCA1 is directly involved in the regulation of normal breast stem cells. In these women, loss of BRCA1 function results in the proliferation of breast stem cells. Since we believe that breast cancer may originate in these cells, this explains why these women have such a high incidence of breast cancer,” said senior study author Max S. Wicha, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Oncology and director of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Political party affiliation has little bearing on the number of “green” actions people take, a new study by Porter Novelli and George Mason University shows.

According to the survey of more than 11,000 American adults and nearly 1,000 of their children, Democrats and Republicans differ only slightly when it comes to taking actions to protect the environment, despite great differences in their perceptions of danger related to global warming.

While Democrats were almost twice as likely as Republicans to believe that global warming is a serious problem and a threat to all life on the planet, on average they perform only about 15 percent more “green” actions than Republicans. For example, 65 percent of those surveyed who always vote Republican and 71 percent of those who always vote Democrat said they are actively reducing energy use in their homes.

PARIS, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- On 24 January, in the course of an extraordinary show, Passionata unveiled its new image and the highly glamorous advertising campaign devised by David LaChapelle. A hot spectacle presented by Alain Prost, General Director of Chantelle's Group, and Adeline Desjonqueres, International Director of Passionata's brand : four Crazy Horse mythical scenes and an original creation staging the latest Passionata Lingerie sets worn by gorgeous creatures endowed with stupendous figures and knowing smiles...

LONDON, January 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to news today that 1 million prescriptions per year are now made for obesity drugs, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has called for more awareness about the role played by community pharmacy.

Pharmacists are expert healthcare professionals and have a major role to play in public health - they are based in every community and offer advice, support and clinical treatment for a range of conditions, including obesity.

David Pruce, The RPSGB's Director of Practice and Quality Improvement, says: