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PhysOrg.com
Lost in translation: Language barrier adds confusion to prenatal testing Many people struggle to understand the complexities of genetic problems in pregnancy and find medical language difficult to understand, particularly when faced with major decisions such as whether to terminate a pregnancy. A recent study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), investigated how Britain's Bangladeshi community understand the disorders, and make decisions about testing and screening in the light of health care and religious opinion. Decoding the dictionary: Study suggests lexicon evolved to fit in the brain The latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary boasts 22,000 pages of definitions. While that may seem far from succinct, new research suggests the reference manual is meticulously organized to be as concise as possible — a format that mirrors the way our brains make sense of and categorize the countless words in our vast vocabulary. Scientists launch first comprehensive database of human oral microbiome Scientists know more today than ever before about the microbes that inhabit our mouths. They know so much, in fact, that gathering all of the relevant bits of information into one place when designing experiments can be a job in itself. Now, grantees of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their international colleagues intend to solve this problem with the launch of the first comprehensive database of the oral microbiome, or the approximately 600 distinct microorganisms currently known to live in the mouth. Small helpers in the genome coordinate defence strategies in plants Not only are ribonucleic acids (RNA) active as transmitters of genetic information between DNA and proteins, but they also have an impact on gene expression in the form of small segments, 18-26 nucleotides long. These nucleic acids, called small RNAs (smRNAS), regulate developmental processes in animals and plants. Evidence of commerce between ancient Israel and China Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries - during the time of the Crusades -ceramic vessels reached Acre from: Mediterranean regions, the Levant, Europe, North Africa, and even China - reveals new research, which examined trade of ceramic vessels, conducted at the University of Haifa. Bacteria can be made to spin spider silk Biological and medical research is on the threshold of a new era based on better understanding of how large organic molecules bind together and recognise each other. There is great potential for exploiting the molecular docking processes that are commonplace in all organisms to develop new drugs that act more specifically without adverse side effects, and construct novel materials by mimicking nature. Fast-learning computer translates from four languages Modern approaches to machine translation between languages require the use of a large ‘corpus` of literature in each language. Now a European project has demonstrated a cheaper solution which compares favourably with the market leaders in translating from Dutch, German, Greek or Spanish into English. Slow reading in dyslexia tied to disorganized brain tracts Dyslexia marked by poor reading fluency -- slow and choppy reading -- may be caused by disorganized, meandering tracts of nerve fibers in the brain, according to researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). The study, using the latest imaging methods, gives researchers a glimpse of what may go wrong in the structure of some dyslexic readers' brains, making it difficult to integrate the information needed for rapid, "automatic" reading. Scientists break cholera's lines of communication A team of Princeton scientists has discovered a key mechanism in how bacteria communicate with each other, a pivotal breakthrough that could lead to treatments for cholera and other bacterial diseases. Living with lions There are many historical stories of shepherds and travellers encountering lions, for example the Old Testament contains dozens of tales about attacks on flocks and people by these fierce predators. ... |