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Scientists Report Stem Cells' 'Suspended' State Preserved By Key Step
Scientists have identified a gene that is essential for embryonic stem cells to maintain their all-purpose, pluripotent state. Exploiting the finding may lead to a greater understanding of how cells acquire their specialized states and provide a strategy to efficiently reprogram mature cells back into the pluripotent state, an elusive step in stem cell research but one crucial to a range of potential clinical treatments.

Researchers Study Hair To Track Perpetrators Of International Crime
A group of researchers from the LGC Chemical Metrology Laboratory in the United Kingdom and the University of Oviedo, Spain, have come up with a method to detect how the proportions of isotopes in a chemical element (atoms with an equal number of protons and electrons but different numbers of neutrons) vary throughout the length of a single hair. The mid-term objective is to be able to use these methods to track the geographical movements of people, including international crime suspects and victims.
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New Mexico Department Of Health Prepares For Influenza Mass Vaccination Clinics Department Continues To Monitor H1N1 Cases
The New Mexico Department of Health is planning for influenza mass vaccination clinics that will take place this fall to protect people against the novel H1N1 strain of influenza (earlier referred to as swine flu) and against seasonal influenza. The Department of Health is also ensuring that the State and its local partners are prepared to deal with the possibility of an increase in severity of H1N1 influenza cases, including a potential pandemic in New Mexico.
Mental Health

Mate Selection: How Does She Know He'll Take Care Of The Kids?

Throughout the animal kingdom brilliant colors or elaborate behavioral displays serve as "advertisements" for attracting mates. But, what do the ads promise, and is there truth in advertising? Researchers at Yale theorize that when males must provide care for the survival of their offspring, the males" signals will consistently be honest - and they may devote more of their energy to caring for their offspring than to being attractive. The idea that males showcase their best qualities to attract females for mating isn"t a new one, nor is the idea that they might be deceptive in what they are promoting. Instead, the new findings better predict the requirement for honesty in advertising as a function of the male"s suitability for parenting, according to Natasha Kelly, a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale and lead author of the study. The peacock"s ornate fanned tail - or the primping and posturing of a guy in a bar - are "advertisements" or mating displays that take substantial energy to maintain. When a male"s energy is heavily focused on keeping up his appearance, he may have little energy to devote to caring for offspring. But that may be okay, say the researchers - in species where he does not really need to tend to the kids. Previous research suggested that, under certain circumstances, males could be dishonest about their parenting skills and still have high reproductive success. This new model, now appearing in the online version of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, examines the reliability of males" mating signals when they must care for offspring - an aspect that was missing in earlier studies. There are many species in which males could, but do not have to, provide parental care - because females will pick up the slack. The Yale researchers focused on those species, like stickleback fish, where females cannot pick up the slack and males who do not provide care risk the survival of their offspring. "This new work shows that when males can not escape the cost of failing to provide care, their advertisements will tend to tend to reliably indicate how much care they will provide," said senior author Suzanne Alonzo, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale. "The qualifier in this case is where males are obligated to provide care," said Kelly. "In that case, the quiet guy in the corner might be giving the more reliable advertisement for fatherhood." The National Science Foundation and Yale University funded this research. Citation: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, online before print June 11, 2009, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0599 Janet Rettig Emanuel Yale University


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