My picks from ScienceDaily

Daytime Sleepiness From Obstructive Sleep Apnea May Raise Risk For Cardiovascular Problems:

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a sleep related breathing disorder that causes your body to stop breathing during sleep, can disturb your sleep numerous times on any given night. As a result, you may experience daytime sleepiness. Daytime sleepiness brought on by OSA may put you more at risk for cardiovascular problems, according to a study published in the December 1st issue of the journal SLEEP.

Scientists Identify Part Of Hummingbird's Tiny Bird Brain That Helps It Hover:

University of Alberta researchers have pinpointed a section in the tiny hummingbird's brain that may be responsible for its unique ability to stay stationary mid-air and hover.

Theory Of Oscillations May Explain Biological Mysteries:

New mathematical studies of the interactions between oscillating biological populations may shed light on some of the toughest questions in ecology, including the number and types of species in an ecosystem, according to an article in the December 2006 issue of BioScience.

Parental Genes Do What's Best For Baby:

A molecular 'battle of the sexes' long considered the major driving force in a baby's development is being challenged by a new genetic theory of parental teamwork.

A Giant Among Minnows: Giant Danio Can Keep Growing :

Two fish that share much in common genetically appear to have markedly different abilities to grow, a finding that could provide a new way to research such disparate areas as muscle wasting disease and fish farming, a new study shows.

Nobel Laureate Finds 'Elegant' Explanation For DNA Transcribing Enzyme's High Fidelity:

Last month, Roger Kornberg of Stanford University won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his efforts to unravel the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription, in which enzymes give "voice" to DNA by copying it into the RNA molecules that serve as templates for protein in organisms from yeast to humans. Now, Kornberg and his colleagues report in the December 1, 2006 issue of the journal Cell, published by Cell Press, new structures that reveal another critical piece of the puzzle: how the so-called polymerase II enzyme discriminates among potential RNA building blocks to ensure the characteristic accuracy of the process.

Living View In Animals Shows How Cells Decide To Make Proteins:

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have visualized in a living animal how cells use a critical biological process to dice and splice genetic material to create unique and varied proteins.

Infants Wheeze Less In Homes With Multiple Dogs:

Living in a home with multiple dogs may help reduce an infant's risk for developing wheezing in the first year of life, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati.

Invasive Ants Territorial When Neighbors Are Not Kin:

A study led by UC San Diego biologists shows that invasive Argentine ants appear to use genetic differences to distinguish friend from foe, a finding that helps to explain why these ants form enormous colonies in California.

P(acman) Takes A Bite Out Of Deciphering Drosophila DNA:

P(acman) -- a new method of introducing DNA into the genome of fruit flies or Drosophila -- promises to transform the ability of scientists to study the structure and function of virtually all the fly's genes, and the method may be applicable to other frequently studied organisms such as mice, said its Baylor College of Medicine developers in an article in the current issue of the journal Science.

Seagrass Ecosystems At A 'Global Crisis':

An international team of scientists is calling for a targeted global conservation effort to preserve seagrasses and their ecological services for the world's coastal ecosystems.

What Is The Role Of Donor Breast Milk? :

More evidence is needed to determine whether donor breast milk is beneficial for babies in intensive care, argues a senior doctor in this week's British Medical Journal.

Sodium, Prostaglandin May Be Keys To Successful Treatment For Some Bedwetters:

Children with a form of bedwetting that does not respond to a common medication have more sodium and urea in their nighttime urine, possibly because of an imbalance of prostaglandin, a hormone-like substance, a new study has found.

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I came across an interesting study published last month in American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is a disorder in which the upper airway is repeatedly obstructed during sleep resulting in bouts of intermittent…
Daytime Sleepiness Provides Red Flag For Cardiovascular Disease: Clinicians should be alert to patients reporting "excessive" day time sleepiness (EDS), says the European Society of Cardiology, after a French study found healthy elderly people who regularly report feeling sleepy during the day have…