http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Imec, the Belgian nanoelectronics research center, and Synopsys, Inc., a global leader accelerating innovation in the design, verification and manufacturing of chips and systems, today announced that they have expanded their collaboration in the field of Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) to next-generation FinFET technology at 10-nm. The collaboration builds on extensive work done at 14-nm and several other process geometries, and will calibrate Synopsys' Sentaurus TCAD models to support the next-generation FinFET devices. The collaboration will include 3-D modeling of new device architectures and materials that will enable the semiconductor industry to continue to deliver products with higher performance and lower power consumption. http://phys.org/news274522753.html Technology Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:30:01 EST news274522753 (Phys.org)—Does parenting take a toll on the immune system? If you've ever been the parent of a newborn who demanded to be fed every three to four hours, your gut instinct tells you the answer is an absolute, unequivocal yes. http://phys.org/news272620056.html Biology Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:47:45 EST news272620056 (Phys.org)—A longterm study conducted by researchers at George Mason University may be a benchmark in determining health threats to marine mammals. http://phys.org/news268398412.html Biology Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:06:59 EST news268398412 (Phys.org)—Researchers have found an effective means of estimating the "regions of attraction" (ROA) when developing computer models of biological systems – improving the ability of these models to predict how a system will respond to changing conditions. But to talk about that, we probably need to explain what an ROA is – and why it matters. http://phys.org/news267180055.html Biology Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:41:14 EST news267180055 It was long thought that methylation, a crucial part of normal organism development, was a static modification of DNA that could not be altered by environmental conditions. New findings by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, however, suggest that the DNA of organisms exposed to stress undergo changes in DNA methylation patterns that alter how genes are regulated. http://phys.org/news263577819.html Biology Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:03:59 EST news263577819 When most people think about global warming, they envision rising temperatures and sea levels. Robert Agnew, a professor of sociology at Emory, thinks about rising crime rates. http://phys.org/news261289962.html Other Sciences Thu, 12 Jul 2012 05:33:02 EST news261289962 King penguins tolerate some, but not all, human interference. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal, BMC Ecology, investigates the adjustment of a king penguin colony on the protected Possession island in the subantarctic Crozet Archipelago to over 50 years of constant human disturbance. http://phys.org/news261160704.html Biology Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:00:01 EST news261160704 Black men, especially those living in low-income, urban areas, face many societal stressors, including racial discrimination, incarceration and poverty. In addition, these men have poorer health outcomes. Now, a University of Missouri faculty member has studied these men's efforts to negotiate social environments that are not designed to help them attain good health and success. http://phys.org/news260469484.html Other Sciences Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:38:13 EST news260469484 Simultaneously attaining a reliable water supply for California and protecting and rehabilitating its Bay-Delta ecosystem cannot be realized until better planning can identify how trade-offs between these two goals will be managed when water is limited, says a new report from the National Research Council. Recent efforts have been ineffective in meeting these goals because management is distributed among many agencies and organizations, which hinders development and implementation of an integrated, comprehensive plan. Additionally, it is impossible to restore the delta habitat to its pre-disturbance state because of the extensive physical and ecological changes that have already taken place and are still occurring, including those due to multiple environmental stressors. http://phys.org/news252248916.html Space & Earth Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:08:44 EST news252248916 For plant-inhabiting predatory mites, living among familiar neighbors reduces stress. This allows individuals to focus on other tasks and be more productive, in particular while they are foraging. The new study by Markus Strodl and Peter Schausberger, from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria, supports the theory that so-called 'social familiarity' reduces the cognitive, physiological and behavioral costs of group-living, leading to increased efficiency in other tasks. Their work is published online in Springer's journal, Naturwissenschaften - The Science of Nature. http://phys.org/news252236871.html Biology Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:47:59 EST news252236871 Alberta's oilsands have water challenges. Oilsands development uses a vast amount of water and even though it's recycled multiple times, the recycling concentrates the toxins and metals leftover from extracting and upgrading the bitumen, resulting in tailings ponds that are both a lightening rod for controversy and a significant risk to the environment. A research project underway between biologists at the University of Calgary and engineers at the University of Alberta to help resolve the water issue is making rapid progress toward that goal. http://phys.org/news243681912.html Biology Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:25:25 EST news243681912 A team of researchers from the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) have developed an interactive global map of corals and zooxanthellae as part of a hybrid web application titled GeoSymbio. This application provides global-scale biological and ecosystem information on symbiotic zooxanthellae called Symbiodinium which are uni-cellular, photosynthetic dinoflagellates that live inside the cells of other marine organisms like anemones, jellyfish, and corals. http://phys.org/news238867005.html Space & Earth Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:56:56 EST news238867005 The Earth currently has more than 400 so-called "dead zones"--huge expanses of deep ocean that, because of human activities, become too oxygen-starved during the summer to support most life. http://phys.org/news237198353.html Space & Earth Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:40:09 EST news237198353 For better or worse, marital quality influences the well-being of couples and those around them. In addition, economic and social hardships can reduce overall happiness within marriages. According to a new study from the University of Missouri, low-income couples who receive government assistance, such as Medicaid or Food Stamps, are significantly less satisfied and committed in their marriages. http://phys.org/news234616063.html Other Sciences Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:44:09 EST news234616063 Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have discovered the cellular mechanisms that normally generate chromosomal breaks in bacteria such as E. coli. The study's findings are published in the August 18 issue of the journal Cell. http://phys.org/news232895135.html Biology Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:06:12 EST news232895135 When faced with environmental threats like bad weather, predators or oil spills, wild birds secrete a hormone called corticosterone. Traditionally, researchers have analyzed blood samples to detect corticosterone levels in wild birds. http://phys.org/news232685617.html Biology Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:53:57 EST news232685617 In an unprecedented collaborative analysis published in the journal PLoS Biology, scientists from 49 nations demonstrated that the ability of reef fish systems to produce goods and services to humanity increases rapidly with the number of species. However, growing human populations hamper the ability of reefs to function normally, and counterintuitively, the most diverse reef fish systems suffer the greatest impairments from stressors triggered by human populations. The study documented that the extent of this distress is widespread and likely to worsen because 75% of the world's reefs are near human settlements and because around 82% of the tropical countries with coral reefs could double their human populations within the next 50 to 100 years. http://phys.org/news221245154.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:59:32 EST news221245154 Living through a natural disaster is a traumatic experience for everyone, but especially for children. A new study by University of Miami Psychologist Annette La Greca and her collaborators, indicate that some children who directly experience a devastating hurricane still show signs of posttraumatic stress (PTS) almmost two years after the event. The findings suggest that new models for intervention to help children after a natural disaster are needed. http://phys.org/news214061745.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:00:03 EST news214061745 A study of long-term, active duty military personnel who used Department of Veterans Affairs' health services showed that childhood maltreatment and other high magnitude stressors, such as being in a serious accident or a natural disaster, were more strongly associated with participants' current psychiatric symptoms than were their military sexual experiences, such as sexual harassment. http://phys.org/news211026096.html Medicine & Health Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:40:01 EST news211026096 Seemingly healthy adults, if they were abused or neglected during childhood, may suffer physiological consequences decades later. In research published online last week by the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, a team led by psychiatrists at Brown University and Butler Hospital found that healthy adults who reported being mistreated as kids appear to have an elevated inflammatory response to stress compared to adults who had happier childhoods. http://phys.org/news205671221.html Medicine & Health Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:10:03 EST news205671221 (PhysOrg.com) -- The biggest cause of stress for people who care for loved ones after a stroke may not be worrying about the affected family member. http://phys.org/news205058507.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:41:59 EST news205058507 Researchers at The University of Western Ontario have provided the first direct evidence using a biological marker, to show chronic stress plays an important role in heart attacks. Stressors such as job, marital and financial problems have been linked to the increased risk for developing cardiovascular disease including heart attack. But there hasn't been a biological marker to measure chronic stress. Drs. Gideon Koren and Stan Van Uum developed a method to measure cortisol levels in hair providing an accurate assessment of stress levels in the months prior to an acute event such as a heart attack. The research is published on-line in the journal Stress. http://phys.org/news202708290.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:20:01 EST news202708290 (PhysOrg.com) -- Two UA studies have found that hoarding friends doesn't necessarily diminish forlorn feelings and that loneliness is a matter of perception. http://phys.org/news196088394.html Medicine & Health Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:00:41 EST news196088394 (AP) -- Stock market slides may hurt more than your savings. New research suggests they might prompt heart attacks. Duke University researchers found a link between how a key stock index performed and how many heart attacks were treated at their North Carolina hospital shortly after the recession began in December 2007 through July 2009, when signs of recovery emerged. http://phys.org/news187717608.html Medicine & Health Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:47:14 EST news187717608 Improved delivery of end-of-life care in prison is the focus of a $1.27-million grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research that has Penn State researchers working with employees from six Pennsylvania prisons and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. http://phys.org/news183725241.html Medicine & Health Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:00:01 EST news183725241 People with parents who were violent to each other are more likely to have mental health problems when they grow up, reveals research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. http://phys.org/news162670960.html Medicine & Health Wed, 27 May 2009 19:23:30 EST news162670960