Sunday, August 30, 2009

Making Waves With Sound

Hey kids, have you ever wondered why you hear thunder after you see lightning? Or why the horn on a car sounds different when it's coming toward you than when it's moving away? Or why things sound different under water? It all has to do with sound waves!

Anything that vibrates makes a sound. Try this: put your hand gently against your throat and hum. Can you feel those vibrations? That's your voice!

The faster something vibrates, the higher the sound is. And the bigger the vibrations, the louder the sound is. When something vibrates, it smashes into the particles of air, liquid, or solid around it. These particles then smash into the particles next to them, and send the sound along in a wave.

You can see the way sound travels by filling up a tub or sink with water. Put your hand in the water and give it a quick wave. See how the wave your hand made travels through the water? Sound travels in just the same way!

Sound also travels differently depending on what it's moving through. If you had a microscope more powerful than anything on the planet, you would be able to see that everything around us is made up of tiny particles called atoms. The atoms in a gas, like air, are far apart and whizzing around. The atoms in a liquid are closer together, but slosh past each other. The atoms in a solid are packed tightly together and locked into one shape.

When sound waves travel through air, the atoms are spaced so far apart that it's hard for one group of atoms to reach the next group to pass the sound wave along. Sound waves in air fade away very fast.

Because the atoms in liquid are much closer together, it's much easier for them to bump into each other and pass the sound wave along. But the best thing for sending sound waves along is a solid. Have you ever seen a movie where someone puts their ear to the ground to see if someone is following them? That's because solid rock carries sounds faster and farther than air!

You can try this experiment with a friend. Find a long metal fence, and stand at either end of it. Put your ear to the fence, and have your friend tap the other end with a rock or stick. You should be able to hear the sound twice - once through the fence, and again through the air!

You can also hear that sounds are much louder in solids than in air. That's why spies in movies will listen to a conversation though a wall by putting their ear against a glass. The solid glass makes the sound louder!

You can have some learning fun of your own with this simple experiment: Get in a bathtub (or something you can swim in), and tap the side of the tub with something hard. Then put your head underwater and tap again. The sound should be louder in the water! Now put your ear against the side of the tub and tap a third time. The sound will be even louder!

So remember next time you're dancing to your favourite songs to take a look at the speakers and watch the vibrations. Those simple smashing atoms can make some really amazing beats!

Discover more kids science articles, look up amazing fun facts, do animated science quizzes with talking characters, meet friends in virtual worlds, play games and do fun science activities at Science Score - the world's most fun online elearning product for kids.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Jane_Elliott

The Shocking Story of Electricity

Hey kids, have you ever watched lightning in the sky at night, or gotten zapped when you touched a metal door? Those are two shocking examples of electricity!

Elementary science teaches us that everything in the world is made up of tiny particles called atoms. An atom is made up of a hard core, called a nucleus, and a cloud of fast whizzing particles called electrons that move around the nucleus. Sometimes electrons can even jump from one place to another. When electrons move, this creates a current of electricity.

When you see lightning up in the sky, you're actually seeing billions of electrons jumping all at once from one place to another. Moving electrons tend to release a lot of energy, and we can use this electricity to do all kinds of things, from powering a computer to splitting an atom apart.

Our bodies also use electricity. Every thought that you have is the result of tiny electrical signals jumping between the cells in your brain. Everything that you feel is an electrical message passed down long pathways called nerves that run from your body to your brain. Even your heart is controlled by electrical signals that tell each cell in your heart when to beat.

A heart attack happens when this electrical signal gets mixed up and every cell in your heart tries to beat at a different time. That's why doctors can use a machine called a defibrillator to deliver a powerful electric shock to your heart - it resets all the heart cells and gets them beating in time again!

Here's a fun and easy elementary science experiment you can do to see electricity at home:

A Hair-Raising Experiment

1. Blow up a balloon and tie a knot in the end to keep the air from escaping.
2. Rub the balloon quickly back and forth over your head for ten seconds.
3. Slowly pull the balloon away. Watch what happens to your hair.
4. Touch the balloon to a smooth surface, like a wall, and let go. If you rubbed enough, it should stick!

What's Happening:

Have you ever heard the saying "opposites attract"? Well, that's true of electric charges, too. Electrons have a negative charge, and the protons that make up the nucleus of an atom have a positive charge. Electrons push away from other electrons, but are strongly attracted to things with a positive charge. There are usually the same number of protons and electrons in an atom, so most of the time, they cancel each other out.

When you rub the balloon over your hair, the balloon grabs electrons from the atoms in your hair. Now there are more electrons than protons in the balloon, and fewer electrons than protons in your hair. This leaves the balloon with a negative charge and your hair with a positive charge. Since opposites attract, the negatively charged balloon sticks to your positively charged hair!

When you touch the balloon to the wall, the electrons in the atoms of the wall are repelled by the balloon and move away from it, but the protons in the wall are attracted to the electrons in the balloon and move slightly toward it. The negative charge in the balloon is attracted to the positive charge in the wall, and zap! It sticks just like a magnet.

Now that is shocking science!



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Jane_Elliott

Middle School Science Fair Projects - Brainstorming Ideas For Science Fair Success

There many topics that can be used for middle school science fair projects, covering a range of scientific disciplines. Below is a list of scientific questions that can be adapted for use by the middle school students:

• What kinds of single cell animals live in the water? How are they different from viruses and bacteria? How do they reproduce?
• What is the life cycle of the common butterfly? Name the stages that it goes through from egg to mature adult.
• Explain what DNA is. What is a chromosome? What is a gene? What is inheritance?
• Name four major glands in the body. Make diagrams for them and explain what their function is.
• Name the major classifications for different animal species. How are they different from one another? What are the names of some of the animals in each classification?
• What are the main classifications for rocks? How are they differentiated and what are the different characteristics that make them unique? How was each type formed?
• Using edible ingredients make a sample aquifer. Show how pollutants can get into the water. Show how the water table can be reduced by pumping.
• Get a telescope and observe the night sky. Draw the constellations that you see and explain which time of the year it is based on what ones you see in the night sky.
• Pick a favorite dinosaur and research what kind of environment it was likely to live in. What kinds of food did it most likely eat? What geologic period in time did it come from?
• Research how much goes into our landfills each year that can be recycled or composted. What kinds of environmental advantages could be gained if every American could be convinced to do his part and stopped throwing away reusable items?
• What is a carbon footprint? What are some things that the average person could do to reduce the carbon footprint he makes in a year? How are these changes likely to benefit the environment?
• What kinds of renewable energy sources are being investigated currently? How will these alternatives help the environment? What can be powered using these alternatives?
• Yeast are single celled animals that are used in baking and brewing. What function do they serve? How do they perform their work?
• What are the different cells found in blood? What function does each kind of cell perform for the body?
• What are the four blood types found in humans? What is an Rh factor? Which blood type is the most common? Which is the least common? What is an allele?
• What is lightening? What conditions in the atmosphere are necessary for it to form? Why is it so dangerous?
• What is wind? What causes it to move across the face of the earth?

These are just a few of the many questions you can base your middle school science fair projects on. Choosing a category of interest by which to base your hypothesis is a good starting point. Finding a topic interesting to you is the key to a winning science fair project.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dee_Schrock

Discover Gemstones

Our world is built of rocks and minerals. Gemstones crystals, which are mineral compositions, develop deep in the earth where heat melts the minerals from rocks and turns them into liquid magma. This liquid pours out through cracks in the earth or when volcanoes erupt and if there is enough space in the midst of the cracks and crevices of the Earth's crust, the crystals may form and grow. When they cool and harden the new structures expand, connect and develop to form regular three-dimensional geometric shapes that we know as Crystals.

Specific conditions combined with heat and pressure makes crystals grow and become very beautiful, captivating and rare. When this happens, we call these stones precious or semiprecious. Emeralds, diamonds, sapphires and rubies are among the most valuable because they posses the most magnificent colors and are not so abundant. These are the precious stones of which the diamond is "king". But there are also other stones of somewhat lesser value known as semiprecious stones. These are found in more abundant quantities and for that reason their worth is less; but still, they are very attractive and also have the admiration of jewelry artist as well as those that acquire them. To name a few of these group, we have: aquamarine, amethyst, peridot, citrine and carnelian. If you have seen these stones, you realize immediately their mystery, uniqueness and beauty. The word crystal comes from the ancient Greek word krustallos that means ice. Crystals can be found at the surface of the earth or mined underground; large ones originate inside the earth and small ones on the surface.

The minerals that make up crystals can arrange themselves in six different and regular geometrical shapes and they are classified into seven systems. For the purpose of this article, I will only name them because further understanding of their classification is a lengthy study called crystallography that also includes the study of all other properties of crystals. The crystal systems are called: cubic, tetragonal, hexagonal, trigonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic. The six shapes are amorphous, pyramidal acicular, prismatic, massive and dendritic. Other physical properties of crystals are: hardness, density and specific gravity, and cleavage and fracture. Among the optical properties are: color, luster, transparency, luminescence and interference.

A few gems come from plants or animal sources and they are known as organic gems such as amber, pearls, jet and corals. These gems are also minerals but they have different origins. They are also classified by their properties.

The incredible beauty of crystals cannot be denied. It is almost impossible to decide which stone one likes best. I choose to love each and every one of them and discover their hidden mystery and allure.

The-Joy-of-Jewelry.com is an online store created by Patricia Aguirre.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patricia_Aguirre

Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Role of Glycerol in the Maturation of Skin Cells

Personal care products like creams, lotions and soaps contain glycerol, a compound known to be a humectant. It attracts moisture and keeps skin feeling smooth and supple. It prevents dryness, too. This is why lots of products for the skin contain the compound. It is one of the safest and most useful chemical on earth, and is actually a by-product during soap making but commercial soap makers remove the substance in the soap mixture and use it in other products such as moisturizing creams and lotions. Medical College of Georgia has researchers saying that as much as glycerol offers skin benefits, the chemical may have therapeutic effects too.

Glycerol or glycerin is a sugar alcohol. It is a trihydric alcohol with three hydroxyl groups attached to each carbon atom. This molecular feature may better be left for chemists. The chemical has an important property which is hygroscopicity. This hygroscopic nature of the compound means that it attracts moisture or draws in water from the surroundings. This characteristic has become known in many industries particularly the cosmetics and skin care product industries.

There have been debates as to the effectiveness of the substance as a moisturizing agent. If it is indeed water-absorbing, it may pull in moisture from the air and even from the skin tissue itself. However, this hypothesis has never been validated.

There is a young hypothesis, on the other hand, that is under careful study and it has something to do with the role of glycerol in skin maturation process. It has been known in anatomy classes that the stages of skin growth start in the lower layers. Young skin cells move up pushing the old cells up where they die forming a protective outer layer. However, this process is not as simple as it looks.

Glycerol has something to do with the maturation of skin cells. This was what researchers found out recently. As you have known in your biology classes, each cell is enclosed by a lipid bilayer. This double phospholipid membrane serves as the protective covering of cells. The skin cells have additional layer for additional protection and this makes the skin a tough barrier.

An enzyme called phospholipase D has something to do with the process and it has been found out that glycerol combines with this enzyme to direct skin cell maturation. The combination produces phosphatidylglycerol, which is a lipid that activates enzymes necessary for cell differentiation.

It appeared that lack of this trihydric alcohol in the skin causes some problems such as thickening due to failure of the skin tissue to mature properly. A study subjected mice whose genes were modified such that they produce less glycerol. Another version of the study had mice whose lacked fats. Remember, the compound under investigation comes from fats. All these mice showed little glycerin, thus skin maturation was impaired. The result was mice with dry and thick skin.

The subjects of the study, which happened to be mice, were given glycerin orally. The skin conditions showed improvement. Mice given with other agents did not show improvements. This made researchers conclude that the water-loving compound has something to do with the development of the skin tissue.

The activation mechanism in skin cells is important, without which various skin conditions can occur. Skin disorders like psoriasis and skin cancer occur as a result of trouble in the maturation of the skin cells. In these cases, skin maturation is disrupted by continuous cell growth and this leads to abnormality.

Although this research is not basically aimed at possible treatment programs, it aims to understand the processes involved in the development of skin tissue. It is now known that glycerol has something to do with the maturation of skin tissue. What remains unknown is the exact participation of phosphatidylglycerol and what enzymes it activates. Another thing is how it activates those enzymes. This further research could be a breakthrough in dermatological study. It could open doors to more advanced treatment procedures for various skin diseases.

Glycerol - An Indispensable Chemical Substance

A little more than two hundred years ago a chemist named Carl W. Scheele from Sweden heated olive oil and an oxide of lead called litharge. He was amazed to discover a thick liquid that came out of the mixture. He did not know what it was at first. And never did he think it would become one of the most important industrial and commercial chemicals in the world today.

He named it glycerol, from the Greek word glykys, meaning sweet. Indeed he discovered a sweet-tasting substance. During the next studies made about the compound, it was identified to be a major component of fats and oils - that it is in chemical combination with fatty acid molecules to form glycerides. In the coming centuries since its inception, it became widely used in industrial manufacturing. This compound is also known as glycerin or glycerine.

In its pure form C3H8O3 or glycerol has no odor and color but has a sweet taste. It is a thick, syrupy liquid and is quite miscible in alcohol and water. In fact, there are instances that the chemical is used as a solvent. It does not dissolve in hydrocarbons though. At very low temperatures it solidifies into crystals that melt at 18 degrees Celsius. The liquid form boils at 290 degrees Celsius at standard conditions.

During the World War II heavy demands for the compound rose because it is an ingredient to synthesize nitroglycerine - an ingredient of explosives and heart-disease medications as well. However, it is not an explosive by itself. During this time there was huge reliance on soap making as a source of the substance since this process yields glycerin as a byproduct.

A related and similar method of extracting the chemical is through hydrolysis of fats or oils. Currently, however, another way of producing the compound is through preparation from a hydrocarbon source called propylene. Depending on its purity, the compound may be used in a vast number of ways. The crude, unrefined glycerin is an ingredient of dynamites, for instance. The pure, refined form is the one which is used in food and medicines.

In nearly all industries, the substance has a role to fit in. Its unique properties make it a valuable chemical used in pharmaceutical preparations and cosmetics. It is in fact, an ingredient of a huge collection of products from skin care to medicines. It is a hygroscopic and hydrophilic chemical, which means it absorbs water. Thus, when found in lotions, creams and soaps, it enhances the moisturizing and skin-softening feature of these products.

This is the reason why commercial soap manufacturers remove the glycerin that naturally forms in the soap mixture. They use the chemical in more valuable and profitable products as lotions, creams and other cosmetics. The same feature explains why hand-made or home-made soaps, whose glycerin component remains in the mixture, have more skin-moisturizing effects.

In pharmaceutical preparations, it acts as a humectant, preventing creams and ointments from drying out. It is about 60% as sweet as table sugar, that is why it acts as a sweetener or a sugar substitute. It is also a good emulsifying agent that it has the ability to keep insoluble particles of a mixture in uniform dispersion, preventing precipitation or settling of insoluble particles. This is particularly an advantage in medications that must be kept in colloidal suspension.

In baked food, like cakes, the moisture-retaining property of the substance is an advantage because it keeps them soft and moist. It also moistens and softens some candies. It is an excellent solvent for many products like tinctures, extracts, food coloring agents, and food flavorings. Tobacco tastes sweet and remains damp because of its presence on the leaves, and this prevents the leaves from crumbling when rolled and folded. Paints, coatings, glues, adhesives, cellophanes, and meat casings contain glycerin.

6th Grade Science Projects Made Simple and Fun

6th grade science projects are not expected to be original; it is perfectly okay to do an experiment that has been done before. Some schools start doing science fairs in sixth grade, but they are not usually too competitive as their purpose is really to get the students interested. The judges simply want to see that you have put the effort into your project and made up a nice presentation for it. Still, there are endless ideas of topics you can pick.

One fun idea for 6th grade science projects is to see how well people can identify different smells when blind folded. This project is fairly simple. All you need is a blindfold and a few items with different smells. A few ideas might be vanilla, cinnamon, coffee beans, vinegar, and so on. There are many, many different things you can use. To do this project, you will need a volunteer or two. It would be a good idea to make up a chart in advance so you can record your results. Blindfold your volunteer and put each scent under their nose one at a time, and record whether or not they were able to identify what the scent was.

Originality is not the key factor here at this age. The judges just want to see that you are capable of performing an experiment on your own, writing up a report on it and presenting your finding in an organized, easy to understand way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing an experiment that has already been done, as long as you try to make it your own.

New Factors in the Global Warming Debate

In the general public discourse the climate change debate has been, so far, confined almost entirely to the greenhouse gas issue. Our economycarbon footprint utterly dominates all climate change discussions. In actual fact there are several major influences acting on the global climate in terms of raising or lowering atmospheric temperatures. The warming induced by greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, is the first such influence.

However, while the physics of the greenhouse effect are clear, the chain of causality between greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere and specific weather patterns is not fully understood. At this time the actual consequences of such accumulation cannot be accurately predicted in terms of timing and impact. The second influence comes from periodic variations in the earth orbit around the sun and in the inclination of its axis. These cyclical variations have been relatively well correlated with past ice ages and warmer inter-glacial periods.

According to some recent published research in this area our planet would currently be sliding into another cold period or ice age, although the timing is hard to pin down. The third influence, which has come into prominence only recently, is solar activity as manifested through the sunspot cycle. For the earth, a high sunspot count means warming, a low count cooling. Although the basic cycle has an average periodicity of eleven years, there are also long term variations which are not well understood.

Sunspot activity has just reached a low which may or may not be significant. But if this low persists, significant cooling can be expected. One can conclude that the overall picture is becoming increasingly ambiguous. Greenhouse gas accumulation due to the use of fossil fuels is no longer the only story in town, nor is warming the inevitable future outcome.

The purpose here is not to claim that greenhouse gas accumulation is not significant. It is to warn that other influences are in play which can be equally important, and that our scientific understanding must be increased before major economic measures, such as a tax on carbon emissions, are implemented. One such measure, a so-called cap and trade scheme, is currently under discussion in the US Congress.

Such a scheme has considerable drawbacks. First, it amounts to a highly regressive tax on energy, which will disproportionally affect the lower income fractions of the population. Second, it introduces huge market distortions which vastly complicate efforts to deal with the gradually increasing price and reduced availability of petroleum. To be successful, such efforts require first and foremost a realistic and workable long-term energy strategy, the elaboration of which must precede any large-scale government intervention in the energy area.

The US government at this time does not have such a strategy, which, as far as its impact on climate is concerned, must rest on a much better scientific understanding of the various influences on climate listed above. Funding to increase and test this understanding will have a far greater impact than any of the currently proposed schemes to reduce carbon emissions. Until such understanding is on more solid footing, there is no valid justification for major initiatives in economic policy on climate change grounds.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Concept of Process Validation For Pharmaceutical Industry

Concept of Validation
According to GMP definition Validation is "Establishing documented evidence which provides a high degree of assurance that a specific process will consistently produce a product meeting its pre-determined specifications and quality attributes."

Appropriate and complete documentation is recognized as being crucial to the validation effort. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), manufacturing formulae, detailed batch documentation, change control systems, investigational reporting systems, analytical documentation, development reports, validation protocols and reports are integral components of the validation philosophy. The validation documentation provides a source of information for the ongoing operation of the facility and is a resource that is used in subsequent process development or modification activities.

All validation activities will incorporate a level of Impact Assessment to ensure that systems, services and products directly influenced by the testing have been identified.

A revalidation program should be implemented based on routine equipment revalidation requirements and on the Change Control Policy.

Types of Validation

Prospective validation
Establishing documented evidence that a piece of equipment/process or system will do what it purports to do, based upon a pre-planned series of scientific tests as defined in the Validation Plan.

Concurrent validation
Is employed when an existing process can be shown to be in a state of control by applying tests on samples at strategic points throughout a process; and at the end of the process. All data is collected concurrently with the implementation of the process until sufficient information is available to demonstrate process reproducibility.

Retrospective validation
Establishing documented evidence that a process does what it purports to do, based on review and analysis of historical data.

Design Qualification (DQ)
The intent of the DQ is met during the design and commissioning process by a number of mechanisms, which include:

- Generation of User Requirement Specifications
- Verification that design meets relevant user requirement specifications.
- Supplier Assessment /Audits
- Challenge of the design by GMP review audits
- Product Quality Impact Assessment
- Specifying Validation documentation requirements from equipment suppliers
- Agreement with suppliers on the performance objectives
- Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT) & commissioning procedures
- Defining construction and installation documentation to assist with Installation Qualification (IQ).

Installation Qualification (IQ)
IQ provides documented evidence that the equipment or system has been developed, supplied and installed in accordance with design drawings, the supplier's recommendations and In-house requirements. Furthermore, IQ ensures that a record of the principal features of the equipment or system, as installed, is available and that it is supported by sufficient adequate documentation to enable satisfactory operation, maintenance and change control to be implemented.

Operational Qualification (OQ)
OQ provides documented evidence that the equipment operates as intended throughout the specified design, operational or approved acceptance range of the equipment, as applicable. In cases where process steps are tested, a suitable placebo batch will be used to demonstrate equipment functionality.
All new equipment should be fully commissioned prior to commencing OQ to ensure that as a minimum the equipment is safe to operate, all mechanical assembly and pre-qualification checks have been completed, that the equipment is fully functional and that documentation is complete.

Performance Qualification (PQ)
The purpose of PQ is to provide documented evidence that the equipment can consistently achieve and maintain its performance specifications over a prolonged operating period at a defined operating point to produce a product of pre-determined quality. The performance specification will reference process parameters, in-process and product specifications. PQ requires three product batches to meet all acceptance criteria for in-process and product testing. For utility systems, PQ requires the utility medium to meet all specifications over a prolonged sampling period.

The PQ documentation should reference standard manufacturing procedures and batch records and describe the methodology of sampling and testing to be used.

What Gets Validated
General
All process steps, production equipment, systems and environment, directly used for the manufacture of sterile and non sterile products must be formally validated.

All major packaging equipment and processes should be validated. This validation is less comprehensive.
All ancillary systems that do not directly impact on product quality should be qualified by means of a technical documentation of the extent of the system and how it operates.

Facility
- Manufacturing Area Design.
- Personnel and material flow etc.

Process and Equipment Design
Process steps and equipment description. i.e. Dispensing, Formulating, Packaging, Equipment washing
and cleaning. etc

Utility Systems Design
Raw/purified steam, Purified water, Compressed Air, Air conditioning system, Vacuum, Power supply, Lighting, Cooling water, Waste etc

Computerized Systems Design
Information system, Laboratory automated equipments, Manufacturing automated equipments, Electronic records etc

Cleaning Validation (CV)
CV provides documented evidence that a cleaning procedure is effective in reducing to pre-defined maximum allowable limits, all chemical and microbiological contamination from an item of equipment or a manufacturing area following processing. The means of evaluating the effectiveness of cleaning involves sampling cleaned and sanitized surfaces and verifying the level of product residues, cleaning residues and bacterial contamination.

The term CV is to be used to describe the analytical investigation of a cleaning procedure or cycle. The validation protocols should reference background documentation relating to the rationale for "worst case" testing, where this is proposed. It should also explain the development of the acceptance criteria, including chemical and microbial specifications, limits of detection and the selection of sampling methods.

Method Validation (MV)
MV provides documented evidence that internally developed test methods are accurate, robust, effective, reproducible and repeatable. The validation protocols should reference background documentation relating to the rationale for the determination of limits of detection and method sensitivity.

Computer Validation
Computer Validation provides documented evidence to assure systems will consistently function according to their pre-determined specifications and quality attributes, throughout their lifecycle. Important aspects of this validation approach are the formal management of design (through a specification process); system-quality (through systematic review and testing); risk (through identification and assessment of novelty and critical functionality) and lifecycle (through sustained change control).

Where equipment is controlled by embedded computer systems, elements of computer validation may be performed as part of the equipment IQ and OQ protocols.

General process, cleaning and methodology validation concepts are described in this article with a special view to pharmaceutical industry


The Pheromone Women Get Attracted To

Pheromones come in different forms and types. It is not just a single thing that comes in various brands. In fact, there are actually five types of pheromones that will be discussed below.

The first pheromone women get attracted to is the "androstenone". This one is found in low levels in the sweat and urine of men. It gets the attention of women that is studied to have caused them an increase in sexual tension and arousal. The effect it creates for men though is aggression since it can create for them an intimidating and dominant aura. The next type, and read it well since it may look the same at first glance but it is a different type of those pheromones out there that can induce an effect on women, the "androsterone". This type of pheromone women get attracted to promotes in them a certain sense of trust even if the male is a complete stranger. It provides for males the dominant and masculine appeal leaving the intimidation and aggression effect given by the first type, androstenone. It also allows for the non-threatening alpha male profile. It gives the males the aura of leadership and safety as well as his ability to protect the women and his reliability. These traits are more associated with the peaceful alpha male profile.

Another same sounding type is the "androstenol". This is otherwise called the icebreaker pheromone women may find interesting since it triggers friendliness and chattiness. Like other pheromones, it allows for the increase in sexual attractiveness of the male. Different effects are produced by the 2 types of "s" compound found in the androstenol, the beta and the alpha isomers. The latter allows for the friendly, more approachable and less intimidating impression. Little is known of the former type but that it enhances the latter to give that feeling of comfort and friendliness. Androstenol also produces the effect of being healthy and young.

A pheromone that is said to be a testosterone (sex hormone) derivative is the "androstadienone". It affects women's brain activity and elevates her mood. It also gives them a reduced feeling of tension and nervousness. The last type is the "oxytocin analog" which gives the feelings of deep connection and trust.

If you are a female, you may now determine which type of pheromone has a strong effect on you. If you are a male and you are sensitive enough to know how you woman feels for you, then you may realize what type of pheromone you naturally have.

Does Gene Expression Hold the Key to Violence?

The way children are cared for from the moment they are born may affect how their genes are expressed and consequently how likely they are to grow up to be violent.

Longitudinal research from Canada shows that chronically violent young men demonstrate underdeveloped gene expression in the hormonal system that would help them to deal with stress.

Presenting at last month's Parents Matter conference in London, Professor Richard Tremblay from the University of Montreal guided his audience through striking findings from the Montreal Longitudinal Experimental Study (MLES).

The data showed that young adults who display chronic aggression demonstrate only partial expression of the genes vital to the development of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). This is the hormonal system responsible for, among other things, how individuals react to stressful situations.

DNA is the blueprint for human development. But not everything found in the code is put into action. For genes to be expressed, DNA must be translated into proteins that will change something in our bodies. Researchers now broadly agree that gene expression is influenced to a large extent by environmental factors.

The Montreal study has been following the progress of over 1,000 boys since 1984. From poor and deprived neighborhoods, they were selected for the study as being at high risk of becoming young offenders.

Tremblay's analysis separated them into four groups: those who exhibited no physical aggression and who were prone to use "normal," high and chronic levels. Individuals on a trajectory of chronic aggression showed poorer gene expression for the HPA axis; the normal group showed typical gene expression in this area.

The study also collected a large amount of contextual data about the children. Tremblay and his team then looked for the most important risk factors for chronic aggression. Two were prominent: having a teenage mother or a mother with little or no education.

One interpretation of these risk factors is that there is a connection between poor parenting, low gene expression and chronic aggression.

Tremblay explained how the analysis applied to the Montreal Longitudinal Experimental Study was based on a study of rats by university colleagues.

In investigating the importance of parenting on rat development and in particular the significance of grooming, the researchers discovered that the rats who were licked most, lived longest.

Licking and grooming had a chemical impact on the expression of their genes - a factor key to the proper development of the HPA axis.

Tremblay also discussed the potential implications of his human findings in policy making when he spoke at the London conference. If the quality of care children received affected the development of their hormonal systems, early intervention was essential.

Investments in attempts to modify the behavior of aggressive adolescent boys were bound to be largely wasted. Future efforts should focus on the well-being of the teenage mothers of the aggressive young men of tomorrow, he argued.

Prevention Action (http://www.preventionaction.org) is an online news publication reporting internationally on prevention and early intervention programs for improving children's health and development.

Comprehensive The focus of the website extends to physical, behavioral, emotional, social and intellectual development. Daily stories, comment and blogs look at the potential causes of impairments to children's health and development, such as poverty, poor housing, genes and gene-environment interactions, and family dysfunction.

We are also interested in public policy, professional practice and public behavior that bears on the success of prevention.

International Coverage takes a determinedly broad view by reporting on initiatives from all over the world, among developed and developing societies.