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Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for May 10, 2011:
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Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Cheap, abundant cathode material found for producing hydrogen fuel (w/ video)- Pairing quantum dots with fullerenes for nanoscale photovoltaics
- Proton dripping tests a fundamental force in nature
- U.S. team creates diamond aerogel in lab by emulating Mother Nature
- 169 years after its discovery, Doppler effect found even at molecular level
- An enigmatic problem in marine ecology uncovered
- Harnessing the energy of the sun: New technique improves artificial photosynthesis
- Flight speed is affected by diet in early life
- How microbes take out the trash
- Voice-based phone recharging
- Razing Seattle's viaduct doesn't guarantee nightmare commutes, model says
- Google launching cloud-based music service
- Tiny talk on a barnacle's back: Scientists use new imaging technique to reveal complex microbial interactions
- Heat helps cancer drugs battle cancer
- Beneficial bacteria help repair intestinal injury by inducing reactive oxygen species
Space & Earth news
Rediscovering sound soil management
At the same time that demand for food is soaring along with the world's population, the soil's ability to sustain and enhance agricultural productivity is becoming increasingly diminished and unreliable.
Fire and rain: Fed scientists point to wild April
(AP) -- April was a historic month for wild weather in the United States, and it wasn't just the killer tornado outbreak that set records, according to scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Flooding peaks in Memphis; downstream danger lurks
(AP) -- As the Mississippi reaches its high point in Memphis and attention turns to a time-consuming clean up, farmers downriver built homemade levees to protect their crops and engineers diverted water into a lake to ease the pressure on New Orleans levees.
Quebec unveils $80 bln plan for undeveloped north
Quebec unveiled an $80-billion plan on Monday to rev up forestry and mining development over the next 25 years in its vast northern region, dubbed one of the world's last unspoiled wildernesses.
Mississippi crests in Memphis at nearly 48 feet
(AP) -- The Mississippi River crested in Memphis at nearly 48 feet on Tuesday, falling inches short of its all-time record but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup.
CO2 makes life difficult for algae
The acidification of the world's oceans could have major consequences for the marine environment. New research shows that coccoliths, which are an important part of the marine environment, dissolve when seawater acidifies.
Explained: Measuring earthquakes
The powerful earthquake that struck Japan in March was a 9.0-magnitude event. But this was not, as some people may assume, as registered on the Richter scale, the famed measuring system dating to the 1930s. Seismologists today do not use the Richter scale as a universal tool for measuring earthquakes, because it does not accurately measure the energy emitted in jolts as big as the one that hit Japan.
Examining the Great Wall
Structure exists on nearly all scales in the universe. Matter clumps under its own gravity into planets, stars, galaxies, clusters, and superclusters. Beyond even these in scale are the filaments and voids. The largest of these filaments is known as the Sloan Great Wall. This giant string of galaxies is 1.4 billion light years across making it the largest known structure in the universe. Yet surprisingly, the Great Wall has never been studied in detail. Superclusters within it have been examined, but the wall as a whole has only come into consideration in a new paper from a team led by astronomers at Tartu Observatory in Estonia.
TRMM maps a wet spring, 2011 for the Central U.S.
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite has been keeping track of the drenching rainfall that has been occurring in the central U.S. this springtime, and a newly created rain map from that data from April to May 4, 2011 shows those soaked areas.
Soyuz launch from Europe space base set for October
The maiden launch of the veteran Soviet-Russian rocket Soyuz from Europe's space base in South America has been scheduled for October, a spokesman for launch operators Arianespace said on Tuesday.
Planets align in the morning sky (w/ video)
Have you ever woken up at the crack of dawn, shuffled to the kitchen counter for your first cup of joe, only to discover that you're out of coffee beans?
Taking a close look at the eco-balance of coffee capsules
Exactly how environmentally friendly are the various capsule systems and other ways of making coffee? Empa researchers have taken a close look at the ecological balances of the various systems currently in use. The result: it all depends on the contents. The choice of coffee has a much stronger effect on the environmental friendliness than the capsule system, type of machine or method of preparation.
Engineering tests leading the way for NASA's next neemo mission
To determine how best to explore asteroids in the future, NASA scientists and engineers are taking their experiments underwater in the 15th expedition of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO.
River crests in Memphis; states downstream prepare
(AP) -- The Mississippi crest rolled past Memphis on Tuesday, going easy on much of the city, yet downriver in the mostly poor, fertile Delta region, floodwaters washed away crops, damaged hundreds of homes and closed casinos key to the state's economy.
Scientists surprised by solar wind data retrieved from Genesis mission
The 2004 crash-landing of a NASA capsule into the deserts of Utah had mission scientists fearing for a while that samples collected by the Genesis mission, sent to capture particles from the sun's solar wind, were lost to science.
Technology news
Report: Microsoft near deal to buy Skype
Microsoft Corp. is nearing a deal to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype in what could be the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history, according to a published report.
Apple pays compensation over Beijing brawl
US high-tech giant Apple said staff at its flagship Beijing store acted in self-defence when a fight broke out, resulting in injuries to a customer who has since been compensated, reports said Tuesday.
Of minds and machines
In the 1950s and '60s -- when MIT’s Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts were building networks of artificial neurons, John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky were helping to create the discipline of artificial intelligence and Noam Chomsky was revolutionizing the study of linguistics -- hopes were high that tools emerging from the new science of computation would soon unravel the mysteries of human thought.
China web giant Tencent buys into film maker
Chinese Internet giant Tencent has bought a 4.6 percent stake in mainland film and TV producer Huayi Brothers Media to look at possible ways to combine film and new media, the firms said Tuesday.
If you can 'green' it here, you can green it anywhere
At 7,000 feet in a tony resort community in the Wasatch mountains, Park City, Utah is known for many things-the Sundance Film Festival, world class outdoor recreation, 2002 Winter Olympics-but modest, "high performance" and affordable residences doesn't top most lists.
Report underscores advantages of renewable energy future
A major new report by the United Nations-supported Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) launched today underscores the incredible environmental and social advantages of a future powered by renewable energy over the next decades, WWF said.
$138 million in funding for Gilt Groupe
Online private sales company Gilt Groupe said Monday that it has raised $138 million in new funding led by Japan's Softbank Group.
Sony to restore PlayStation Network by end of May
(AP) -- Sony said Tuesday it aims to fully restore its PlayStation Network, shut down after a massive security breach affecting over 100 million online accounts, by the end of May.
Cellphone alert system announced in NYC
(AP) -- An emergency alert system that will send messages to cellphones during disasters could have been used to warn New Yorkers of the tornadoes that hit the city last year, city officials said Tuesday.
Senate panel grills Apple, Google on location data
(AP) -- A Senate panel is questioning executives from Apple and Google about why iPhones and handheld wireless devices running Google's Android software store location data that can be used to track where their owners have been.
7.5 million Facebook users are under 13: study (Update)
Some 7.5 million of the 20 million minors who used Facebook in the past year were younger than 13, and a million of them were bullied, harassed or threatened on the site, a study released Tuesday said.
Keeping drivers focused on the road
Technology might someday succeed in an area where laws, public service campaigns, and common sense have generally failed: getting drivers to stop gabbing and focus on the road.
Hackers turn PlayStation into pay station
In late April, a hacker crippled Sony’s PlayStation Network by stealing the names, home addresses and perhaps even the credit card numbers of some 70 million subscribers, who play and download games through the online service.
Few more days until PlayStation Network restored
Sony said Tuesday that it will be at least a few more days before it restores the PlayStation Network, which has been offline since it was targeted by by hackers last month.
Novel microscope could be used for melanoma detection
Suspicion of melanoma: In the future, doctors can pull out a new type of microscope to get to the bottom of suspicious changes in the skin. It provides a high-resolution image of skin areas of any size – and so quickly that you can hold it in your hand without blurring the resulting picture.
Bats lend an ear to sonar engineering
Researchers have mapped out the diversity of bat ears in a hope to inspire the design of new intuitive methods of manipulating waves with physical shapes, such as SONAR and RADAR.
Google to launch online music service: report
Internet giant Google could launch an online music service as early as Tuesday to rival Amazon's "cloud" service, which allows users to store digital music online, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Electric cars take off in Norway
They speed past gas guzzlers in traffic, ignore congestion charges and get city centre parking for free. In a country whose wealth is fuelled by oil, Oslo has become the world capital of the electric car.
Microsoft agrees to buy Skype for $8.5B
Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype SA for $8.5 billion in the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history.
'Surrogates' aid design of complex parts and controlling video games
Researchers have defined a new class of software, calling it "surrogate interaction," which enables designers and video gamers to more easily change features of complex objects like automotive drawings or animated characters.
Water-propelled jetpack hits the market for $99,500 (w/ video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- A water-propelled jetpack called Jetlev R200 is possibly the most fun-looking water activity yet. The Florida-based company Jetlev Technologies, Inc., working with German company MS Watersports GmbH, has recently started limited production in a phased roll-out program. At a cost of $99,500 per jetpack, the target market for the recreational device is holiday resorts.
Voice-based phone recharging
(PhysOrg.com) -- The noise that we produce can be a lot of things. It can be a valid means of communication. It can be an annoyance when you are trying to get to bed at night. It can be a migraine waiting to happen, and depending on who you ask, it can even be a form of pollution. But, could that annoying loud man next to you on the subway, or your can't keep it down neighbors TV, be a potential source of renewable-energy?
Razing Seattle's viaduct doesn't guarantee nightmare commutes, model says
Debate about how to replace Seattle's deteriorating waterfront highway has centered on uncertainties in the project's price tag. Drilling a deep-bore tunnel and building an underground highway is estimated to cost around $4 billion, but some worry the final price could be higher, as it was for Boston's infamous Big Dig.
Google launching cloud-based music service
Google is launching a new service that lets users store their music remotely and access them from any compatible device, including mobile phones, tablets and computers.
Medicine & Health news
Australia: Ecstasy loses its shine
Ecstasy, one of the most popular "recreational" drugs in Australia over the past two decades, is becoming less popular with regular users, consistent with global trends, say the authors of a new report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at the University of New South Wales.
Black patients more likely to be monitored for prescription drug abuse
(Medical Xpress) -- Despite studies that show that whites are more likely than blacks to misuse prescription pain medications, a new study reveals that blacks are significantly more likely than whites to be checked for potential drug abuse. The study appears in Annals of Family Medicine.
UA psychology professor seeks relief for chronic headache sufferers
(Medical Xpress) -- Dr. Beverly Thorn, chair of The University of Alabama's psychology department, is seeking volunteers for a key study into how "mindfulness meditation" can help manage chronic pain from headaches.
Personality affects how likely we are to take our medication
The results of a unique study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, show that personality has an impact on how likely people are to take their medication. This is the first major study of its kind to be published in the online journal PloS ONE.
Routine antenatal screening for hepatitis B in an urban NYC population
According to new research at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, high rates of chronic hepatitis B infection (HBV) are found in pregnant minority and immigrant women in the New York City area, and most of them do not receive education, appropriate follow-up testing or referral, which is considered the standard of care for all persons newly identified as HBV carriers.
Wide-reaching report finds strong support for nurse and pharmacist prescribing
Greater powers introduced by the government to enable specially trained nurses and pharmacists to prescribe medication in England have been successfully adopted, according to a new report.
palliative care patients benefit from unique music therapy project, study finds
As people face a terminal illness and are confined to a hospital bed or hospice room, music can provide a great source of solace. North American healthcare professionals have increasingly recognized the benefits of music therapy in palliative care, since end-of-life treatment is designed to meet the psychosocial, physical and spiritual needs of patients.
Six percent of Spanish workers have high cardiovascular risk
The first study into the prevalence of overall cardiovascular risk in the Spanish working population (ICARIA) shows that 6% of workers have a high risk (8% on men and 2% in women). This prevalence increases with age in both sexes, and is highest in the farming sector, followed by construction, industry and services.
Depression associated with poor medication adherence in patients with chronic illnesses
People who are depressed are less likely to adhere to medications for their chronic health problems than patients who are not depressed, putting them at increased risk of poor health, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Brazil's health care system vastly expands coverage, but universality, equity remain elusive
Two decades after Brazil's constitution recognized health as a citizen's right and a duty of the state, the country has vastly expanded health care coverage, improved the population's health, and reduced many health inequalities, but universal and equitable coverage remains elusive, experts from four major Brazilian universities and New York University have concluded.
Training to promote health
Many people use fitness studios to get back into shape after an injury. Fraunhofer researchers are now developing a system that will provide doctors with data on the exercises people do on the various machines. This should help them plan better training programs.
Study: Lowering cost doesn't increase hearing aid purchases
Lowering the cost of hearing aids isn't enough to motivate adults with mild hearing loss to purchase a device at a younger age or before their hearing worsens, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.
5 Questions: Dean Pizzo on doctor-patient communication
For all the technological advances that enable today’s physicians to get a better view of what’s going on inside their patients, many neglect one key source of insight — direct and engaged conversation. Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, wants doctors to improve physician-patient communication as a way to better “fuse the art and science of medicine.” Pizzo wrote about the topic in a commentary published May 4 in the Journal of the American Medical Association and co-authored by Wendy Levinson, MD, professor and chair of medicine at the University of Toronto. He discussed the obstacles and possible solutions to better physician-patient communication with Inside Stanford Medicine writer Susan Ipaktchian.
Computerized table lets students do virtual dissection
“You make the diagnosis,” said the anatomy instructor, looking up expectantly at his students.
Approach to autism may increase autism spectrum disorder prevalence estimates in children worldwide
Autism may be more common worldwide than previously thought, according to researchers from the George Washington University (GW) and Yale University. The researchers conducted an autism prevalence study for the first time in South Korea and estimated that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder is as high as 2.6 percent of the population of school-age children, equivalent to 1 in 38 children. The study “Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Total Population Sample,” scheduled to be published online on May 9 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, reports on autism among approximately 55,000 children ages 7 to 12 years in a South Korean community. These children include those enrolled in special education services and a disability registry, as well as children enrolled in general education schools.
Two new studies describe likely beneficiaries of health care reform in California
According to two new policy briefs from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the majority of state residents likely to be eligible for federally mandated health insurance coverage initiatives in California in 2014 are also those who may be least likely to excessively use costly health services: men, singles and those of working age.
Student, 16, invents new drug cocktail to fight cystic fibrosis, wins Canadian biotech challenge
While many 16-year-olds are content with PlayStation, Toronto-area student Marshall Zhang used the Canadian SCINET supercomputing network to invent a new drug cocktail which could one day help treat cystic fibrosis.
Less than half of patients with MS continually adhere to drug therapies for treatment: study
Disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) are injected medications used to slow the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), and have been shown to reduce the frequency and severity of relapses. But according to a new study led by St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), adherence to all DMDs is low, with less than half of patients, or 44 per cent, continually adherent after two years.
Study suggests systemic sclerosis is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis
A new study by researchers in Hong Kong suggests that systemic sclerosis is an independent determinant for moderate to severe coronary calcification or atherosclerosis. Conventional cardiovascular risk factors such as age and hypertension predispose patients with systemic sclerosis to plaque build-up in the heart arteries similar to the general population. Details of this study are now available in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).
Patients seldom receive optimal medical therapy before and after percutaneous coronary intervention
Despite guideline-based recommendations that underscore the importance of optimal medical therapy (OMT) for patients with stable coronary heart disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), data from a cardiovascular registry indicate that less than half of these patients are receiving OMT before PCI and approximately one-third are not receiving OMT at discharge following PCI, according to a study in the May 11 issue of JAMA.
Study examines outcomes of erythropoietin use for heart attack patients undergoing PCI
Intravenous administration of epoetin alfa, a product that stimulates red blood cell production, to patients with heart attack who were undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), did not provide reduction in the size of the heart muscle involved and was associated with higher rates of adverse cardiovascular events, according to a study in the May 11 issue of JAMA.
Study: Many elderly get colon screening too often
(AP) -- Many older Americans get repeat colon cancer tests they don't need and Medicare is paying for it, suggests a study that spotlights unnecessary risks to the elderly and a waste of money.
Genes, not race, determine donor kidney survival
A new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center sheds light on what causes certain kidneys to do better than others after being transplanted, providing doctors with an easy way to screen for donor kidneys that have the best chance of survival.
Virginia Tech announces football helmet ratings for reducing concussion risk
Virginia Tech released today the results of a new rating system of adult football helmets that is designed to reduce the risk of concussions. One currently manufactured helmet received the top "5 star" rating, and a total of five helmets received the very good "4-star" rating.
The truth about advertising junk food to children: It works
(Medical Xpress) -- Children exposed to advertisements for high-calorie and nutrient-poor foods consume more unhealthy foods overall, regardless of the specific product and brand being marketed, finds a new study from the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University. The study, published in Economics and Human Biology, shows a relationship between children's exposure to food advertising on television and the consumption of unhealthy food, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages and fast food.
WSU study expands time window for facial nerve rehabilitation
SPOKANE, WASH. –A research study conducted at Washington State University Spokane offers hope to those suffering from facial nerve damage. According to the study, which was published online this week in the journal Developmental Neurohabilitation, muscle weakness resulting from facial nerve damage incurred during childhood can improve with intensive facial exercise, years after injury.
New model taps tiny, common tropical fish for large-scale drug screening to combat Cushing disease
A common, tiny tropical fish plays a key role in a new model for Cushing disease, giving researchers a powerful tool to conduct extensive searches for effective treatments for this serious hormonal disorder, testing up to 300 drugs weekly.
Successful depression treatment of mothers has long-term effects on offspring
Children whose mothers are successfully treated for depression show progressive and marked improvement in their own behaviors even a year after their moms discontinue treatment, new UT Southwestern Medical Center-led research shows.
Noted researcher addresses multiple dimensions of video game effects in new journal article
Douglas Gentile is painfully aware of how research on the effects of video games on kids is often oversimplified to say that games are either "good" or "bad." The associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University has had his own research typecast on the "bad" side with studies on violent video game's effects and video game addiction, even though he's also done studies demonstrating the benefits of games.
Prolonged breastfeeding may be linked to fewer behavior problems
(Medical Xpress) -- Breastfeeding for four months or more is associated with fewer behavioral problems in children at age 5, an Oxford University study suggests.
Researchers find new treatment for constipation
Constipation is definitely not a glamorous topic. In reality, it affects nearly 30 million Americans and costs more than $1 billion annually to evaluate and treat. While not often life threatening, the pain, bloating, discomfort, and straining associated with constipation lead sufferers to focus on one thing - relief. Mayo Clinic researchers recently had success in the clinical trial of a new medication shown to provide relief from constipation in a way that capitalizes on the body's natural processes.
Study: Pace of brain development still strong in late teens
Boys and girls have put many of the trappings of teenagerhood behind them by the age of 18 or 19, but at least some of the brain resculpting that characterizes the decade of adolescence may still be going as strong as ever, according to findings in a new study that measured brainwaves of subjects in their midteens and again in their late teens.
Vitamin D deficiency in pneumonia patients associated with increased mortality
A new study published in the journal Respirology reveals that adult patients admitted to the hospital with pneumonia are more likely to die if they have Vitamin D deficiency.
Three open-heart surgeries free baby from bleak prognosis
Don and Shawna Albright had almost lost hope. Eighteen weeks into Shawna’s pregnancy, an ultrasound showed deadly, unfixable problems with their baby girl’s heart. Two referrals and two echocardiograms later, doctors said there was no way the baby would survive her complex heart defects.
Getting along with co-workers may prolong life, researchers find
People who have a good peer support system at work may live longer than people who don't have such a support system, according research published by the American Psychological Association.
On 9/11, Americans may not have been as angry as you thought they were
On September 11, 2001, the air was sizzling with anger—and the anger got hotter as the hours passed. That, anyway, was one finding of a 2010 analysis by Mitja Back, Albrecht Küfner, and Boris Egloff of 85,000 pager messages sent that day. The researchers employed a commonly used tool called Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, or LIWC, which teases out information from the frequency of word usages in texts.
Researchers find new way to examine major depressive disorder in children
A landmark study by scientists at Wayne State University published in the May 6, 2011, issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, the most prestigious journal in the field, has revealed a new way to distinguish children with major depressive disorder (MDD) from not only normal children, but also from children with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
A new study on self-injury behavior encourages quick and targeted intervention
While the disturbing act of self-injury is nothing new to adolescents, researchers and physicians at Nationwide Children's Hospital have identified a more severe type of behavior that is raising some concern among medical professionals. Often misdiagnosed, ignored and under-reported, Self-Embedding Behavior (SEB) is a form of self-injurious behavior that involves inserting foreign objects into soft tissue – either under the skin or into muscle. A recent study, published in the June issue of Pediatrics, stresses the importance of quickly identifying this dangerous behavior while distinguishing it from other forms of self-injury to prevent future episodes.
Scientists find protein's bad guy role in prostate cancer
It's a disease affecting those closest to us – our fathers, brothers and sons.
'Sitting down' risk for diabetes in South Asians regardless of exercise, waist size
For South Asians, time spent sitting down is a risk factor for diabetes which is not counteracted by time spent exercising or decreased waist size. These are the findings of a new study funded by the National Prevention Research Initiative (NPRI), which is led by the Medical Research Council.
RNA spurs melanoma development
Traditionally, RNA was mostly known as the messenger molecule that carries protein-making instructions from a cell's nucleus to the cytoplasm. But scientists now estimate that approximately 97 percent of human RNA doesn't actually code for proteins at all. A flurry of research in the past decade has revealed that some types of non-coding RNAs switch genes on and off and influence protein function. The best studied non-coding RNAs are the microRNAs. Now, researchers led by Dr. Ranjan Perera at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) in Lake Nona and collaborators at the University of Queensland in Australia, have discovered that levels of a relatively understudied group of RNAs – long, non-coding RNA (lncRNA) – are altered in human melanoma. Their study, published online May 10 by the journal Cancer Research, shows that one lncRNA called SPRY4-IT1 is elevated in melanoma cells, where it promotes cellular survival and invasion.
Professor: Pain of ostracism can be deep, long-lasting
Ostracism or exclusion may not leave external scars, but it can cause pain that often is deeper and lasts longer than a physical injury, according to a Purdue University expert.
Cholera oyster outbreak sickens 11 in US
As many as 11 people have reported getting sick from eating raw oysters contaminated with cholera bacteria in northern Florida, officials said on Tuesday.
Genomic test shows promise as chemotherapy response, survival predictor for women with breast cancer
A new genomic test combining multiple signatures – a patient's estrogen receptor status, endocrine therapy response, chemotherapy resistance and sensitivity – shows promise as a predictor of chemotherapy response and survival benefit in women with invasive breast cancer, according to research led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Heart failure patients' osteoporosis often undiagnosed, untreated
One in 10 heart failure patients had compression fractures in the spine that could have been detected by a chest X-ray, but few are receiving treatment to help prevent such fractures according to a Canadian study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure.
Foot and mouth disease may spread through skin cells
(Medical Xpress) -- Skin cells shed from livestock infected with foot and mouth disease could very well spread the disease.
How to tell when someone's lying
(Medical Xpress) -- When someone is acting suspiciously at an airport, subway station or other public space, how can law enforcement officers determine whether he's up to no good?
Scientists discover way to amp up power of killer T cells
Researchers with UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a way to amp up the power of killer T-cells, called CD8 cells, making them more functional for longer periods of time and boosting their ability to multiply and expand within the body to fight melanoma, a new study has found.
Genetic defects hold clues to risk for sudden cardiac death
Sudden cardiac death is always a shocking, tragic event, especially when it occurs at a young age. But, for the first time, scientists are unraveling how genetic defects can help predict the risk of dying suddenly in individuals with one of the leading causes of this unfortunate phenomenon.
Zebrafish models identify high-risk genetic features in leukemia patients
Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer; it also occurs in adults. Now researchers working with zebrafish at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have identified previously undiscovered high-risk genetic features in T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (T-ALL), according to an article published online May 9, 2011, in the cancer research journal Oncogene. When compared to samples from human patients with T-ALL, these genetic characteristics allowed scientists to predict which patients may have more aggressive forms of the disease that either recur after remission or do not respond to treatment.
Heat helps cancer drugs battle cancer
(PhysOrg.com) -- Localized hyperthermia has been used occasionally with cancer drugs for some time, but until now, the reason it helps has been a mystery. In a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have discovered that the addition of heat inhibits homologous recombination so the cancer cells are unable to repair DNA damage caused by the cancer treatments.
Beneficial bacteria help repair intestinal injury by inducing reactive oxygen species
(Medical Xpress) -- The gut may need bacteria to provide a little bit of oxidative stress to stay healthy, new research suggests. Probiotic bacteria promote healing of the intestinal lining in mice by inducing the production of reactive oxygen species, researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have shown.
Microbubble-delivered combination therapy eradicates prostate cancer in vivo
Cancer researchers are a step closer to finding a cure for advanced prostate cancer after effectively combining an anti-cancer drug with a viral gene therapy in vivo using novel ultrasound-targeted microbubble-destruction (UTMD) technology. The research was conducted by scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine and School of Medicine, in collaboration with colleagues from Washington University School of Medicine and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.
For hearing parts of brain, deafness reorganizes sensory inputs, not behavioral function
– The part of the brain that uses hearing to determine sound location is reorganized in deaf animals to locate visual targets, according to a new study by a team of researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
Biology news
Growing seal population threatens small-scale fishing
Seals and the fishing industry compete for fish of all types – no matter whether it is salmon, whitefish, herring or cod. Seal-safe fishing gear is the most sustainable solution, and we need knowledge about the behaviour of fish and seals in order to develop such gear. This is the conclusion reached by scientists at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Insecticide resistance developing in psyllid that carries citrus disease
(PhysOrg.com) -- In Florida's war against citrus greening, producers face a new threat -- the insects they’re fighting are becoming less sensitive to insecticides, according to a new University of Florida study.
The body's power stations can affect aging
Mitochondria are the body's energy producers, the power stations inside our cells. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have now identified a group of mitochondrial proteins, the absence of which allows other protein groups to stabilise the genome. This could delay the onset of age-related diseases and increase lifespan.
No safety in numbers for moths and butterflies
Scientists at the University of Leeds (UK) are to investigate how lethal viruses attack differently sized populations of moths and butterflies in research that may open the door to new methods of pest control.
Bacterium Salmonella enterica regulates virulence according to iron levels found in its surroundings
Salmonella enterica, one of the main causes of gastrointestinal infections, modulates its virulence gene expression, adapting it to each stage of the infection process, depending on the free iron concentration found in the intestinal epithelium of its host. Researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have demonstrated for the first time that the pathogen activates these genes through the Fur protein, which acts as a sensor of iron levels in its surroundings.
Wild animals age too
Until now, the scientific community had assumed that wild animals died before they got old. Now, a Spanish-Mexican research team has for the first time demonstrated ageing in a population of wild birds (Sula nebouxii) in terms of their ability to live and reproduce.
Research maps out trade-offs between deer and timber
Since the 1950s, sustainability in northern hardwood forests was achieved by chopping down trees in small clumps to naturally make room for new ones to spring up. Early experiments with single-tree and group selection logging found that desirable species like sugar maples did a great job of regenerating in the sunny, rain-drenched harvest gaps – theoretically eliminating the need to replant.
Smallest turtle in the land becomes more scarce
The Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo veterinarians, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program have joined forces to answer a perplexing wildlife question: Why are bog turtles getting sick?
An enigmatic problem in marine ecology uncovered
A new research paper from an international and interdisciplinary team, published in the journal Ecography, has uncovered the mystery behind the relationship between the duration of the open water period and the geographic coverage of marine species.
Probe human diseases in yeast? Possibly, protein study suggests
(PhysOrg.com) -- The molecular-level workings of proteins are surprisingly similar across a wide range of organisms, from humans to fungi and plants, research by University of Michigan evolutionary biologist Jianzhi "George" Zhang and colleagues suggests.
How microbes take out the trash
(PhysOrg.com) -- The molecular machinery bacteria use to rid themselves of toxic substances including antimicrobial drugs has been studied in detail by a UA-led team of researchers. A better understanding of these mechanisms could lead to new weapons in the fight against pathogens.
Flight speed is affected by diet in early life
A good start in early life means everything, and not just for children cajoled into eating their vegetables. Zebra finches that grew up on a poor diet may catch up in weight and size, but become slower to escape predators after a breeding cycle.
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