Phys.org Newsletter Monday, Aug 13

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Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for August 13, 2012:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Fresh water from rivers and rain makes hurricanes, typhoons, tropical cyclones 50 percent more intense
- Study shows how computation can predict group conflict
- Graphene's behavior depends on where it sits
- New research raises doubts about whether modern humans and Neanderthals interbred
- Team deciphers retina's neural code for brain communication to create novel prosthetic retinal device for blind
- Scientists "waltz" closer to using spintronics in computing
- Nano, photonic research gets boost from new 3-D visualization technology
- LHC experiments bring new insight into matter of the primordial universe
- Gamma rays from galactic center could be evidence of dark matter
- Birds can see web-inspired Ornilux glass
- Scientists use light to 'tag and track' genetic processes
- Scientists find state record 87 eggs in largest python from Everglades
- Major advance made in generating electricity from wastewater
- New method may allow personalized clinical trial for cancer therapies
- Bullies squelched when bystanders intervene: study

Space & Earth news

Obama cheers 'mind-boggling' Mars mission
(AP) — Hailing NASA's "mind-boggling" Mars landing of the Curiosity rover, President Barack Obama urged the scientists operating the craft on Monday to phone home immediately if they find any extra-terrestrials.

NASA sees Tropical Storm Kai-tak brushing the Philippines
NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm Kai-tak affecting the northern Philippines on August 13 as the storm heads toward China for a final landfall.

Urban disasters spotlight strain on Asian cities
Deadly floods, power blackouts and traffic gridlock -- many of Asia's biggest cities are buckling under the strain of rapid economic development, extreme weather and an exodus from the countryside.

One half million mile solar filament
This image (above) from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a very long, whip-like solar filament extending over half a million miles in a long arc above the sun’s surface.

Oil spill detected near Exxon operations in Nigeria
An oil spill has been detected along the coast of southern Nigeria near operations for US giant ExxonMobil, the company said Monday, but the cause and size of the leak remained unclear.

Friendships promote better farming in developing countries
A study that examined how rural farmers in Ethiopia learn new farming techniques and adopt them on their own farms discovered that learning from a friend was a stronger motivator than learning from neighbors in close proximity.

Cornell astronomers roving Mars with Curiosity
(Phys.org) -- In a daring feat of technological nerve and skill, NASA landed a 1-ton rover on the surface of Mars Aug. 6. The rolling laboratory is designed to help answer the question humans most want to know about Mars: Is there now or has there ever been life on the Red Planet?

NASA observes a quieter Atlantic to start the week; Hector in east Pacific
On August 13, the Atlantic tropics are quieter than they were the previous week, when four low pressure areas were marching across the ocean basin. Satellite imagery shows two lows in the Atlantic as Tropical Storm Hector spins in the Eastern Pacific Ocean with System 95E near the Mexican coast.

Hubble's close encounter with the Tarantula
(Phys.org) -- Turning its eye to the Tarantula Nebula, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken this close-up of the outskirts of the main cloud of the Nebula.

Curiosity sends high-resolution color images from Gale crater
(Phys.org) -- NASA's Curiosity rover has shipped back to Earth high-resolution color images of its surroundings on Mars, sharpening our views of an intriguing channel, layered buttes and a layer of cobbles and pebbles embedded in a finer matrix of material. The images show a landscape closely resembling portions of the southwestern United States, adding to the impression gained from the lower-resolution thumbnail images released earlier this week.

The cosmic infrared background
(Phys.org) -- The cosmic infrared background is the collective infrared radiation emitted by cosmic sources throughout the history of the universe, including sources inaccessible to current telescopes. The latter category, for example, includes the very first generation of stars, currently a subject of intense investigations. Because of the relative uniformity of this background, which is faint and might be interpreted as instrumental noise, fluctuations in it can often be more readily discerned than the actual background level itself. This property also lets astronomers discriminate against the significant foreground contributions from the solar system and our galaxy.

Student-built rocket with experimental motor blasts to 1st-place finish
(Phys.org) -- A team of University of Washington students designed a unique rocket motor and launched it 5 miles up to claim first prize this summer in the Intercollegiate Rocket Engineering Competition.

Increased deaths from lung disease tied to more fires in Southeast Asia during El Nino
(Phys.org) -- Sometimes in science, it’s a matter of thinking about things in new ways. That’s what a team of US and British researchers have found after studying the numbers of fires that are set intentionally in Southeast Asia to clear forests during El Niño events as compared to so-called normal years, and the incidence of lung disease leading to deaths in the region. After studying a decade’s worth of satellite images, the team, as they describe in their paper published in Nature Climate Change, found what appears to be a correlation between El Niño events and increased deaths due to the pollutants in smoke from fires.

New system could predict solar flares, give advance warning
(Phys.org) -- Researchers may have discovered a new method to predict solar flares more than a day before they occur, providing advance warning to help protect satellites, power grids and astronauts from potentially dangerous radiation.

Fresh water from rivers and rain makes hurricanes, typhoons, tropical cyclones 50 percent more intense
An analysis of a decade's worth of tropical cyclones shows that when hurricanes blow over ocean regions swamped by fresh water, the conditions can unexpectedly intensify the storm. Although the probability that hurricanes will hit such conditions is small, ranging from 10 to 23 percent, the effect is potentially large: Hurricanes can become 50 percent more intense, researchers report in a study appearing this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

Technology news

Usain Bolt rules Twitter during Games
Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt dominated Twitter during the Olympics, the social networking site has revealed, with his gold in the 200 metres inspiring a staggering 80,000 tweets per minute.

Energy from microbes for drying sewage sludge
A new biodrying process from Siemens quickly converts sewage sludge into a usable form while saving energy. When dried with the new process, sludge from wastewater treatment can be used as fertilizer, dumped in landfills or incinerated. Unlike thermal drying processes, the new technique, known as "mechanically enhanced biodrying" or MEB, does not require any outside source of heat. Instead, it uses the energy produced by microbes in the sludge. The operational costs are therefore 30 percent lower compared to thermal drying processes.

Fuel cell electric vehicles make rapid progress in range, durability
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently completed a seven-year project to demonstrate and evaluate hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and hydrogen fueling infrastructure in real-world settings.

Singaporean scientist invents pocket living room TV
Leaving your TV show midway because you had to leave your home will no longer happen as you can now 'pull' the programme on your TV screen onto your tablet and continue watching it seamlessly.

Google buys Frommer's travel guides
US publishing house John Wiley & Sons said Monday it is selling all of its travel assets - including the well known Frommer's brand - to Internet titan Google.

Google cutting 4,000 jobs at Motorola unit (Update)
(AP) — Google Inc. is making its largest round of layoffs ever as it announced plans to cut about 4,000 jobs at Motorola Mobility just three months after buying the struggling cellphone pioneer.

Facedeals checks you in with facial-recognition cameras
A new app is being tested in Nashville, Tenn., that can check in people on Facebook and send them offers using facial-recognition cameras.

Flying silent, seeing more, unmanned Silent Falcon makes debut
(Phys.org) -- Silent Falcon UAS Technologies of Albuquerque, New Mexico earlier this week took the wraps off the solar-powered Silent Falcon. The Silent Falcon is designed to be a man-portable small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) for long-duration surveillance and reconnaissance. It is light enough to be carried and hand launched, while rocket launching is an option. It has a top speed of 112 km/h. and an operational flying altitude from 100 feet (30.5 m) to 20,000 feet (6096 m) and a range of 25 km (15.5 mi).

Major advance made in generating electricity from wastewater
Engineers at Oregon State University have made a breakthrough in the performance of microbial fuel cells that can produce electricity directly from wastewater, opening the door to a future in which waste treatment plants not only will power themselves, but will sell excess electricity.

Birds can see web-inspired Ornilux glass
(Phys.org) -- A special type of glass that can prevent birds from flying into it has been put to use in the UK at a lookout tower off the north-east coast of England. The special bird stopping glass was developed by a German company and is inspired by nature’s own spiders and the webs they weave—in particular, the orb-weaver spider. The lookout tower at Lindisfarne has installed the special glass to protect the hundreds of species that flock to the island. The human population witnesses a massive increase in bird population at certain times of the year. Authorities wanted to do something to avert the dangers of birds flying into glass.

Study shows how computation can predict group conflict
When conflict breaks out in social groups, individuals make strategic decisions about how to behave based on their understanding of alliances and feuds in the group.

Medicine & Health news

Bird flu claims 9th victim in Indonesia this year
(AP) — The Health Ministry says bird flu has killed a 37-year-old man in central Indonesia, marking the country's ninth fatality this year.

Tourists in Nepal warned over cholera outbreak
Nepal on Monday urged foreign travellers to take precautions against cholera after 13 people died in an outbreak in the remote west of the country.

New Zealand's whooping cough admission rates cut by a fifth
Research from The University of Auckland, published in this month’s issue of The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, shows a 20 percent reduction in the New Zealand hospital admission rates for whooping cough (pertussis) in the 2000s compared with the 1990s.

Tabooing female genital cutting
Female genital cutting (FGC) also known as female genital mutilation (FGM) and female circumcision is widely practised in Africa. FGC, described by UNICEF as “one of the worst violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child”, is usually performed on girls between the ages of four and eight, but up to menarche (first menstrual cycle). It is increasingly relevant to Australia because of the growing influx of people from communities that practise FGC. In 2010 Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital reported seeing as many as 700 women a year who had suffered some form of FGC.

New class of proteins allows breast cancer cells to evade tyrosine kinase inhibitors
Aberrant regulation of cell growth pathways is required for normal cells to become cancerous, and in many types of cancer, cell growth is driven by a group of enzymes known as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). The RTK epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in over 30% of breast cancers; however, drugs that target RTKs, known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have not been effective in treating breast cancer. Researchers believe that the cancer cells escape TKIs by circumventing the RTKs and utilizing other enzymes that are not TKI-sensitive.

Researchers discover a new therapy that prevents lung cancer growth in mice
Lung cancer is one of the most aggressive types of cancer and the most common cause of death from this disease worldwide. Despite the progress in the molecular biology of lung cancer achieved in recent years, the mechanisms used by tumor cells to grow and spread throughout the body are not yet completely understood. This lack of information is responsible for the limited range of available therapeutic possibilities and their undesirable side effects.

FDA approves drug to treat diabetic macular edema
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced its approval of Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, or DME, an eye condition in people with diabetes that causes blurred vision, severe vision loss and sometimes blindness. A retinal specialist at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, was one of the lead investigators in the research that led to today’s FDA approval.

Study shows we trust the stethoscope
(Medical Xpress) -- A Curtin University study has shown doctors seeking to earn their clients’ trust while conducting e-consultations should wear a stethoscope and surround themselves with medical tools of the trade.

BUSM researchers part of multi-center study on cardiac amyloidosis
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have been part of a multicenter observational study called TRACS (Transthyretin Amyloidosis Cardiac Study) to help determine the health significance of a particular gene mutation which is commonly found in Black Americans.

Radiation after lumpectomy helps prevent need for mastectomy in early stage breast cancer
Contrary to clinical recommendations, older women with early stage breast cancer may want to undergo radiation after lumpectomy to help ensure that they will not need a mastectomy in the future. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The findings indicate that current thinking on the risks and benefits of radiation for early stage breast cancer in older women may be inaccurate.

Study links persistent and loud snoring in young children with problem behaviors
Persistent and loud snoring in young children is associated with problem behaviors, according to a new study published online in Pediatrics.

Study: Junk food laws may help curb kids' obesity
U.S. laws strictly curbing school sales of junk food and sweetened drinks may play a role in slowing childhood obesity, according to a study that seems to offer the first evidence such efforts could pay off.

In Europe, defences rise against Asian mosquito peril
Behind air-tight doors in a lab in a southern French city, scientists in protective coveralls wage war against a fingernail-sized danger.

Young children need to be taught coping skills
(Medical Xpress) -- Children should be taught coping skills the same way they are taught to hold a pen or ride a bike, according to experts from Melbourne University’s Graduate School of Education.

Global study shows brain damage from stroke can be minimised
(Medical Xpress) -- A new study from The University of Queensland shows monitoring the brain of stroke patients using Quantitative EEG (QEEG) studies could inform treatments and therefore, minimising brain damage of stroke victims.

Speech a new marker for depression treatment response
(Medical Xpress) -- Speech can measure the severity of depression as well as a patient’s response to treatment, a new collaborative study between the University of Melbourne and the Center for Psychological Consultation in Wisconsin, USA has revealed.

New breakthrough could help treat muscular dystrophy
A researcher in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta improved Duchenne muscular dystrophy symptoms in non-human lab models, using a new drug cocktail. The drug combination targets the “hot spot” of the gene mutation, making the condition less severe.

Protein that helps tumor blood vessels mature could make cancer drugs more effective
Since anti-cancer drugs are carried to tumors by the bloodstream, abnormal blood vessel development can hamper delivery. In a paper published Aug. 14 in Cancer Cell, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute found a molecule that promotes tumor vessel maturation. This discovery could be used to help tumor-killing therapies more effectively reach their targets.

Common antibiotics pose a rare risk of severe liver injury in older patients
The commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotics moxifloxacin and levofloxacin are associated with an increased risk of severe liver injury in older people, according to a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

'Drunkorexia' leads students to risky behaviour
New research by Simon Fraser University grad student Daniella Sieukaran is the first to study the long-term relationship between dieting and heavy drinking among young adults.

New method for predicting effects of drug 'cocktails' should reduce adverse reactions
Harvard researchers say they have discovered a new approach that could “drastically simplify” the process of designing drug cocktails to battle everything from bacterial infection to cancer and even HIV.

Researchers say decoy shows promise as cancer-fighter in novel phase 0 trial
(Medical Xpress) -- A critical protein that had been deemed “undruggable” can be effectively targeted by using a decoy to fool the body into a cancer-fighting response, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In a report in the August issue of Cancer Discovery, they showed the decoy was successful in a phase 0 study, an uncommon but useful preface to the commencement of standard human trials.

Blood cancer cells initiate signalling cascade
Researchers in the group of Prof. Dr. Hassan Jumaa, Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS) of the University of Freiburg, Department for Molecular Immunology, have identified a new mechanism that causes immune cells to convert into malignant cancer cells. In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL), one of the most common types of blood cancer in the Western world, cells themselves carry the key for the pathogenic transformation, the scientists report in the journal Nature. Understanding these underlying mechanisms could facilitate new therapies with reduced side effects.

Rejected drug may protect against toxic substance common to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases
The second of two studies on latrepirdine, recently published in Molecular Psychiatry, demonstrates new potential for the compound in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, sleep disorders, and other neurodegenerative conditions. An international team led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine scientists found that latrepiridine, known commercially as Dimebon, reduced the level of at least two neurodegeneration-related proteins in mice.

Existing drugs offer new treatment options for high-risk childhood leukemia subtype
Scientists have identified new genetic alterations underlying a high-risk subtype of the most common childhood cancer that could be effectively targeted with existing leukemia therapies.

Chromosomal translocations point the way toward personalized cancer care
A broken chromosome is like an unmoored beansprout circling in search of attachment. If a cell tries to replicate itself with broken chromosomes, the cell will be killed and so it would very much like to find its lost end. Often, it finds a workable substitute: another nearby chromosome. When a broken chromosome attaches to another, or when chromosomes use a similar process to exchange genetic material, you've got a translocation – genes end up fused to other genes, encoding a new protein they shouldn't. A recent University of Colorado Cancer Center review in the journal Frontiers of Medicine shows that you also frequently have the cause of cancer – and in some cases its cure.

Smoking increases, while alcohol consumption may decrease risk of ALS
A population-based case-control study of the rare but devastating neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has shown that the risk of such disease is increased among smokers, as has been shown previously. However, surprisingly, the risk of ALS was found to be markedly lower among consumers of alcohol than among abstainers.

For young adults, appearance matters more than health, research suggests
When it comes to college-age individuals taking care of their bodies, appearance is more important than health, research conducted at the University of Missouri suggests. María Len-Ríos, an associate professor of strategic communication, Suzanne Burgoyne, a professor of theater, and a team of undergraduate researchers studied how college-age women view their bodies and how they feel about media messages aimed at women. Based on focus group research findings, the MU team developed an interactive play about body image to encourage frank discussions about conflicting societal messages regarding weight, values and healthful choices.

Poor oral health can mean missed school, lower grades
Poor oral health, dental disease, and tooth pain can put kids at a serious disadvantage in school, according to a new Ostrow School of Dentistry of USC study.

Protective bacteria in the infant gut have resourceful way of helping babies break down breast milk
A research team at the University of California, Davis, has found that important and resourceful bacteria in the baby microbiome can ferret out nourishment from a previously unknown source, possibly helping at-risk infants break down components of breast milk.

Gene discovery could improve treatment for acute myeloid leukemia
Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have made a discovery involving mice and humans that could mean that people with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rare and usually fatal cancer, are a step closer to new treatment options. Their study results were published online today in Cancer Cell.

New key element discovered in pathogenesis of Burkitt lymphoma
Burkitt lymphoma is a malignant, fast-growing tumor that originates from a subtype of white blood cells called B lymphocytes of the immune system and often affects internal organs and the central nervous system. Now Dr. Sandrine Sander and Professor Klaus Rajewsky of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have identified a key element that transforms the immune cells into malignant lymphoma cells. They developed a mouse model that closely resembles Burkitt lymphoma in humans and that may help to test new treatment strategies (Cancer Cell).

Butter flavoring in microwave popcorn, thought safe for food industry workers, is respiratory hazard
The ingredient 2,3-pentanedione (PD), used to impart the flavor and aroma of butter in microwave popcorn, is a respiratory hazard that can also alter gene expression in the brain of rats. Manufacturers started using PD when another butter flavoring, diacetyl, was found to cause bronchiolitis obliterans, a life-threatening and nonreversible lung disease in workers who inhaled the substance. New research on PD with implications for "popcorn workers' lung" is published in The American Journal of Pathology and indicates that acute PD exposure has respiratory toxicity which is comparable to diacetyl in laboratory animals.

Diabetes drugs taken by over 15 million Americans raises risk of bladder cancer
A popular class of diabetes drugs increases patients' risk of bladder cancer, according to a new study published online this month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients taking thiazolidinedione (TZDs) drugs – which account for up to 20 percent of the drugs prescribed to diabetics in the United States -- are two to three times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who took a sulfonylurea drug, another common class of medications for diabetes.

Egg yolk consumption almost as bad as smoking when it comes to atherosclerosis
Newly published research led by Dr. David Spence of Western University, Canada, shows that eating egg yolks accelerates atherosclerosis in a manner similar to smoking cigarettes. Surveying more than 1200 patients, Dr. Spence found regular consumption of egg yolks is about two-thirds as bad as smoking when it comes to increased build-up of carotid plaque, a risk factor for stroke and heart attack. The research is published online in the journal Atherosclerosis.

Supercomputers solve riddle of congenital heart defects
About 25,000 Danes currently live with congenital heart defects. Both heredity and environment play a role for these malformations, but exactly how various risk factors influence the development of the heart during pregnancy has been a mystery until now.

New study finds external stimulation impacts white matter development in the postnatal brain
A team at Children's National Medical Center has found that external stimulation has an impact on the postnatal development of a specific region of the brain. Published in Nature Neuroscience, the study used sensory deprivation to look at the growth and collection of NG2-expressing oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (NG2 cells) in the sensory cortex of the brain. This type of research is part of the Center for Neuroscience Research focus on understanding the development and treatment of white matter diseases.

Fat stats: 30% of adults in 12 states now obese
(HealthDay) -- Roughly one-third of adults in 12 states are obese, with Mississippi topping the list at 34.9 percent, according to a new analysis of U.S. figures.

Genetic factors identified in female sexual dysfunction
(HealthDay) -- At least two genetic factors are involved in female sexual disorder (FSD) symptomatology in addition to non-shared environmental effects, according to the results of a twin study published online Aug. 2 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Urinary proteomics aids early ID of diabetic nephropathy
(HealthDay) -- A biomarker classifier in urine can allow early detection of progression to diabetic nephropathy years before onset of macroalbuminuria, according to a study published online Aug. 7 in Diabetes.

High-risk HPV present in subset of penile carcinomas
(HealthDay) -- High-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection is found in a subset of penile squamous cell carcinomas (PSCCs) that may develop from undifferentiated penile intraepithelial neoplasia (PeIN), according to a study published online Aug. 6 in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Prevalence, risk of thyroid disease up in vitiligo patients
(HealthDay) -- Both the prevalence and the risk of thyroid diseases are significantly higher among patients with vitiligo compared to those without the condition, according to a study published online Aug. 3 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Should doctors treat lack of exercise as a medical condition? Mayo expert says 'yes'
A sedentary lifestyle is a common cause of obesity, and excessive body weight and fat in turn are considered catalysts for diabetes, high blood pressure, joint damage and other serious health problems. But what if lack of exercise itself were treated as a medical condition? Mayo Clinic physiologist Michael Joyner, M.D., argues that it should be. His commentary is published this month in The Journal of Physiology.

Blood test could guide treatment for kidney cancer
A common enzyme that is easily detected in blood may predict how well patients with advanced kidney cancer will respond to a specific treatment, according to doctors at Duke Cancer Institute.

Strategy appears to help rule-in, rule-out heart attack within one hour
A strategy using an algorithm that incorporates high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) values appears to be associated with ruling-out or ruling-in myocardial infarction (heart attack) within one hour in 77 percent of patients with acute chest pain who presented to an emergency department, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine.

Middle-aged adults help their hearts with regular leisure-time physical activities
Middle-aged adults who regularly engage in leisure-time physical activity for more than a decade may enhance their heart health, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.

Consuming flavanol-rich cocoa may enhance brain function
Eating cocoa flavanols daily may improve mild cognitive impairment, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.

Pay for performance may improve treatment implementation for adolescent substance use disorders
Pay for performance appears to be associated with improved implementation of an adolescent substance use treatment program, although no significant differences were found in remission status between the pay-for-performance and implementation-as-usual groups, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Researchers explore secret origin of deja vu
(Medical Xpress) -- Most people have been in a situation that suddenly feels strangely familiar, while also realizing that they have never been in that specific place before. These experiences are called ‘déjà vu’ and the phenomenon has inspired countless books, songs and movies.   What is remarkable about déjà vu, says Western University graduate student Chris Martin, is that the impression of familiarity is accompanied by a sense that the current environment or situation should in fact feel new. But how can it be that a scene or an experience evokes a sense of familiarity but at the same time a feeling that this familiarity is wrong?

'Harmless' condition shown to alter brain function in elderly
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic say a common condition called leukoaraiosis, made up of tiny areas in the brain that have been deprived of oxygen and appear as bright white dots on MRI scans, is not a harmless part of the aging process, but rather a disease that alters brain function in the elderly. Results of their study are published online in the journal Radiology.

Researchers provide exciting first glimpse into the competitive brain
(Medical Xpress) -- While most of us have been wrapped up in the competitive spirit of the Olympic Games, two University of Otago researchers have been busy teasing out what exactly in the brain drives competitive behaviour.

Protein proves to be vital in immune response to bacteria
(Medical Xpress) -- A team of researchers led by scientists at Rockefeller University have discovered that a protein once thought to be mainly involved in antiviral immunity is in fact more important in fighting bacterial infections and could provide new mechanisms for treating diseases like tuberculosis, which is increasingly becoming resistant to antibiotic medication.

Flu vaccine research: overcoming 'original sin'
(Medical Xpress) -- Scientists studying flu vaccines have identified ways to overcome an obstacle called "original antigenic sin," which can impair immune responses to new flu strains.

Triclosan -- chemical widely used in antibacterial hand soaps -- may impair muscle function: study
Triclosan, an antibacterial chemical widely used in hand soaps and other personal-care products, hinders muscle contractions at a cellular level, slows swimming in fish and reduces muscular strength in mice, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado. The findings appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers identify new drug target for schizophrenia
(Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine may have discovered why certain drugs to treat schizophrenia are ineffective in some patients. Published online in Nature Neuroscience, the research will pave the way for a new class of drugs to help treat this devastating mental illness, which impacts one percent of the world's population, 30 percent of whom do not respond to currently available treatments.

Why are people overconfident so often?
Researchers have long known that people are very frequently overconfident – that they tend to believe they are more physically talented, socially adept, and skilled at their job than they actually are. For example, 94% of college professors think they do above average work (which is nearly impossible, statistically speaking). But this overconfidence can also have detrimental effects on their performance and decision-making. So why, in light of these negative consequences, is overconfidence still so pervasive?

New method may allow personalized clinical trial for cancer therapies
A new tool to observe cell behavior has revealed surprising clues about how cancer cells respond to therapy – and may offer a way to further refine personalized cancer treatments.

Antisense approach promising for treatment of parasitic infections
A targeted approach to treating toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease, shows early promise in test-tube and animal studies, where it prevented the parasites from making selected proteins. When tested in newly infected mice, it reduced the number of viable parasites by more than 90 percent, researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Modification of tumor suppressor affects sensitivity to potential GBM treatment
Despite years of research, glioblastoma, the most common and deadly brain cancer in adults, continues to outsmart treatments targeted to inhibit tumor growth.

Team deciphers retina's neural code for brain communication to create novel prosthetic retinal device for blind
(Medical Xpress) -- Two researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have deciphered a mouse's retina's neural code and coupled this information to a novel prosthetic device to restore sight to blind mice. The researchers say they have also cracked the code for a monkey retina — which is essentially identical to that of a human — and hope to quickly design and test a device that blind humans can use.

Biology news

A channel of unexpected significance
Scientists from the research groups of Prof. Dr. Susana Andrade and Prof. Dr. Oliver Einsle, members of the Institute of Organic Chemistry and the Cluster of Excellence BIOSS, the Centre for Biological Signalling Studies of the University of Freiburg, have collected the first precise data ever on the function of a transport protein for formate – an important metabolite in bacteria. The findings could potentially lead to the development of new antibiotic active ingredients, as the research team reports in the scientific journal PNAS.

Global bullfrog trade spreads deadly amphibian fungus worldwide
(Phys.org) -- The global trade in bullfrogs, which are farmed as a food source in South America and elsewhere, is spreading a deadly fungus that is contributing to the decline of amphibians worldwide, according to a University of Michigan biologist and his colleagues.

Elephant impregnated with frozen sperm from wild male
An African elephant in Vienna Zoo has been impregnated using frozen sperm from a male living in the wild, in what the Zoo said Monday was a world first.

The ins and outs of building the sperm tail
Sperm swim, lung cells sweep mucus away, and the cells in the female Fallopian tube move eggs from the ovary to the uterus. Underlying these phenomena are flagella – slender, hair-like structures extending from the surface of the cells, that bend, beat or wave rhythmically. In the latest issue of the journal Developmental Cell, scientists from the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, have dissected how sperm cells of the fruit fly build their flagella. These findings pave the way to further understand the molecules and processes that may trigger a variety of human diseases and disorders, including infertility, respiratory problems and hydrocephaly, known to be associated with defects in flagellar movements.

Planet of the Apes: Curiosity about the definition of life
After a triumphant landing, the Curiosity rover is ready to search Mars for signs of past life or suitability for life. Several readers have raised concerns that NASA scientists might fail to recognize life if it isn't based on carbon or is otherwise radically different from our kind of life.

Ancient river creature yields clue to environment
The monster rocketed from the water. It wriggled to the right, wiggled to the left, then - splat! - smacked Grover Brown in the guts. A lesser scientist would have quailed. Not Brown.

Study finds link between global warming and frog susceptibility to fungal disease
(Phys.org) -- A lot of studies are underway to try to find out what the impact of changing temperatures due to global warming will be on plants and animals. But few so far have been done to study the impact of the likely increase in the variability of weather patterns that are also expected to occur as the planet heats up. Once such group however, has been focusing on the impact of variable temperatures on amphibians and a fungal skin disease that has been killing a lot of them. The researchers, from Oakland University and the University of South Florida, have, as they write in their paper published in Nature Climate Change, found that Cuban tree frogs appear to be more susceptible to the fungal disease chytridiomycosis when temperatures vary, than when temperatures remain relatively constant.

Scientists advance understanding of how flowers are formed
(Phys.org) -- Scientists from the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity College Dublin have made a significant breakthrough in understanding the genetic processes underlying flower development. The research funded by Science Foundation Ireland has just been published in the leading international journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

New bacteria resistant materials discovered
(Phys.org) -- Using state-of-the-art technology scientists at The University of Nottingham have discovered a new class of polymers that are resistant to bacterial attachment. These new materials could lead to a significant reduction in hospital infections and medical device failures.

Yangtze dolphin's decline mirrored by other animals
(Phys.org) -- Monitoring numbers of the baiji, the now-extinct freshwater dolphin of the Yangtze river, would also have let researchers track the decline of other threatened animals, including the Yangtze paddlefish and Reeves' shad, a new study shows.

Citizen science reveals that protected areas allow wildlife to spread in response to climate change
A new study led by scientists at the University of York has shown how birds, butterflies, other insects and spiders have colonised nature reserves and areas protected for wildlife, as they move north in response to climate change and other environmental changes.

For young birds, getting stressed out can be a good thing
Many studies have found that high levels of hormones that are associated with stress are a sign of poor fitness and reduced chance of survival – but recent research on young songbirds found that some elevated hormones can be a good thing, often the difference between life and death.

Scientists find state record 87 eggs in largest python from Everglades
University of Florida researchers curating a 17-foot-7-inch Burmese python, the largest found in Florida, discovered 87 eggs in the snake, also a state record.

Scientists use light to 'tag and track' genetic processes
(Phys.org) -- In a new study, UT Dallas researchers outline how they used fluorescent molecules to "tag" DNA and monitor a process called DNA looping, a natural biological mechanism involved in rearranging genetic material in some types of cells.

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