The EDGE: ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Wednesday, September 5, 2012

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Wednesday, September 5, 2012

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Biofuel waste product recycled for electricity (September 4, 2012) -- A by-product of biofuel manufacture can power microbial fuel cells to generate electricity cheaply and efficiently, according to scientists. The work could help develop self-powered devices that would depollute waste water and be used to survey weather in extreme environments. ... > full story

'Fitness and fatness': Not all obese people have the same prognosis; second study sheds light on 'obesity paradox' (September 4, 2012) -- People can be obese but metabolically healthy and fit, with no greater risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer than normal weight people, according to the largest study ever to have investigated this seeming paradox. ... > full story

NASA's SDO sees massive filament erupt on sun (September 4, 2012) -- On August 31, 2012 a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, with a glancing blow. causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3. ... > full story

That giant tarantula is terrifying, but I'll touch it: Expressing your emotions can reduce fear (September 4, 2012) -- Can simply describing your feelings at stressful times make you less afraid and less anxious? A new psychology study suggests that labeling your emotions at the precise moment you are confronting what you fear can indeed have that effect. ... > full story

Longer CPR attempts might benefit some patients, research finds (September 4, 2012) -- There isn't a hard and fast rule for how long doctors should perform CPR, but new research shows longer attempts might be beneficial for some patients. ... > full story

Rare genetic disease offers insight into common cancers (September 4, 2012) -- Fanconi anemia is a rare genetic condition in which cells lose the ability to repair DNA. Fanconi cells are super-sensitive to a common class of cancer drugs, nixing their use. A new study explores resveratrol as chemopreventive in Fanconi anemia patients. ... > full story

Scientists design molecule that reverses some fragile X syndrome defects (September 4, 2012) -- Scientists have designed a compound that shows promise as a potential therapy for one of the diseases closely linked to fragile X syndrome, a genetic condition that causes mental retardation, infertility, and memory impairment, and is the only known single-gene cause of autism. ... > full story

'Benign' malaria key driver of human evolution in Asia-Pacific (September 4, 2012) -- The malaria species rampant in the Asia-Pacific region has been a significant driver of evolution of the human genome, a new study has shown. An international team of researchers has shown that Plasmodium vivax malaria, the most prevalent malaria species in the Asia-Pacific, is a significant cause of genetic evolution that provides protection against malaria. ... > full story

Increased mortality in HIV-positive South African men versus women is unrelated to HIV/AIDS (September 4, 2012) -- In South Africa, HIV-infected men who are receiving treatment with anti-HIV drugs (antiretroviral therapy) are almost a third more likely to die than HIV-positive women who are receiving similar treatment: however, these differences are likely to be due to gender differences in death rates in the general population rather than related to HIV, according to a study by a team of international researchers. ... > full story

Violent video games not so bad when players cooperate (September 4, 2012) -- New research suggests that violent video games may not make players more aggressive -- if they play cooperatively with other people. ... > full story

Health-care costs hit the elderly hard, diminish financial wellbeing (September 4, 2012) -- The protection of the savings of the elderly -- one of the primary goals of Medicare -- is under threat from a combination of spiraling health-care costs and increased longevity. As the government attempts to reduce Medicare costs, one suggestion is that the elderly could pay a larger proportion of the costs of their health care. But exactly how much would this be and what impact would it have on their finances? ... > full story

Healing cuts for Medicare (September 4, 2012) -- Medicare payment reforms mandated in the Affordable Care Act for post-acute care have great potential to lower costs without harming patients. Researchers caution that policymakers will need to be vigilant to ensure that these cuts don't result in one-time savings that revert to rising costs. ... > full story

Use of biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis not significantly associated with increased risk of malignancy (September 4, 2012) -- Although there are concerns regarding the potential development of malignancies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who are receiving treatment with biologic response modifiers (BRMs), pooled results from more than 60 randomized controlled trials did not find a statistically significant increased risk of any type of cancer with use of BRMs for at least 6 months compared with traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or with placebo. ... > full story

Cardiac study evaluates prevalence of unrecognized heart attacks among older adults (September 4, 2012) -- Using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging among older adults in Iceland, researchers estimated the prevalence of unrecognized heart attacks, which was associated with an increased risk of death. ... > full story

Stiffening of aortic wall linked with increased risk of high blood pressure (September 4, 2012) -- An analysis of the relationship between several vascular function measures and blood pressure levels finds that certain measures including higher aortic stiffness were associated with a higher risk of new hypertension; however, initial blood pressure was not independently associated with risk of progressive aortic stiffening, suggesting that vascular stiffness may be a precursor rather than the result of hypertension. ... > full story

Medicare kidney spending reaches crucial moment (September 4, 2012) -- Medicare has covered treatment for anyone with end-stage renal disease since 1972. The coverage is very expensive and the program has struggled since for 40 years to contain costs without compromising quality. In a new paper that chronicles that history, the authors argue that Medicare's latest attempt -- bundled payments and pay-for-performance -- could become a broader model for the program if it succeeds. ... > full story

Introducing decision aids may lower surgery for arthritis (September 4, 2012) -- After Group Health introduced video "decision aids" for people with knee and hip arthritis, rates of knee and hip replacement surgeries dropped sharply: By 38 and 26 percent, respectively, over six months. Costs of caring for those patients also declined: By 12 percent to 21 percent, according to a new article. Decision aids are balanced sources of information, used in shared decision making, which present evidence-based pros and cons of treatment options. ... > full story

Vitamin D supplement fails to lower cholesterol in short term (September 4, 2012) -- Taking vitamin D supplements to compensate for vitamin D deficiency didn’t improve cholesterol — at least in the short term, according to new research. ... > full story

Black women face more violence under 'prison nation', book says (September 4, 2012) -- Black women in poor neighborhoods have faced increasing violence because public policy has focused on unconditional punishment, not prevention, according to a new book by a public policy expert. ... > full story

Quest for Higgs boson enters new phase (September 4, 2012) -- This summer, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva announced the discovery of a new particle with a mass somewhere between 125 and 126 giga-electron volts, or 134 times the mass of the proton. This figure falls within the predicted range for the Higgs boson. So what's next? "This is the beginning. We still don’t know what this thing is," says one researcher. ... > full story

Study points to new target for cancers resistant to Iressa and Herceptin (September 4, 2012) -- A more-sensitive method to analyze protein interactions has uncovered a new way that cancer cells may use the cell-surface molecule HER3 to drive tumor progression following treatment with HER1 and HER2 inhibitors. This study shows that HER3 could be up to 10 times more effective than HER2 in recruiting the proteins that drive the spread of cancer. ... > full story

Preeclampsia poses a significant long-term health risk, study finds (September 4, 2012) -- In a new study, researchers found patients with preeclampsia had significantly higher rates of chronic hypertension diagnosed after pregnancy. Patients with preeclampsia were also more likely to be hospitalized at least once. Exposed women had .28 hospitalization per patient rate, while the non-exposed patients had a lower .23 hospitalization per patient rate. ... > full story

With no West Nile vaccine in sight, self-protection is key (September 4, 2012) -- As this year's threat from the West Nile virus continues, one infectious diseases expert says a vaccine is not in our near future, so people need to protect themselves. ... > full story

A blueprint for 'affective' aggression (September 4, 2012) -- Researchers have created a roadmap to areas of the brain associated with affective aggression in mice. This roadmap may be the first step toward finding therapies for humans suffering from affective aggression disorders that lead to impulsive violent acts. ... > full story

Repeated exposure to traumatic images may be harmful to health (September 4, 2012) -- Repeated exposure to violent images from the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the Iraq War led to an increase in physical and psychological ailments in a nationally representative sample of US adults, according to a new study. ... > full story

Showing the way to improved water-splitting catalysts: Chemists identify the mechanism by which such catalysts work (September 4, 2012) -- Scientists and engineers around the world are working to find a way to power the planet using solar-powered fuel cells. Such green systems would split water during daylight hours, generating hydrogen that could be stored and used later to produce water and electricity. But robust catalysts are needed to drive the water-splitting reaction. Now chemists have determined the mechanism by which some highly effective cobalt catalysts work. ... > full story

Antimicrobials alter intestinal bacteria composition in swine, researchers find (September 4, 2012) -- Researchers, concerned about the use of antibiotics in animal production, have found that antimicrobial growth promoters administered to swine can alter the kind of bacteria present in the animal's intestinal track, resulting in an accelerated rate of growth and development in the animals. ... > full story

Human impact felt on Black Sea long before industrial era (September 4, 2012) -- Researchers have pieced together a unique history of the Danube River delta and watershed that ultimately provides evidence for a transformative impact of humans on the Black Sea over hundreds, if not thousands of years. ... > full story

Watching quantum mechanics in action: Researchers create world record laser pulse (September 4, 2012) -- A research team has created the world's shortest laser pulse and in the process may have given scientists a new tool to watch quantum mechanics in action -- something that has been hidden from view until now. ... > full story

Waste silicon gets new life in lithium-ion batteries (September 4, 2012) -- Researchers have developed a way to make flexible components for rechargeable lithium-ion (LI) batteries from discarded silicon. ... > full story

Pretreatment PET/CT imaging of lymph nodes predicts recurrence in breast cancer patients (September 4, 2012) -- Disease-free survival for invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) patients may be easier to predict with the help of F-18-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans, according to researchers. New data show that high maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) of F-18-FDG in the lymph nodes prior to treatment could be an independent indicator of disease recurrence. ... > full story

Realizing the promise of RNA nanotechnology for new drug development (September 4, 2012) -- The use of RNA in nanotechnology applications is highly promising for many applications, including the development of new therapeutic compounds. Key technical challenges remain, though, and the challenges and opportunities associated with the use of RNA molecules in nanotechnology approaches are presented in a review article. ... > full story

Gardener's delight offers glimpse into the evolution of flowering plants (September 4, 2012) -- Double flowers -- though beautiful -- are mutants. Biologists have found the class of genes responsible in a plant lineage more ancient than the one previously studied, offering a glimpse even further back into the evolutionary development of flowers. ... > full story

Every atom counts in graphene formation: Nanoreactor theory could advance quality of material’s growth (September 4, 2012) -- Researchers detail the atom-by-atom energies at play in the chemical vapor deposition process of creating graphene. ... > full story

Syrian obsidian discovery opens new chapter in Middle Eastern studies (September 4, 2012) -- An archaeologist has revealed the origin and trading routes of razor-sharp stone tools 4,200 years ago in Syria. ... > full story

Reduced brain connections seen in people with generalized anxiety disorder (September 4, 2012) -- A new imaging study shows the brains of people with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) have weaker connections between a brain structure that controls emotional response and the amygdala, which suggests the brain's "panic button" may stay on due to lack of regulation. ... > full story

Experts propose 'cyber war' on cancer: Universities aim to break cancer's codes for social networking (September 4, 2012) -- Mounting evidence of intricate social cooperation among cancer cells has led researchers to suggest a new strategy for outsmarting cancer through its own social intelligence. The researchers call for a "cyber war" to co-opt the communications systems that allow cancer cells to work together to sense danger and avoid attacks by the immune system and chemotherapy drugs. ... > full story

Simple tool may help inexperienced psychiatrists better predict violence risk in patients (September 4, 2012) -- Inexperienced psychiatrists are less likely than their veteran peers to accurately predict violence by their patients, but a simple assessment checklist might help bridge that accuracy gap, according to new research. ... > full story

New Danish fungal species discovered (September 4, 2012) -- A new fungal species, called "Hebelomagriseopruinatum," has now officially been included in the list of species. The fungus, whose name can be translated into "the gray-dewy tear leaf," was discovered on Zealand in Denmark during a mushroom-hunting tour. ... > full story

Hormone therapy for fruit flies means better pest control (September 4, 2012) -- Released en masse, sterile Mexican fruit flies can undermine a wild population of the fruit-damaging pests so that fewer applications of insecticide are needed. But the irradiation used to sterilize the flies weakens them, hindering their ability to outcompete wild-type males for female mates. Now, scientists have devised a hormone therapy for making sterile flies "more macho," improving their chances of mating with female flies before their wild rivals do. ... > full story

Using magnetism to understand superconductivity (September 4, 2012) -- Research in atomic scale magnetism could play a role in the development of new materials that could permit lossless electricity transmission. ... > full story

Potential drug discovered for deadly brain cancer (September 4, 2012) -- Scientists in Singapore have identified a biomarker of the most lethal form of brain tumors in adults -- glioblastoma multiforme. The scientists found that by targeting this biomarker and depleting it with a potential drug, they were able to prevent the progression and relapse of the brain tumor. ... > full story

Ovarian cancer cells hijack surrounding tissues to enhance tumor growth (September 4, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered that ovarian cancer cells activate the HOXA9 gene to compel stromal cells to create an environment that supports tumor growth. ... > full story

Canada should remove section of Criminal Code that permits physical punishment of children, expert argues (September 4, 2012) -- To promote good parenting, Canada should remove section 43 of its Criminal Code because it sends the wrong message that using physical punishment to discipline children is acceptable, argues Dr. John Fletcher, Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Medical Association Journal, in an editorial. ... > full story

PharmaNet system dramatically reduced inappropriate prescriptions of potentially addictive drugs (September 4, 2012) -- A centralized prescription network providing real-time information to pharmacists in British Columbia, Canada, resulted in dramatic reductions in inappropriate prescriptions for opioid analgesics and benzodiazepines, widely used and potentially addictive drugs. ... > full story

New gene variants raise risk of neuroblastoma, influence tumor progression (September 4, 2012) -- Researchers have discovered two gene variants that raise the risk of the pediatric cancer neuroblastoma, as well as contributing to a tumor's progression. The findings may suggest future targets for new therapies. ... > full story

New genetic clues to why most bone marrow transplant patients develop graft-versus-host disease (September 4, 2012) -- A team of scientists has shed new light on why most bone marrow transplant patients who receive tissue-matched cells from unrelated donors still suffer acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The answer appears to lie in the discovery of previously undetected genetic differences in the DNA of patients and unrelated marrow donors. ... > full story

Shark rules need teeth, groups tell IUCN (September 4, 2012) -- The Wildlife Conservation Society and over 35 government agency and NGO partners participating in IUCN's World Conservation Congress this week are urging the world's governments to take urgent steps to save the world’s sharks and rays from the relentless pressure of over-fishing for international trade. ... > full story