Phys.org Newsletter Tuesday, Oct 23

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for October 23, 2012:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Power grid upgrades may cause blackouts, warns Braess's paradox
- Marblar site seeks to clickstart science uses
- Oxygen's ups and downs in the early atmosphere and ocean
- Training your robot the PaR-PaR way
- Influence in times of crisis: How do men and women evaluate precarious leadership positions?
- Study explains connection between Hawaii's dueling volcanoes
- Neutron experiments give unprecedented look at quantum oscillations
- Turbulent flows in 2D can be calculated in new model
- Quantum computing with recycled particles
- Lung mucus gel scaffold prevents nanoparticles from getting through
- Scientists making fishy robots for naval research
- Researchers suggest eating cooked food led to larger human brains
- Biologists record increasing amounts of plastic litter in the Arctic deep sea
- New vitamin-based treatment that could reduce muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophy
- Apple reveals iPad Mini starting at $329

Space & Earth news

New publication sheds light on agricultural water use in Texas
Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service experts recently released a report, Status and Trends of Irrigated Agriculture in Texas, highlighting the current status of irrigation in Texas.

SwRI to build miniature solar observatory for manned suborbital flight
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received funding from NASA to build a miniature, portable solar observatory for developing and testing innovative instrumentation in suborbital flight.

Russia taps super-giant gas field after 40-year wait
Russia's Gazprom state energy giant on Tuesday launched production at one of the world's largest natural gas fields some 40 years after its discovery by Soviet scientists in the frozen and hitherto inaccessible Arctic.

The Generation X report: How many Gen Xers know their cosmic address?
Less than half of Generation X adults can identify our home in the universe, a spiral galaxy, according to a University of Michigan report.

Florida soil a patchwork quilt for carbon content, researchers find
Florida is home to many types of soil and some of them lack carbon, meaning they could be used for carbon sequestration—but a new University of Florida study shows that variability in the state's existing soil carbon levels could make the task harder.

Dry soils make for a stormy brew
Water: about 60 % of our body weight is made up of it; it is the body's principal chemical component. Every system in our body depends on it; it carries nutrients to our cells and it takes toxins out of vital organs. Without it we couldn't survive. It also acts in a similar way for the Earth. The Global Water Cycle plays a central role in global atmospheric circulations, controlling the global energy cycle (through latent heat) as well as the carbon, nutrient and sediment cycles. Recent research indicates that afternoon storms are more likely to develop when soils are parched. The study was funded in part by the WATCH ('Water and global change') project, which was backed with EUR 9.9 million under the 'Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems' Thematic area of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).

PhD researcher seeks origin of cosmic rays
As cosmic ray particles penetrate our atmosphere, they collide with air molecules and produce new high-energy particles. These particles, in turn, are involved in further collisions. The whole process is known as an air shower. "People have been researching cosmic rays for a century now, and we still don't know much about the origin of these high-energy particles," says David Fokkema, who recently obtained his PhD at the University of Twente. He defended his PhD thesis about cosmic rays on 17 October.

Breaking down the impact of greenhouse gases
It's called the global warming potential or GWP for short and it bundles together the importance of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases on future climate change.  Researchers from DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, working at the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI), found that increasing methane's ranking in the GWP made little difference on the overall outcome of climate change projections. JGCRI is a partnership between PNNL and the University of Maryland.

Las Cumbres Observatory gains first light for entire 1-meter node at CTIO
(Phys.org)—After nearly eight years of design, fabrication and development, Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) installed three 1-meter telescopes at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory(CTIO) and achieved first light on all three in a span of less than 30 hours last week.

NMSU graduate student looks for indications of life on Mars in possible trace methane gas
An astronomy graduate student at New Mexico State University is looking for possible signs of life on Mars by studying the possible detection of methane gas on the planet.

Quasar may be embedded in unusually dusty galaxy
Hubble astronomers have looked at one of the most distant and brightest quasars in the universe and are surprised by what they did not see: the underlying host galaxy of stars feeding the quasar. The best explanation is that the galaxy is shrouded in so much dust that the stars are completely hidden everywhere. Astronomers believe that the James Webb Space Telescope will reveal the galaxy.

NASA sees active region on the sun emit another flare
The sun emitted a significant solar flare on Oct. 22, 2012, peaking at 11:17 p.m. EDT. The flare came from an active region on the left side of the sun that has been numbered AR 1598, which has already been the source of a number of weaker flares. This flare was classified as an X1.8-class flare.

Making transport a driver for development in Africa
A new report by a panel of international experts highlights policies to improve air quality road safety and congestion, supporting African development.

Japan's radiation monitoring unreliable: Greenpeace
Government radiation monitoring in areas near Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is unreliable, Greenpeace charged on Tuesday, with heavily populated areas exposed to 13 times the legal limit.

World's most advanced mirror for giant telescope completed
Scientists at the University of Arizona and in California have completed the most challenging large astronomical mirror ever made.

Italy disaster experts quit over quake trial
(AP)—Four top Italian disaster experts quit their posts Tuesday, saying the manslaughter convictions of former colleagues for failing to adequately warn of a deadly 2009 earthquake means they can't effectively perform their duties.

Mercyhurst University study to identify levels of sucralose in Erie beach waters
Researchers at Mercyhurst University continue to investigate the presence of potentially harmful chemicals in the beach waters of Presque Isle State Park and have added a new one to their list: sucralose. A chlorinated form of sucrose found in artificial sweeteners, sucralose is used in an estimated 4,500 products ranging from Halloween candies to diet sodas.

NASA view of Atlantic's Tropical Depression 19 shows backwards 'C' of strong storms
Infrared imagery from the AIRS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite revealed that the strongest thunderstorms within the Atlantic Ocean's Tropical Depression 19 seem to form a backwards letter "C" stretching from northeast to southeast around the storm's center. That "C" is a band of thunderstorms around the eastern side of the storm.

NASA's hot tower research confirmed again with Tropical Storm Sandy
The eighteenth tropical depression only took six hours to strengthen into Tropical Storm Sandy, confirming NASA research that sighting of hot towers leads to intensification. Sandy may further intensify into a hurricane and watches and warnings have been posted in the Caribbean Sea. On Oct. 23, a Hurricane Watch and Tropical Storm Warning were in effect for Jamaica, and a tropical storm watch was in effect for Haiti.

Air pollution study clears the air on diesel versus gas emissions
(Phys.org)—Are gasoline-fueled cars or large diesel trucks the bigger source of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), a major component of smog? UC Berkeley researchers have stepped into this debate with a new study that says diesel exhaust contributes 15 times more than gas emissions per liter of fuel burned.

Project aims to find distant examples, on astronomy's next frontier
Now that astronomers routinely find far-flung planets orbiting other stars, a fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is pushing into a new frontier in detecting bodies outside our solar system: distant moons.

The Solar System's grandest canyon
Earth's Grand Canyon inspires awe for anyone who casts eyes upon the vast river-cut valley, but it would seem nothing more than a scratch next to the cavernous scar of Valles Marineris that marks the face of Mars.

Forest fertilization can increase production, decrease carbon emissions, expert says
(Phys.org)—Fertilizing one's lawn is considered a necessary practice, as is with most agricultural crops. But how many people know about fertilizing a commercial forest, and how that might affect the environment and their investment?

Galaxies in the thick of it grow up fast
In a quest to learn more about our own galaxy, a Sydney astronomer has identified dozens of previously unknown galaxies in a distant cluster.

Astronomers develop technique for mapping the universe in 3-D
Combining observations from Mauna Kea with data taken by telescopes in space, astronomers at the Institute for Astronomy (UH Manoa) and their collaborators have developed a technique that allows them to map collisions of giant galaxy clusters in three dimensions. 

Russia launches astronauts to space station
A Russian rocket carrying two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut blasted off successfully on Tuesday for the International Space Station.

Galaxies: Some assembly required
New research using the world's largest telescope at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii has revealed two distinct populations of star clusters surrounding galaxies that have radically different chemical composition.

Biologists record increasing amounts of plastic litter in the Arctic deep sea
(Phys.org)—Biologists record increasing amounts of plastic litter in the Arctic deep sea: studies confirm that twice as much marine debris is lying on the seabed today compared to ten years ago

Study explains connection between Hawaii's dueling volcanoes
A new Rice University-led study finds that a deep connection about 50 miles underground can explain the enigmatic behavior of two of Earth's most notable volcanoes, Hawaii's Mauna Loa and Kilauea. The study, the first to model paired volcano interactions, explains how a link in Earth's upper mantle could account for Kilauea and Mauna Loa's competition for the same deep magma supply and their simultaneous "inflation," or bulging upward, during the past decade.

Oxygen's ups and downs in the early atmosphere and ocean
Most researchers imagine the initial oxygenation of the ocean and atmosphere to have been something like a staircase, but with steps only going up. The first step, so the story goes, occurred around 2.4 billion years ago, and this, the so-called Great Oxidation Event, has obvious implications for the origins and evolution of the first forms of eukaryotic life. The second big step in this assumed irreversible rise occurred almost two billion years later, coinciding with the first appearances and earliest diversification of animals.

Genetic patterns of deep-sea coral provide insights into evolution of marine life
The ability of deep-sea corals to harbor a broad array of marine life, including commercially important fish species, make these habitat-forming organisms of immediate interest to conservationists, managers, and scientists. Understanding and protecting corals requires knowledge of the historical processes that have shaped their biodiversity and biogeography.

Opposite behaviors? Arctic sea ice shrinks, Antarctic grows
The steady and dramatic decline in the sea ice cover of the Arctic Ocean over the last three decades has become a focus of media and public attention. At the opposite end of the Earth, however, something more complex is happening.

Technology news

Occupant comfort is critical to green building design
Green design does not necessarily mean comfortable design, reports a study by Cornell and Ithaca College ergonomists.

Phone hacking suits hit Piers Morgan's old tabloid
(AP)—Four alleged phone hacking victims have filed suit against the publisher of Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper, a tabloid once edited by CNN presenter Piers Morgan, a prominent lawyer said late Monday. As far as is publicly known, the lawsuits are the first to hit a publication outside Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. empire and could mark the further expansion of a scandal which has already tarnished a big chunk of Britain's establishment.

Probing question: Can games be more than child's play?
Remember backyard games of Red Rover, Mother May I, and Red Light Green Light? How about playing Monopoly or Chutes and Ladders? Games like these figure into the pleasant childhood memories of many, but can games serve a larger purpose? Are games more than "child's play"?

Electronic tickets for smarter travel
Electronic travel tickets are the key to networking different modes of transportation. This week, Siemens presents its eTicketing system at the ITS World Congress in Vienna. The system will demonstrate how easy it is to organize and invoice an individualized trip with a smartcard. Travelers are only billed for the routes they actually use, and the invoice covers everything from train tickets to the cost of parking cars or renting bicycles. By making local public transport more attractive, cities can ensure that people will continue to be mobile in the future, while protecting the environment and reducing traffic jams and the associated costs. However, complicated fee systems, a variety of transport providers, and, last but not least, a lack of small change often deter people from using local public transportation. If buses and trains are to become a viable alternative to cars, public transportation solutions have to be convenient and user-friendly.

Students hope glove keyboard will revolutionize use of devices with one hand
Give a hand to some computer engineering students at The University of Alabama in Huntsville for designing a tool that could revolutionize new ways of using electronic devices with just one hand.

Microsoft offers peek at new Windows, tablet
US computing giant Microsoft on Tuesday gave an early peek to the key Chinese market of its new tablet computer and Windows 8 software, promising a "fast and fluid" operating system.

Self-powered sensors to monitor nuclear fuel rod status
Japan's Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear disaster that occurred in 2011—a result of the strongest earthquake on record in the country and the powerful tsunami waves it triggered—underscored the need for a method to monitor the status of nuclear fuel rods that doesn't rely on electrical power.

EU tightens up online gambling controls
The European Commission outlined measures on Tuesday to tighten controls on online gambling, a fast-growing, multi-billion-euro industry, to combat fraud, money laundering and rigging of sport fixtures.

Study: Facebook lowers control
Step away from the cookies. Too tough? Step away from Facebook first. That might make it easier, according to a recent study by two marketing professors who found that just five minutes spent browsing the social networking site lowers self-control.

Auditor warns Canada lagging on cyber security
Canada "has been slow" to set up firewalls to protect against cyber threats to critical infrastructure, leaving the nation vulnerable to crippling attacks, the auditor general warned Tuesday.

Facebook posts 3Q loss, revenue jumps
(AP)—Facebook is reporting a loss for its third quarter, though revenue rose by nearly a third. The results exceeded Wall Street's expectations.

Using equations to mine nuclear energy resources
Rising energy demands and environmental concerns have intensified the search for valuable energy resources. As myriad public and private entities pursue increased efficiency, reliable renewable energy or unconventional fossil fuel reserves, a young researcher at DOE's Idaho National Laboratory is focused on recycling.

Coal gasification demonstrated
DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has developed a molten catalytic process for converting coal into a synthesis gas consisting of roughly 20% methane and 80% hydrogen using alkali hydroxides as both gasification catalysts and in situ CO2 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) capture agents.  This hydrogen- and methane-rich output from the gasifier could be sent to gas turbines or solid oxide fuel cells in order to generate electricity with CO2 emissions significantly less than 1.0 lbs of CO2 per kWh of electricity. 

Researchers double down on heat to break up cellulose, produce fuels and power
Nicholas Creager recently pointed to the nuts and bolts of one of Iowa State University's latest biofuel machines.

Scientists making fishy robots for naval research
(AP)—An eel undulating through coastal waters, powered by batteries and checking for mines. A jellyfish is actually a surveillance robot, powered by the atoms around it. Fins pick up intelligence while propelling a robot bluegill sunfish.

US to examine technology for automated cars
(AP)—Cars that drive themselves may hold the potential to save thousands of lives, an Obama administration safety official said Tuesday, as the U.S. government prepares to launch a research initiative to determine the safety and reliability of automated driving technologies.

Medicine & Health news

Steroid pharmacy passed 2011 inspection in Mass.
(AP)—The Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a meningitis outbreak that has claimed 23 lives around the country was cleared by state regulators following an inspection last year.

Japan hopes medical tourists immune to China row
As relations between Tokyo and Beijing appear increasingly in need of major surgery, officials in the far north of Japan are hoping the infant industry of medical tourism can thrive unscathed.

'Our Bodies, Ourselves' earmarked for US politicians
Women's health advocates set out their plan Monday to put a copy of "Our Bodies, Ourselves" in the office of every lawmaker on Capitol Hill, 41 years after the guide to the female body was published.

Medical recommendations should go beyond race, scholar says
(Medical Xpress)—Medical organizations that make race-based recommendations are misleading some patients about health risks while reinforcing harmful notions about race, argues a Michigan State University professor in a new paper published in the journal Preventive Medicine.

Simple, inexpensive risk score can shorten length of stay for patients
A simple-to-use risk score can identify low-risk patients following a severe heart attack (STEMI) and may provide an opportunity to employ early discharge strategies to reduce length of hospital stay and save hospital costs without compromising the safety of the patient, based on a study presented by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation on Oct. 23 at the 2012 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference.

Prior cardiac surgery does not mean worse outcomes for STEMI patients who receive stent
Contrary to previous data, patients with prior open heart surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), who have a severe heart attack (STEMI) and receive a coronary stent have similar outcomes to patients without previous CABG, based on study of a large, prospective, regional STEMI network, being presented Oct. 23 at the 2012 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference.

Life saving surgical technique to be pioneered in Yorkshire
A surgical technique which could save the lives of 3,000 colon cancer patients every year will be taught to Yorkshire's surgeons this week in a bid to improve outcomes.

Loyola optometrist warns not to wear tinted contact lenses for Halloween without a prescription
Decorative tinted contact lenses will be popular accessories this Halloween, but a Loyola University Medical Center optometrist is warning that improper use could cause severe eye damage.

Dangerous form of MRSA, endemic in many US hospitals, increasing in UK
Prevalence of a particularly dangerous form of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) jumped three-fold in just two years, in hospitals in the United Kingdom, according to a paper in the October 2012 Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

Antibodies to immune cells protect eyes in pseudomonas infection
Contact lenses, particularly the extended wear variety, render wearers vulnerable to eye infections from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These infections can cause severe damage, including blindness. Treating the eye with antibodies to the inflammatory immune compound interleukin-17 (IL-17) reduced eye damage and the number of bacteria in a mouse model. The research is published in the October Infection and Immunology.

Effective treatment helps Danes with personality disorders
For seven years, Carsten René Jørgensen from the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences at Aarhus University has collaborated with the Clinic for Personality Disorders, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov on examining the extent to which modern psychoanalytic psychotherapy can help the Danes suffering from severe borderline personality disorders.

Disabled patients to benefit from Medicare change
(AP)—Lawyers for Medicare patients say the Obama administration has agreed to a change that would help people with severe chronic illnesses like Alzheimer's keep receiving rehabilitation services, even if they're not getting better.

Ebola outbreak in DR Congo stabilises: WHO
An outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has stabilised, with no new deaths or cases in more than a week, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.

Leading European experts call for more rigorous scientific evidence for healthcare interventions
(Medical Xpress)—Leading clinicians and health researchers from across Europe say much greater emphasis must be placed on the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of treatments and other healthcare interventions to ensure patients receive the best care available. The call is contained in a Science Policy Briefing published by the European Medical Research Councils, which also made ten key recommendations on how to improve the quality of research and healthcare in Europe.

Improving medical research education across Europe
(Medical Xpress)—Fostering and improving medical research education is crucial to biomedical research and clinical patient treatment, and as such it has been identified as the main challenge in every joint European Science Foundation (ESF) - European Research Medical Councils (EMRC) strategy report. A new policy report entitled "Medical Research Education in Europe" has just been published looking at crucial factors to improve medical research education throughout Europe.

Is declining medical imaging use driving up hospital stays and medical costs?
A new report by the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute shows that the length of the average hospital stay in the United States has increased at the same time as use of medical imaging scans has declined. It is unclear if the trends are related, but potentially important, as hospital admissions are among the largest, and fastest growing, health care costs. More research is needed to assess the potential negative impact of government and private insurer imaging reductions on overall medical costs and patient safety.

Low adoption by large hospital ICUs of catheter-associated urinary tract infection precautions
Hospital size matters when it comes to intensive care units (ICUs) adopting even the most routine prevention policies for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing, published this month in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study found that large hospitals—those with more than 500 beds —had a 1.5 higher average rate of CAUTI than hospitals with 500 beds or less. Since larger hospitals, particularly teaching hospitals treat patients who are often sicker, the finding that their ICUs have higher incidences of CAUTI, while still a cause of concern, was not unanticipated.

A heavy price for cheaper drugs
You get what you pay for. This maxim is proving true all over again when it comes to steroid injections used to alleviate back pain. Making safe and effective versions of such drugs involves manufacturing steps that aren't trivial. The cost of the medicine has to match the care that goes into creating it and the oversight required to ensure that the standards are maintained.

Mechanical ventilation at lower level among patients without lung injury linked with better outcomes
Among patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome, protective mechanical ventilation with use of lower tidal volumes (the volume of air inhaled and exhaled during each breath) was associated with better outcomes including less lung injury, lower mortality, fewer pulmonary infections and a shorter hospital length of stay, according to a meta-analysis of previous studies, reported in the October 24/31 issue of JAMA.

Men with certain cardiovascular risk factors may be at increased risk of peripheral artery disease
Among nearly 45,000 men who were followed up for more than two decades, those with the risk factors of smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes had an associated greater risk of developing PAD, according to a study in the October 24/31 issue of JAMA.

Personalized feedback makes healthcare workers twice as likely to clean their hands
A major three-year trial led by researchers at UCL, in partnership with the Health Protection Agency, has shown that giving one-to-one feedback to healthcare workers makes them twice as likely to clean their hands or use soap.

Product regulatory systems in low-and middle-income countries must be strengthened
When regulatory systems for medical products in low-and middle-income countries work, people live but when such systems fail, people die, according to experts from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) writing in this week's PLOS Medicine.

Provider-initiated HIV testing does not affect clients' rights
A new study reported in this week's PLOS Medicine reports findings from a study carried out in four African countries by Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer and colleagues on approaches towards expanding testing and counselling for HIV.

Increased use of colonoscopy screening could explain decrease in colorectal cancer rates
Use of colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening could explain a significant decrease in the cancer's incidence over the past decade, according to a new study from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Although colonoscopy is now the most common colorectal cancer screening method, there has been conflicting evidence as to its effectiveness compared with sigmoidoscopy, a method that examines only a portion of the colon.

US state: Execution table can support obese inmate
(AP)—The warden of the prison where Ohio puts inmates to death says the state's execution table can easily hold a 400-pound (181-kilogram) condemned inmate who has argued he is so big it might collapse.

Researchers map strategy for 'choosing wisely' on low-value health care services
Cutting the expenses associated with "low-value" medical tests and treatments – such as unnecessary imaging tests and antibiotics for viral infections that won't benefit from them – will require a multi-pronged plan targeting insurance companies, patients, and physicians, according to a JAMA Viewpoint article published this week by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. These efforts transcend economic impact, however, and may also be essential for improving health care quality and patient safety.

Antiviral therapy may halve risk of liver cancer after chronic hepatitis C infection
Treating chronic hepatitis C infection with antiviral drugs could halve the risk of developing the most common form of liver cancer, in some cases, indicates an analysis of the published research in one of the new BMJ Open Editions.

Not all juvenile arthritis is the same
Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) is currently classified as a subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis but with the addition of systemic inflammation often resulting in fever, rash and serositis. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine shows that the arthritic and systemic components of SJIA are related, but that the inflammatory pathways involved in SJIA are different from those in the more common polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (POLY). Of particular interest, distinct pathways involved in the arthritis of early and established SJIA raise the possibility that the immune system alters its behaviour over the course of this disease.

Viruses skip species by changing rapidly
While it may be that some Americans doubt we're related to chimps and other primates, viruses recognize the similarities in our cells.

Psychology prof studies what's behind candidates' smiles
As she was watching the first presidential debate, psychology Professor Paula Niedenthal couldn't help but notice something odd about Barack Obama's smile.

Economic conditions may trump genetics when battling obesity
In a first of its kind study that shows environmental conditions can be more influential than genetics, Virginia Tech researchers have found that the cost of food  — not someone's genetic makeup—is a major factor in eating fattening food.

Breast cancer cells spread by digging their escape route
Breast cancer cells puncture  holes into neighbouring tissues and crawl though the spaces they create to spread around the body, according to research published in the Journal of Cell Biology.

Most children experience their neighbourhoods from the back seat of the car, researchers find
At a time when childhood obesity rates are on the rise, Deakin University research has found that parents prefer to play chauffeur than let their children walk or ride to school or around the local neighbourhood.

Healthy new snack—using otherwise-discarded tomato skins—developed
Processed snack foods are not usually known for their health benefits, but a Massey University PhD student has devised a snack that not only tastes good, it is healthy too.

Fixing a sticky situation
For decades, overtightening has been blamed for the phenomenon that sometimes causes surgical screws and plates used in bone repair to irreversibly fuse together, a complication that can make subsequent removal difficult for the surgeon and traumatic for the patient. But a new study from the University of Dayton Research Institute has demonstrated that proteins naturally present in the human body, and not too much torque, are responsible for the sticking. 

New depression treatment may avoid side effects
In an Australian first, researchers are studying Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST) as an alternative treatment for the 30 per cent of patients suffering from depression who don't respond to traditional treatment.

Feeling the force of cancer
The spread of cancer cells from primary tumors to other parts of the body remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. The research group of Prof. Roderick Lim, Argovia Professor for Nanobiology of the Biozentrum and the Swiss Nanoscience Institute at the University of Basel, in collaboration with Dr. Cora-Ann Schönenberger from the Biozentrum, reveal in the journal "Nature Nanotechnology" how the unique nanomechanical properties of breast cancer cells are fundamental to the process of metastasis.

Duke research team identifies a potent growth factor for blood stem cells
Duke Medicine researchers studying the interaction of blood stem cells and the niche where they reside have identified a protein that may be a long-sought growth factor for blood stem cells.

Study shows New Jersey's decal for young drivers reduced crashes
A new study shows that New Jersey's law requiring novice drivers to display a red decal on their license plates has prevented more than 1,600 crashes and helped police officers enforce regulations unique to new drivers. The first-in-the-nation decal provision went into effect in May 2010 as part of N.J.'s Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) law. Nearly every state has a GDL law on the books, but "Kyleigh's Law," named for a teen driver killed in a 2006 N.J. crash, is the first one that requires drivers under age 21 to display their probationary status so that they are more visible to police.

Roche probed for not reporting side effects
(AP)—Europe's top drug regulator announced Tuesday it is taking action against pharmaceutical giant Roche for allegedly failing to properly report the side effects of 19 drugs being used by U.S. patients.

Researchers find that diabetes drug could be effective in treating addiction
Vanderbilt researchers are reporting today that a drug currently used to treat type 2 diabetes could be just as effective in treating addiction to drugs, including cocaine.

Researchers study how patterns, timing of sunlight exposure contribute to skin cancers
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, the University of South Florida and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in France have studied the patterns and timing of sunlight exposure and how each is related to two nonmelanoma skin cancers – basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

TIM and TAM: 2 paths used by the Dengue virus to penetrate cells
By demonstrating that it is possible to inhibit the viral infection in vitro by blocking the bonding between the virus and these receptors, the researchers have opened the way to a new antiviral strategy. These works were published on line in the review "Cell Host & Microbe" of October 18, 2012.

The complex association between moderate alcohol consumption and breast cancer
An excellent review article from two scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the USA to be published in Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2012, describes the epidemiologic and basic scientific evidence linking alcohol consumption to the risk of breast cancer.

Noninvasive assay monitored treatment response in patients with metastatic prostate cancer
Deciding the ideal treatment for patients with metastatic prostate cancer that stops responding to initial therapy could be guided by certain analyses of cancer cells isolated from the patients' blood, according to data published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Researchers report widespread Internet use by caregivers of children with shunts
When faced with disease, patients and caregivers now readily turn to the Internet for information and emotional support. This is particularly true in the case of caregivers of children with hydrocephalus. Researchers at Children's of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that adults caring for children with hydrocephalus reported greater regular use of the Internet than the general population (91.7 percent compared with 74 percent).

Next-generation vaccines—eliminating the use of needles
Lead scientist Professor Simon Cutting, from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, has developed the jabs through the use of probiotic spores. He carried out fundamental studies into the biology of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis which attracted the attention of microbiologists due to its ability to form spores that can last millions of years before germinating under the appropriate environmental conditions.

Are schizophrenia and autism close relations?
(Medical Xpress)—Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a category that includes autism, Asperger Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder, are characterized by difficulty with social interaction and communication, or repetitive behaviors. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Management says that one in 88 children in the US is somewhere on the Autism spectrum—an alarming ten-fold increase in the last four decades.

Lifting weights protects against metabolic syndrome
People who lift weights are less likely to have metabolic syndrome—a cluster of risk factors linked to heart disease and diabetes, reports a study in the October issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Engaging parents leads to better treatments for children with adhd
Pediatricians and researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's(CHOP) have developed a first-of-its kind tool to help parents and health care providers better treat ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder). The new, three-part survey helps steer families and doctors toward "shared decision-making", an approach proven to improve healthcare results in adults, but not widely used in pediatric settings. The results of the CHOP study are published in the journal Academic Pediatrics.

Migratory birds can spread haemorrhagic fever
A type of haemorrhagic fever that is prevalent in Africa, Asia, and the Balkans has begun to spread to new areas in southern Europe. Now Swedish researchers have shown that migratory birds carrying ticks are the possible source of contagion. The discovery is being published in the US journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Perfect pitch: Knowing the note may be in your genes
People with perfect pitch seem to possess their own inner pitch pipe, allowing them to sing a specific note without first hearing a reference tone. This skill has long been associated with early and extensive musical training, but new research suggests that perfect pitch may have as much to do with genetics as it does with learning an instrument or studying voice.

UNM Cancer Center researcher looks for genetic markers for ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease. With no overt symptoms and no screening tests to catch it early, ovarian cancer is often detected at stage 3 or later. By then, it can be very aggressive and may have spread beyond the ovaries into other organs. Many women eventually succumb to it; the five-year survival rate for a stage 3 ovarian cancer diagnosis is only 34 percent.

Blood chromosome differences are linked to pancreatic cancer
A new study shows that a blood marker is linked to pancreatic cancer, according to a study published today by scientists at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center and Mayo Clinic.

Protein levels could predict if bowel cancer patients will benefit from Avastin
Comparing levels of specific proteins that the drug Avastin targets could identify patients with advanced bowel cancer who will benefit from the treatment, according to research published in Clinical Cancer Research.

Genetic predisposition to diabetes ups risk of CVD
(HealthDay)—For patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), having a genetic predisposition towards the disease is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a study published online Oct. 15 in Diabetes Care.

Most large treatment effects of medical interventions come from small studies
In an examination of the characteristics of studies that yield large treatment effects from medical interventions, these studies were more likely to be smaller in size, often with limited evidence, and when additional trials were performed, the effect sizes became typically much smaller, according to a study in the October 24/31 issue of JAMA.

Limitations to the 'revolutionary' findings of online studies
'Direct to consumer' research, using data obtained through increasingly popular online communities such as 23andMe, PatientsLikeMe and the Personal Genome Project, has methodological limitations that are known to epidemiological studies, including selection bias, information bias, and confounding. These limitations mean that the results and conclusions of research using these methods need to be interpreted with caution, according to a paper published in the journal PLoS Medicine.

Genetic marker for placebo response identified in IBS patients
Although placebos have played a critical role in medicine and clinical research for more than 70 years, it has been a mystery why these inactive treatments help to alleviate symptoms in some patients – and not others. Now researchers have for the first time identified genetic differences between placebo responders and non-responders, providing an important new clue to what has come to be known as "the placebo effect."

Lives could be saved by removing age restrictions on rotavirus vaccination
A study published in this week's PLOS Medicine, which suggests that the additional children's lives saved by removing the age restrictions for rotavirus vaccination in low- and middle-income countries would be much greater than any extra deaths from vaccine-associated complications (namely, intussusception-a form of bowel obstruction), has informed policy regarding the age restrictions for this vaccine.

Amish children are 2 times more physically active than non-Amish children
Old Order Amish children are much more physically active and three times less likely to be overweight than non-Amish children, which may provide them with some long-term protection against developing Type 2 diabetes, University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers report in the journal Diabetes Care.

Mass.: Visible fungus at meningitis-linked company
(AP)—Massachusetts state officials say they found unclean conditions including visible black specks of fungus in steroids made by a pharmacy linked to a deadly outbreak of meningitis.

Scientists build 'mechanically active' DNA material
Artificial muscles and self-propelled goo may be the stuff of Hollywood fiction, but for UC Santa Barbara scientists Omar Saleh and Deborah Fygenson, the reality of it is not that far away. By blending their areas of expertise, the pair have created a dynamic gel made of DNA that mechanically responds to stimuli in much the same way that cells do. The results of their research were published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

New research suggests all primates shared common blood type ancestor
(Medical Xpress)—An international team of researchers has found evidence that suggests that the ABO blood types found in all primates developed in a shared common ancestor. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes how a genetic analysis of the ABO blood types revealed that they developed much earlier than had been previously thought, which they say, shows that ABO blood types did not develop independently in different species.

Scientists aim to analyse a whole mouse brain under the electron microscope
What happens in the brain when we see, hear, think and remember? To be able to answer questions like this, neuroscientists need information about how the millions of neurons in the brain are connected to each other. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg have taken a crucial step towards obtaining a complete circuit diagram of the brain of the mouse, a key model organism for the neurosciences. The research group working with Winfried Denk has developed a method for preparing the whole mouse brain for a special microscopy process. With this, the resolution at which the brain tissue can be examined is so high that the fine extensions of almost every single neuron are visible.

Researchers suggest eating cooked food led to larger human brains
(Medical Xpress)—Brazilian researchers Karina Fonseca-Azevedo and Suzana Herculano-Houzel suggest humans evolved bigger brains because they learned to cook their food. In a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the two outline research they've conducted that involved counting the number of neurons in the brains of various primates, the results of which showed that the only way early humans could have evolved bigger brains was to find a way to get more energy from the food they ate, i.e. cooking it.

Lung mucus gel scaffold prevents nanoparticles from getting through
Mucus coats our airways' internal surfaces. The viscous gel humidifies the lungs and prevents viruses and other small particles like diesel soot from entering the body unchecked. Previously unclear was the extent to which such nanoparticles are able to move through the lungs' mucus. Here, the research evidence was contradictory. Scientists could not explain why, in inhaled medication development, drug nanoparticles often simply got stuck in the mucus never making it to their target destination inside the lung cells.

Summer babies less likely to be CEOs, research finds
(Medical Xpress)—Sauder School of Business researchers at the University of British Columbia have found that a person's date of birth can affect their climb up the corporate ladder.

New paper examines shifting gears in the circadian clock of the heart
A new study conducted by a team of scientists led by Giles Duffield, assistant professor of biological sciences and a member of the Eck Institute for Global Health at the University of Notre Dame focuses on the circadian clock of the heart, and used cultured heart tissue. The results of the new study have implications for cardiovascular health, including daily changes in responses to stress and the effect of long-term rotational shift work.

Neuroscientists propose revolutionary DNA-based approach to map wiring of whole brain
A team of neuroscientists has proposed a new and potentially revolutionary way of obtaining a neuronal connectivity map (the "connectome") of the whole brain of the mouse. The details are set forth in an essay published October 23 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Precisely targeted electrical brain stimulation alters perception of faces, study finds
In a painless clinical procedure performed on a patient with electrodes temporarily implanted in his brain, Stanford University doctors pinpointed two nerve clusters that are critical for face perception. The findings could have practical value in treating people with prosopagnosia—the inability to distinguish one face from another—as well in gaining an understanding of why some of us are so much better than others at recognizing and remembering faces.

New vitamin-based treatment that could reduce muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophy
Boosting the activity of a vitamin-sensitive cell adhesion pathway has the potential to counteract the muscle degeneration and reduced mobility caused by muscular dystrophies, according to a research team led by scientists at the University of Maine.

Biology news

UN warns northwest Africa over desert locust swarms
The UN food agency warned Tuesday that desert locust swarms are likely to head to northwest Africa in the coming weeks, and urged teams armed with pesticides to protect crops from the pests.

Combination of Gulf oil and dispersant spell potential trouble for gut microbes
A study to be published in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on Tuesday, October 23, examined whether crude oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the dispersant used on it, or a combination of the two might affect the microbes of the human digestive tract. The researchers found that although high concentrations of oil combined with dispersant are detrimental to these helpful microbial communities, the low to undetectable concentrations typically found in Gulf shellfish had no discernable effect.

Highly efficient production of advanced biofuel by metabolically engineered microorganism
A Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, applied a systems metabolic engineering approach to improve the production of butanol through enhancing the performance of Clostridium acetobutylicum, one of the best known butanol-producing bacteria.

Zimbabwe weighs cost of too many elephants
A herd of elephants hobbles past a cluster of acacia trees to a water-hole deep in Zimbabwe's vast Hwange game reserve, attracted by the drone of generators pumping water round the clock into the pool.

Scientists fight 'super weeds' with sustainability
(Phys.org)—Across the United States, fields of genetically engineered crops have become laboratories for the evolution of glyphosate-resistant (GR) weeds. These fast-growing "super weeds"—resistant to the highly effective herbicide glyphosate—are cutting crop yields and raising costs for farmers, whose only recourse is to spray more and different chemicals.

Palm tree-killing weevil found in South Texas
An intensive, area-wide survey of the Lower Rio Grande Valley has detected the presence of a palm tree-killing weevil that has caused extensive damage in other parts of the world, according to Dr. Raul Villanueva, an entomologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Weslaco.

The co-evolution of plants and mammals examined
A report at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Raleigh, North Carolina, explores the idea that the evolution of flowering plants (angiosperms) during the Cretaceous Period had a profound effect on the early diversification of mammals during the same time frame. Paleontologists investigate life on earth, often discovering and describing new forms and evolutionary sequences from the depths of time. Questions about the co-evolution of ecologically-connected groups, however, can be particularly challenging to answer. A new report by David Grossnickle, a graduate student at the University of Indiana Bloomington, presents an elegant study that correlates the fossil record of the mid-Cretaceous flowering plants with concurrent patterns of mammalian evolution.

A cyclical effect: More atmospheric CO2, more greenhouse gas per grain of rice
More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and rising temperatures cause rice agriculture to release more of the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH4) for each kilogram of rice it produces, new research published recently in the online edition of Nature Climate Change reveals. "Our results show that rice agriculture becomes less climate friendly as our atmosphere continues to change. This is important, because rice paddies are one of the largest human sources of methane, and rice is the world's second-most produced staple crop," said Dr Kees Jan van Groenigen, Research Fellow at the Botany Department at the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, and lead author of the study.

Bacteria involved in sewer pipe corrosion identified
Microbes corrode sewer pipes from the inside, a process that can lead to spills, bad odors, disease outbreaks, and the need for costly repairs. In a first step towards reducing the corrosion, researchers have identified the culprit microbes. The research is published in the October Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Nineteen species of ferns named for Lady Gaga
Pop music megastar Lady Gaga is being honored with the name of a new genus of ferns found in Central and South America, Mexico, Arizona and Texas. A genus is a group of closely related species; in this case, 19 species of ferns will carry the name Gaga.

Puppies don't pick up on yawns
Do you get tired when others yawn? Does your dog get tired when you yawn? New research from Lund University establishes that dogs catch yawns from humans. But not if the dogs are too young. The study, published in Springer's journal Animal Cognition, found that, like humans, dogs show a developmental trend in susceptibility to contagious yawning.

Whale racket: Sounding out how loud the oceans were from whale vocalizing prior to industrial whaling
Concern is growing that human-generated noise in the ocean disrupts marine animals that rely on sound for communication and navigation. In the modern ocean, the background noise can be ten times louder than it was just 50 years ago. But new modeling based on recently published data suggests that 200 years ago – prior to the industrial whaling era—the ocean was even louder than today due to the various sounds whales make.

Don't be so fast to judge a cat by its color, new study warns
Just like humans, domestic cats are often judged by their color, and the media and folklore help perpetuate these stereotypes. Take the snobbish, aloof, white kitty who promotes "Fancy Feast," and spooky images of black cats, which can be associated with bad luck and witches, especially around Halloween.

US groups win challenge to gene-altered crops
(AP)—A U.S. judge sided on Tuesday with environmental groups that challenged the planting of genetically-modified crops on National Wildlife Refuges in the South.

Local wildlife is important in human diets
Animals like antelope, frogs and rodents may be tricky to catch, but they provide protein in places where traditional livestock are scarce. According to the authors of a new paper in Animal Frontiers, meat from wild animals is increasingly important in central Africa.

Canada senate committee endorses seal cull
Canadian senators on Tuesday endorsed a plan to cull 70,000 grey seals in the southern Gulf of Saint Lawrence in an effort to preserve groundfish stocks.

Molecular motion in detail: Scientists' high-res images illuminate binding process
In a critical breakthrough in unraveling how molecular "motors" ferry proteins and nutrients through cells, Harvard scientists have produced high-resolution images that show how the "foot" of dynein—one of the most complex, but least understood such motors—binds to microtubules, the cellular tracks it travels on.

Study shows how cells form 'trash bags' for recycling waste
(Phys.org)—To remove waste from cells, a class of membrane-sculpting proteins create vesicles—molecular trash bags—that carry old and damaged proteins from the surface of cellular compartments into internal recycling plants where the waste is degraded and components are reused.

Extinct fossils reveal their genetic pattern
Researchers have provided a glimpse at genetic expression in long-extinct fossil dinosaurs. This new insight comes from the discovery of a correlation between the genetic patterning observed in today's chickens and crocodiles, and the pattern of different bone shapes along their spines. For the first time a direct correlation between the genetic expression and morphological variation is identified.

Climate change makes more shrew species, 70 genetic varieties
Anyone who went outside this summer felt the effects of climate change. Now the Eurasian shrew, Sorex araneus, can say the same. A new study by P. David Polly of Indiana University found that climate change caused shrews to change, genetically, and eventually become different species. Using shrew DNA and fossils, he found that this change occurred over hundreds of thousands of years during repeated times of extreme cold, or glaciations.

To bee an art critic, choosing between Picasso and Monet
Honeybees are also discerning art critics, according to scientists from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute and the Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil.

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