Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for December 27, 2012:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Magnetically levitating graphite can be moved with laser- Microsoft Research does Cloud-Offloaded GPS
- Liquid crystal research, future applications advance
- One step closer: Scientists help explain scarcity of anti-matter
- Birdsong study pecks theory that music is uniquely human
- Evidence contradicts idea that starvation caused saber-tooth cat extinction
- Privacy group gets NSA files on utility research
- Team mimicking a natural defense against malaria to develop new treatments
- Slice, stack, and roll: A new way to build collagen scaffolds
- The first genome sequence of Chinese plum provides important resource for fruit improvement
- Strange behavior: New study exposes living cells to synthetic protein
- US readers turn increasingly to digital books, study finds
- Team uncovers new insight into cell development and cancer
- Benefits of higher oxygen, breathing device persist after infancy
- Lord of the Wings: Elevated particles a rising star
Space & Earth news
NASA encourages public to explore its curiosity with new rover-themed badge on Foursquare
NASA and the mobile application Foursquare have teamed up to help the public unlock its scientific curiosity with a new rover-themed Curiosity Explorer badge.
Indian land program shows tech's limits
(AP)—For years, Karnataka's land records were a quagmire of disputed, forged documents maintained by thousands of tyrannical bureaucrats who demanded bribes to do their jobs. In 2002, hopes emerged that this was about to change.
Experts call off search for life in Antarctic lake
British scientists have called off the hunt for exotic life in an ice-bound Antarctic lake after their mission was hit by a technical hitch.
A new state of Venus's ionosphere
Observations from NASA's Pioneer Venus orbiter, which reached Venus in 1978, suggested that Venus's ionosphere had two states: a magnetized state with a large- scale horizontal magnetic field and an unmagnetized state with no large-scale magnetic field but with numerous small-scale thin magnetic structures known as flux ropes. Venus's ionosphere was observed to be in the unmagnetized state most of the time, but strong solar wind pressure shifted it to the magnetized state.
Curiosity self-portrait, wide view
(Phys.org)—On the 84th and 85th Martian days of the NASA Mars rover Curiosity's mission on Mars (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2012), NASA's Curiosity rover used the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to capture dozens of high-resolution images to be combined into self-portrait images of the rover.
US West Coast ready for more Japan tsunami debris
(AP)—Volunteers who patrol California beaches for plastic, cigarette butts and other litter will be on the lookout this winter for debris from last year's monstrous tsunami off Japan's coast.
Isolation and hardship hit Morocco's mountain Berbers
In a country on the doorstep of western Europe and popular for sunshine holidays, an unusually bitter winter has hit isolated mountain villages, causing hardship not usually associated with Morocco.
China boom savages coral reefs, study finds
China's economic boom has seen its coral reefs shrink by at least 80 percent over the past 30 years, a joint Australian study found, with researchers describing "grim" levels of damage and loss.
Cleanliness is key for robotic space explorers
The concrete-floored room looks, at first glance, like little more than a garage. There is a red tool chest, its drawers labeled: "Hacksaws." "Allen wrenches." There are stepladders and vise grips. There is also, at one end of the room, a half-built spaceship, and everyone is wearing toe-to-fingertip protective suits.
Super-tiger backgrounder: The case of the cosmic rays
(Phys.org)—Grade-school science teachers sometimes hand out "mystery boxes" containing ramps, barriers and a loose marble. By rotating the boxes and feeling the marble hang up or drop, the students try to deduce what's inside the box.
Lord of the Wings: Elevated particles a rising star
(Phys.org)—Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, in collaboration with colleagues at NASA Ames Research Center, developed a next-generation assessment of tiny airborne particle-understanding capability, the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research, or 4STAR. Their new model demonstrates the potential for the new airborne instrument to obtain the most important climate-related properties of tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere.
Technology news
Netflix says video streaming service hit by outage
Families across the United States will have to rely on other sources of entertainment after Netflix's video streaming service was hit by a Christmas Eve outage.
Living Smart: New thermostats can 'learn' home's routine
Programmable thermostats have long been considered an effective tool to help homeowners manage the operation of their heating and cooling systems.
Iraqi telecom Asiacell hopes to raise $1.3 billion
(AP)—Asiacell, one of Iraq's three mobile service providers, said Tuesday it is looking to raise $1.3 billion through what would be the country's biggest stock offering yet.
Review: Making Facebook a warmer, smaller space
(AP)—A woman I haven't spoken to in six years is pregnant with her second son. Another college acquaintance reads the Bible a lot. A high school classmate likes to rant about politics. A college dormmate thinks he works too much.
Ticket rush: Film fans hand Hollywood record cash
(AP)—The big deal for Hollywood is not the record $10.8 billion that studios took in domestically in 2012. It's the fact that the number of tickets sold went up for the first time in three years.
Mobile devices change shoppers' habits, retailers' strategies
Tamara Lewis uses her iPhone to search for Christmas presents for her daughter while waiting in the carpool line. At night, while watching the news in bed, she looks for boots on eBay from her iPad.
Fukushima operator seeks yet more money
The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant on Thursday sought yet more money to pay ballooning bills for compensating victims of last year's disaster.
China satellite navigation starts services to Asia
(AP)—A Chinese satellite navigation network created to eventually compete with America's Global Positioning System has started offering services to Asian users outside the country.
'Invisible Exhibition' opens eyes to blindness
The darkness is total. Mundane gestures suddenly become complicated. How do you find the door to your room, cook a meal or cross the road? The "Invisible Exhibition" in the Polish capital Warsaw offers an opportunity to understand what it is like to be sightless, as blind guides steer visitors round in blacked-out rooms .
Nonprofit tech innovators inspire new philanthropy
(AP)—Scott Harrison's organization called Charity: Water has funded nearly 7,000 clean water projects in some of the poorest areas of the world.
Marvell hit with billion-dollar verdict in patent case
A jury on Wednesday hit Marvell Technology Group with a billion-dollar verdict, ruling that the US chip maker "willfully" infringed on patents held by Carnegie Mellon University.
Apple CEO gets modest 2012 pay after big 2011
Apple CEO Tim Cook got a relatively modest $4.2 million in pay for the latest fiscal year, after the company's board set him up with stock now worth $510 million for taking the reins in 2011.
Facebook, Google dip their toes in sale of physical goods
Google and Facebook made their names by helping people find information or friends online. But in recent weeks the two rivals have made some surprising moves in a different direction - the business of selling and delivering goods.
Chevron's CEO: Affordable energy is crucial
(AP)—Chevron CEO John Watson notices something important as he visits his company's operations around the globe: Governments everywhere find high energy prices much scarier than the threat of global warming.
Sandia National Laboratories building centers across country to help solar firms test hardware
One of the National Security Administration's three national laboratories is building regional testing centers around the country to field-test hardware for solar companies before their multimillion-dollar solar systems are installed in buildings.
Iran media report new cyberattack by Stuxnet worm
(AP)—An Iranian semi-official news agency says there has been another cyberattack by the sophisticated computer worm Stuxnet, this time on the industries in the country's south.
World's longest bullet train service launched in China
China launched services Wednesday on the world's longest high-speed rail route, the latest milestone in the country's rapid and—sometimes troubled—super fast rail network.
Netflix blames Amazon for Christmas Eve outage (Update)
Netflix on Wednesday was blaming Amazon for an embarrassing outage that left millions of people unable to snuggle up with the online film streaming service on Christmas Eve.
US colleges help students polish online reputation
Samantha Grossman wasn't always thrilled with the impression that emerged when people Googled her name. So before she graduated from Syracuse University in the U.S., the school provided her with an online tool that allowed her to put her best Web image forward.
China tightening controls on Internet
China's new communist leaders are increasing already tight controls on Internet use and electronic publishing following a spate of embarrassing online reports about official abuses.
Private picture of Mark Zuckerberg's family leaked
Even Mark Zuckerberg's family can get tripped up by Facebook's privacy settings. A picture that Zuckerberg's sister posted on her personal Facebook profile was seen by a marketing director, who then posted the picture to Twitter and her more than 40,000 followers Wednesday.
US readers turn increasingly to digital books, study finds
US readers are increasingly opting for digital books instead of ink-and-paper editions, according to a Pew Research Center study released on Thursday.
BitTorrent co-founder now working with Hollywood
A Silicon Valley executive whose previous venture was synonymous with Internet piracy has found a way to play nice with Hollywood. BitTorrent Inc. co-founder Ashwin Navin is working with television networks and consumer electronics companies on a new technology called Samba that aims to deliver enhanced viewing on Internet-connected "smart TVs."
Largest wind farm in Kansas to begin operation soon
The largest wind farm to be built in Kansas is set to begin operations by the end of the year.
Analyst: Apple could pay for Brazil iPhone brand
Apple Inc. likely will have to pay a Brazilian company for the right to use the iPhone brand in Latin America's biggest country, a Brazilian telecommunications analyst said Thursday.
Microsoft Research does Cloud-Offloaded GPS
(Phys.org)—GPS reduces battery life in a smartphone or tablet, a problem that has challenged a team led by principal researcher Jie Liu at Microsoft Research. Liu has said in the past that sensing and energy are emerging cross-cutting concerns in computer systems. "The proliferation of embedded and personal devices such as networked sensors and mobile phones gives computer systems increasing capability of gathering data from and adapting to the physical world and personal activities."
Privacy group gets NSA files on utility research
(Phys.org)—Files obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and provided to CNET show that the National Security Agency (NSA) under its secret Perfect Citizen program is looking at the computerized systems that control large-scale utilities, checking for vulnerabilities including power grid and gas pipeline controllers. The U.S. government relies on commercial utilities for electricity, telecommunications, and other infrastructure requirements The program seeks to carry out "vulnerability exploration and research" against computerized controllers involved in these utilities.
Medicine & Health news
Bangladesh slaughters 150,000 birds over avian flu
Bangladesh's livestock authorities are slaughtering around 150,000 chickens at a giant poultry farm near Dhaka after the worst outbreak of avian flu in five years, officials said Wednesday.
Grim limbo for storm's nursing home evacuees in NY
(AP)—Hundreds of elderly and disabled who were hurriedly evacuated from New York City's seaside nursing homes and assisted living residences after Superstorm Sandy are still in a grim limbo two months later, sleeping on cots in temporary quarters without such comforts as private bathrooms or even regular changes of clothes.
Kenya hospital imprisons new mothers with no money
(AP)—The director of the Pumwani Maternity Hospital, located in a hardscrabble neighborhood of downtown Nairobi, freely acknowledges what he's accused of: detaining mothers who can't pay their bills. Lazarus Omondi says it's the only way he can keep his medical center running.
Shuttered after Sandy, NYC hospital partly reopens (Update)
(AP)—The evacuation of some 320 patients during the catastrophic October storm known as Sandy was just the beginning for NYU Langone Medical Center.
Tips on coping with grief during holidays
(HealthDay)—People who have lost a loved one in the past year can have difficulty coping during the holidays, an expert says.
Study examines Affordable Care Act's impact on uncompensated care
The decision by several states not to expand Medicaid health insurance for the poor may create unintended cuts for hospitals that provide uncompensated care, according to a study by John Graves, Ph.D., a Vanderbilt policy expert in the Department of Preventive Medicine.
Runners benefit from new spin-out
Run3D Ltd, a new Oxford University spin-out company, provides a pioneering service to help runners avoid a common form of injury.
Brazil to begin tracking numbers of HIV cases
(AP)—Brazilian health officials say doctors will be required to notify authorities of every HIV case in the nation.
Obesity may be declining among preschool-aged children living in low-income families
"Obesity and extreme obesity in childhood, which are more prevalent among minority and low-income families, have been associated with other cardiovascular risk factors, increased health care costs, and premature death. Obesity and extreme obesity during early childhood are likely to continue into adulthood. Understanding trends in extreme obesity is important because the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors increases with severity of childhood obesity," writes Liping Pan, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues. National trends in extreme obesity among young children living in low-income families have not been known.
Autopsy-based study examines prevalence of atherosclerosis among US service members
Among deployed U.S. service members who died of combat or unintentional injuries between 2001-2011 and underwent autopsies, the prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis was 8.5 percent, with factors associated with a higher prevalence of the disease including older age, lower educational level and prior diagnoses of dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity, according to a study in the December 26 issue of JAMA.
Healthy eating tips for holiday parties
(HealthDay)—It's all too easy to overindulge in food and drink at holiday parties, but there are things you can do to make sure you don't stray too far off the path of good health, an expert says.
Holidays spell trouble for folks unaware they're diabetic
(HealthDay)—Holiday eating and drinking could pose a risk for people who do not know that they have type 2 diabetes, an expert says.
Bristol-Myers, Pfizer's Eliquis approved in Japan
Regulators in Japan have approved sales of an anticlotting drug called Eliquis, developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Pfizer Inc., that's a potential blockbuster in a new category of medicines to prevent strokes and heart attacks. But that's only if it can win U.S. approval, as two rival drugs have done.
Drug shortage linked to greater risk of relapse in young Hodgkin lymphoma patients
A national drug shortage has been linked to a higher rate of relapse among children, teenagers and young adults with Hodgkin lymphoma enrolled in a national clinical trial, according to research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Development of new cornea endothelial cell lines provides powerful tool for understanding corneal cell biology
Human corneal endothelial cells (HCEnCs) form a monolayer of hexagonal cells whose main function is to maintain corneal clarity by regulating corneal hydration. Cell loss due to aging or corneal endothelial disorders, such as Fuchs dystrophy, can lead to cornea edema and blindness, resulting in the need for cornea transplants.
New technique catalogs lymphoma-linked genetic variations
(Medical Xpress)—As anyone familiar with the X-Men knows, mutants can be either very good or very bad—or somewhere in between. The same appears true within cancer cells, which may harbor hundreds of mutations that set them apart from other cells in the body; the scientific challenge has been to figure out which mutations are culprits and which are innocent bystanders. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have devised a novel approach to sorting them out: they generated random mutations in a gene associated with lymphoma, tested the proteins produced by the genes to see how they performed, and generated a catalog of mutants with cancer-causing potential.
Doctors call for evidence-based appropriateness criteria for elective procedures
Many of the most common inpatient surgeries in the United States are performed electively. These surgeries are expected to significantly increase with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. In a new perspectives article, published in the Dec. 27 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine, a team of Weill Cornell Medical College researchers are recommending the nation's health care leaders and medical community join forces to establish evidence-based appropriateness criteria to determine which patients are most in need of elective procedures, such as joint replacement surgery, to slow the projected surge in demand and rising costs. Currently, there are no appropriateness criteria for most of the common elective procedures.
Genetic sequencing breakthrough to aid treatment for congenital hyperinsulinism
Congenital hyperinsulinism is a genetic condition where a baby's pancreas secretes too much insulin. It affects approximately one in 50,000 live births and in severe cases requires the surgical removal of all or part of the pancreas.
Ability to metabolize tamoxifen affects breast cancer outcomes, study confirms
For nearly a decade, breast cancer researchers studying the hormone therapy tamoxifen have been divided as to whether genetic differences in a liver enzyme affect the drug's effectiveness and the likelihood breast cancer will recur. A new study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center and the Austrian Breast and Colorectal Cancer Study Group provides evidence that genetic differences in the enzyme CYP2D6 play a key role in how well tamoxifen works.
A model-free way to characterize polymodal ion channel gating
Two studies in The Journal of General Physiology (JGP) help pave the way for a "shortcut" model-free approach to studying activation of "polymodal" ion channels—channels that open in response to multiple stimuli.
Kids and healthy eating can go together
(HealthDay)—The notion that something is "easier said than done" could have been conceived for the task of getting kids to eat healthy foods.
'Teaching gardens' nurture kids' interest in healthy foods
(HealthDay)—It can be pretty tough for broccoli to compete with a bag of chips. There's no broccoli aisle in the grocery store. And, you won't see too many creative ads showcasing broccoli on TV or online.
FDA approves juxtapid for rare cholesterol disorder
(HealthDay)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the orphan drug Juxtapid (lomitapide) for patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH), for use in combination with a low-fat diet and other lipid lowering treatments, according to a Dec. 26 press release.
R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score predicts treatment efficacy
(HealthDay)—The R.E.N.A.L. (radius, exophytic/endophytic, nearness to collecting system or sinus, anterior/posterior and location relative to polar lines) nephrometry scoring system predicts the efficacy of treatment and major complications that occur after percutaneous renal ablation for treatment of tumors, according to research published in the January issue of The Journal of Urology.
Understanding of infantile hemangiomas is improving
(HealthDay)—Improved understanding of the pathogenesis of infantile hemangiomas (IHs) is leading to better treatment options, according to a review published online Dec. 24 in Pediatrics.
Prophylactic options compared for women with BRCA1/2
(HealthDay)—The results of a simulation model suggest that, when quality of life is considered, prophylactic bilateral salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy may be an acceptable alternative to bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for women with BRCA mutations, according to research published in the January issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Fewer than a quarter call 911 during acute heart problem
(HealthDay)—During acute coronary syndromes, fewer than one-quarter of patients call 911, according to a study published in the Jan. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.
Early menopause tied to greater type 2 diabetes risk
(HealthDay)—Women who experience early menopause have a greater risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online Dec. 10 in Diabetes Care.
Your new weight-loss resolution: drive less
(HealthDay)— If weight loss is your New Year's resolution, making another vow—to drive less in 2013—could help, a new study suggests.
Youth seeking weight loss treatment report bullying by those they trust
(Medical Xpress)—Even as adolescents struggle to lose weight through treatment programs, they often continue to experience weight-based discrimination—not just from their peers, but from adults they trust, including parents and teachers. The study by researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale appears online in the journal Pediatrics, and is the first comprehensive examination of how weight-based victimization impacts youth seeking weight-loss treatment.
Kids fight food allergies one bite at a time
(Medical Xpress)—The holidays can be a stressful time for parents of the six million children in the United States with food allergies. With so many parties and gifts involving food, parents may worry that their children will come into contact with the very allergens they are so vigilant about avoiding year round.
Study suggests gene variation may shape bladder cancer treatment
(Medical Xpress)—Patients who have inherited a specific common genetic variant develop bladder cancer tumors that strongly express a protein known as prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), which is also expressed in many pancreatic and prostate tumors, according to research at the National Institutes of Health.
Broader background checks and denial criteria could help prevent mass shooting catastrophes
Garen Wintemute, a leading authority on gun violence prevention and an emergency medicine physician at UC Davis, believes broader criteria for background checks and denials on gun purchases can help prevent future firearm violence, including mass shooting catastrophes such as those that occurred at Sandy Hook, Aurora, Virginia Tech and Columbine.
Scientists home in on cause of osteoarthritis pain
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center, in collaboration with researchers at Northwestern University, have identified a molecular mechanism central to the development of osteoarthritis (OA) pain, a finding that could have major implications for future treatment of this often-debilitating condition.
The factor that could influence future breast cancer treatment
Australian scientists have shown in the laboratory how a 'transcription factor' causes breast cancer cells to develop an aggressive subtype that lacks sensitivity to estrogen and does not respond to known anti-estrogen therapies. The research, which has significant implications for breast cancer treatment, is published December 27 in the open access journal PLOS Biology.
Staphylococcus aureus: Why it just gets up your nose
A collaboration between researchers at the School of Biochemistry and Immunology and the Department of Microbiology at Trinity College Dublin has identified a mechanism by which the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) colonizes our nasal passages. The study, published today in the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, shows for the first time that a protein located on the bacterial surface called clumping factor B (ClfB) has high affinity for the skin protein loricrin.
Sustained virological response linked with improved survival for patients with chronic HCV infection
Among patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and advanced hepatic fibrosis (development of excess fibrous connective tissue), sustained virological response (SVR) to interferon-based treatment was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with patients without SVR, according to a study in the December 26 issue of JAMA.
MRI can screen patients for Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal lobar degeneration
When trying to determine the root cause of a person's dementia, using an MRI can effectively and non-invasively screen patients for Alzheimer's disease or Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD), according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Using an MRI-based algorithm effectively differentiated cases 75 percent of the time, according to the study, published in the December 26th, 2012, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The non-invasive approach reported in this study can track disease progression over time more easily and cost-effectively than other tests, particularly in clinical trials testing new therapies.
Study: People with mental disorders more likely to have experienced domestic violence
Men and women with mental health disorders, across all diagnoses, are more likely to have experienced domestic violence than the general population, according to new research from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, in collaboration with the University of Bristol. Previous studies into the link between domestic violence and mental health problems have mainly focused on depression, but this is the first study to look at a wide range of mental health problems in both male and female victims.
Kindness key to happiness and acceptance for children
Children who make an effort to perform acts of kindness are happier and experience greater acceptance from their peers, suggests new research from the University of British Columbia and the University of California, Riverside.
US cancer screening rates decline over the last 10 years, study finds
The rate of people who seek preventive cancer screenings has fallen over the last ten years in the United States with wide variations between white-collar and blue-collar workers, according to a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine study published on December 27 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cancer Epidemiology.
US childhood obesity dips for first time in decades
Obesity rates among small children may finally be on the decline after more than tripling in the United States the past 30 years, a study out Wednesday indicated.
Ultrasound diagnoses appendicitis without X-rays
Children suspected of having appendicitis are more likely to receive CT scans, which involve radiation, if they are evaluated at a general hospital, a new study by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has shown.
Immune system changes may drive aggressiveness of recurrent tumors
Nearly half of the 700,000 cancer patients who undergo surgical removal of a primary tumor each year suffer a recurrence of their disease at some point, and many of those patients will eventually die from their disease. The traditional view of recurrent tumors is that they are resistant to therapy because they've acquired additional genetic mutations that make them more aggressive and impervious to drugs. Now, however, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania show in an animal model that the enhanced aggressiveness of recurrent tumors may be due to changes in the body's immune response. The findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cellular fuel gauge may hold the key to restricting cancer growth
Researchers at McGill University have discovered that a key regulator of energy metabolism in cancer cells known as the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) may play a crucial role in restricting cancer cell growth. AMPK acts as a "fuel gauge" in cells; AMPK is turned on when it senses changes in energy levels, and helps to change metabolism when energy levels are low, such as during exercise or when fasting. The researchers found that AMPK also regulates cancer cell metabolism and can restrict cancer cell growth.
Benefits of higher oxygen, breathing device persist after infancy
By the time they reached toddlerhood, very preterm infants originally treated with higher oxygen levels continued to show benefits when compared to a group treated with lower oxygen levels, according to a follow-up study by a research network of the National Institutes of Health that confirms earlier network findings. Moreover, infants treated with a respiratory therapy commonly prescribed for adults with obstructive sleep apnea fared as well as those who received the traditional therapy for infant respiratory difficulties, the new study found.
Team uncovers new insight into cell development and cancer
Long-standing research efforts have been focused on understanding how stem cells, cells capable of transforming into any type of cell in the body, are capable of being programmed down a defined path to contribute to the development of a specific organ like a heart, lung, or kidney. Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has shed new light on how epigenetic signals may function together to determine the ultimate fate of a stem cell.
Monkey see, monkey do: Visual feedback is necessary for imitating facial expressions
(Medical Xpress)—Research using new technology shows that our ability to imitate facial expressions depends on learning that occurs through visual feedback.
Disruption of cellular signaling identified in pulmonary arterial hypertension
(Medical Xpress)—Impairment of a key signaling cascade in the pulmonary blood vessels plays an important role in pulmonary arterial hypertension, a Yale study has found. The study appears in the advance online publication of Nature Medicine.
Team mimicking a natural defense against malaria to develop new treatments
(Medical Xpress)—One of the world's most devastating diseases is malaria, responsible for at least a million deaths annually, despite global efforts to combat it. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, working with collaborators from Drexel University, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins University, have identified a protein in human blood platelets that points to a powerful new weapon against the disease. Their work was published in this months' issue of Cell Host and Microbe.
Statin drug shows promise for fighting malaria effects
Researchers have discovered that adding lovastatin, a widely used cholesterol-lowering drug, to traditional antimalarial treatment decreases neuroinflammation and protects against cognitive impairment in a mouse model of cerebral malaria. Although there are differences between mouse models of cerebral malaria and human disease, these new findings indicate that statins are worthy of consideration in clinical trials of cerebral malaria, according to an article published in the Dec. 27 issue of PLOS Pathogens.
Birdsong study pecks theory that music is uniquely human
(Medical Xpress)—A bird listening to birdsong may experience some of the same emotions as a human listening to music, suggests a new study on white-throated sparrows, published in Frontiers of Evolutionary Neuroscience.
Biology news
Namibia rhino deaths raise fears of widening poaching crisis
The rare killing of a black rhino for its horns in Namibia has prompted fears that a poaching epidemic in neighbouring South Africa could spill across the border.
2012 produced extreme spider mite infestations in corn
Spider mite infestations across the entire Texas High Plains were among the worst producers have had to deal with in a number of years, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist.
Expert: Drought-tolerant corn advances beginning to show
There's nothing like a couple years of drought to help determine the advances being made in drought-tolerant corn. And Dr. Qingwu Xue, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist, says there are some significant differences starting to show up.
Ailing whale washes ashore at New York City beach
(AP)—An ailing, endangered finback whale has been found washed ashore in a coastal enclave of Queens that was hard hit by Superstorm Sandy.
Two new species of orchid found in Cuba
Researchers from the University of Vigo, in collaboration with the Environmental Services Unit at the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park (Cuba), have discovered two new species of Caribbean orchid.
Trying to halt hepatitis C's molecular hijacking
Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have figured out intimate details of how the hepatitis C virus takes over an invaded cell, a breakthrough that could point to way for new treatments for the virus.
World's smelliest and largest flower blooms in Brazil
Hundreds of visitors are flocking daily to a botanical garden in southeastern Brazil to watch the rare blooming of the Titan arum, the world's smelliest and largest tropical flower.
Scientists sequence genome of pathogen responsible for pneumocystis pneumonia
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, an advancement that could help identify new targets for drugs to treat and prevent Pneumocystis pneumonia, a common and often deadly infection in immunocompromised patients. The study will be published on December 26, 2012 in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The organism cannot yet be isolated and grown for study in the laboratory, so details about Pneumocystis pneumonia, the biology of P. jirovecii, and its pathogenicity are hard to come by. The genome sequence represents a wealth of new information for doctors and researchers tackling this disease.
'Yak insurance' plan saving Nepal's snow leopard
The remorse felt by Himali Chungda Sherpa after he killed three snow leopard cubs in retaliation for his lost cattle inspired him to set up a scheme to prevent other herders from doing the same.
Even in same vineyard, different microbes may create variations in wine grapes
Choosing the perfect wine may soon involve more than just knowing the perfect vintage and chateau. Differences in the microbes present on grapes even in different parts of the same vineyard may contribute to flavor fluctuations in samples of grapes from different tanks, according to research published December 26 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mathabatha Setati and colleagues from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Scientists challenge current theories about natural habitats and species diversity
(Phys.org)—How can a square meter of meadow contain tens of species of plants? And what factors determine the number of species that live in an ecosystem? Science journal has defined this as one of the 25 most important unresolved questions in science, both for its importance in understanding nature and due to the value of natural ecosystems for mankind. The value of goods and services provided by natural ecosystems is estimated to exceed the GDP of our planet.
New study hints that stem cells prepare for maturity much earlier than anticipated
Unlike less versatile muscle or nerve cells, embryonic stem cells are by definition equipped to assume any cellular role. Scientists call this flexibility "pluripotency," meaning that as an organism develops, stem cells must be ready at a moment's notice to activate highly diverse gene expression programs used to turn them into blood, brain, or kidney cells.
Tigers roar back: Good news for big cats in three key landscapes
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today significant progress for tigers in three key landscapes across the big cat's range due to better law enforcement, protection of additional habitat, and strong government partnerships.
The first genome sequence of Chinese plum provides important resource for fruit improvement
A Chinese research team, led by Beijing Forestry University, BGI, Beijing Lin Fu Ke Yuan Flowers Co., Ltd, and other institutes, has completed the first genomic sequence of Prunus mume, known as mei. This work is extremely important for the deeper understanding of Rosaceae evolution and provides an invaluable resource for the improvement of fruit trees. The latest study was published online today in Nature Communications.
Lethal weapon: bacteria's high-risk suicide strategy
(Phys.org)—New research shows how some bacterial cells keep a 'suicide complex' ready to hand at all times.
Disease burden links ecology to economic growth
A new study, published December 27 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, finds that vector-borne and parasitic diseases have substantial effects on economic development across the globe, and are major drivers of differences in income between tropical and temperate countries. The burden of these diseases is, in turn, determined by underlying ecological factors: it is predicted to rise as biodiversity falls. This has significant implications for the economics of health care policy in developing countries, and advances our understanding of how ecological conditions can affect economic growth.
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