Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for June 21, 2013:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Muscles act as metamaterials due to collective behavior, physicists show- Ferroelectric-graphene-based system could lead to improved information processing
- Harnessing the potential of quantum tunneling: Transistors without semiconductors
- Researchers discover way to allow 80 percent of sound to pass through walls
- Two-dimensional atomically-flat transistors show promise for next generation green electronics
- GM silkworms bred to spin fluorescent
- Time perception altered by mindfulness meditation
- Team creates techniques for high quality, high resolution stereo panoramas
- First Apple computer could fetch $500,000 or more (Update)
- UK regulator orders Google to delete private data
- Scientists solve riddle of strangely behaving magnetic material
- Super full moon shines brightly this weekend (Update)
- FAA moving toward easing electronic device use
- Oddest couple ever found: Amphibian and mammal forerunner share 250 million year old burrow
- Messier 61 looks straight into Hubble's camera
Space & Earth news
Singapore pollution reaches hazardous levels
This week Singapore's pollution standards index (PSI) reached 400, breaking all previous records and prompting government health warnings. A PSI reading above 200 indicates "very unhealthy" air, while a PSI score above 300 is considered "hazardous".
Saving the blue waters pouring into the Black Sea
An early warning system of threats over freshwater resources in the Black Sea region is now available to policy makers. The onus remains on them to effectively preserve fresh water sources.
New report on climate change adaptation and the insurance system
The economic and insured costs of natural disasters due to extreme weather are examined in a comprehensive new report published this month: "Market-based mechanisms for climate change adaptation."
Zero tolerance for food waste a must
In light of a recent international report warning of impending food production shortages, Dr Shashi Sharma, Chair in Biosecurity and Food Security at Murdoch University, has a simple message: the world must adopt a zero tolerance attitude to food waste.
Alarming new climate forecasts show why desal so vital for Australia's future
New climate forecasts warn of ten per cent streamflow losses into Melbourne's catchments and 25 per cent losses for South-West Western Australia.
Airlines help researchers understand global climate change
Commercial aircraft are now being used to collect data which helps scientists to measure greenhouse gases, aerosols and cloud particles. This allows the collection of observational data on a scale and in numbers impossible to achieve using research aircraft alone.
Shipping firms warn of haze danger in Malacca Strait
Shipping companies warned Friday that the haze emanating from forest fires in Indonesia could lead to accidents in the busy Malacca and Singapore straits, risking a potentially devastating oil spill.
NASA image: Barry expected to dissipate rapidly after landfall
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft captured this infrared image of Tropical Storm Barry in the Gulf of Mexico's Bay of Campeche at 07:53 UTC (3:53 a.m. EDT) on June 20, 2013, as the storm was about to make landfall in southern Mexico.
NASA image: Wilfire smoke over Alaska
On June 19, 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of smoke from wildfires burning in western Alaska.
Crews begin dismantling key California dam
For nine decades, the 10-story-high concrete dam with its rusted pipes, railings and valves has stood in the wooded canyons between the Big Sur hills and the picturesque town of Carmel, blocking the natural flows of the Carmel River.
Air pollution becomes Asia's migraine
Air pollution has become a curse for millions of city-dwellers in Asia, posing a mounting risk to the very young and very old, pregnant women and people with heart and respiratory problems, say experts.
NASA rocket launch successful, next launch June 24 from Wallops
Following the successful launch today, June 20, of a NASA Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket, launch teams are now preparing for a two-rocket salvo June 24 from the Wallops Flight Facility, Va.
Sounding rocket to observe currents in atmosphere
Swirling through Earth's upper atmosphere is a layer of charged particles called the ionosphere. Constantly on the move, currents through the ionosphere can be much more complicated than winds at lower altitudes, because the currents vary in concert with magnetic fields around Earth and solar activity. The ionosphere stretches from about 30 to 600 miles above Earth, and it plays a crucial role in our day-to-day lives because radio waves bounce off it as they travel from sender to receiver. Communications and navigation signals from satellites travel through it as well. A disrupted ionosphere equates to disrupted signals.
Record-setting Singapore haze hits 'hazardous' level
Indonesia on Friday deployed helicopters to artificially create rain in a bid to fight raging fires that have choked Singapore with smog, which is hitting record-breaking levels that pose a threat to the elderly and the ill.
Carbon buried deep in ancient soils
(Phys.org) —The unearthing of significant carbon stores in deep soils by scientists from the UK and Australia has substantial implications for climate change activities globally.
Small satellites soar in high-altitude demonstration
(Phys.org) —Four tiny spacecraft soared over the California desert June 15 in a high-altitude demonstration flight that tested the sensor and equipment designs created by NASA engineers and student launch teams.
Climate tug of war disrupting Australian atmospheric circulation patterns
(Phys.org) —The study, in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, demonstrates that mid-latitude high pressure zones (30 S-45 S) are being pushed further into the Southern Ocean by rising global temperatures associated with greenhouse warming. This is despite more frequent occurrences of strong El Niños in recent decades, which should have drawn the high pressure zones in the opposite direction toward the equator.
Vegetation as seen by Suomi NPP
(Phys.org) —Images crafted from a year's worth of data collected by the Suomi NPP satellite provide a vivid depiction of worldwide vegetation. Suomi NPP, short for National Polar-orbiting Partnership, is a partnership between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
New Horizons spacecraft 'stays the course' for Pluto system encounter
Following an intense 18 month study to determine if NASA's New Horizons spacecraft faced potentially destructive impact hazards during its planned 2015 flyby of the Pluto binary planet system, the mission team has decided to 'stay the course' – and stick with the originally planned trajectory because the danger posed by dust and debris is much less than feared.
Indonesia sends planes to fight haze-causing fires
Air pollution in Singapore soared to record heights for a third consecutive day, as Indonesia dispatched planes and helicopters Friday to battle raging fires blamed for hazardous levels of smoky haze in three countries.
NASA image: Smoke engulfs Singapore
On June 19, 2013, NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites captured striking images of smoke billowing from illegal wildfires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The smoke blew east toward southern Malaysia and Singapore, and news media reported that thick clouds of haze had descended on Singapore, pushing pollution levels to record levels.
Goddard helps set two Guinness World Records
Setting two world records in two consecutive months, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., helped share some of NASA's amazing accomplishments. The awards highlight the tremendous amount of work by many of the center's engineers, scientists and communicators.
Sun emits a solstice CME
On June 20, 2013, at 11:24 p.m., the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later. These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground.
Antifreeze on Titan could affect its chances for life
Scientists have found that a common antifreeze compound that might exist on Saturn's moon Titan can get trapped within ice-like cages. This discovery could influence our ideas about the evolution and development of life on Titan and other icy celestial bodies.
Super full moon shines brightly this weekend (Update)
A "supermoon" rises this weekend.
Messier 61 looks straight into Hubble's camera
(Phys.org) —The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this image of nearby spiral galaxy Messier 61, also known as NGC 4303. The galaxy, located only 55 million light-years away from Earth, is roughly the size of the Milky Way, with a diameter of around 100 000 light-years.
Five years of stereo imaging for NASA's TWINS
(Phys.org) —Surrounding Earth is a dynamic region called the magnetosphere. The region is governed by magnetic and electric forces, incoming energy and material from the sun, and a vast zoo of waves and processes unlike what is normally experienced in Earth-bound physics. Nestled inside this constantly changing magnetic bubble lies a donut of charged particles generally aligned with Earth's equator. Known as the ring current, its waxing and waning is a crucial part of the space weather surrounding our planet, able to induce magnetic fluctuations on the ground as well as to transmit disruptive surface charges onto spacecraft.
Technology news
High-mileage hybrids have huge payoff
Modern electric hybrid vehicles have been sold in the United States for more than a decade. Honda's two-door Insight hit the U.S. market in 1999, and Toyota marketed its first hybrid four-door sedan, the Prius, in 2000. Many other models soon followed, including hybrid trucks and sport utility vehicles.
A new trophallactic strategy for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles flying in formation
The autonomous flying of multiple UAVs in formation is an important research area in the aerospace field. Professor Duan Haibin and his group members (Luo Qinan and YU Yaxiang) from the Science and Technology in Aircraft Control Laboratory, School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University set out to tackle this problem. Through 5 years of innovative research, they investigated the trophallactic mechanism behind social insects and developed a novel trophallaxis network control method for formation flight. They transferred the trophallaxis scenario to the context of a multi-UAV flight scenario and successfully tested and evaluated a new control strategy. Their work, entitled "Trophallaxis network control approach to formation flight of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles", was published in Science China Technological Sciences, 2013, Vol. 56(5).
Gauging the risk of fraud from social media
Are there indicators of whether people present an increased risk of fraudulent behaviour? This is a question that fascinates Dr Maurice van Keulen, a researcher at the University of Twente's Centre for Telematics and Information Technology (CTIT). His focus here is not on official data held by the Tax and Customs Administration, the municipal authority and the Centre for Vehicle Technology and Information (RDW), for instance, but on personal information gleaned from people's online activities. On this subject his degree candidate Henry Been has carried out a promising research project into linking Twitter accounts to people. Been is to be awarded his MSc for this work on 18 June.
New method to magnify digital images is 700 times faster
Aránzazu Jurío-Munárriz, a graduate in computer engineering from the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre, has in her PhD thesis presented new methods for improving two of the most widespread means used in digital image processing: magnification and thresholding. Her algorithm to magnify images stands out not only due to the quality obtained but also due to the time it takes to execute, which is 700 times less than other existing methods that obtain the same quality.
Dutch inmates to get computers in their cells
(AP)—The Netherlands' justice minister has proposed putting a personal computer in every prison cell in the country, in one of the more unusual measures under consideration by the Dutch government to reduce the national deficit.
Dish abandons Sprint acquisition efforts
Satellite TV operator Dish Network Corp. is officially abandoning its efforts to acquire Sprint Nextel Corp.
Gogo falls in 1st day of trading on the Nasdaq
(AP)—Shares of Gogo, which provides Internet services on airlines, declined in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.
Review: Instagram video a savvy move by Facebook
If you think Instagram snapshots of lunch plates, drooling babies and random desk objects are exciting, just wait until your friends start posting 15-second videos.
Apple, US government spar in antitrust trial finale
Apple on Thursday dismissed allegations it conspired to raise the price of e-books and said the US government's antitrust case against it would deter new entrants to concentrated markets.
Tokyo court backs Apple against Samsung on patent
Apple Inc. has won a patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. in a Japanese court, one of dozens of legal battles around the world between the technology giants.
Internet traffic rise needs infrastructure upgrade
Australian internet traffic will increase by more than five times to hit one exabyte (one billion gigabytes) of data a month by 2016, a University of Adelaide mathematician and internet researcher has predicted.
Significant rise in number of people paying for digital news in UK
A large-scale Oxford University report shows that over the last 10 months there has been a significant shift in public attitudes towards online news - with more people willing to pay or expecting to pay for it in future.
The 3-D printing revolution
"3-D printing"—the popular name for "additive manufacturing"—has been identified as one of the coming cluster of "disruptive" technologies. Expectations are that it will be a way—not the only way—to make all sorts of stuff. Food. Toothbrushes. Shoes. Art. Building materials. Car dashboards. Moon habitats. Transplantable human organs and living tissue for medical research.
SoftBank chief aims to create 'world's No.1 company'
The flamboyant founder of Japanese telco SoftBank, which is close to a $21.6 billion takeover of US firm Sprint Nextel, on Friday added a new goal to his lofty agenda: creating the world's biggest company.
Sandusky scandal revolutionized sports journalists' social network
Twitter has become a visible player in the sport media industry and a recently published journal article illustrates how sports journalists' social network developed and enlarged over the beginning phases of the Jerry Sandusky saga.
Air travel changes at less than supersonic speed
When the Concorde started flying in the 1970s, hopes were high that the traveling masses would soon streak through the air faster than the speed of sound or soar in planes that hurtled like missiles above the earth's atmosphere. Instead, jetliners still look the same as they did five decades ago and travel times have barely budged.
Progressive traffic signal systems save time and fuel
In cities, the uniform and low speed levels simplify the setup of synchronized traffic signals. Outside urban areas this is a bigger challenge: The travel speeds vary more and the distances between the traffic lights are often much larger. Researchers at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen, the BMW Group, the TRANSVER GmbH and the Supreme Building Authority in the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior have presented the results of their investigation into how progressive traffic systems can also be set up on arterial roads outside of cities.
Russian lawmakers target Internet movie 'piracy'
Russian lawmakers voted on Friday to make it easier to block websites that provide copyright movies without permission, but their attempt to fight Internet piracy has been criticised by the industry.
Obama meets privacy board on spy programs
US President Barack Obama Friday meets members of a privacy watchdog board, finally fully active after years of delays, to discuss a furor over US spy agency Internet and telephone snooping.
Researchers invent cleaner way to produce concrete
Canadian Light Source (CLS) user Mark MacDonald is helping build better communities one concrete block at a time.
New solar car from U-Michigan has sleek, asymmetrical design (w/ Video)
The lopsided solar car named Generation, unveiled today, might be the oddest-looking vehicle the top-ranked University of Michigan team has ever built. But the bold shape is a calculated effort to design the most efficient car possible, given major changes in World Solar Challenge race rules.
Team creates techniques for high quality, high resolution stereo panoramas
Stereoscopic panoramas promise an inviting, immersive experience for viewers but, at high resolutions, distortions can develop that make viewing unpleasant or even intolerable. A team at Disney Research Zurich has found methods to correct these problems, yielding high-quality panoramas at megapixel resolutions.
UK regulator orders Google to delete private data
Britain's data regulator Friday ordered Internet giant Google to delete personal data scooped up in its Street View project—or face a contempt of court action.
FAA moving toward easing electronic device use
The U.S. government is moving toward easing restrictions on airline passengers using electronic devices to listen to music, play games, read books, watch movies and work during taxiing, takeoffs and landings.
'Phishing' scams explode worldwide, researchers shows
Those insidious email scams known as phishing, in which a hacker uses a disguised address to get an Internet user to install malware, rose 87 percent worldwide in the past year, a security firm said Friday.
Shiver me timbers. Architects plan wood skyscraper for resident life
(Phys.org) —HSB Stockholm, a building society in Sweden, will be 100 years old in 2023 and to mark the date it is staging its architectural competition 2023. One entrant already gaining lots of attention is Berg | C.F. Møller, which has a proposed design of a 34-story solar powered skyscraper made of wood—well, not entirely of wood, but enough of wood to raise interest. Berg | C.F. Møller Architects are working in partnership with architects Dinell Johansson and consultants Tyréns on a skyscraper that would be seen for miles. The other two competing teams are Equator Stockholm with Mojang (Minecraft) and Utopia Architects with Rosenberg Architects.
Medicine & Health news
Emergency helicopter airlifts help the seriously injured
Patients transferred to hospital via helicopter ambulance tend to have a higher survival rate than those who take the more traditional road route, despite having more severe injuries. The research, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care suggests that air ambulances are both effective and worthy of investment.
ACOG recommends screening women for elder abuse
(HealthDay)—Elder abuse is a prevalent issue and needs to be screened for in women aged 60 years and older during preventive health care visits, according to a Committee Opinion published in the July issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
New treatment method looks to still tremors
There is no cure for tremor. That means for patients who suffer from the ailment – characterized by involuntary muscle contractions and shaking – ordinary tasks become increasingly difficult. Buttoning shirts, cooking a meal and even going out in public proves difficult for tremor patients, some who are likewise dealing with Parkinson's disease or Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Assessing performance of colonoscopy procedures improves quality
A new study reports that the use of a quarterly report card is associated with improved colonoscopy quality indicators. Endoscopists at the Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis, Ind., who participated in the study showed an overall adjusted adenoma (precancerous polyp) detection rate increase from 44.7 percent to 53.9 percent, and a cecal intubation rate increase from 95.6 percent to 98.1 percent. These two metrics are validated measures of colonoscopy performance quality. The study appears in the June issue of GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).
Potty-training pitfalls and how to avoid them
(HealthDay)—Incorrectly toilet training children can lead to problems ranging from bed-wetting and daytime accidents to urinary tract infections, so it's important to get it right, an expert says.
Huge falls in diabetes mortality in UK and Canada since mid-1990s
Both the UK and Canada have experienced huge falls in diabetes-related mortality since the mid-1990s, with the result that the gap in mortality risk between those with and without diabetes has narrowed substantially. The findings are in new research published in Diabetologia, the Journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and written by Dr Lorraine Lipscombe, Women's College Hospital, Women's College Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada, and Adjunct Scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada; and Dr Marcus Lind, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues.
Alteplase treatment reduces long-term disability and improves quality of life in stroke survivors
New research published Online First in The Lancet Neurology indicates that giving the clot-busting drug alteplase up to 6 hours after a stroke reduces long-term disability, significantly increases the likelihood of independence, and improves quality of life in stroke survivors of all ages for up to 18 months after treatment.
Daily iron during pregnancy linked to improved birth weight
Taking iron daily during pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in birth weight and a reduction in risk of low birth weight, finds a study published in BMJ today.
Severe egg allergy? There's now a flu shot for you
People with serious egg allergies may no longer have to worry about flu shots.
Fetal exposure to tobacco smoke tied to hearing loss in teens
(HealthDay)—Add another hazard to the long list of reasons not to smoke during pregnancy: Children exposed to tobacco smoke in the womb may be at higher risk for hearing loss.
Serum miR-21 putative biomarker for colorectal cancer
(HealthDay)—The oncogenic microRNA (miRNA) miR-21 is a potential biomarker for detection and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), according to a study published in the June 19 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
New test IDs genotype of hepatitis C
(HealthDay)—A new test to help doctors identify the genotype of a person's hepatitis C infection has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Men who can't produce sperm face increased cancer risk, study finds
Men who are diagnosed as azoospermic—infertile because of an absence of sperm in their ejaculate—are more prone to developing cancer than the general population, a study led by a Stanford University School of Medicine urologist has found. And a diagnosis of azoospermia before age 30 carries an eight-fold cancer risk, the study says.
A woman's face drives relationship length: study
Men looking for a quick fling prefer women with more "feminine" facial features, said a study Friday that delved into the evolutionary determinants of the mating game.
FDA OKs sale of 'Morning-after' pill without age limit
(HealthDay)—The so-called morning-after pill is about to go over-the-counter, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announcing Thursday that it has approved unrestricted sales of Plan B One-Step.
CMS implementing physician quality reporting system
(HealthDay)—To promote the reporting of quality information by eligible professionals, the Physician Quality Reporting System is being implemented, according to a report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Americans' vitamin D levels are highest in August, lowest in February, study shows
UC Irvine and Mayo Clinic researchers have found that vitamin D levels in the U.S. population peak in August and bottom out in February. The essential vitamin – necessary for healthy bones – is produced in the skin upon exposure to ultraviolet B rays from the sun.
What is integrative medicine, and when is it appropriate to use it with patients?
You wake up one day with swollen legs. Your doctor, like many physicians, might prescribe a pill to help your body get rid of the excess water.
We really do like to be beside the seaside, app confirms
Spending time by the sea is one of the keys to happiness, according to a study that uses mobile technology to track people's wellbeing in different environments.
Childhood cancer survivors found to have significant undiagnosed disease as adults
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has found that childhood cancer survivors overwhelmingly experience a significant amount of undiagnosed, serious disease through their adult years, establishing the importance of proactive, life-long clinical health screenings for this growing high-risk population. The findings appear in the June 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Study reveals link between sleep deprivation in teens and poor dietary choices
(Medical Xpress)—Well-rested teenagers tend to make more healthful food choices than their sleep-deprived peers, according to a study led by Lauren Hale, PhD, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The finding, presented at SLEEP 2013, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, may be key to understanding the link between sleep and obesity.
Not all cardiovascular risk calculators are created equal, research shows
(Medical Xpress)—Online calculators that predict a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease vary greatly in accuracy, according to new medical research from the University of Alberta.
The secret life of 'tweeting' tumours
(Medical Xpress)—A breakthrough study led by researchers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) has revealed how brain tumours communicate with other cells, which may lead to new treatments. The study has been published online in the journal RNA Biology.
Antibiotics prevent some hospital UTIs
(Medical Xpress)—Urinary tract infections are among the most common infections acquired in hospitals. Most are linked to catheters that drain urine from the bladder, providing a direct route for bacteria to enter.
How foods are 'sized' affects how much we eat
(Medical Xpress)—Portions, such as 8, 12 or 16 ounces – are given different labels – small, medium or large – at different restaurants.
Following the swarm: Locust research leads to insights on human nutrition
New insights into the causes of our raging obesity epidemic are coming from an unusual source: locusts.
Researchers charting health benefits of slowly digested starches
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at Iowa State University are mapping the potentially far-reaching health benefits of starches that take extra time to digest.
US Supreme Court decision to bar gene patents opens genetic test options
The June 13 U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision to bar the patenting of naturally occurring genes opens up important clinical testing options for a variety of diseases.
Stress hormone could trigger mechanism for the onset of Alzheimer's
(Medical Xpress)—A chemical hormone released in the body as a reaction to stress could be a key trigger of the mechanism for the late onset of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study by researchers at Temple University.
Negative public health campaigns may undermine weight loss goals
Public health campaigns that stigmatize obese people by using negative images or text do not motivate them to lose weight any more than more neutral campaigns, finds a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. In fact, negative campaigns may backfire by undermining a person's belief that he or she is capable of losing weight.
Taiwan reports H6N1 bird flu case
Taiwan on Friday reported what it said was the world's first ever human case of the H6N1 strain of bird flu, commonly found in poultry.
Scientists discover previously unknown requirement for brain development
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have demonstrated that sensory regions in the brain develop in a fundamentally different way than previously thought, a finding that may yield new insights into visual and neural disorders.
Compound enhances SSRI antidepressant's effects in mice
A synthetic compound is able to turn off "secondary" vacuum cleaners in the brain that take up serotonin, resulting in the "happy" chemical being more plentiful, scientists from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio have discovered. Their study, released June 18 by The Journal of Neuroscience, points to novel targets to treat depression.
Potentially life-saving cooling treatment rarely used for in-hospital cardiac arrests
The brain-preserving cooling treatment known as therapeutic hypothermia is rarely being used in patients who suffer cardiac arrest while in the hospital, despite its proven potential to improve survival and neurological function, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania report in the June issue of Critical Care Medicine. The authors suggest that scarce data about in-hospital cardiac arrest patients and guidelines that only call for health care providers to consider use of therapeutic hypothermia, rather than explicitly recommending it, may explain the study's results.
Alzheimer's disease protein controls movement in mice
Researchers in Berlin and Munich, Germany and Oxford, United Kingdom, have revealed that a protein well known for its role in Alzheimer's disease controls spindle development in muscle and leads to impaired movement in mice when the protein is absent or treated with inhibitors. The results, which are published in The EMBO Journal, suggest that drugs under development to target the beta-secretase-1 protein, which may be potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease, might produce unwanted side effects related to defective movement.
EU ministers back ban on menthol cigarettes
European Union health ministers on Friday approved plans to ban menthol and other flavoured cigarettes as part of a crackdown on youth smoking.
AHRQ offers strategies to prevent adverse drug events
(HealthDay)—Strategies to prevent adverse drug events (ADEs) have been recommended and published in a report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Images increase accuracy of skin cancer self-detection
(HealthDay)—Visual images such as those of benign and cancerous skin lesions increase awareness and accuracy of skin self-examination, according to a review published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Gene patenting ruling unlikely to really impact oncology care
(HealthDay)—The Supreme Court decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad is not likely to have much immediate impact the practice of oncology, according to a special communication published online June 13 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Look beyond the sun for skin cancer culprits, doctors warn
(HealthDay)—Think "skin cancer" and blame immediately goes to the sun. Justifiably so—though not totally, skin doctors say.
Oregon woman tans her way to a melanoma diagnosis
(HealthDay)—Katie Wilkes was just 23 years old when she noticed a strange spot on her right breast.
Single moderate exercise session ups insulin sensitivity in obese
(HealthDay)—A single, afternoon session of moderate exercise improves insulin sensitivity the next day in obese adults, according to a study published online June 11 in Diabetes Care.
Expert discusses sleep disorders, healthy rest
With the arrival of Friday's summer solstice, there's now little night for sleepers who crave darkness. But lack of light is only one impediment to getting a good night's sleep.
Mastectomy debate: Much-needed information or fueling hysteria?
There was a time when breast cancer was discussed in whispers. Mastectomies, hardly at all. Not anymore.
US doctors urge reversal of gay blood ban
A leading US doctors' group this week urged the reversal of a decades-old ban on donations of blood from gay men, saying the law is discriminatory and outdated.
Innovative intervention program improves life for rural women in India living with HIV/AIDS
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from UCLA and India has found that a new type of intervention program, in which lay women in the rural Indian province of Andra Pradesh were trained as social health activists to assist women who have HIV/AIDS, significantly improved patients' adherence to antiretroviral therapy and boosted their immune-cell counts and nutrition levels.
Children's eye injuries peak in summer, expert says
(HealthDay)—Swimming pools are a major reason why children's eye injuries increase in the summer, according to an expert.
Time perception altered by mindfulness meditation
(Medical Xpress)—New published research from psychologists at the universities of Kent and Witten/Herdecke has shown that mindfulness meditation has the ability to temporarily alter practitioners' perceptions of time – a finding that has wider implications for the use of mindfulness both as an everyday practice, and in clinical treatments and interventions.
Defects in brain cell migration linked to mental retardation
(Medical Xpress)—A rare, inherited form of mental retardation has led scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to three important "travel agents" at work in the developing brain.
Study shows a solitary mutation can destroy critical 'window' of early brain development
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have shown in animal models that brain damage caused by the loss of a single copy of a gene during very early childhood development can cause a lifetime of behavioral and intellectual problems.
Scientists identify gene that regulates stem cell death and skin regeneration
(Medical Xpress)—Stem cells, known for their ability to self-renew and differentiate into any kind of tissue, are considered by many scientists in the field to be immortal. But there are signs that programmed death of stem cells is important for their regulation. New research from scientists at Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has identified a gene that plays a key role in regulating stem cell death, a finding that has major implications for regenerative medicine, wound healing and cancer.
Biology news
Pact curbs seismic surveys in Gulf of Mexico
Oil and gas companies working in the Gulf of Mexico have agreed not to use seismic surveys for the next 30 months in three areas considered critical to whales and along the coast during the calving season for bottlenose dolphins.
Help for African rhino poaching survivors
In Africa hundreds of rhinos are shot or immobilised by poachers every year to supply ground up horn for the Asian medicine market. It is reputed to make men virile and treat anything from stomach ache to cancer - all just a myth.
Forensic breakthroughs win national recognition
Flinders-led research into techniques to isolate DNA in illicit drugs and to speed up the identification of disaster victims has been recognised in the National Institute of Forensic Science's (NIFS) annual awards.
Man's best friend
People have an innate need to establish close relationships with other people. But this natural bonding behaviour is not confined to humans: many animals also seem to need relationships with others of their kind. For domesticated animals the situation is even more complex and pets may enter deep relationships not only with conspecifics but also with their owners. Scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) have investigated the bond between dogs and their owners and have found striking similarities to the parent-child relationship in humans. Their findings are published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Carrying a baby elicits specific physiological and behavioral responses, research finds
The bond between mother and child is the first and most important relationship for all mammals, including humans. Mammal infants are born with innate behaviors to seek closeness to their mothers and become distressed when separated from them, but the physiology underlying this response is largely unknown. Kumi Kuroda of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute and colleagues have now shown that being carried has a calming effect on infants, successfully identifying some of the brain mechanisms involved.
A bit of good luck: A new species of burying beetle from the Solomon Islands Archipelago
Scientists discovered a new species of burying beetle, Nicrophorus efferens. Burying beetles are well known to most naturalists because of their large size, striking black and red colors, and interesting reproductive behaviors - they bury small vertebrate carcasses which their offspring eat in an underground crypt, guarded by both parents. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys.
When green algae run out of air: Single cell organisms need haemoglobin to survive in an oxygen-free environment
When green algae "can't breathe", they get rid of excess energy through the production of hydrogen. Biologists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have found out how the cells notice the absence of oxygen. For this, they need the messenger molecule nitric oxide and the protein haemoglobin, which is commonly known from red blood cells of humans. With colleagues at the UC Los Angeles, the Bochum team reported in the journal PNAS.
Airborne gut action primes wild chili pepper seeds
Scientists have long known that seeds gobbled by birds and dispersed across the landscape tend to fare better than those that fall near parent plants where seed-hungry predators and pathogens are more concentrated.
Setting the stage for passing on epigenetic information to the next generation
(Phys.org) —In a comprehensive study, scientists at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research identified the molecular logic underlying the retention of histones and their marks during the development of the sperm. These findings set the stage to address a fundamental question in epigenetics: whether and how chromatin marks in sperm are passed on to the next generation and contribute the epigenetic inheritance of traits shaped by experience or the environment. Their results were recently published online in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
Blockade in cellular waste disposal: Scientists show how protein aggregates disrupt the molecular balance of the cell
Proteins can only perform their complex functions in the cell when they assume a specific three-dimensional structure for each respective task. Because misfolded proteins are often toxic, they are immediately refolded or degraded. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich have now shown in the yeast model that specific protein aggregates block an important degradation pathway for defective proteins – and thus disrupt the fragile molecular balance of the cell. The results of the study have now been published in the journal Cell.
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