Science X Newsletter Thursday, Aug 28

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for August 28, 2014:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Physicists propose superabsorption of light beyond the limits of classical physics
- Integral gamma-ray observatory demonstrates white dwarfs can reignite and explode as supernovae
- Mystery solved: 'Sailing stones' of death valley seen in action for the first time
- Picturing Schrodinger's cat: Quantum physics enables revolutionary imaging method
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of brain boosts memory
- Spitzer telescope witnesses asteroid smashup
- Radio telescopes settle controversy over distance to Pleiades
- Watching the structure of glass under pressure
- Less than $200 million would conserve Atlantic Forest in Brazil, researchers find
- Home Microbiome Project announces results of study on household microbes
- Flapping baby birds give clues to origin of flight
- Genomic sequencing reveals mutations, insights into 2014 Ebola outbreak
- Small molecule acts as on-off switch for nature's antibiotic factory
- New Samsung smartwatch won't need companion phone
- Why your favourite song takes you down memory lane

Astronomy & Space news

	Integral gamma-ray observatory demonstrates white dwarfs can reignite and explode as supernovae (Phys.org) —Astronomers using ESA's Integral gamma-ray observatory have demonstrated beyond doubt that dead stars known as white dwarfs can reignite and explode as supernovae. The finding came after the unique signature of gamma rays from the radioactive elements created in one of these explosions was captured for the first time.
	Radio telescopes settle controversy over distance to Pleiades Astronomers have used a worldwide network of radio telescopes to resolve a controversy over the distance to a famous star cluster—a controversy that posed a potential challenge to scientists' basic understanding of how stars form and evolve. The new work shows that the measurement made by a cosmic-mapping research satellite was wrong.
	Spitzer telescope witnesses asteroid smashup (Phys.org) —NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted an eruption of dust around a young star, possibly the result of a smashup between large asteroids. This type of collision can eventually lead to the formation of planets.
	A salty, martian meteorite offers clues to habitability Life as we know it requires energy of some sort to survive and thrive. For plants, that source of energy is the Sun. But there are some microbes that can survive using energy from chemical reactions. Some of them even eat salts, such as perchlorates.
Rocket launch from Wallops Island tests new tech NASA is reviewing data from a rocket launch that tested a new sub-payload deployment method for suborbital rockets.
	Rosetta lander will seek a close encounter with comet's 'primordial soup' There is much excitement about Rosetta at the moment. The European Space Agency's spacecraft has already made a successful rendezvous with a comet and the images that are being transmitted back are simply awe-inspiring. There is much more to come – the spacecraft will ride alongside the comet for at least another year.
	Informing NASA's Asteroid Initiative: A citizen forum In its history, the Earth has been repeatedly struck by asteroids, large chunks of rock from space that can cause considerable damage in a collision. Can we—or should we—try to protect Earth from potentially hazardous impacts?
	Image: Rosetta's comet looms Wow! Rosetta is getting ever-closer to its target comet by the day. This navigation camera shot from Aug. 23 shows that the spacecraft is so close to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko that it's difficult to fit the entire 2.5-mile (four-kilometer) comet in a single frame.

Technology news

	Apple to unveil 'iWatch' on September 9 Apple will unveil an "iWatch" in September with the maker of the iPhone finally embarking on its much-rumored foray into wearable computing, technology news website Re/code said Wednesday.
	London transport body to test battery-charging at bus stands Transport for London (TfL) on Wednesday announced a trial to enable specially designed buses to wirelessly charge their batteries while they wait at bus stands. The trial will involve the use of extended-range diesel electric hybrid double deck buses. TfL is the local government organization responsible for most aspects of the city's transport system. The goal is a system where the buses can keep running as efficiently as possible. Inductive charging will be put to use in four such electric hybrid buses in east London from 2015. The trial centers around inductive charging technology which allows the buses to top up their batteries without the need to be physically plugged in.
	Cool roofs in China can save energy and reduce emissions (Phys.org) —Working with Chinese researchers, the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has conducted the first comprehensive study of cool roofs in China and concluded that they would be effective in substantially reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in climate zones with hot summers.
	Researchers create global road maps showing potential economic and ecological consequences of new roads (Phys.org) —A multinational team of researchers has published a paper in the journal Nature, offering a way towards better global planning for road construction. They highlight the benefits of road building along with detriments and include maps of the world they've constructed that indicate where road building would be economically beneficial, where it would be ecologically harmful and where it would be both. Stephen Perz of the University of Florida offers a News & Vies piece on the roadmap idea proposed by the team in the same journal issue.
	Ineda developing low power companion processors to increase battery life for wearables Recent startup Ineda Systems is reportedly developing two new kinds of processing chips for wearable devices, both designed to extend battery life. The new chips are being designed to work as companion chips for the main processor, handling simple tasks and using very little power while doing so, thus allowing for reduced overall power consumption and longer battery life.
	New Samsung smartwatch won't need companion phone With the holiday shopping season coming, Samsung and LG unveiled small improvements to their computerized wristwatches to try to sway shoppers.
	SHORE facial analysis spots emotions on Google Glass One of the key concerns about facial recognition software has been over privacy. The very idea of having tracking mechanisms as part of an Internet-connected wearable would be likely to upset many privacy advocates. German researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS have worked on their facial recognition technology for Google Glass with a welcomed twist. Their result is that emotions, gender, and age can be recognized but—stop gagging—-not identity. "None of the images leaves the device," said the team behind the software. Sophisticated High-speed Object Recognition Engine (SHORE) is the name of the group's software, which processes video on the Google Glass CPU. All calculations are performed in real-time by the CPU. By participating in the Google Glass "Explorer Program" Fraunhofer IIS was able to test the smart eyewear. The Google Glass app was made possible by adapting and implementing the Fraunh! ofer IIS SHORE software library as Glassware.
	Visual search to shop: gimmick or game changing? Imagine using your phone to snap a photo of the cool pair of sunglasses your friend is wearing and instantly receiving a slew of information about the shades along with a link to order them.
	Socially-assistive robots help kids with autism learn by providing personalized prompts This week, a team of researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering will share results from a pilot study on the effects of using humanoid robots to help children with autism practice imitation behavior in order to encourage their autonomy. Findings from the study, entitled "Graded Cueing Feedback in Robot-Mediated Imitation Practice for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders," will be presented at the 23rd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Aug. 27.
FBI investigating reports of attacks on US banks The FBI said Wednesday it's working with the Secret Service to determine the scope of recently reported cyberattacks against several U.S. financial institutions.
	South Korea's Samsung and LG unveil new smartwatches South Korea's Samsung and LG unveiled new smartwatches Thursday with upgraded functions and design as they step up their drive to lead an increasingly competitive market for wearable devices.
	SLAC implements pulsed, step-down power converter for energy savings Depressed collectors have been used for decades to improve the efficiency of vacuum-electronic based RF power sources by recovering energy from the spent electron beam of an RF source, such as a klystron or inductive output tube. The main thrust has been for applications with stringent energy-efficiency requirements, such as space-based communication. To date, there has not been wholesale utilisation of RF sources with depressed collectors for accelerator applications, the likely reasons being that the energy savings over RF sources with conventional, grounded collectors might not justify the additional investment, and that many accelerator-based applications have very short RF pulses with high peak power, making implementation of depressed collectors technically challenging.
	What metadata does the government want about you? With the leaking of a discussion paper on telecommunications data retention, we are at last starting to get some clarity as to just what metadata the Abbott government is likely to ask telecommunications companies, internet servce providers (ISPs) and others involved in communications services to store.
	Next-generation nuclear reactors that use radioactive waste materials as fuel Hitachi announced today that they have begun joint research with three American universities aimed at using Transuranium Elements (TRUs) as fuel, and the development of Resource-renewable Boiling Water Reactors (RBWRs) that enable the effective use of uranium resources. Through this joint research, Hitachi plans to evaluate the performance and safety of RBWRs, which is being developed by Hitachi and Hitachi GE Nuclear Energy Ltd., and to study plans for testing with a view toward practical applications with each university.
	Using materials other than silicon for next generation electronic devices In the consumer electronics industry, the mantra for innovation is higher device performance/less power. Arun Thathachary, a Ph.D. student in Penn State's Electrical Engineering Department, spends his days and sometimes nights in the cleanroom of the Materials Research Institute's Nanofabrication Laboratory trying to make innovative transistor devices out of materials other than the standard semiconductor silicon that will allow higher performance using less power.
	Apple to unveil next products at Sept. 9 event (Update) Apple's latest product launch will be in a setting that holds a special place in its history, signaling how big this event is for the company.
WEF unveils 'crowdsourcing' push on how to run the Web The World Economic Forum unveiled a project on Thursday aimed at connecting governments, businesses, academia, technicians and civil society worldwide to brainstorm the best ways to govern the Internet.
	Eyes on Apple for 'next big thing' on Sept. 9 Apple gadget lovers hungered for the "next big thing" on Thursday after the iconic company fired off invites to a mystery unveiling on Sept. 9.
Singapore's GIC buys into Taiwan music streaming firm Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC has invested $104 million in KKBOX, a popular Taiwan-based music streaming provider aiming to expand across Asia, the two sides said Thursday.
Vivendi, Telefonica in talks over Brazil business (Update) French media conglomerate Vivendi said Thursday it would begin exclusive talks with Spanish telecoms company Telefonica for the sale of its Brazilian operator Global Village Telecom, or GVT, after the Spanish company raised its offer to 7.45 billion euros ($9.82 billion) from 6.7 billion euros.
	Augmented reality helps in industrial troubleshooting At a "smart" factory, machines reveal a number of data about themselves. Sensors measuring temperature, rotating speed or vibrations provide valuable information on the state of a machine. On this basis, worn parts can be exchanged in due time. A software developed by the Institute of Telematics of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) helps the maintenance staff allocate the information transmitted by the sensor in a wireless manner to the point of measurement in the camera image. The sensor data are imported into the latest camera shot of the real machine.
	How wireless technology can dramatically improve ship safety The sinking of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2012 – and the reported difficulties in evacuating over 4,000 people with the eventual loss of 32 lives –underlined the urgent need to accurately trace passengers during emergencies. Indeed, while most people on board were brought ashore during a six-hour evacuation, the search for missing passengers and crew continued for several months.
	New filter technology uses inert gas to bore holes in high-quality steel Two early-stage venture capital investors are joining the i3 Membrane GmbH startup in August 2014. High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) of Bonn and Innovationsstarter Fonds of Hamburg are investing in development and marketing of a novel filter technology. The new high-tech membrane is made of high-quality steel and is more stable and more flexible than conventional filters, also more environmentally-compatible because only inert gas and electrical power are needed for its manufacture. The process was developed jointly with the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and its development is being sponsored by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (Federal German Environment Foundation).
Nigeria launches national identity card scheme Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday launched a national electronic identity card scheme, which backers said would boost access to financial and government services in Africa's most populous nation.

Medicine & Health news

	Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of brain boosts memory Stimulating a particular region in the brain via non-invasive delivery of electrical current using magnetic pulses, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, improves memory, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.
	Different forms of Alzheimer's have similar effects on brain networks (Medical Xpress)—Brain networks break down similarly in rare, inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease and much more common uninherited versions of the disorder, a new study has revealed.
	Neuroscientists watch imagination happening in the brain (Medical Xpress)—"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one," sang John Lennon in his 1971 song Imagine.
	Research shows how premalignant cells can sense oncogenesis and halt growth What happens inside cells when they detect the activation of a cancer-inducing gene? Sometimes, cells are able to signal internally to stop the cell cycle. Such cells are able to enter, at least for a time, a protective non-growth state.
	Genomic sequencing reveals mutations, insights into 2014 Ebola outbreak In response to an ongoing, unprecedented outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa, a team of researchers from the Broad Institute and Harvard University, in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation and researchers across institutions and continents, has rapidly sequenced and analyzed more than 99 Ebola virus genomes. Their findings could have important implications for rapid field diagnostic tests. The team reports its results online in the journal Science.
	Why your favourite song takes you down memory lane Music triggers different functions of the brain, which helps explain why listening to a song you like might be enjoyable but a favourite song may plunge you into nostalgia, scientists said on Thursday.
Better classification to improve treatments for breast cancer Breast cancer can be classified into ten different subtypes, and scientists have developed a tool to identify which is which. The research, published in the journal Genome Biology, could improve treatments and targeting of treatments for the disease.
	Cold cash just keeps washing in from ALS challenge In the couple of hours it took an official from the ALS Association to return a reporter's call for comment, the group's ubiquitous "ice bucket challenge" had brought in a few million more dollars.
Eating your five-a-day is the key to a sexy sun-kissed glow Forget sun beds, sunbathing and fake tanning lotions. The secret to a sexy, healthy glow lies in eating your five-a-day, reveals new breakthrough research from Taylor & Francis.
Conflicts with teachers are risk factor for school shootings As part of the TARGET project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, researchers at Freie Universität Berlin conducted a systematic literature search of all the available studies dealing with school shootings. The aim of the analysis was to clarify which social dynamics in the social network of perpetrators can be observed in advance as playing an important role in school shootings. Up to now, researchers had assumed that bullying between peers and the social exclusion of the perpetrators were the most prominent factors in school shootings. This study shows, however, that in many cases conflicts with teachers seemed to be a decisive factor in the school shooting cases investigated.
	Rapid response teams halve hospital heart attack deaths Detecting and treating patients before they have a cardiac arrest isn't rocket science, but it's a life saver.
	Reducing medication errors with scanning system that ensures patients get the right pills MIT alumni entrepreneurs Gauti Reynisson MBA '10 and Ívar Helgason HS '08 spent the early 2000s working for companies that implemented medication-safety technologies—such as electronic-prescription and pill-barcoding systems—at hospitals in their native Iceland and other European countries.
	Flinders sleep experts try new tactic to fight fatigue In a world-first, sleep experts from Flinders University are attempting to fight fatigue caused by insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) by treating the two conditions at the same time.
	Specialists hope to obtain vaccine against Chagas disease in less than three years Mexican and American researchers are working on developing a vaccine to stop Chagas disease, which is expected to be available for the population within the next three years.
	From nose to knee: Engineered cartilage regenerates joints Human articular cartilage defects can be treated with nasal septum cells. Researchers at the University and the University Hospital of Basel report that cells taken from the nasal septum are able to adapt to the environment of the knee joint and can thus repair articular cartilage defects. The nasal cartilage cells' ability to self-renew and adapt to the joint environment is associated with the expression of so-called HOX genes. The scientific journal Science Translational Medicine has published the research results together with the report of the first treated patients.
	Simple test could detect serious eye condition early A simple colour test that could detect the early onset of a condition which accounts for over half of visual impairment certifications in the UK is being researched by scientists at Aston University.
	Researchers encounter rare chlorella infection A 30-year-old Western Australian man has become the second ever in the world to be diagnosed with a Chlorella wound infection.
Men who exercise less are more likely to wake up to urinate Men who are physically active are at lower risk of nocturia (waking up at night to urinate), according to a study led by a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researcher.
How does it feel to be old in different societies? People aged 70 and over who identify themselves as 'old' feel worse about their own health in societies where they perceive they have lower value than younger age groups.
Arthritis patients failing to take expensive medication, according to new research Large numbers of people with severe rheumatoid arthritis are failing to take expensive medication as prescribed, according to a new multi-centre study led by researchers in Manchester.
Dyslexic readers have disrupted network connections in the brain Dyslexia, the most commonly diagnosed learning disability in the United States, is a neurological reading disability that occurs when the regions of the brain that process written language don't function normally.
	Tripping seniors on purpose to stop future falls Researchers are tripping seniors on purpose, and it's not some kind of warped practical joke.
Inside the teenage brain: New studies explain risky behavior It's common knowledge that teenage boys seem predisposed to risky behaviors. Now, a series of new studies is shedding light on specific brain mechanisms that help to explain what might be going on inside juvenile male brains.
Indoor mold poses health risk to asthma sufferers Damp and mould in homes could pose a significant health risk to people with asthma according to a new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Circulating tumor cell clusters more likely to cause metastasis than single cells Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters – clumps of from 2 to 50 tumor cells that break off a primary tumor and are carried through the bloodstream – appear to be much more likely to cause metastasis than are single CTCs, according to a study from investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center. Their report in the August 28 issue of Cell also suggests that a cell adhesion protein binding CTC clusters together is a potential therapeutic target.
Healthy Moms program helps women who are obese limit weight gain during pregnancy A new study finds that women who are obese can limit their weight gain during pregnancy using conventional weight loss techniques including attending weekly group support meetings, seeking advice about nutrition and diet, and keeping food and exercise journals.
	How studying damage to the prefrontal lobe has helped unlock the brain's mysteries Until the last few decades, the frontal lobes of the brain were shrouded in mystery and erroneously thought of as nonessential for normal function—hence the frequent use of lobotomies in the early 20th century to treat psychiatric disorders. Now a review publishing August 28 in the Cell Press journal Neuron highlights groundbreaking studies of patients with brain damage that reveal how distinct areas of the frontal lobes are critical for a person's ability to learn, multitask, control their emotions, socialize, and make real-life decisions. The findings have helped experts rehabilitate patients experiencing damage to this region of the brain.
	Team approach improves practice efficiency (HealthDay)—The increasing administrative requirements of a medical practice are requiring a team-based approach to care, and physicians must learn to manage the team, according to an article published Aug. 7 in Medical Economics.
	Factors tied to neck, back pain improvement identified (HealthDay)—Observational registry-based research can inform patients and physicians about prognosis for subacute or chronic neck or low back pain, according to a study published in the Aug. 1 issue of The Spine Journal.
	From bite site to brain: How rabies virus hijacks and speeds up transport in nerve cells Rabies (and rabies virus, its causative agent) is usually transmitted through the bite of an infected animal into muscle tissue of the new host. From there, the virus travels all the way to the brain where it multiplies and causes the usually fatal disease. An article published on August 28 in PLOS Pathogens sheds light on how the virus hijacks the transport system in nerve cells to reach the brain with maximal speed and efficiency.
Sensory-tested drug-delivery vehicle could limit spread of HIV, AIDS A unique method for delivering compounds that could positively impact the global battle against HIV and AIDS may be possible, thanks to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
	Researchers find up to 3,000 times the bacterial growth on hollow-head toothbrushes Solid-head power toothbrushes retain less bacteria compared to hollow-head toothbrushes, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Dentistry.
	Second-hand e-cigarette smoke compared to regular cigarette smoke E-cigarettes are healthier for your neighbors than traditional cigarettes, but still release toxins into the air, according to a new study from USC.
Researchers find animal model for understudied type of muscular dystrophy Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed an animal research model for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) to be used for muscle regeneration research as well as studies of the effectiveness of potential therapies for FSHD.
New analysis of old HIV vaccines finds potentially protective immune response Applying the benefit of hindsight, researchers at Duke Medicine have reanalyzed the findings of two historic pediatric HIV vaccine trials with encouraging results. The vaccines had in fact triggered an antibody response—now known to be associated with protection in adults—that was previously unrecognized in the infants studied in the 1990s.
Study identifies genetic change in autism-related gene A new study from Bradley Hospital has identified a genetic change in a recently identified autism-associated gene, which may provide further insight into the causes of autism. The study, now published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics, presents findings that likely represent a definitive clinical marker for some patients' developmental disabilities.
	Team identifies possible bacterial drivers of inflammatory bowel diseases Yale University researchers have identified a handful of bacterial culprits that may drive inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, using patients' own intestinal immune responses as a guide.
	New model predicts patients with type 1 diabetes who will go on to develop major complications New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) presents a new model for predicting which patients with type 1 diabetes will go on to develop major complications, through easily and routinely measured risk factors. The research is by Assistant Professor Sabita Soedamah-Muthu, Wageningen University, Netherlands, and colleagues.
	High dietary salt may worsen multiple sclerosis symptoms High dietary salt intake may worsen multiple sclerosis symptoms and boost the risk of further neurological deterioration, indicates a small observational study published online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
Are cigarette substitutes a safe alternative? It depends on user habits Cigarette smoking kills approximately 440,000 Americans each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection. It's the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. In order to overcome this addiction, many people resort to nicotine replacement therapies.
Deadly remedy: Warning issued about Chinese herbal medicine A herbal preparation prescribed by a Chinese herbal medication practitioner in Melbourne for back pain resulted in life-threatening heart changes, prompting a team of intensive care and emergency physicians to call for appropriate patient education by practitioners who prescribe complementary medications.
	Most US babies get their vaccines, CDC says (HealthDay)—The vast majority of American babies are getting the vaccines they need to protect them from serious illnesses, federal health officials said Thursday.
	Donated livers not harmed by travel distances, study finds (HealthDay)— Transporting donated livers long distances does not affect the quality of the organs, according to new research.
	Molecular method classifies patients with polycythemia vera (HealthDay)—Patients with polycythemia vera can be classified according to disease behavior, independently of Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) V617F allele burden, after removing sex as a potential confounder, according to a study published in the Aug. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
	African-Americans have worse cervical spine surgery outcomes (HealthDay)—African-American patients have significantly higher rates of in-hospital complications and mortality associated with cervical spine surgery than Caucasian patients, according to a study published in the Aug. 15 issue of Spine.
	Sensory deficits common in patients with multiple myeloma (HealthDay)—Treatment-naive patients with multiple myeloma (MM) frequently have sensory deficits, according to a study published online Aug. 25 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Uruguay begins registering marijuana growers Just a handful of people had registered by midday Wednesday to be private growers of marijuana in Uruguay, the first country to fully legalize the production, sale and distribution of the drug.
Three-quarters of depressed cancer patients do not receive treatment for depression, new approach could transform care Three papers published in The Lancet Psychiatry, The Lancet, and The Lancet Oncology reveal that around three-quarters of cancer patients who have major depression are not currently receiving treatment for depression, and that a new integrated treatment programme is strikingly more effective at reducing depression and improving quality of life than current care.
Girls in Colombian town struck by mystery illness A mystery illness has overwhelmed a small town in northern Colombia as scores of teenage girls have been hospitalized with symptoms that parents fear could be an adverse reaction to a popular vaccine against cervical cancer.
Fresh warning over Ebola as regional crisis talks start The Ebola epidemic gripping West Africa will get worse before it gets better, the head of the United States' top health body has warned, as health ministers from affected nations held crisis talks.
	UN: Ebola disease caseload could reach 20,000 (Update) The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is accelerating and could grow six times larger to infect as many as 20,000 people, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The U.N. health agency unveiled a new road map for containing the virus, and scientists are fast-tracking efforts to find a treatment or vaccine.
Ebola vaccine trials being fast-tracked: researchers (Update) Safety trials on an Ebola vaccine are being fast-tracked, meaning it could be given to healthy volunteers as early as September, researchers said Thursday.
Fewer die from colorectal cancer Patients with intestinal polyps have a lower risk of dying from cancer than previously thought, according to Norwegian researchers.
	Influence of migration on health Migration has a significant influence on the health sector, including in Austria. The healthcare sector faces challenges due to migrants' different social status, background and gender, as Christine Binder-Fritz and Anita Rieder from the Institute of Social Medicine at the Centre for Public Health at the MedUni Vienna point out in the latest issue of the German "Federal Health Bulletin".
Research demonstrates potential method to better control lung cancer using radiotherapy Manchester scientists are working out how to safely increase the radiotherapy dose given to lung cancer patients – potentially offering improved local control and survival.
WHO sounds alarm over Ebola infections as deaths top 1,500 (Update) The World Health Organization said on Thursday that the number of Ebola cases was increasing rapidly and could exceed 20,000 before the virus is brought under control, as the death toll topped 1,500.
	Technology to eliminate fungus from surgical materials Specialists in Mexico have developed a system that combines antifungal properties of different materials. This scientific product destroys microorganisms that proliferate in the living systems and confers protection in the case of a weakened immune system.
Drug shows promise for subset of stage III colon cancer patients A subset of patients with stage III colon cancer had improved survival rates when treated with irinotecan-based therapy, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.
NIH to launch human safety study of Ebola vaccine candidate Initial human testing of an investigational vaccine to prevent Ebola virus disease will begin next week by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Ontario has one of the highest rates of IBD in the world One in every 200 Ontarians has been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the number of people living with the disease increasing by 64 per cent between 1999 and 2008, according to a study by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. That puts Ontario in the 90th percentile for IBD prevalence in the world.
Females ignored in basic medical research A new study from Northwestern Medicine has found that surgical researchers rarely use female animals or female cells in their published studies—despite a huge body of evidence showing that sex differences can play a crucial role in medical research.
	Breastfeeding study shows need for effective peer counseling programs The support of peer groups and clinicians is critical to the development of effective breastfeeding programs, according to recent University of Georgia research.
Respiratory infection controls being used for Ebola patients are unnecessary, may contribute to public panic Respiratory infection control measures – which have been adopted by most health agencies to deal with the Ebola epidemic in west Africa – are unnecessary, and may heighten panic and fear among the public, according to the authors of a new letter, published in The Lancet, and written by Professor Jose M. Martin-Moreno from the University of Valencia in Spain, and colleagues.
Complications of tube insertion in ears not worse for kids with cleft lip/palate Children with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) have no worse complications from ventilation tube (VT) insertion in their ears to treat otitis media with effusion (OME, a buildup of fluid in the ear) or acute otitis media (AOM, a common ear infection), two conditions which can result in hearing loss.
Study finds shortcomings in doctor-patient discussions about transplantation In a study of dialysis patients, those who reported that they had discussed the option of transplantation with clinicians were more likely to be put on the transplant waiting list; however, clinician-reported discussions of transplantation did not increase patients' likelihood of being waitlisted. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), indicate that better ways of informing patients about kidney transplantation may be needed.
	Guidelines presented for diagnosing focal liver lesions (HealthDay)—Focal liver lesions (FLLs) are mostly benign, and can be diagnosed based on knowledge of their presentation, associated clinical and laboratory features, and natural history, according to clinical guidelines published online Aug. 19 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Biology news

	Three things you didn't know about the arachnids that live on your face You are not alone. Your body is a collection of microbes, fungi, viruses… and even other animals. In fact, you aren't even the only animal using your face. Right now, in the general vicinity of your nose, there are at least two species of microscopic mites living in your pores. You would expect scientists to know quite a lot about these animals (given that we share our faces with them), but we don't.
	Scientists unravel the mystery of gannets' feeding success Researchers at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the University of Exeter have combined two innovative technologies to probe the mystery of how seabirds locate food hotspots across vast tracts of ocean.
	'Zombie' bacteria are nothing to be afraid of A cell is not a soap bubble that can simply pinch in two to reproduce. The ability to faithfully copy genetic material and distribute it equally to daughter cells is fundamental to all forms of life. Even seemingly simple single-celled organisms must have the means to meticulously duplicate their DNA, carefully separate the newly copied genetic material, and delicately divide in two to ensure their offspring survive.
	Cicada study discovers two genomes that function as one Two is company, three is a crowd. But in the case of the cicada, that's a good thing.
	Home Microbiome Project announces results of study on household microbes A person's home is their castle, and they populate it with their own subjects: millions and millions of bacteria.
	Less than $200 million would conserve Atlantic Forest in Brazil, researchers find Brazil could conserve its valuable Atlantic Forest by investing just 0.01 per cent of its annual GDP, according to a new study.
	New study reveals how wild rabbits were genetically transformed into tame rabbits The genetic changes that transformed wild animals into domesticated forms have long been a mystery. An international team of scientists has now made a breakthrough by showing that many genes controlling the development of the brain and the nervous system were particularly important for rabbit domestication. The study is published today in Science and gives answers to many genetic questions.
	How the zebrafish gets its stripes The zebrafish, a small fresh water fish, owes its name to a striking pattern of blue stripes alternating with golden stripes. Three major pigment cell types, black cells, reflective silvery cells, and yellow cells emerge during growth in the skin of the tiny juvenile fish and arrange as a multilayered mosaic to compose the characteristic colour pattern.
	New type of cell movement discovered For decades, researchers have used petri dishes to study cell movement. These classic tissue culture tools, however, only permit two-dimensional movement, very different from the three-dimensional movements that cells make in a human body.
	Small molecule acts as on-off switch for nature's antibiotic factory Scientists have identified the developmental on-off switch for Streptomyces, a group of soil microbes that produce more than two-thirds of the world's naturally derived antibiotic medicines.
	Prions can trigger 'stuck' wine fermentations, researchers find A chronic problem in winemaking is "stuck fermentation," when yeast that should be busily converting grape sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide prematurely shuts down, leaving the remaining sugar to instead be consumed by bacteria that can spoil the wine.
	Flapping baby birds give clues to origin of flight How did the earliest birds take wing? Did they fall from trees and learn to flap their forelimbs to avoid crashing? Or did they run along the ground and pump their "arms" to get aloft?
	New study charts the global invasion of crop pests Many of the world's most important crop-producing countries will be fully saturated with pests by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a new study led by the University of Exeter.
	New functions for chromatin remodelers Large molecular motors consisting of up to a dozen different proteins regulate access to the genome, which is essential for the transcription of genes and for the repair of DNA damage. Susan Gasser and her team now reveal a new twist in the activity of such remodelers in the nucleus. In a recent paper in Molecular Cell they show that two related chromatin remodelers help transport broken DNA strands to specific sites in the nucleus for repair. Given the loss of genomic integrity that accompanies cancer and aging, it is not surprising to find that related remodelers are mutated early in the progression of human cancer.
	Protected areas proven to protect biodiversity Protected areas conserve biodiversity and more action is needed to ensure safeguards are in place to protect these areas, researchers say.
	Human traffic threatens urban forests A study investigating the affect of recreational trails in endangered urban forests has found that their expansiveness and unmethodical planning is increasing fragmentation and impacting biodiversity.
	Can't see the kelp forest for the... corals? Time to value our temperate reefs The Western Australia Marine Science Institute (WAMSI) is currently undertaking the terrific initiative of formulating a blueprint of marine research priorities in Western Australia for the next three decades.
Bait dumping offers invaders path to Great lakes A scientific paper released Thursday says the bait fish trade represents a serious threat for spreading invasive species in the Great Lakes area.
Team identifies process producing neuronal diversity in fruit flies' visual system New York University biologists have identified a mechanism that helps explain how the diversity of neurons that make up the visual system is generated.
	Together, humans and computers can figure out the plant world As technology advances, science has become increasingly about data—how to gather it, organize it, and analyze it. The creation of key databases to analyze and share data lies at the heart of bioinformatics, or the collection, classification, storage, and analysis of biochemical and biological information using computers and software. The tools and methods used in bioinformatics have been instrumental in the development of fields such as molecular genetics and genomics. But, in the plant sciences, bioinformatics and biometrics are employed in all fields—not just genomics—to enable researchers to grapple with the rich and varied data sources at their disposal.
	Study finds marine protected areas inadequate for protecting fish and ocean ecology A new study reports that an expansion of marine protected areas is needed to protect fish species that perform key ecological functions. According to investigators from the Wildlife Conservation Society and other organizations, previous efforts at protecting fish have focused on saving the largest numbers of species, often at the expense of those species that provide key and difficult-to-replace ecological functions.
	Climate change puts endangered Devils Hole pupfish at risk of extinction Climate change is hurting reproduction of the endangered Devils Hole pupfish, threatening the survival of this rare species that has numbered as few as 35 individuals, new research by the University of Nevada, Reno and Desert Research Institute shows.
	Researchers developing fishing forecast to help watermen avoid vulnerable species When fishermen are at sea to catch monkfish, fluke or other commercial seafood, much larger fish can unintentionally wind up in their nets. Hauling in sand tiger sharks and Atlantic sturgeon can be particularly problematic—not only are they big, they are protected by strict regulations.
	Alleviating pain in cattle suffering from lameness and following castration, dehorning A U.S. patent was recently awarded for technology created by researchers at Kansas State University that improves the health and welfare of beef cattle and other ruminant animals suffering from lameness and following castration, dehorning and other painful but necessary management procedures.
New tool aids stem cell engineering for medical research A Mayo Clinic researcher and his collaborators have developed an online analytic tool that will speed up and enhance the process of re-engineering cells for biomedical investigation. CellNet is a free-use Internet platform that uses network biology methods to aid stem cell engineering. Details of CellNet and its application to stem cell engineering are described in two back-to-back papers in the journal Cell.

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