Science X Newsletter Tuesday, Nov 4

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for November 4, 2014:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Humans could have an innate sense of probability, research shows
- Less reward, more aversion when learning tricky tasks
- Dual-purpose film for energy storage, hydrogen catalysis: Chemists gain edge in next-gen energy
- Brothers create mathematical model for creating odor cancelling smells
- Dark matter may be massive: Theorists suggest the Standard Model may account for the stuff
- Method for symmetry-breaking in feedback-driven self-assembly of optical metamaterials
- Researchers find magnetic state of atoms on graphene sheet impacted by substrate it's grown on
- Why does red meat increase the risk for cardiovascular disease? Blame our gut bacteria
- To Agilkia... and beyond: Comet landing site is named
- Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease may share deep roots
- Geologists reveal correlation between earthquakes, landslides
- Study shows tectonic plates not rigid, deform horizontally in cooling process
- Disorder + disorder = more disorder?
- Retroreflective projection technology gives driver safer view
- Oxytocin levels in blood, cerebrospinal fluid are linked, study finds

Astronomy & Space news

	Life can survive on much less water than you might think "Follow the water" has long been the mantra of our scientific search for alien life in the Solar System and beyond. We continue seeking conditions where water can remain liquid either on a world's surface or elsewhere within a planetary body. This approach makes a lot of sense. Life as we know it requires water for the complex chemistry that enables growth and reproduction. Where there is water, we believe life has a chance.
	To Agilkia... and beyond: Comet landing site is named Will space historians one day say "Agilkia" with the same awe as they utter "Tranquility Base," where in 1969 Man first walked on the Moon?
	A look at Virgin Galactic's feathering technology The Virgin Galactic spaceship destroyed when it broke apart high over the Mojave Desert was designed to take tourists on a fleeting thrill ride through the lower reaches of space.
	Many questions still unanswered in spaceship crash Federal accident investigators have an early sense of what went wrong before an experimental spaceship designed to carry tourists beyond the Earth's atmosphere broke apart during a test flight. But they still don't know why the craft prematurely shifted its shape prior to the deadly crash.
	Debris from downed spaceship found 35 miles away Federal accident investigators say that tiny pieces of an experimental spaceship that broke up in flight have been found 35 miles from the main wreckage area.
NTSB reveals spaceship crash timeline, fingers lever Investigators gave a precise timeline late Monday of the devastating Virgin Galactic spaceship crash, detailing exactly when a slowing mechanism was wrongly deployed, but said they could not determine who activated it.
	Risk-taker Branson battles to protect Virgin brand (Update 2) Richard Branson knows how to handle business setbacks, but he is now battling to protect the Virgin empire's image following the test flight crash of his flagship space tourism venture.
Branson pushes on with spaceship plan despite crash Space tourism venture Virgin Galactic on Tuesday said it was pressing ahead with plans to build a second model of the SpaceShipTwo which crashed in the Mojave Desert last week.
	Eye-catching space technology restoring sight Laser surgery to correct eyesight is common practice, but did you know that technology developed for use in space is now commonly used to track the patient's eye and precisely direct the laser scalpel?
	Why Rosetta is the greatest space mission of our lifetime With only a week to go before the Rosetta spacecraft drops its Philae lander onto the surface of comet 67P, I wonder whether there will be another space mission in my lifetime that is so inspiring. Part of what has been so impressive is the length of time this mission has taken to finally get to the comet – 20 years since planning began (when I was still in high school), ten years since launch (when I was studying for my first degree). I feel very lucky that I am now employed as a space scientist at a time when all this work is coming to fruition.
	How to land on a comet Generally speaking, space missions fall into one of three categories:  difficult, more difficult, and ridiculously difficult.
	Antares explosion investigation focuses on first stage propulsion failure Investigators probing the Antares launch disaster are focusing on clues pointing to a failure in the first stage propulsion system that resulted in a loss of thrust and explosive mid-air destruction of the commercial rocket moments after liftoff from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, VA, at 6:22 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, October 28.
	Incredible fast-moving aurora captured in real time Usually, videos that feature aurora are timelapse videos, in order to show the normally slow movements of the Northern and Southern Lights. But here are some incredibly fast-moving aurorae shown in real time, as seen by astrophotographer extraordinaire Thierry Legault. He was in Norway last week and said the fast-dancing, shimmering aurora were incredible.
	Hi-SEAS and Mars Society kick off new season of missions The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (aka. Hi-SEAS) – a human spaceflight analog for Mars located on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii – just kicked off its third research mission designed to simulate manned missions on Mars.
	SDO sees a mid-level solar flare: Nov. 3 The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 5:40 p.m. EST on Nov. 3, 2014. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however—when intense enough—they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

Technology news

	Brothers create mathematical model for creating odor cancelling smells Brothers Lav Varshney with the University of Illinois, and Kush, with IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center have together come up with a way to create odor canceling smells, akin to white noise for sound. They've written a paper describing their work and have uploaded it to the preprint server arXiv.
	UK rolls out eLoran as GPS backup for safe navigation The UK is on top of being GPS-fail proactive with its rollout of eLoran stations along the UK coastline. eLoran is now available at Dover and along the East coast of the UK. The rollout is for the purpose of backup to counter anything that goes wrong with GPS. The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLA) of the UK and Ireland announced the maritime eLoran technology has reached the stage of "Initial Operational Capability," placing the UK as the first in the world to deploy this technology for shipping companies operating passenger and cargo services.
	More toxicity in canola-based biodiesel Exhaust from pure canola oil biodiesel is more lethal for human epithelial cells than that from traditional diesel, new research contends.
	Retroreflective projection technology gives driver safer view How might drivers see around blind spots? The answer may be in a technique where the child crouching behind the car, the toddler who breaks free from a controlling hand and starts running alongside the car, the teen on the bike riding dangerously close to the car, can all be seen and not obscured. Profs. Susumu Tachi and Masahiko Inami from the Graduate School of Media Design at Keio University in Japan and Yuji Uema, who is a Ph.D. candidate there, wrote a detailed article about their work in IEEE Spectrum along with a video showing their "truly transparent car" system which they devised at Keio University.
NSA director: US needs Silicon Valley's expertise U.S. intelligence depends on Silicon Valley innovation for technologies that strengthen the Internet and staff to provide national cybersecurity, National Security Agency director Mike Rogers told Stanford University professors and students on Monday.
	Pirate Bay co-founder arrested at Thai-Lao border One of the founders of popular file-sharing website The Pirate Bay has been arrested under an Interpol warrant as he was crossing into Thailand from Laos, police said Tuesday.
	Electric cars without drivers E-Mobile will park independently in the future and will also be able to find the next charging station without a driver. Researchers are working on electric cars that can travel short distances autonomously. On the basis of cost-effective sensors, they are developing a dynamic model that perceives the environmental situation.
	Detecting leaks in biogas plants by laser Servicing biogas plants is challenging. Leaks from which methane escapes are particularly problematic – from a security, a technical, an economic as well as an environmentally friendly perspective. Researchers are working on a technique that helps to better detect leaks. In this process, a laser discovers the leaks from several meters away.
	Health screening for industrial machines Germany's Industry 4.0 initiative aims to develop industrial machinery with built-in intelligence based on smart self-monitoring functions. Researchers have now come a step closer to the ideal of a self-maintaining machine. A technology developed as part of the iMAIN project provides real-time online monitoring of unprecedented quality.
	A coating that protects against heat and oxidation Researchers have developed a coating technique that they plan to use to protect tur- bine engine and waste incinerator components against heat and oxidation. A topcoat from micro-scaled hollow aluminium oxide spheres provides heat insulation, in the lab, already proved more economical than conventional techniques.
	Computer scientist sees new possibilities for ocular biometrics While many of us rely on passwords to protect our identity, there's more sophisticated identity recognition technology called biometrics that we could use. Security measures that use biometrics rely on a person's unique characteristics and traits rather than on what that person can remember, such as a password. Ocular biometrics, in particular, relies on iris and retinal scanning.
	A health and fitness tracker for dogs Have you ever wondered what your dog does all day? Could she be feeling sluggish and ill? Did the dog walker really take him out? Davide Rossi MBA '10 has launched a company to answer such questions not only for himself but for a wide range of people interested in the health and welfare of dogs, including veterinarians, pet food companies, and doggie day care centers.
Avoiding blackouts as demand for electricity grows It is impossible to imagine the modern world without electricity. We are dependent on an uninterrupted source of power and when it fails the consequences are devastating. Over the past decade there have been 50 significant power-outage events occurring in 26 countries, and the demand for electricity continues to grow stronger with rapid population growth, compact urban areas and an 'addiction' to electric appliances. In their article "Exergy and the City: The Technology and Sociology of Power (Failure)", Hugh Byrd and Steve Matthewman predict that these blackouts are only a dress rehearsal for a future in which they will appear more frequently and with greater severity.
	Student entrepreneurs' new app keeps politicians in touch with voters' views This could be the last Election Day that any of us have to hear candidates outline a platform without knowledge of where their voters really stand on the issues, if University of Virginia students Tara Raj and Garrett Allen have anything to say about it.
Six faces of killers on Facebook revealed A team of leading criminologists from Birmingham City University have this week published the first-ever study on how convicted killers have used the social networking site Facebook in relation to their crimes.
	Alibaba profit down, invests in mobile, marketing (Update) Alibaba's financial results in its first quarter as a publicly traded company highlight its strategy of plowing its profit back into investments, particularly in mobile commerce and marketing.
	Canadian astronaut's 'Space Oddity' video back on YouTube The first music video recorded in space—a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield—is back after a public outcry over its removal from YouTube.
Disney's Movies Anywhere service comes to Google Play The Walt Disney Co.'s online movie service is now available on Android mobile devices through Google Play, after launching early this year on Apple Inc.'s iTunes.
Amazon amps up Prime with unlimited photo storage Amazon is amping up one of the most potent weapons in its competitive arsenal, adding unlimited online photo storage to its Prime subscription service.
	Apple Watch reportedly set for spring 2015 release Hoping to give your loved one an Apple Watch for Christmas? The Chinese New Year? Valentine's Day?
13-year-old entrepreneur raises VC funding for Braille printer Last December, seventh-grader Shubham Banerjee asked his parents how blind people read. A Silicon Valley tech professional, dad Neil Banerjee told his son to "Google it."
Emojis tackle racial diversity Those odd characters on your emails and text messages are about to see more diversity—sending a message that humanity comes in many colors.
	Softbank quarterly profit up despite Sprint woes Softbank's quarterly profit nearly tripled as gains from the IPO of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba offset losses at U.S. mobile carrier Sprint.
Christian Bale pulls out of Steve Jobs biopic: report British "Dark Knight" star Christian Bale has pulled out of a planned biopic of late Apple founder Steve Jobs, industry media reported Monday.
	Battle lines drawn as blockbuster 'Call of Duty' goes on sale Australian gamers Tuesday were among the world's first to get their hands on the latest instalment of "Call of Duty", as publisher Activision sought to boost the blockbuster franchise amid concerns about consumer fatigue.
	Social networks 'in denial' on extremist use: GCHQ chief (Update) Social media sites have become "the command-and-control networks of choice for terrorists", a senior British spy said Tuesday, warning that some US technology companies are "in denial" over the issue.
	Imec presents back-side illuminated CMOS image sensor with UV-optimized antireflective coating At this week's VISION 2014 exhibition, imec presents a backside-illuminated (BSI) CMOS image sensor chip featuring a new anti-reflective coating (ARC) optimized for UV light. Targeting imaging solutions in new markets such as life sciences, the achievement is an important addition to imec's customized 200mm CMOS fab. This 200mm process line enables imec to offer design, prototyping and low volume manufacturing of custom specialty chip solutions such as highly specialized CMOS image sensors.
System achieves six times faster data transmission between virtual machines NTT DOCOMO and NEC Corporation announced today their completion on October 31 of proof-of-concept trials to confirm up to six times faster data transmission between multiple virtual machines by utilizing network interface cards (NICs) with Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) offloading.
	A medical lab for the home Fraunhofer FIT demonstrates a mobile wireless system that monitors the health of elderly people in their own homes, using miniature sensors. Besides non-invasive sensors this platform integrates technology to take a blood sample and to determine specific markers in the patient's blood. At its core is the home unit, a compact device located in the patient's home. It incorporates the necessary software as well as sensors and the analytical equipment.
Framework may help improve use of social media during disasters A new analysis illustrates the robust ways that social media can be employed to inform and improve disaster operations, and it provides a framework that could help standardize and organize disaster social media uses.
NREL and Army validate energy savings for net zero energy installations The U.S. Army has partnered with the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to increase energy security through improved energy efficiency and optimized renewable energy strategies at nine installations in the Army's portfolio. If all nine of the Army Net Zero Energy Installation (NZEI) pilot sites achieve net zero energy, they will replace approximately 8 percent of the Army's current total installation energy use with renewable energy. In fact, if all Army installations worldwide were to achieve a 25 percent reduction in energy consumption, as the NZEI pilot sites can, the Army would save approximately 20 trillion BTUs and up to $300 million in annual energy costs.

Medicine & Health news

	Less reward, more aversion when learning tricky tasks We celebrate our triumphs over adversity, but let's face it: We'd rather not experience difficulty at all. A new study ties that behavioral inclination to learning: When researchers added a bit of conflict to make a learning task more difficult, that additional conflict biased learning by reducing the influence of reward and increasing the influence of aversion to punishment.
	Humans could have an innate sense of probability, research shows (Medical Xpress)—Is a sense of probability learned or innate? To find out whether probability is a subject that people must learn in school, Vittorio Girotto and colleagues at University IUAV of Venice tested rural Mayan villagers, with no formal education, on their knowledge of probability. They found that the villagers performed just as well on probability-related tasks as Mayan schoolchildren and Italian adults. The research appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
	Scientists see mechanism for spontaneous HIV 'cure' (Update) French scientists claimed Tuesday to have found the genetic mechanism for a "spontaneous cure" in two HIV-infected men, proposing a new strategy for combating AIDS even as other experts urged caution.
	Why does red meat increase the risk for cardiovascular disease? Blame our gut bacteria New research provides details on how gut bacteria turn a nutrient found in red meat into metabolites that increase the risk of developing heart disease. Publishing in the November 4th issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, the findings may lead to new strategies for safeguarding individuals' cardiovascular health.
	Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease may share deep roots (Medical Xpress)—Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) appear to have a lot in common. They share risk factors such as obesity and they often occur together. If they also share the same genetic underpinings, then doctors could devise a way to treat them together too. With that hope in mind, scientists applied multiple layers of analysis to the genomics of more than 15,000 women. In a new study they report finding eight molecular pathways shared in both diseases as well as several "key driver" genes that appear to orchestrate the gene networks in which these pathways connect and interact.
	Oxytocin levels in blood, cerebrospinal fluid are linked, study finds For years, scientists have debated how best to assess brain levels of oxytocin, a hormone implicated in social behaviors. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found the first direct evidence in children that blood oxytocin measurements are tightly linked to levels of oxytocin in cerebrospinal fluid, which bathes the brain.
	New insight into the neuroscience of choking under pressure Everyone knows the scene: a basketball player at the free throw line, bouncing the ball as he concentrates on the basket. It's a tight game, and his team needs this point. He regularly makes baskets from much farther away while avoiding defenders, but now, when all is calm, he chokes and misses the basket, and his team loses. Recent research from The Johns Hopkins University suggests that in situations like this, performance depends on two factors: the framing of the incentive in terms of a loss or a gain, and a person's aversion to loss.
	High-speed 'label-free' imaging could reveal dangerous plaques (Medical Xpress)—Researchers are close to commercializing a new type of medical imaging technology that could diagnose cardiovascular disease by measuring ultrasound signals from molecules exposed to a fast-pulsing laser.
Swallowing a sponge on a string could replace endoscopy as pre-cancer test Swallowing a sponge on a string could replace traditional endoscopy as an equally effective but less invasive way of diagnosing a condition that can be a forerunner of oesophageal cancer.
Half of smokers using Liverpool Stop Smoking Services used e-cigs Over half the smokers using the Liverpool Stop Smoking Service have tried electronic cigarettes (51.3 per cent). Of these, nearly half had used them within the past month and are considered current users (45.5 per cent).
	Studies show exercise therapy, acupuncture benefit breast cancer survivors Two new studies from the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania offer hope for breast cancer survivors struggling with cancer-related pain and swelling, and point to ways to enhance muscular strength and body image. The studies appear in a first of its kind monograph from the Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs focusing on integrative oncology, which combines a variety of therapies, some non-traditional, for maximum benefit to cancer patients.
Study finds association between coronary artery plaque and liver disease Researchers using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) have found a close association between high-risk coronary artery plaque and a common liver disease. The study, published online in the journal Radiology, found that a single CT exam can detect both conditions.
	Genetic damage caused by asthma shows up in circulating blood stream, too Asthma may be more harmful than was previously thought, according to UCLA researchers who found that genetic damage is present in circulating, or peripheral, blood. Doctors previously thought that the genetic damage it caused was limited to the lungs.
	Sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir seems effective for HCV genotype 1 (HealthDay)—For patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV GT-1) infection who are ineligible for interferon therapy, and who relapsed after sofosbuvir and ribavirin treatment, sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir is a promising new therapy, according to a small study published in the Nov. 4 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
	Low-level toxin in drinking water can alter stem cells World-first research at the University of Adelaide has found that even low levels of a common toxin in drinking water are enough to cause problems in developing brain cells – but there's no cause for alarm for Australia's water drinkers just yet.
	Crowdsourcing to identify new algorithms for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapies Researchers including bioinformaticians from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München organize crowdsourcing challenge to identify new algorithms that will expedite the search for effective therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In the latest issue of Nature Biotechnology, the scientists review the outcome of the crowd-sourcing exercise and describe the most effective algorithms that emerged from it.
	Secondhand cigarette smoke causes weight gain New research is challenging the decades-old belief that smoking cigarettes helps keep you slim.
	Making age reversal real UNSW Professor David Sinclair has some complaints about the human lifespan. It's too short, for a start. Most of us live "only 30,000 days" according to the internationally renowned geneticist. What's worse, the last 5000 or so are commonly marred by poor health.
	New tool for testing drugs for prostate cancer Many men are growing moustaches this month as part of Movember to raise awareness and funds for improving men's health, but do you know where this money goes?
	Helping your loved one stop smoking Did you know using tobacco products is a preventable cause of death? In the United States, it ranks No. 1 as a cause we can prevent through behavioral change alone.
	Adjusting your body clock when the time changes As we reset our clocks and watches for daylight saving time, it's a good opportunity to think about our body clocks as well. Our bodies naturally operate on 24-hour cycles, called circadian rhythms, that respond to external cues such as time of light and dark, eating and physical activity.
Take steps to improve diabetes outcomes More than 29 million Americans have diabetes, and about 86 million more are on the verge of the disease. People with diabetes are nearly two times more likely than people without diabetes to die from heart disease, and are also at greater risk for kidney, eye and nerve diseases, among other painful and costly complications.
	Asthma patients reduce symptoms, improve lung function with shallow breaths, more CO2 Asthma patients taught to habitually resist the urge to take deep breaths when experiencing symptoms were rewarded with fewer symptoms and healthier lung function, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
	Startup tackles nasty infection with first public stool bank Mark Smith PhD '14 vividly remembers the first conversation he and a colleague had with venture capitalists through MIT's Venture Mentoring Service about the concept that would lead to OpenBiome, the nation's first public stool bank for the treatment of a deadly bacterial infection. While two of the three businessmen they consulted with were supportive, the third was incredulous.
Researcher says gratitude may be a key to happiness 'Tis the season to be grateful. And being grateful for what you have may be the key to happiness, according to research by a UT professor.
Patients with emergency-diagnosed lung cancer report barriers to seeing their GP Many patients whose lung cancer is diagnosed as an emergency in hospital reported difficulties in previously seeing their GP, according to research presented at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Cancer Conference in Liverpool today.
Study shows how exercise could reduce relapse during meth withdrawal Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that even brief workouts can reduce the risk of relapse in rats withdrawing from methamphetamine. In addition, the team found that exercise affected the neurons in a brain region that had never before been associated with meth withdrawal, suggesting a new direction for drug development.
	Here's a brainwave – magnetic pulses could treat autism Around 1 in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to the US Centres for Disease Control – an extraordinarily high number. Although the prevalence rise is probably due mainly to changes in how we diagnose and classify ASD – autism was once considered a rare condition affecting only one among thousands – it has become a huge public-health challenge.
	Intensive intervention by parents rather than clinicians best for autistic toddlers For the first time, toddlers with autism have demonstrated significant improvement after intensive intervention by parents rather than clinicians, according to a new Florida State University study published online in the journal Pediatrics.
Ten practical, evidence-based tips to provide holistic support to individuals with ASD A Clinical Perspectives article published in the November 2014 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry proposes a tool to empower stakeholders, guide caregivers, and provide a rationale for advocates, when considering the systems of support offered to people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Lactose intolerants at lower risk of certain cancers, according to study People with lactose intolerance are at lower risk of suffering from lung, breast and ovarian cancers, according to a new study by researchers at Lund University and Region Skåne in Sweden.
Obesity in pregnant women may increase children's risk of kidney, urinary tract problems Obesity in a pregnant woman may increase the risk that her children will be born with congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract, according to a study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 November 11-16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.
Ebola, Marburg viruses edit genetic material during infection Filoviruses like Ebola "edit" genetic material as they invade their hosts, according to a study published this week in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The work, by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Galveston National Laboratory, and the J. Craig Venter Institute, could lead to a better understanding of these viruses, paving the way for new treatments down the road.
Undiagnosed, undertreated Chagas disease emerging as US public health threat Across a broad swath of the southern United States, residents face a tangible but mostly unrecognized risk of contracting Chagas disease—a stealthy parasitic infection that can lead to severe heart disease and death—according to new research presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting.
Forensic DNA test conclusively links snake bite marks on people to species Starting with a simple DNA swab taken from fang marks on people bitten by snakes, an international research team correctly identified the species of the biting snake 100 percent of the time in a first-of-its-kind clinical study, according to data presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's (ASTMH) Annual Meeting.
	Brain anatomy differences between autistic and typically developing individuals are indistinguishable In the largest MRI study to date, researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Carnegie Mellon University have shown that the brain anatomy in MRI scans of people with autism above age six is mostly indistinguishable from that of typically developing individuals and, therefore, of little clinical or scientific value.
Altered diagnosis has led to growth in autism Only forty per cent of the notable increase in autism cases that has been registered during the past few decades is due to causes that are as yet unknown.
	Few hospital websites educate pregnant women on Tdap vaccination and whooping cough prevention Whooping cough, a highly contagious bacterial infection, can be serious and even fatal in newborns, but less than half of birthing hospitals in Michigan included prevention information on websites, says a new University of Michigan analysis that appears in the American Journal of Infection Control.
	Youth pastors feel ill-equipped to help youths with mental health issues, study finds Many mental health disorders first surface during adolescence, and college and youth pastors are in a good position to offer help or steer youths elsewhere to find it. But many of those pastors feel ill-prepared to recognize and treat mental illness, according to a Baylor University study.
Granger causality test can make epilepsy surgery more effective A new statistical test that looks at the patterns of high-frequency network activity flow from brain signals can help doctors pinpoint the exact location of seizures occurring in the brain and make surgery more effective, according to researchers at Georgia State University and Emory University School of Medicine. The findings are published in the journal Epilepsia.
	Researchers discover genetic markers for alcoholism recovery In an international study, Mayo Clinic researchers and collaborators have identified genetic markers that may help in identifying individuals who could benefit from the alcoholism treatment drug acamprosate. The findings, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, show that patients carrying these genetic variants have longer periods of abstinence during the first three months of acamprosate treatment.
	Surgery for sleep apnea improves asthma control Surgical removal of the tonsils and adenoids in children suffering from sleep apnea is associated with decreased asthma severity, according to the first large study of the connection, published in the journal PLOS Medicine.
Preventing postpartum hemorrhage Sublingual misoprostol is inferior to intramuscular oxytocin for the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in women undergoing uncomplicated birth at a regional hospital in Uganda, according to trial results published in PLOS Medicine. The randomized non-inferiority trial, conducted by Esther Cathyln Atukunda at the Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda, and colleagues, showed that PPH incidence in the misoprostol arm exceeded that in the oxytocin arm by 11.2% (95% confidence interval 6.44%-16.1%).
Medicare may need to expand options for behavioral weight loss counseling in primary care An important addition to the "eat less, move more" strategy for weight loss lies in behavioral counseling to achieve these goals. But research on how primary care practitioners can best provide behavioral weight loss counseling to obese patients in their practices—as encouraged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)—remains slim, according to a systematic review of this topic published today in JAMA. The study was led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Immune booster combined with checkpoint blocker improves survival in metastatic melanoma Patients with metastatic melanoma who were treated with ipilimumab, an immune checkpoint blocker, survived 50 percent longer – a median 17.5 months vs. 12.7 months – if they simultaneously received an immune stimulant, according to a study led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists.
	Study finds Google glass may partially obstruct peripheral vision Testing of study participants who wore head-mounted display systems (Google glass) found that the glasses created a partial peripheral vision obstruction, according to a study in the November 5 issue of JAMA.
Novel nanofiber-based technology could help prevent HIV/AIDS transmission Scientists have developed a novel topical microbicide loaded with hyaluronic acid (HA) nanofibers that could potentially prevent transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) through the vaginal mucosa. This research is being presented at the 2014 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, in San Diego, Nov. 2-6.
Long-acting anti-meth treatment demonstrates protective benefits for meth addiction A recently developed Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV)-based medication has the potential to offer substantial protective effects for patients attempting to cease methamphetamine use. This research is being presented at the 2014 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, in San Diego, Nov. 2-6.
The inside story: How the brain and skull stay together Think about the way our bodies are assembled during early development and ask: How do neighboring cells know that they are supposed to become a nerve or a bone cell and how do these tissues find the correct place and alignment? Researchers at the University of Miami (UM) are answering these crucial questions.
	Training model protects embryo transfer success rates (HealthDay)—In an academic practice, a training model using ultrasound-guided embryo transfer (ET) results in similar live birth rates for reproductive endocrinology and infertility (REI) fellows and attending physicians, according to research published in the November issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
	HPV vaccine not protective against recurrent warts in men (HealthDay)—The current quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine does not have a significant impact on the recurrence of genital warts in men exposed to HPV infection, according to research published in the November issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
	Irregular heartbeat doubles risk for 'silent strokes,' review suggests (HealthDay)—Atrial fibrillation, a common condition where the heart beats abnormally, may more than double the risk of "silent" strokes, a new review suggests.
	FDA: Supplements, meds can be dangerous mix (HealthDay)—Taking vitamins or other dietary supplements along with medication can be dangerous, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.
Seeking to end the 'drug-discovery recession' for mental illness There is little doctors can do for those suffering serious brain injuries from car crashes, athletics and battle, other than wait and treat the symptoms, but a unique collaboration between those who study mental illness and those who treat the disorders offers hope for new therapies.
Brain changes linked to prematurity may explain risk of neurodevelopmental disorders Disturbances in the early stages of brain growth, such as preterm birth – when many of the brain's structures have not yet fully developed – appears to affect the brain's neuro-circuitry, which may explain premature babies' higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD and autism spectrum disorder.
	Oregon woman galvanizes right-to-die efforts Brittany Maynard's last days started a national conversation about whether it's OK for a terminally ill person to end his or her own life.
Singapore clamps down on shisha smoking The Singapore government said Tuesday it would phase out public shisha smoking to protect young people who feel that smoking tobacco through water pipes is less harmful than cigarettes.
Can (and should) happiness be a policy goal? How does an individual's happiness level reflect societal conditions? A new article out today in the first issue of Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences (PIBBS) finds that similar to how GDP measures the effectiveness of economic policies, happiness can and should be used to evaluate the effectiveness of social policies.
	Improving patient safety in our hospitals Hospitals are dangerous places. This week, the Health Quality and Safety Commission released 'Making Our Health and Disability Services Safer', a report summarising 454 events of patients who were injured or died due to errors or mistakes reported by our District Health Boards in the past year.
	Better health for the poorest segments The Research Council's Programme for Global Health and Vaccination Research (GLOBVAC) can help more newborn children to survive and reduce the number of deaths from malaria. The Research Council of Norway recently visited Tanzania to see some of the GLOBVAC projects first-hand.
	Student-developed technology to identify plague strains in Madagascar Cedar Mitchell, a senior at Northern Arizona University, is traveling to Madagascar in January to work with scientists using NAU technology to better understand origins of that country's recent plague outbreaks. Yersinia pestis, responsible for global pandemics including Black Death, continues to proliferate in Madagascar, where there were 256 human cases and 60 deaths from plague in 2012.
Professor develops app for prospective kidney transplant patients 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease and millions of others are at increased risk, according to the National Kidney Foundation's website.
ASMQ FDC proves safe and efficacious to treat children in Africa with malaria Presented today at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASMTH), results of a multi-centre clinical trial in Africa, launched in 2008, to test the efficacy and tolerability of Artesunate-Mefloquine fixed-dose combination (ASMQ FDC) in children under 5 years of age with uncomplicated falciparum malaria showed that ASMQ FDC is as safe and efficacious as Artemether-Lumefantrine (AL) FDC – Africa's most widely adopted treatment.
Preclinical oncology coursework could help with practitioner shortage With the world facing a shortage of oncologists, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have determined that preclinical study of oncology may increase the number of students entering the field and may make them more empathetic and concerned about ethical issues of treatment.
Assessing elderly drivers: Doctors and law enforcement receive training Every day in America, roughly 10,000 people turn age 65. To help keep roadways safe as America grays and to help preserve the freedom of mobility of older drivers, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine are training law enforcement officers to recognize warning signs of impaired driving skills and to take appropriate, compassionate action. They are also training doctors to think more about their patients' ability to drive safely with age.
Hot flushes are going unrecognised leaving women vulnerable Hot flushes are one of the most distressing conditions faced by women who have been treated for breast cancer, but they are not being adequately addressed by healthcare professionals and some women consider giving up their post cancer medication to try and stop them, a new study has shown.
Ebola may be deadlier and more widespread than we think The current Ebola outbreak in West Africa has grown exponentially since May, indicating inadequate global response. A new analysis indicates that the outbreak's fatality rate is over 70%—rather than 50% as previously claimed by the World Health Organization—and that the total number of affected individuals could exceed 1 million by early next year.
Drinking and poor academics affect the future of children with behavioral disorders Childhood behavioral conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder are linked with an increased risk of being convicted of a felony later in life, with heavy drinking and educational failure contributing to this link.
Parents' work schedules may impact family members' sleep In a recent US study of 1,815 disadvantaged mothers and their children, mothers who worked more than 35 hours per week were more likely to experience insufficient sleep compared with mothers who worked fewer hours, while children were more likely to experience insufficient sleep when their mothers worked between 20 and 40 hours.
	Breastfeeding: Shame if you do, shame if you don't A new study of 63 women with varied infant feeding experiences reveals that breastfeeding mothers may feel shame if they breastfeed in public due to exposure, while those who do not breastfeed may experience shame through 'failing' to give their infant the 'best start.'
Many future health professionals drink too much alcohol A new study found that 43% of nursing students indulge in hazardous alcohol consumption, with 14.9% of men and 18.7% of women meeting criteria for hazardous drinkers.
Half of elderly people are more than happy to consume new foods Elderly people are regarded as traditional consumers, but the AZTI study reveals that there are more and more elderly people who are happy to accept new foods. However, these consumers insist that the new proposals should be similar to or evoke traditional products and flavours and, at the same time, be health-enhancing, have the right nutrient profile for their age, and be flavoursome.
Guam likely approves medical marijuana measure With nearly all of Guam's precincts counted, unofficial election results indicate the majority of voters want to legalize medical marijuana.
	Ebola hits health care access for other diseases The Ebola outbreak has spawned a "silent killer," experts say: hidden cases of malaria, pneumonia, typhoid and the like that are going untreated because people in the countries hardest hit by the dreaded virus either cannot find an open clinic or are too afraid to go to one.
Nonobstructive CAD associated with increased risk of heart attack, death In a study that included nearly 38,000 patients, those diagnosed with nonobstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) had a significantly increased risk of heart attack or death one year after diagnosis, according to a study in the November 5 issue of JAMA.
Allergan deal inches forward with court's decision In a win for Valeant and Pershing Square, a federal judge has decided that they can vote in takeover target Allergan's upcoming shareholder meeting.

Biology news

	Gardeners of Madagascar rainforest at risk A majority of Madagascar's 101 species of lemurs are threatened with extinction, and that could have serious consequences for the rainforests they call home. A new study by Rice University researchers shows the positive impacts lemurs can have on rainforest tree populations, which raises concerns about the potential impact their disappearance could have on the region's rich biodiversity.
	Feed or weed? New pastures are sowing problems for the future Weeds cost Australian farmers around A$4 billion every year—and they are likely to do a similar amount of damage to the environment.
	A possible alternative to antibiotics Scientists from the University of Bern have developed a novel substance for the treatment of severe bacterial infections without antibiotics, which would prevent the development of antibiotic resistance.
	Researchers reconstruct early stages of embryo development Researchers at the University of Cambridge have managed to reconstruct the early stage of mammalian development using embryonic stem cells, showing that a critical mass of cells – not too few, but not too many – is needed for the cells to being self-organising into the correct structure for an embryo to form.
	Male hummingbirds use beaks when fighting to stab at their opponents' throats Tiny, swift, and iridescent, hummingbirds dart around flowers and feeders, sipping nectar with their seemingly delicate beaks.
	Study shows songbird prefers singing in harmonic series similar to humans (Phys.org) —A team of researchers with members from Germany, the U.S. and Austria has found that male hermit thrush appear to sing following a harmonic series similar to the way humans produce music. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team describes how they studied bird songs recorded by various people over the past half century and then compared the way the birds sang to the way people create music.
	Fight to save endangered Indus dolphins, turtles Local legend has it that Pakistan's Indus River dolphin was once a woman, transformed by a curse from a holy man angry that she forgot to feed him one day.
	Distillers grains with calcium oxide improve cattle diets Research by Purdue University scientist Jon Schoonmaker and his colleagues has shown that small amounts of calcium oxide can neutralize the acid in distillers grains, a commonly used alternative to corn in many livestock feed mixes.
	Melon melange sorted out An error made over 80 years ago has led botanists to believe that the edible watermelon originated in South Africa. LMU researchers have now cleared up the confusion and shed new light on the evolution of the juicy fruit.
	Turtle populations benefit from cooler rookery A UWA scientist says cooler winters at Cape Domett, in the mouth of the Kimberley's Cambridge Gulf, may be good long-term news for flatback turtles (Natator depressus).
	Natural selection minimizes genetic effects of human-induced hybridization Overfishing, climate change and pollution have reduced fish populations in Canadian lakes and rivers. While hatchery-raised fish could return numbers to normal, they aren't as well adapted to their new environments, and there's been concern that the wild population is "tainted" once it breeds with its domesticated counterparts.
Little evidence conservation organizations respond to economic signals A University of Tennessee, Knoxville, study finds that nonprofit organizations aiming to protect biodiversity show little evidence of responding to economic signals, which could limit the effectiveness of future conservation efforts.
	Are there as many rats as people in New York City? Urban legend states that New York City has as many rats as people: roughly 8 million; but a new analysis suggests there are nowhere near as many.
	Los Angeles Zoo sees first hippo birth in 26 years The Los Angeles Zoo has received a real treat for Halloween—the birth of its first hippopotamus in 26 years. It was a bit of trick, too, because the mother was on birth control.
	How cells defend themselves against antibiotics and cytostatic agents ABC Transporters are proteins that are embedded in the cell membrane and facilitate the transport across cellular barriers not only of an almost unlimited variety of toxic substances, but also of substances that are essential for life. They also play a role in the development of antibiotic resistance. A research group at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, in co-operation with American colleagues, has now succeeded in elucidating the detailed structure of this transporter.
When less is more: Death in moderation boosts population density in nature In nature, the right amount of death at the right time might actually help boost a species' population density, according to new research that could help in understanding animal populations, pest control and managing fish and wildlife stocks.
	Texas roses must be 'on' year round to make the cut It's late autumn, and most of the blossom-laden plants that colored summer are fading.
	Innovation in Chilean vegetable and flower sector It all began with a question from Wageningen UR Chile, the South American branch of Wageningen UR: "Is there expertise in the Netherlands to assist Chilean vegetable growers in modernising their businesses?" A three-year innovation programme led by Frank Wijnands is set to be launched soon in response.
Environmental toxins may be hurting North American eagles New research indicates that bald and golden eagles in North America may be exposed to dangerously high levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are chemicals used in the production of a wide variety of textiles, plastics, and electronics.
New technique may help assess how plastic pollution impacts wildlife By swabbing oil from a gland located at the end of a seabird's tail and analyzing the sample with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, researchers have developed a way to measure wildlife's exposure to plastics.
	New research explores scent communication in polar bears New research indicates that scent associated with polar bear paws conveys information that may affect the animals' social and reproductive behavior. This chemical form of communication was likely shaped by the environmental constraints of Arctic sea ice.
Trade protections proposed for four species of turtles Faced with growing concerns about the hunting of freshwater turtles in the United States for Asian food markets, federal officials this week proposed adding four species to an international list of plants and animals designed to manage commercial trade in the reptiles.
	Greenpeace accuses 20 European 'monster boats' of overfishing The environmental group Greenpeace launched a campaign on Tuesday against 20 European "monster boats" it says use a range of tricks to dangerously overfish the world's oceans.

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