Science X Newsletter Thursday, Sep 24

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for September 24, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Women's perceptions of professional advancement may influence career outcomes
- 11-year cosmic search leads to black hole rethink
- ESA's Rosetta data reveals evidence for a daily water-ice cycle on and near the surface of comets
- A rechargeable battery to power a home from rooftop solar panels
- Research pair offer a way to put a living organism into superposition state
- Tiny plankton can play a major role in CO2 storage in the oceans
- In the dark polar winter, the animals aren't sleeping
- Of brains and bones: How hunger neurons control bone mass
- Female genital cutting is based on private values rather than social norms
- How fossil corals can shed light on the Earth's past climate
- 'Remote control' of immune cells opens door to safer, more precise cancer therapies
- Wine's darkest secret revealed - it's all in the fungi
- Study: Global warming, evolution are clipping bees' tongues
- Archaeologists find bone fragments in hunt for 'real' Mona Lisa
- Sticky gel helps stem cells heal rat hearts

Astronomy & Space news

	ESA's Rosetta data reveals evidence for a daily water-ice cycle on and near the surface of comets Comets are celestial bodies comprising a mixture of dust and ices, which they periodically shed as they swing towards their closest point to the Sun along their highly eccentric orbits.
	11-year cosmic search leads to black hole rethink One hundred years since Einstein proposed gravitational waves as part of his general theory of relativity, an 11-year search performed with CSIRO's Parkes telescope has failed to detect them, casting doubt on our understanding of galaxies and black holes.
	'Super blood moon' to give stargazers a rare show For the first time in decades, skygazers are in for the double spectacle Monday of a swollen "supermoon" bathed in the blood-red light of a total eclipse.
	Black hole is 30 times expected size The central supermassive black hole of a recently discovered galaxy is far larger than should be possible, according to current theories of galactic evolution. New work, carried out by astronomers at Keele University and the University of Central Lancashire, shows that the black hole is much more massive than it should be, compared to the mass of the galaxy around it. The scientists publish their results in a paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
	Revisiting the Veil Nebula Deriving its name from its delicate, draped filamentary structures, the beautiful Veil Nebula is one of the best-known supernova remnants. It formed from the violent death of a star twenty times the mass of the Sun that exploded about 8000 years ago. Located roughly 2100 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan), this brightly coloured cloud of glowing debris spans approximately 110 light-years.
	NASA's BARREL team returns from Sweden After seven balloon launches in the bright Arctic sun, the BARREL team has returned home from a 4-week campaign in Kiruna, Sweden, north of the Arctic Circle. Each research balloon observed emissions high in our atmosphere that correlated to events in the complex space environment above. By understanding the connection between these two areas, scientists can better understand the dynamic space weather surrounding Earth, and how it may impact our satellites and radio communications.
	Video: Hubble's Tinkertoy solution In April 1990, workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, were packing up a very special shipment to be delivered via Space Shuttle to low-Earth orbit - the Hubble Space Telescope. One helpful engineer noticed there was a cable loop that seemed to be too close to the dish of one of the two high-gain antennas, the telescope's primary means of communication. Thinking it might impair the antenna's deployment, he twisted the cable a few inches out of the way, unknowingly altering the operational configuration.
	Discovery of potential gravitational lenses shows citizen science value Around 37,000 citizen scientists combed through 430,000 images to help an international team of researchers to discover 29 new gravitational lens candidates through Space Warps, an online classification system which guides citizen scientists to become lens hunters.
	Launch of India's first ever black hole space observation satellite Researchers from the University of Leicester have been involved in the development of the first ever Indian satellite dedicated to astronomical observations, including of black holes, which will be launching from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in South-East India on Monday 28 September.

Technology news

	A rechargeable battery to power a home from rooftop solar panels A team of Harvard scientists and engineers has demonstrated a rechargeable battery that could make storage of electricity from intermittent energy sources like solar and wind safe and cost-effective for both residential and commercial use. The new research builds on earlier work by members of the same team that could enable cheaper and more reliable electricity storage at the grid level.
	New cathode material creates possibilities for sodium-ion batteries Led by the inventor of the lithium-ion battery, a team of researchers in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin has identified a new safe and sustainable cathode material for low-cost sodium-ion batteries.
	Researchers present a special gel for touchscreen buttons Six researchers from Germany and Denmark co-authored the paper," GelTouch: Localized Tactile Feedback Through Thin, Programmable Gel." If you were missing the press-down experience of finger interaction with your screen then GelTouch might one day be an easy answer.
	Learning language by playing games MIT researchers have designed a computer system that learns how to play a text-based computer game with no prior assumptions about how language works. Although the system can't complete the game as a whole, its ability to complete sections of it suggests that, in some sense, it discovers the meanings of words during its training.
	How to build the world's fastest car In 2016, a team of engineers and adventurers will travel to the South African desert and attempt to become the first people to drive a car at 1,000mph. The British-made vehicle, Bloodhound SSC, is designed to smash the current world land-speed record of 763mph to become the fastest car ever built.
	Oculus proclaims dawn of 'virtual reality era' Facebook-owned Oculus VR wooed software makers on Wednesday with the promise of a budding "virtual reality era" and an alliance with streaming television powerhouse Netflix.
Nasdaq center aims to build relationships with startups Nasdaq has long been known as the "tech-heavy" stock exchange, where some of Silicon Valley's best-known companies have gone to sell shares. Now, as it faces stiff competition from rival exchanges to lure the next hot IPO, it's reaching out to business startups before they go public.
India PM heads to Silicon Valley chasing a digital dream He has 30 million fans on Facebook and tweets multiple times a day—but as Narendra Modi visits Silicon Valley this weekend, it is Indian technology that will be centre-screen.
	Virtual reality stretching beyond video games Virtual reality is a dream of video game lovers, but it is poised to blast far beyond play to education, medicine, architecture and other learning arenas.
	Techniques could create better material, design in high-consequence uses Imagine a table with sinuous legs resembling the twisting shape of an inverted swamp cypress trunk. Those flowing legs might make the table stronger, better able to handle whatever someone piles on it.
	Smartphones give dedicated digital cameras a run for their money Apple's recent offering of new tech toys includes the latest iPhone – available in stores from Friday – and it boasts some mighty camera power.
	How teams of computers and humans can fight disasters Over the past five years, researchers from Oxford University have been working on a collaborative project called ORCHID to develop new ways for humans and computers to work together.
	Real-time data for smart electric mobility Information is the basis of smart mobility. Information technology can support the car driver in safe, inexpensive, and sustainable driving or organize reliable exchange of information among electric mobility users, cars, charging poles, fleet operators, workshops, and service providers. KIT's BMBF-funded ELISE project now presents an electronic system that acquires data in real time and exchanges them across borders of systems in a standardized manner.
	Germany: VW cars with suspect software in Europe too The software at the center of Volkswagen's emissions scandal in the U.S. was built into the automaker's cars in Europe as well, Germany said Thursday, though it isn't yet clear if it helped cheat tests as it did in the U.S.
	Researchers examine market potential, environmental trade-offs of using natural gas as a marine fuel As the maritime shipping industry transitions toward cleaner fuels in response to new environmental regulations and emissions standards, abundant supplies of natural gas in the United States, and worldwide, appear to offer a promising solution in transportation industries.
	New tech to authenticate citizen journalists' cellphone footage Cellphone video increasingly plays a role in reporting the news. From encounters with police in the United States to the fate of people worldwide threatened by war, terrorism, repressive governments or any number of other manmade tragedies and natural disasters, individuals armed with mobile technology are capturing realities that might otherwise never see the light of day.
	EU open to digital competition: official A top European Union official on a tour that includes visits to US technology giants said the EU bloc is open to all players, brushing aside references to "digital protectionism."
	Using body heat to keep a shelter warm: A 'magic tent' for mountaineers In collaboration with the start-up Polarmond, scientists at Empa developed an 'all-in-one' shelter system. Inside the shelter conditions remain comfortable whatever the weather outdoors, thanks to a sophisticated dehumidifying system and a fine-tuned temperature control mechanism.
	Brief Facebook outage prompts flurry on Twitter Facebook users experienced a brief outage of the huge social network Thursday, with many turning to Twitter to vent frustration or joke about the incident.
	Amazon launches video services, new devices in Japan US online giant Amazon said Thursday it was launching its streaming video service in Japan along with its Fire TV devices.
	VW just the latest scalp for independent campaigners Volkswagen's worldwide pollution cheating has been exposed in large part thanks to independent campaigners, a growing force in the scrutiny of multinationals whose activities can escape the gaze of official regulators.
	Dealers, owners feel frustrated and betrayed by VW scandal Bob Rand bought his Volkswagen Passat last year for its clean emissions and high gas mileage. He liked the car so much he convinced his son and a friend to buy one, too.
	Immersive 3D training experience unveiled with potential to transform the chemical engineering industry A Loughborough University computer science expert has collaborated with BP on an immersive training experience that enables safety-critical tasks to be rehearsed in a simulated environment.
Non-technological barriers hamper the integration of renewables in production processes Dozens of projects have been promoted over the last decade to make industrial processes energy efficient, thus reducing costs and decreasing impact on the environment. However, a definitive solution to reducing energy consumption in such processes is far from being reached.
'Volkswagen crisis' bad news for German companies Volkswagen (VW), one of the world's biggest vehicle manufacturers, has admitted to programming around 11 million of its cars to detect when they were being tested and alter the running of their diesel engines to hide the true record of emissions.
Scientists reveal first results using new National Dark Fibre Infrastructure Southampton scientists will reveal the first research results from the new National Dark Fibre Infrastructure Service (NDFIS) at an international conference this Autumn.
	Sharing real-time information could save the transport sector billions each year A European research project led by Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) makes real-time information available for the whole transport chain for the first time. The new software platform, which is being presented on 1 October, enables a flexible response to unforeseen circumstances, making transport faster, more environmentally friendly and cheaper each year by many billions. The researchers are confident that the total fuel consumption in the EU can be reduced by some 2 billion liters and CO2 emissions cut by 6.5 million annually.

Medicine & Health news

Scientists see through bones to uncover blood-forming stem cell details A team of scientists at the Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) has become the first to use a tissue-clearing technique to localize a rare stem cell population, in the process cracking open a black box containing detailed information about where blood-forming stem cells are located and how they are maintained. The findings, published in Nature, provide a significant advance toward understanding the microenvironment in which stem cells reside within the bone marrow.
	Decision-making involves a little known brain region When faced with a change to our environment, we have to make appropriate decisions, which usually involves the orbitofrontal cortex. Yet unexpectedly, scientists at the Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine (INCIA, CNRS/Université de Bordeaux) have discovered that a brain region located in the thalamus also plays a crucial role in using these evolved skills. Tested in the rat, this work is published on 23 September 2015 in The Journal of Neuroscience.
	Brain researcher cautions against suggestions cannabis causes schizophrenia (Medical Xpress)—Matthew Hill, of the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute has published a Perspective piece in the journal Nature voicing his concerns about other academics and journalists who suggest that cannabis use causes schizophrenia. He points out that there is little evidence of such a connection and suggests that there is actually evidence that cannabis use does not cause the mental disorder.
	Of brains and bones: How hunger neurons control bone mass In an advance that helps clarify the role of a cluster of neurons in the brain, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that these neurons not only control hunger and appetite, but also regulate bone mass.
	Stem cell research hints at evolution of human brain The human cerebral cortex contains 16 billion neurons, wired together into arcane, layered circuits responsible for everything from our ability to walk and talk to our sense of nostalgia and drive to dream of the future. In the course of human evolution, the cortex has expanded as much as 1,000-fold, but how this occurred is still a mystery to scientists.
	Antidepressants plus blood thinners cause brain cancer cells to eat themselves in mice Scientists have been exploring the connection between tricyclic antidepressants and brain cancer since the early 2000s. There's some evidence that the drugs can lower one's risk for developing aggressive glioblastomas, but when given to patients after diagnosis in a small clinical trial, the antidepressants showed no effect as a treatment.
	Mobile app records our erratic eating habits Breakfast, lunch, and dinner? For too many of us, the three meals of the day go more like: office meeting pastry, mid-afternoon energy drink, and midnight pizza. In Cell Metabolism on September 24, Salk Institute scientists present daily food and beverage intake data collected from over 150 participants of a mobile research app over 3 weeks. They show that a majority of people eat for 15 hours or longer, with less than a quarter of the day's calories being consumed before noon and over a third consumed after 6 p.m.
'Remote control' of immune cells opens door to safer, more precise cancer therapies UC San Francisco researchers have engineered a molecular "on switch" that allows tight control over the actions of T cells, immune system cells that have shown great potential as therapies for cancer. The innovation lays the groundwork for sharply reducing severe, sometimes deadly side effects that have been a significant hurdle to advancing T cell-based treatments.
	Vaccination on the horizon for severe viral infection of the brain Researchers from the University of Zurich and the University Hospital Zurich reveal possible new treatment methods for a rare, usually fatal brain disease. Thanks to their discovery that specific antibodies play a key role in combating the viral infection, a vaccine against the disease "progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy" could now be developed.
	Tiny mitochondria play outsized role in human evolution and disease Mitochondria are not only the power plants of our cells, these tiny structures also play a central role in our physiology. Furthermore, by enabling flexible physiological responses to new environments, mitochondria have helped humans and other mammals to adapt and evolve throughout the history of life on earth.
	Sticky gel helps stem cells heal rat hearts A sticky, protein-rich gel created by Johns Hopkins researchers appears to help stem cells stay on or in rat hearts and restore their metabolism after transplantation, improving cardiac function after simulated heart attacks, according to results of a new study.
Concerns over FDA's increasing use of expedited development and approval pathways Two studies carried out by US researchers and published by The BMJ today raise questions about whether most new drugs are any more effective than existing products or whether they have been adequately assessed before approval.
Stillbirth should be given greater priority on the global health agenda, argue experts Clear targets to prevent stillbirths should be included in national and global health plans, argue experts in The BMJ this week.
	BMJ investigation questions expert advice underpinning new US dietary guidelines The expert report underpinning the latest dietary guidelines for Americans fails to reflect much relevant scientific literature in its reviews of crucial topics and therefore risks giving a misleading picture, an investigation by The BMJ has found.
Man walks again after years of paralysis The ability to walk has been restored following a spinal cord injury, using one's own brain power, according to research published in the open access Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. The preliminary proof-of-concept study shows that it is possible to use direct brain control to get a person's legs to walk again.
	Kids with asthma that are exposed to secondhand smoke have twice as many hospitalizations The risk for hospitalization doubles for kids with asthma who are exposed to secondhand smoke, according to a study led by Mayo Clinic Children's Research Center.
Taking blood pressure drugs at bedtime lowers diabetes risk New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes) shows that taking blood pressure medications at bedtime, rather than in the morning, reduces blood pressure (BP) whilst asleep and also halves the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The research, published in two separate papers, is by Dr Ramón Hermida and colleagues from the University of Vigo, Spain.
Ticks carrying Lyme disease found in South London parks Visitors to two popular parks in South London are at risk of coming into contact with ticks that can transmit Lyme disease to humans, according to new research published in Medical and Veterinary Entomology.
	Is America ready to kick the junk food habit? Cage-free eggs at McDonald's, bans on suspect ingredients and "healthful" options edging out junk on supermarket shelves: could America be ready to end its decades-old love affair with processed food?
Food fat debate: An ally in Finland, a foe in India Fat—is it still the enemy or now a friend? Opinions vary wildly.
Taiwan suffers deadliest ever dengue outbreak Taiwan is suffering its deadliest ever outbreak of mosquito-borne dengue fever with a record high of 42 deaths, authorities said Thursday, double the number that died in 2014.
Software can make dental implants faster and cheaper There are several ways to manage a patient who is missing teeth, but some are better than others. Dental implants are high on the list of solutions, but they can be expensive and difficult to install. If those issues could be solved, millions of patients could benefit from dental implants.
	Motor behaviour—understanding the jerks that lurk in smooth movements Apparently smooth continuous movements to trace moving objects harbour jerks. These jerks are absent when there is no object to be traced and so are thought to stem from changes in motor instructions anticipated and fed forward by the brain to compensate for sensorimotor time lags. However so far there is no conclusive evidence that this is the case. Now Yasuyuki Inoue and Yutaka Sakaguchi at the University of Electro-communications have demonstrated a method for analysing apparently smooth movements that may help to understand their jerky components.
	Revolutionary gene-editing technique to stop AIDS virus in its tracks Researchers with the Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine at UNLV have engineered a new protein that they believe has placed science much closer to an HIV cure.
	School meals can contain unsafe levels of BPA, putting low-income students particularly at risk Federal standards for school meals are intended to keep kids healthy. But with emphasis solely on nutrition, schools are missing another component critical to students' health – exposure to toxic chemicals, according to a study led by Jennifer Hartle, a postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Prevention Research Center.
	New study provides key insights into aspirin's disease-fighting abilities A research team that includes a Rutgers professor has found that the main ingredient in aspirin targets the activities of an inflammatory protein associated with a wide variety of diseases. The discovery offers hope for the development of more powerful aspirin-like drugs.
Rates of narcissism lower than national perception Americans consistently reported a perception of the typical U.S. citizen as highly narcissistic—even meeting diagnostic criteria for the psychiatric disorder, according to studies conducted by University of Georgia psychologists in collaboration with colleagues from around the world.
	Good news for hay fever sufferers A forecast of below average rainfall over spring is expected to give hay fever sufferers in Melbourne a bit of reprieve this season.
	Young people's attitudes to violence improving, but many still feel tracking with technology OK One in five young Australians believe there women bear are partly responsible for sexual assault and nearly half (46%) agree that tracking a partner by electronic means without consent is acceptable.
Sexual dysfunction often accompanies cardiovascular disease A Deakin University researcher is looking to lift the taboo on the sexual problems that are often an unspoken side-effect for the 3.72 million Australians living with cardiovascular disease.
	Science searches for optimal mental performance The search for optimum mental performance may lead to a quiet peaceful spot, Yale neuroscientists say.
Most elderly people satisfied with support A longitudinal study of advanced ageing has found that most elderly people are satisfied with the relationships they have with family and friends.
No evidence that whole-body cryotherapy enhances athletes' recovery Rugby World Cup teams such as England, Wales and Georgia using whole-body cryotherapy to speed muscle recovery may not be getting the edge over those teams using traditional methods, a world-class review of top sports science studies suggests.
	Pain overlooked in premature infants Premature infants receiving intensive care are exposed to a great deal of pain, and this pain causes damage to the child. Despite this half of the infants admitted to neonatal intensive units will not receive any pain relief, according to a new European study published today in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
	Studies find that delayed umbilical cord clamping may benefit some high-risk newborns Clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord happens within 10 seconds after birth in most cases, in part so members of a medical team can more quickly begin caring for a newborn. But research from Nationwide Children's Hospital shows that waiting 30 to 45 seconds to clamp could have advantages for extremely preterm infants.
	Promising drugs turn immune system on cancer Cancer Research UK scientists have shown that a class of experimental drug treatments already in clinical trials could also help the body's immune system to fight cancer, according to a study published today (Thursday) in the journal Cell.
	Researchers quantify relationship between scientific discoveries and advances in medicine Scientists from the Gladstone Institutes have provided a detailed map of how basic research translates into new treatments for deadly diseases. Charting the network of discoveries that led to the development of important therapeutic drugs, the investigators revealed that, up to now, the path to a cure has required thousands of scientists and many decades. Writing in the journal Cell, the authors propose that a clearer understanding of how past successes have come about can reveal ways to accelerate the process of finding future cures.
	Newly identified biochemical pathway could be target for insulin control In the final event leading to the development of Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas loses its ability to secrete insulin and clear glucose from the blood. Preventing this breakdown in insulin secretion is a key goal in the fight to reduce the burden of a disease that afflicts an estimated 29 million people in the United States.
Weight loss, exercise improve fertility in women with PCOS Weight loss and exercise improve ovulation in women who have polycystic ovary syndrome, a common hormone disorder that often causes infertility, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
	New methodology tracks changes in DNA methylation in real time at single-cell resolution Whitehead Institute researchers have developed a methodology to monitor changes in DNA methylation over time in individual cells.
	From brain, to fat, to weight loss Weight is controlled by the hormone leptin, which acts in the brain to regulate food intake and metabolism. However, it was largely unknown until now, how the brain signals back to the fat tissue to induce fat breakdown. Now, a breakthrough study led by Ana Domingos at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC; Portugal), in collaboration with Jeffrey Friedman's group at Rockefeller University (USA), has shown that fat tissue is innervated and that direct stimulation of neurons in fat is sufficient to induce fat breakdown. These results, published in the latest issue of the prestigious journal Cell, set up the stage for developing novel anti-obesity therapies.
New treatment may help overcome common pregnancy-related complication Preeclampsia, when a pregnant woman develops high blood pressure and protein in the urine, is one of the most common medical complications of pregnancy, and the consequences for both mother and baby can be devastating. The only way to cure preeclampsia is to deliver the baby, but now researchers propose one of the first therapeutic interventions for the condition that may allow pregnancy to safely continue. The treatment is described in a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
	A potential role for fat tissue as an HIV reservoir and source of chronic inflammation Viral persistence and chronic inflammation are two key features of HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). A study published on September 24th in PLOS Pathogens reports results from macaques and humans that suggest an important role for adipose (fat) tissue as an HIV reservoir with inflammatory potential.
	Maternal malaria during pregnancy causes cognitive defects in the offspring Over half of all pregnant women world-wide are at risk for malaria, but little is known about possible consequences for the neurodevelopment of children exposed to malaria in pregnancy. A study published on September 24th in PLOS Pathogens reports a causal link between pre-natal exposure to malaria and subsequent neurocognitive impairment in offspring in a mouse model of experimental malaria in pregnancy. The research also identifies some of the molecular mechanisms involved.
Parasite that causes lymphatic filariasis releases vesicles containing microRNA that may control host Lymphatic Filariasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by three different species of parasitic worm, which are spread between human hosts by mosquitos. The molecular interactions between the worm, mosquito and human are dynamic and delicately balanced, meaning that disrupting these interactions might be an avenue for the development new therapeutic treatments.
Gene expression studies reveal drug combination effective against schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic worms endemic in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. It is currently treated by the drug praziquantel which, while both effective and cost efficient, does not prevent reinfection after the disease has cleared. Praziquantel is the only current treatment, and while no resistance has been observed in humans, animal models predict that repeated rounds of treatment may lead to the evolution of drug resistance. It is therefore important to explore both alternative treatments and synergistic therapies to expand the lifetime and effectiveness of the praziquantel treatment.
Negative spiritual beliefs associated with more pain and worse physical, mental health Individuals who blame karma for their poor health have more pain and worse physical and mental health, according to a new study from University of Missouri researchers. Targeted interventions to counteract negative spiritual beliefs could help some individuals decrease pain and improve their overall health, the researchers said.
	Researcher explores the science of aging The longest-lived human on record didn't make it much past 120 years. That's nothing compared to the ocean quahog, a fist-sized clam found off the coast of Maine. "They can live 500 years or longer," says Steven Austad, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Biology in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences and associate director of the UAB Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging. "They've been sitting out there on the sea floor since before Shakespeare was born."
	Appalachian residents adopt heart-healthy eating habits through cooking intervention West Liberty resident Bonnie Burton describes her husband as a "meat-and-potatoes" eater who shuns broccoli and other green vegetables.
New virus identified in blood supply Scientists have discovered a new virus that can be transmitted through the blood supply. Currently, it is unclear whether the virus is harmful or not, but it is related to hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human pegivirus (HPgV), the latter of which was formerly known as hepatitis G virus. The new virus, which researchers have named human hepegivirus-1 (HHpgV-1), is described in the September 22 issue of mBio, an online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Women with moderate beer consumption run lower risk of heart attack Women who drink beer at most once or twice per week run a 30 per cent lower risk of heart attack, compared with both heavy drinkers and women who never drink beer. These are the findings of a Swedish study which has followed 1,500 women over a period of almost 50 years.
Lower sperm motility in men exposed to common chemical Men with higher exposure to the substance DEHP, a so-called phthalate, have lower sperm motility and may therefore experience more difficulties conceiving children, according to a Lund University study.
	Vaping as a 'gateway' to smoking is still more hype than hazard As e-cigarettes become more popular, there has been a push to understand whether they are a "gateway" to regular, combustible cigarettes.
Number of young female anesthesiologists increases, but wages lower than male colleagues An increasing number of young female physicians are becoming anesthesiologists, but the pay of those women lags behind their male peers, even after accounting for differences such as hours worked and experience, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Arteries better than veins for liquid biopsy As the field of liquid biopsies for tracking disease progression and therapeutic response heats up, many doctors are looking for ways to apply this approach to their patients. Currently, assays for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) - one type of liquid biopsy - have been approved for diagnostic purposes in metastatic breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer. In these diseases, the presence of CTCs in the peripheral blood is associated with decreased progression-free survival and decreased overall survival. The major challenge for this technology is that CTCs are not always found in the blood of patients with aggressive disease who would be expected to have high numbers. Now, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University investigating uveal melanoma, a type of melanoma that originates in the eye, have shown that the low numbers could simply be explained by where the blood is drawn - whether from a vein or an artery.
	Rapidly assessing the next influenza pandemic Influenza pandemics are potentially the most serious natural catastrophes that affect the human population. New findings published in PLOS Computational Biology suggest that with both timely and accurate data and sophisticated numerical models, the likely impact of a new pandemic can be assessed quickly, and key decisions made about potential mitigation strategies.
	SSRIs recommended as first treatment choice for PMDD (HealthDay)—Antidepressants are the first treatment choice for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), according to a new research review published in the September issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Practice.
	Rosacea linked to various comorbid conditions (HealthDay)—Rosacea is associated with various comorbid conditions, including, but not limited to, allergies, respiratory diseases, and gastrointestinal diseases, according to a study published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
	Review links obesity to increased thyroid cancer risk (HealthDay)—Obesity is associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer, according to a review published online Sept. 14 in Obesity Reviews.
	Almost half of American adults with HIV don't take meds: report (HealthDay)—Almost half of American adults infected with HIV don't take medications that can prevent them from developing AIDS, a new government report shows.
Fewer patients die at fully accredited hospitals For the first time, researchers from Aarhus University, Aarhus University Hospital and the Region of Southern Denmark can now demonstrate an association between level of hospital accreditation and the mortality rate among patients.
	Female gamers a new risk group for overweight Young women who play computer games are a new risk group for developing overweight and obesity. This is the finding of a study that includes more than 2,500 Swedes in their twenties.
	Newly identified mechanism solves enduring mystery of key element of cellular organization St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered evidence of a mechanism at the heart of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related degenerative diseases. The research appears in today's edition of the journal Cell and highlights a possible new treatment strategy for the devastating disorders.
	Amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's and diabetes: Novel leads for inhibitors When proteins change their structure and clump together, formation of amyloid fibrils and plaques may occur. Such 'misfolding' and 'protein aggregation' processes damage cells and cause diseases such as Alzheimer's and type 2 diabetes. A team of scientists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) headed by Professor Aphrodite Kapurniotu have now developed molecules that suppress protein aggregation and could pave the way for new treatments to combat Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes and other cell-degenerative diseases.
	Childhood brain tumors affect working memory of adult survivors, study finds Adult survivors of childhood brain tumors have lower working memory performance compared to healthy adults, according to researchers at Georgia State University and Emory University.
Inflammatory response may fan the flame of dietary fats' role in obesity-related diseases An enhanced inflammatory response could be the key link between high saturated fat intake - a recognized risk factor for obesity-related disorders - and the development of diseases like type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis.
In-flight medical emergencies: What doctors and travelers must know A medical emergency that strikes in mid-air is a scary prospect for any traveler, but it presents a particularly complex situation for physicians and other healthcare providers. In an instant, a doctor could go from nodding off to making medical, ethical and legal decisions that could represent the difference in a fellow passenger's life or death.
	Study identifies leukemia tumor suppressor A protein-coding gene called hnRNP K has been identified as a tumor suppressor for acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a finding that could be important for investigating how best to target treatment of a blood cancer striking mostly older individuals.
Study finds significant differences in frailty by region and by race among older Americans A large-scale survey of older Americans living at home or in assisted living settings found that 15 percent are frail, a diminished state that makes people more vulnerable to falls, chronic disease and disability, while another 45 percent are considered pre-frail, or at heightened risk of becoming physically diminished.
	Mexico City's air pollution has detrimental impact on Alzheimer's disease gene A new study by researchers at the Universities of Montana, Valle de México, Boise State, and North Carolina, the Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto Nacional de Pediatría, and Centro Médico Cozumel heightens concerns over the detrimental impact of air pollution on hippocampal metabolites as early markers of neurodegeneration in young urbanites carrying an allele 4 of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE). This is associated with the risk for Alzheimer disease (AD) and a susceptibility marker for poor outcome in traumatic brain injury (TBI) recovery. These findings are published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
Medicaid study uncovers rise in costly ER visits due to possible gaps in postpartum care Citing an analysis of more than 26,000 Maryland Medicaid claims, Johns Hopkins researchers report evidence that poor women with recent complications during their pregnancies are using the emergency room (ER) at higher rates after delivery and may not be getting the postpartum care and follow-up they need to prevent further health problems.
Do patients with age-related macular degeneration have trouble with touch screens? Older adults with central vision loss caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD) have no problem with accuracy in performing touch screen tasks, according to a study in the October issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry.
Geneticists launch Matchmaker Exchange for rare disease gene discovery In a special issue of Human Mutation, a team including investigators at Brigham and Women's Hospital has announced the launch of the Matchmaker Exchange - a way for the rare disease community to share information and find new connections. Matchmaker Exchange connects databases of genetic information and symptoms that physicians and investigators can "match" with a patient's rare disease.
	Hope against disease targeting children Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) researchers studying spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) have found what they term "surprising similarities" between this childhood disorder that attacks motor neurons and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
	Bolivia wants to ban salt from restaurants Bolivia has a novel idea to cut down the salt intake of its people: banish it from restaurant tables.
	Startling language misunderstanding complicated Ebola response Before returning home to pursue her PhD in sociology at UC San Francisco, Rashon Lane had one last mission across the globe: go to Africa to help understand the Ebola epidemic.
	Health and the sustainable development agenda On the eve of the UN summit on Sustainable Development goals, Alarcos Cieza of the WHO reminds us that disability is part of the human experience contributing to human diversity.
	Research is transforming treatment of long-term conditions South West patients with long-term health conditions are getting to see health experts when they need to, in an exciting project driven by research.
Patients paying more for health care as government tightens belt Australians are picking up some of the slack of government belt-tightening by paying more for health, with experts concerned this could reduce the equity in Australia's health system, a new report has revealed.
New clinical trial at SLU treats preeclampsia in second-trimester pregnancies Saint Louis University is participating in a Phase III clinical trial for a drug to treat early-onset preeclampsia in pregnant women that could increase the length of pregnancy, resulting in improved fetal outcomes and reduced infant mortality.
Guideline released on minimally invasive procedure, EBUS-TBNA, to diagnose lung diseases The American College of Chest Physicians announced the release of new clinical guidelines on endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA). The guideline, which applies to a common bronchoscopic test, contains 12 recommendations including best practices related to patient factors and procedural aspects.
Medications to treat opioid use disorders—new guideline from the American Society of Addiction Medicine Medications play an important role in managing patients with opioid use disorders, but there are not enough physicians with the knowledge and ability to use these often-complex treatments. New evidence-based recommendations on the use of prescription medications for the treatment of opioid addiction are published in the October/November Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM).
Future of HIV cure research points to combination approach The next five years of HIV research should shift gears from the classic single-therapy development model to moving directly from in vitro studies to combination therapy trials, authors argue in a new paper published online today.
	Scripps first in region to implant new defibrillator approved for use with MRI scans Scripps Health is the first health care provider in San Diego County to use the only implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device approved for use with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
	MS researchers correlate BICAMS and performance of everyday life activities Kessler Foundation scientists found that the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) predicted performance of activities of daily living using Actual Reality (AR). The article, "Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) and performance of everyday life tasks," was published in Multiple Sclerosis Journal. The authors are Yael Goverover, PhD, OT, Nancy Chiaravalloti, PhD and John DeLuca, PhD.
Germany seizes record haul of illegal sex and diet pills German customs investigators said Thursday they had seized their largest-ever haul of illegal pharmaceuticals—3.5 million pills from India, mostly slimming and sexual potency "lifestyle drugs".

Biology news

	In the dark polar winter, the animals aren't sleeping You might expect that little happens in the Arctic Ocean during the cold and dark winter. But that just isn't so, according to researchers who have sampled the activities of many different species during three consecutive winters in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Their findings are published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on September 24.
	The life and times of domesticated cheese-making fungi People sure love their cheeses, but scientists have a lot to learn about the fungi responsible for a blue cheese like Roquefort or a soft Camembert. Now researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on September 24 have pieced together the story of those Penicillium fungi, based on the genomes of 14 fungal species. The findings reveal an important role for the horizontal transfer of genes from one species to another in the fungi's ability to trade their freedom in for the domesticated life.
	Researchers uncover genetic basis for kin recognition in mice Researchers from the University of Liverpool have identified the genetic basis of how mice can recognise close relatives, even if they have never encountered them before.
	Wine's darkest secret revealed - it's all in the fungi Being a winemaker is a specialised calling, requiring intimate knowledge of soil composition, seasons and weather, chemistry, flavour, even marketing and sales.
	Study: Global warming, evolution are clipping bees' tongues Global warming and evolution are reshaping the bodies of some American bumblebees, a new study finds.
	Newly discovered metabolism certifies evolutionary advantage for yeast Duplicate copies of genes safeguard survival of the biotech yeast Pichia pastoris in environments where only methanol is present as feed. A recently elucidated metabolism is similar to that used by plants for the utilization of carbon dioxide.
	Key genes in epidermal cell differentiation are essential for survival of plants The bodies of plants consist of only three tissue systems: the outermost epidermal tissue, the inner tissue, and the vascular tissue. The epidermis plays an important role in protecting the body of a plant from external stresses, preventing organ fusions, and determining final organ shapes.
	After 100 years in captivity, a look at the world's last truly wild horses In the 1870s, the world's last truly wild horses, known as Przewalski's horses, lived in the Asian steppes of Mongolia and China. But by the 1960s, those wild horses were no longer free. Only one captive population remained, descended from about a dozen wild-caught individuals and perhaps four domesticated horses. Thanks to major conservation efforts, the current population of Przewalski's horses numbers over 2,000 individuals, with about a quarter living in reintroduction reserves.
	Using flies to understand how pregnancy drives food cravings Researchers at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown in Lisbon discovered that fruit flies share the human craving for salt during pregnancy and shed light on how the nervous system controls this behaviour. The study is published today, September 24th in the scientific journal Current Biology.
Feeding garden birds shown to affect their evolution New research by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has revealed that bird food provided in British gardens has helped Blackcaps to rapidly evolve a successful new migration route. This is the first time that garden bird feeding has been shown to affect large-scale bird distributions.
	The Queen reigns supreme this wildflower season Seven years after propagating its rare seeds, Kings Park scientists are celebrating the first flowers in their population of the elusive southern Queen of Sheba orchids (Thelymitra variegata).
Researchers propose ecological route to plant disease control New research involving a scientist at the University of York has revealed a potential natural defence against invasive pathogens which damage food crops across the world.
	EU clips Malta's wings over migrant bird hunts The European Union has referred Malta to the bloc's top court over the controversial tradition of hunting birds migrating across the Mediterranean every spring, officials said Thursday.
Fungi may lead to cheaper cancer treatment Cheaper anti-cancer drugs for humans might ultimately stem from a new study by University of Guelph scientists into a kind of microbial "bandage" that protects yew trees from disease-causing fungi.
	New disease resistant pea developed Commercial pea growers stand to benefit from the release of Hampton, a new edible dry pea variety that resists some of the legume crop's most costly scourges, including pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV) and bean leaf roll virus (BLRV).
	Botanist to study responses of trees, shrubs to extreme drought As is well known now, California is in its fourth year of drought. As a result, mass mortality of trees and shrubs is happening more quickly than researchers can quantify. Rapid changes in vegetation cover are already leading to loss of biodiversity, opportunities for invasive species, and novel ecosystems with entirely new plant communities.
	Connecting the dots: Integrated biodiversity data could be the key to a sustainable future Biodiversity Observation Networks (BONs) have recently become a hot topic on the scene of natural sciences. But what is their role in advancing our knowledge of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services?
	Endangered giant salamander celebrated in China - on plates A critically endangered amphibian found itself at the centre of a new Chinese festival on Thursday, officials said—promoted as a "350 million year old" health treatment and served up on plates.

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