Science X Newsletter Wednesday, Dec 9

Over 700 multiphysics papers and presentations now available: http://goo.gl/U9tv2Z

The COMSOL Conference 2015 User Presentations Collection - a compilation of simulation work from nine events around the world - is now available online: http://goo.gl/U9tv2Z

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Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for December 9, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Researchers explain why it's nearly impossible to separate two interleaved phonebooks
- Quantum physics problem proved unsolvable: Godel and Turing enter quantum physics
- Study points to metal powders as potential replacement for fossil fuels
- New understanding of how shape and form develop in nature
- New clues to Ceres' bright spots and origins
- No extraterrestrial laser pulses detected from KIC 8462852, SETI reports
- Discovery shows how herpes simplex virus reactivates in neurons to trigger disease
- 'Hijacking' and hibernating parasite could alter brain behavior
- Nanostructured metal coatings let the light through for electronic devices
- What computers won't tell you about ecological and evolutionary dynamics
- Genomic analysis sheds light on Ebola outbreak in Liberia
- It's all about polarity: Researchers discover a mechanism behind asymmetric cell division
- Depressed Pinterest users suffer from lack of positive messages, study finds
- Iceland volcano's eruption shows how sulfur particles influence clouds
- Bone cancer researchers discover how to block, potentially treat osteosarcoma

Astronomy & Space news

	New clues to Ceres' bright spots and origins Ceres reveals some of its well-kept secrets in two new studies in the journal Nature, thanks to data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. They include highly anticipated insights about mysterious bright features found all over the dwarf planet's surface.
	No extraterrestrial laser pulses detected from KIC 8462852, SETI reports The anomalous star KIC 8462852 has baffled astronomers with its erratic dimming, causing some to speculate that it's orbited by a massive structure built by an extraterrestrial civilization. To help evaluate that possibility, scientists searched for brief laser pulses from the distant star, but found none, as reported in a paper submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
	VLT revisits a curious cosmic collision The spectacular aftermath of a 360 million year old cosmic collision is revealed in great detail in new images from ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory. Among the debris is a rare and mysterious young dwarf galaxy. This galaxy is providing astronomers with an excellent opportunity to learn more about similar galaxies that are expected to be common in the early Universe, but are normally too faint and distant to be observed by current telescopes.
	Robot arm simulates close approach of ESA's asteroid mission The final approach to an asteroid has been practised for ESA's proposed Asteroid Impact Mission using a real spacecraft camera mounted on a robot arm.
	Japanese space probe goes into orbit around Venus Japan's space agency said Wednesday its "Akatsuki" probe had successfully entered into orbit around Venus after an initial attempt at reaching the second planet from the sun failed five years ago.
	Orbital cargo ship arrives at space station Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday, carrying more than 7,000 pounds (3,000 kilograms) of water, food and supplies for global astronauts.
	Cherenkov Telescope Array prototype telescope achieves "first light" On 26 November 2015, a prototype telescope proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope (GCT), recorded CTA's first ever Cherenkov light while undergoing testing at l'Observatoire de Paris in Meudon, France. The GCT is proposed as one of CTA's small size telescopes (SSTs), covering the high end of the CTA energy range, between about 1 and 300 TeV (tera-electronvolts). Another SST prototype, the ASTRI telescope, captured the first optical image in May 2015 with its diagnostic camera.
	Researcher developing algorithm for identifying the inertia properties of a spacecraft while in orbit A research project led by New Mexico State University Professor Ou Ma that began in 2008 holds scientific, military and commercial promise for the growing use of satellites.
	Christmas delivery: First US space station shipment in months The International Space Station accepted its first U.S. shipment in more than half a year early Wednesday, receiving Christmas presents and much-needed groceries for the resident astronauts.
	Keck Observatory successfully deploys laser system improving resolution and clarity Hawaii's W. M. Keck Observatory has successfully deployed a $4 million laser system that provides a marked increase in the resolution and clarity of what are already the most scientifically productive telescopes on Earth. The new laser was projected on the sky for the first time on the evening of December 1, 2015 and will allow scientists from around the world to observe the heavens above Maunakea in unprecedented detail.
	Image: Prometheus up close NASA's Cassini spacecraft spied details on the pockmarked surface of Saturn's moon Prometheus (86 kilometers, or 53 miles across) during a moderately close flyby on Dec. 6, 2015. This is one of Cassini's highest resolution views of Prometheus, along with PIA18186 and PIA12593.
	NASA releases new visualization of space environment at Pluto This video shows a simulation of the space environment all the way out to Pluto in the months surrounding New Horizons' July 2015 flyby. At the time, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, worked with the New Horizons team to test how well their models—and other models contributed by scientists around the world—predicted the space environment at Pluto. Understanding the environment through which our spacecraft travel can ultimately help protect them from radiation and other potentially damaging effects. Visualizers at Goddard recently updated the movie of the model, creating this new release.
	The archaeology of astronomy – finding 120-year-old observations In the basement under the Niels Bohr Institute building on Juliane Maries Vej in Copenhagen they have found astronomical observations that go more than 120 years back in time. The observations were recorded on thin photographic plates made out of glass and they have been shown to contain footage a solar eclipse that is of particular historical interest.
	Viewing guide to the 2015 Geminid meteor shower 2015 looks like a fantastic year for the Geminids. With the Moon just 3 days past new and setting at the end of evening twilight, conditions couldn't be more ideal. Provided the weather cooperates! But even there we get a break. With a maximum of 120 meteors per hour, the shower is expected to peak around 18:00 UT (1 p.m. EST, 10 a.m. PST) December 14th, making for two nights of approximately equal activity: Sunday night Dec. 13-14 and Monday night Dec. 14-15.
	Do we really want to awaken the alien force? While politicians quibble over how to deal with illegal immigration, an ominous group of foreigners goes unaddressed: space aliens.
	EDRS-A and its laser are ready to fly After a year-long wait in storage for a Proton rocket to become available, the EDRS-A laser communications payload and its Eutelsat host satellite are finally at the Baikonur cosmodrome and being prepared for launch in late January.
	Image: Qarman CubeSat in Hertz test chamber This full-size prototype of part of the first CubeSat designed for atmospheric reentry is dwarfed by the cavernous surroundings of ESA's Hertz radio-testing chamber.

Technology news

	Study points to metal powders as potential replacement for fossil fuels Can you imagine a future where your car is fueled by iron powder instead of gasoline?
	Your tablet screen is brought to you with the aid of ... carrots This Christmas, as consumers around the world hope Santa will give them a smartphone, TV or tablet computer, few people know that the lowly carrot inspired the liquid crystals at the core of such hi-tech gadgets.
	Nankai University team shows car that moves by mind control A car which is powered by your brain has been presented by researchers in China. Yes, it is a mind-controlled vehicle. And it uses nothing but brain power to stay in motion. With special equipment, a driver can go forward, backwards, stop, and lock and unlock the vehicle.
	NutriPhone dials in fast, affordable health care The modern medical lab is an amazing place. With just a few drops of blood, technicians can use state-of-the-art equipment to gather complex information about a person's nutrition, monitor cholesterol levels and screen for diseases.
	Rocket-powered car steers towards world speed record Local speedsters are keen to prove it's possible to become the best—and fastest—in the world with determination, skill, and a whole lot of science.
	Australia's Atlassian a welcome Nasdaq 'unicorn' An Australian start-up founded with credit card debt and a "Don't #@!% the customer" motto is set to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange in a rare example of the entrepreneurial spirit the government is trying to nurture.
	Toyota starts sales of 4th generation Prius hybrid Toyota said Wednesday it expects annual sales of its newly-released fourth generation Prius hybrid to reach as many as 350,000 vehicles despite a big drop in oil prices making traditional gasoline cars cheap to run.
	Programmers create unlikely IT boom in Belarus Despite its state-controlled economy, Belarus has become an unexpected top performer in information technology, with its programmers developing such worldwide hits as the World of Tanks game and mobile messenger app Viber.
Australian identified as possible Bitcoin founder: reports (Update) Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright has been identified by tech publications as possibly the mysterious founder of online cryptocurrency Bitcoin, shortly before his Sydney home was reportedly raided in a tax probe Wednesday.
Lawsuits against VW to be consolidated in California A judicial panel on Tuesday decided to consolidate hundreds of lawsuits against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal in California, a focal point of the carmaker's troubles.
Spotify mulls a 'paid only' option for new music releases Music-streaming giant Spotify is toying with the idea of allowing musicians to reserve new releases for paying subscribers, although it balked at doing so for Coldplay's latest album, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Yahoo set to drop spinoff of Alibaba stake: report Yahoo has abandoned plans to spin off its large stake in Chinese online giant Alibaba, CNBC television reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.
	Estonian turtle-robot searches for shipwrecks and treasure The Baltic seabed, littered with war debris and shipwrecks, has fascinated historians and researchers through the ages. But the underwater search robots they use pose problems by further disturbing the silty waters with their propeller movements.
	Hong Kong copyright debate delayed as protests threatened Pro-democracy legislators succeeded Wednesday in delaying a highly anticipated parliamentary debate over a new copyright bill in Hong Kong, which has been criticised as curbing freedom of speech.
Samsung to venture into autonomous driving technology Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it will set up a team to develop an auto components business focusing on autonomous driving technology and entertainment systems.
Autonomous cars may spur young adults to hit the road The percentage of young adults without driver's licenses has been on the rise for more than 30 years, but self-driving vehicles may reverse that trend.
	Roger That! CB radio turns digital with TravelPal prototype   Turning a long road trip into an enjoyable experience for tourists has led QUT and University of Salzburg researchers to develop a mobile prototype, called TravelPal, to connect to each other in real time.
	Your broadband router is not as secure as you think it is Between your home network and the internet sits your broadband router. This humble device is often overlooked, yet it is also your first line of defence against hackers, malware and viruses.
	Imec improves performance and reliability of deeply-scaled CMOS logic devices At this week's IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 2015, nano-electronics research center imec presented breakthrough results to increase performance and improve reliability of deeply scaled silicon CMOS logic devices.
Yahoo keeps Alibaba, but spins off core business (Update) Yahoo flipped its reorganization plan Wednesday, announcing it would keep its stake in China's Alibaba but spin off its core Internet business—creating new uncertainties for the struggling tech giant.
	EU plans to allow streaming services abroad by 2017 The EU unveiled plans on Wednesday that would by 2017 allow travellers to get their Netflix film fix or listen to Spotify when abroad, something currently blocked by complex copyright rules.
	Facebook hails US presidential race as 2015's top topic The U.S. won't elect a president until next year but the debate over the crowded field of candidates jostling for the Oval Office emerged as the hottest topic on Facebook this year.
	China Internet czar defends web censorship policies China's Internet chief fiercely defended his country's strict management of the web Wednesday, saying that censorship of content Beijing deems illegal is necessary to protect online freedoms.
	Uber takes to the roads in free-wheeling Sri Lanka Taxi app company Uber launched Wednesday in Sri Lanka, a country dominated by three-wheeler auto rickshaws, as part of the US start-up's growing push into Asia.
	Angry Birds creator Rovio appoints woman CEO Rovio, the Finnish maker of the hugely popular Angry Birds mobile game, has appointed Kati Levoranta as its first woman chief executive officer, the company announced on Wednesday.
	Yahoo going back to the drawing board with Alibaba spinoff Yahoo's long-running identity crisis is spiraling in a new direction now that the company is abandoning a year's work on a tax-dodging spinoff to pursue an alternative path that will carve off its Internet business instead.
	Music 'streaming search engine' to shut after copyright suit Aurous, an upstart music site that described itself as a search engine for the growing field of streaming, agreed Wednesday to shut down after copyright suits from major labels.
Wiz Khalifa, 4-year-old dancer top popular YouTube videos Wiz Khalifa and a dancing mini-diva are among 2015's top online video subjects.
	South America hacker team targets dissidents, journalists A shadowy cyber-espionage group that sent malware to the prosecutor whose mysterious death transfixed Argentina early this year has been hitting targets in left-leaning nations across South America, the Internet watchdog group Citizen Lab reported Wednesday.
Netflix upgrades parental leave policy for its DVD workers Netflix is upgrading the parental leave policies covering hundreds of hourly workers in its DVD-by-mail division after being publicly skewered for extending far better baby benefits for the highly paid engineers and other employees in its more popular Internet video service.
Extremist groups have global audience at their fingertips due to social media, expert says It is being reported that the woman who helped carry out the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group and its leader in a social media post.
IAC pieces together a digital publishing company IAC/InterActiveCorp is forming a new digital publishing company that will group all of its websites together.
	What is bitcoin? A look at the digital currency Australian police raided a home and office Wednesday that, according to technology websites, belongs to the founder of the virtual currency, bitcoin. However, the origin of the currency remains murky, as is the identity of the founder. Here's a brief explanation of what bitcoins are, how exchanging the digital money works and why it's popular among some denizens of the web.

Medicine & Health news

	Genomic analysis sheds light on Ebola outbreak in Liberia Scientists have performed the first comprehensive genomic analysis of Ebola virus sequences from Liberia, one of three countries widely affected by the devastating outbreak that began in 2013 in Western Africa. Their work, published today in Cell Host & Microbe, traces the introduction and spread of the virus in Liberia and also sheds light on how the virus moved between the neighboring countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone.
	'Hijacking' and hibernating parasite could alter brain behavior Melbourne researchers have discovered how a common parasite hijacks host cells and stockpiles food so it can lie dormant for decades, possibly changing its host's behaviour or personality in the process.
	People are surprisingly bad at identifying where sights and sounds originate Our vision and hearing aren't as reliable as we might think, according to a study by life scientists at UCLA.
	Chemical clears Alzheimer's protein and restores memory in mice A research team in Korea has tested a chemical in mice genetically altered to develop features of Alzheimer's, showing it can remove a build-up of protein in the brain associated with the disease as well as rescuing memory and behaviour problems in the animals. The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday 8 December 2015.
	Discovery shows how herpes simplex virus reactivates in neurons to trigger disease When we get cold sores, the reason is likely related to stress. In particular, the neurons in which the herpes simplex virus (HSV) reside, are under stress. For the first time, researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine discovered a cellular mechanism that allows the virus to reactivate. They also found how brain cells are duped into allowing bits of virus to escape the very repressive environment in neurons and cause disease.
	Multi-sponge dressing when each second counts in trauma scene (Medical Xpress)—The US Food and Drug Administration has given the green light for XSTAT 30, a multi-sponge dressing for life-threatening bleeding from wounds in areas that a tourniquet cannot do in battlefield and civilian settings.
	Bone cancer researchers discover how to block, potentially treat osteosarcoma Scientists at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre have discovered that blocking the master regulator of bone renewal stops osteosarcoma - the most common primary bone cancer in children and teens, and the malignant disease that was fatal for Canadian icon Terry Fox.
	Linguists discover the best word order for giving directions To give good directions, it is not enough to say the right things: saying them in the right order is also important, shows a study in Frontiers in Psychology. Sentences that start with a prominent landmark and end with the object of interest work better than sentences where this order is reversed. These results could have direct applications in the fields of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction.
	Living longer and healthier in mind but not in body Women are now spending fewer years with cognitive impairment but more years with disability compared to 20 years ago, new research has revealed.
Flu vaccine unlikely to trigger reaction in children with egg allergy and asthma The children's flu vaccine is unlikely to trigger an allergic reaction in those with egg allergy, finds a study in The BMJ today. The vaccine is also appropriate for young people with well-controlled asthma or recurrent wheeze, the findings show.
First patient registry launched for rare lung disease, primary ciliary dyskinesia The first international patient registry has been launched for primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) - a rare lung disease causing long-term and recurring respiratory infections, with no approved treatments and no cure.
	Five out of six women at higher risk reject drugs to prevent breast cancer Cancer Research UK scientists have found that five in six women with increased risk of breast cancer turn down drugs likely to prevent the disease, according to research published in Annals of Oncology.
Smoking in pregnancy 'affects boys' fitness in later life' Mothers who smoke are putting more than their own health at risk, suggests a study published today in BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG). Young men whose mothers smoked during pregnancy had lower aerobic fitness compared to those whose mothers did not.
After menopause, vulvovaginal troubles are common and linked with other pelvic problems After menopause, more than half of women may have vulvovaginal symptoms that have a big impact on their lifestyle, emotions, and sex life. What's more, the symptoms tend to travel with other pelvic troubles, such as prolapse and urinary and bowel problems. But many women aren't getting help, shows a study published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
Is chemical exposure in mothers, babies, linked to poor vaccine response? Early life exposures to toxic chemicals such as PCBs and DDT dampen an infant's response to the tuberculosis vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Rochester Environmental Health Sciences Center.
	Building the foundations for cancer genomic analysis for research and clinical diagnostics An eye-opening article from the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) was published today in the prestigious journal Nature Communications. It lays a foundation for the coming era of research in cancer genomics. The project, led by the Centro Nacional de Analisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is the result of an effort to create reliable standards to obtain accurate results in the detection of somatic mutations, which are a hallmark of cancer genomes. Somatic mutations are genetic alterations spontaneously acquired by a cell that can be passed to the progeny of the mutated cell in the course of cell division and tumour growth. Somatic mutations differ from germline variants, which are inherited from parents to children.
	Stereotypes around aging can negatively impact memory and hearing A study led by researchers at the University of Toronto shows that when older adults feel negatively about aging, they may lack confidence in their abilities to hear and remember things, and perform poorly at both.
	Gene in 'last resort' antibiotics resistance found in Denmark A gene that makes bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics has been found in Denmark, a new study has shown, after first being identified by researchers in China.
US life expectancy flat for third straight year at almost 79 Life expectancy in the United States has stalled for three straight years, the government announced Wednesday.
	New details on link between epilepsy and suicide attempt Scientists report new details into the link between epilepsy and suicidal behavior, finding suicide attempts—whether a first attempt or a recurrent attempt—are associated with new onset epilepsy in the absence of antiepileptic drug prescriptions and a diagnosis of psychiatric disorder, further strengthening the evidence that there is an underlying commonality. The researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia University Medical Center and are the first to report these associations. Findings are published online in JAMA Psychiatry.
	Bullying exposure associated with adult psychiatric disorders requiring treatment Exposure to bullying as a child was associated with psychiatric disorders in adulthood that required treatment in a study of Finnish children, according to an article published online by JAMA Psychiatry.
	Behavioral problems in youths are associated with differences in the brain Young people with behavioural problems, such as antisocial and aggressive behaviour, show reduced grey matter volume in a number of areas of the brain, according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry.
US deaths from Alzheimer's disease rise significantly Nearly 10,000 more people died of Alzheimer's disease in the United States last year than in 2013, a significant rise of 8.1 percent, according to US health data released Wednesday.
	Good mental health during the holidays means slower pace, lower expectations and forgiveness On the surface, the holidays appear festive, fun and full of wholesome fellowship with family and friends. Beneath the surface, however, the holidays can be a different story.
	First-ever recording of the battle between a tumor cell and an immune cell Metastasizing cancer cells do not destroy tissue, but crawl along the paths that have already been created by blood vessels, nerve bundles and other tissues. However, immune cells that fight the cancer cells take those same paths. This was demonstrated in research conducted by cell biologist Bettina Weigelin of Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Using a sophisticated microscope, she was the first to record on camera how metastasizing tumor cells move through the body and how immune cells hunt them down. She was also able to record the effect of different forms of immune therapy on cancer.
Rising risk of obesity among China's 'left behind children' Some 61 million rural children left behind by parents moving to China's booming urban centres are at risk from increased fat and reduced protein in their diets, research from The University of Manchester, published in Public Health Nutrition suggests.
	Study says older people willing to boost bone strength with jumping exercises Older people would be willing to increase their bone strength in later life by doing exercises including jumping and hopping, new research from Bristol University has found.
Older breast cancer patients defy survival models Older women with early-stage, invasive breast cancer had better survival rates than what was estimated by a popular online tool for predicting survival, according to researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute.
Cancer patient symptom surveys linked to reduced ER visits, improved survival and quality of life Systematic collection of cancer patients' symptoms using computer surveys was linked to less frequent emergency room admissions, longer average chemotherapy adherence, greater quality of life improvements, and improved survival, according to a new randomized, controlled trial spearheaded by a UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher.
Exercise, behavioral therapy may help MS patients A South Dakota State University researcher will determine whether exercise alone or in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy is more effective at improving mobility and quality of life for patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
	How Christmas cheer impacts on business Christmas is a time for merry-making and family get-togethers - and festive celebrations are an integral part of UK working life in December - a busy and stressful period of time on both a personal and professional level. With Christmas being an increased time of consumption and consumer spending, it is often thought that the festive period brings a bonanza of unbridled profits to businesses. However, research into the Christmas habits of UK businesses and workers shows that they too can feel the strain around the festive period.
	Removing more breast tissue during surgery reduces costs A 10-minute procedure to remove a little more tissue during a partial mastectomy could spare thousands of breast cancer patients a second surgery but and also cut costs by as much as $750 per patient, according to a Yale Cancer Center study.
	Five surprising findings about death and dying In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes, as Benjamin Franklin famously wrote. Few of us find taxes exciting, but death – even just thinking about it – affects us profoundly in many different ways. This is why researchers across so many different fields study it from their perspectives.
	Knuckle cracking looks explosive, but causes no detectable harm UC Davis Health System research presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago helps resolve two persistent questions about knuckle cracking: What causes the "crack" sound, and does it damage the hand?
Researchers report a one-session treatment for phobia A new study published in the latest issue of Biological Psychiatry reports the successful and instant reduction of fear in spider-fearful participants following a 2-minute exposure combined with a single dose of a regular pharmacological treatment.
Geometric study of brain cells could change strategies on Alzheimer's Applying mathematical models used for studying the galaxies or interactions between elementary particles, researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, have analysed the spatial distribution of astrocytes: brain cells that are essential for the correct functioning of neurons. This research is published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
	Reducing the stress on preemies The stress of prolonged exposure to painful medical procedures can have lasting negative impacts on the brains of a hospital's tiniest patients – infants born prematurely.
Denosumab improves disease-free survival for postmenopausal patients w HR+ breast cancer Adding denosumab to adjuvant aromatase inhibitor therapy improved disease-free survival for postmenopausal patients with early-stage, hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer, according to results from the phase III ABCSG-18 clinical trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.
	Long nights and lazy days could send you to an early grave: 45 and up study Sleeping more than nine hours a night, and sitting too much during the day could be a hazardous combination, particularly when added to a lack of exercise, according to new findings to emerge from the Sax Institute's 45 and Up Study.
Women with luminal A subtype of breast cancer did not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy Premenopausal women whose invasive breast cancers were of the luminal A subtype had comparable 10-year disease-free survival rates regardless of whether or not they received adjuvant chemotherapy, according to data from the phase III DBCG77B clinical trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.
Pathologic complete response to presurgery chemo improves survival for patients with TNBC Patients with stage 2 or stage 3 triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) who had a pathologic complete response (pCR) after presurgery chemotherapy had increased event-free and overall survival compared with those who had more than minimal residual invasive disease at surgery following presurgery chemotherapy, according to results from the randomized phase II CALGB/Alliance 40603 clinical trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.
	Combining adult stem cells with hormone may speed bone fracture healing A combination of adult stem cells and parathyroid hormone significantly increased new bone formation in laboratory animals and may speed the healing process for human bone fractures caused by osteoporosis, a new study shows.
	Can RA-223 improve Enzalutamide efficacy for early castration resistant prostate cancer? Globally, prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death in men.
	Drugs prevent heart damage during breast cancer treatment, study shows Heart medication taken in combination with chemotherapy reduces the risk of serious cardiovascular damage in patients with early-stage breast cancer, according to results from a new landmark clinical trial.
Lifestyle intervention helps women with gestational diabetes reach weight loss goals A diabetes prevention program administered within the nation's largest, integrated health care system was effective in helping women with a history of gestational diabetes reach weight loss goals and increase physical activity following the birth of their children, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published online today in the journal Diabetes Care.
	Using 'big data' to combat influenza An international team of academic and pharmaceutical scientists have tapped into publically available large-scale 'Omics' databases to identify new targets to treat influenza—the virus that causes annual epidemics and occasional pandemics. The study, published today in Cell Host and Microbe, reflects a breakthrough approach using advanced computational designs to identify new factors that can be targeted to prevent viruses from spreading. The research team also created a website with open access for scientists to cull additional host-targets to develop the next-generation of anti-influenza drugs.
Students report high levels of hazardous drinking, survey finds Alcohol remains the most popular drug of choice for Ontario students in grades 7 through 12, with 29 percent of 12th graders engaging in hazardous drinking, according to the 2015 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). More than one-quarter of high school students are allowed to drink at home with friends.
	Less than half of US hospitals require flu shots for staff—despite risk to patients Within weeks, flu will start spreading across North America, sickening millions of people. It will hit people with health problems and weak immune systems hardest, and may kill tens of thousands of them.
	World-first dengue fever vaccine cleared for use in Mexico: makers The first-ever vaccine against dengue fever, which affects up to 400 million people per year, will be publicly available for the first time after being cleared for use in Mexico, French manufacturer Sanofi said Wednesday.
Proliferation of pulmonary endothelial cells is controlled by small RNA fragments Pulmonary hypertension is an umbrella term used for many conditions that all result in elevation of the pulmonary arterial pressure. Of interest, many of these completely different clinical and pathophysiological entities result in a final common pathway of vasoconstriction, micro thrombosis and vascular remodelling. Remodelling, due to neoplastic-like alterations in smooth muscle and endothelial cells of the vessel wall, is arguably the most important and, to date, the least treated factor in this pathogenetic triad. Uncontrolled proliferation of these cells is mainly mediated by dysregulations of growth factor receptors and regulator proteins of the cell cycle. Hypoxic conditions act as important triggers of these events.
	Gut bacteria make pomegranate metabolites that may protect against Alzheimer's disease In a quest to stay healthy, many people are seeking natural ways to prevent neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies show that pomegranate extract, which is a rich source of disease-fighting polyphenols, can help protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease. But researchers weren't sure which molecules to thank. A team reports in ACS Chemical Neuroscience that the responsible compounds may be urolithins, which are made when gut bacteria break down the polyphenols in the extract.
	Scientists enhance understanding of muscle repair process In today's issue of Nature Communications, University of Louisville scientists reveal research that increases the understanding of the mechanisms regulating adult stem cells required for skeletal muscle regeneration. Sajedah M. Hindi, Ph.D., of UofL's Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, and Yuji Ogura, Ph.D., now of Japan, and other researchers show that the protein kinase TAK1 (transforming growth factor-B-activated kinase 1), is vital in regulating the survival and proliferation of satellite stem cells. These cells are responsible for regenerating adult skeletal muscles in response to damage from disease or injury.
	An increase in alcohol tax appears to have decreased gonorrhea rates in Maryland by 24 percent Increasing state alcohol taxes could help prevent sexually transmitted infections, such as gonorrhea, according to University of Florida Health researchers, who found that gonorrhea rates decreased by 24 percent in Maryland after the state increased its sales tax on alcohol in 2011.
	Have sex workers revealed a connection between semen exposure and HIV resistance? More than half of all people infected by the HIV-1 virus worldwide are women. Commercial sex workers, who are at increased risk of contracting HIV because of repeated exposure to the virus, have long been studied to test preventive behavioral and vaccine approaches aimed at decreasing the number of infections. In some areas of the world where HIV prevalence is higher, a small number of female sex workers continue to test negative for the infection despite repeated sexual activity and low rates of condom use. However, the reason as to why these women are protected from HIV infection has eluded scientists, since they seem to have none of the known immune responses against HIV itself.
	Imbalanced gender ratios could affect views about casual sex and hook-up culture The greater proportion of women than men on college campuses may contribute to a hook-up culture where women are more willing to engage in casual sex and are more aggressive toward other desirable women who are perceived as rivals, according to new research published by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
	Eyes and a citrus smell could help cut hospital infections A picture of a man's intense staring eyes and a clean citrusy smell have been found to substantially improve hand-washing and so cut the risk of hospital infections, according to a new study.
	TET proteins help maintain genome integrity Members of the TET (short for ten-eleven translocation) family have been known to function as tumor suppressors for many years, but how they keep a lid on the uncontrolled cell proliferation of cancer cells had remained uncertain. Now, researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology demonstrate that TET proteins collectively constitute a major class of tumor suppressors and are required to maintain genome instability.
	Witnessing drug use can spur immediate antisocial behavior by teens Seeing others drink alcohol or use drugs makes it more likely that teenagers will engage in antisocial behavior on the same day, according to new findings from Duke University.
How bad does it hurt? New research helps children suffering from chronic pain conditions A new study describes the development of pediatric pain measures for a National Institutes of Health Initiative aimed at helping doctors better evaluate and therefore better treat children who cope with chronic pain. Based on face-to-face interviews with pediatric patients, the study better captured the young patient's perspective of living with chronic pain.
Sleep-disordered breathing patients at greater risk for atrial fibrillation Sleep-disordered breathing often predicts the development of atrial fibrillation (AF) in older men, according to U.S. researchers.
Recently approved heart drug poses potential risk to brain and eye, researcher warns Patients with mild heart failure stand to benefit from a new drug that can halt the progression of their disease and reduce their risk of cardiovascular-related death. But the drug—a tablet that combines the agents valsartan and sacubitril, sold under the trade name Entresto by drugmaker Novartis—may be too good to be true, according to Arthur M. Feldman, MD, PhD, Executive Dean of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), Chief Academic Officer of the Temple University Health System, and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Medicine at LKSOM.
	Vermont medical school delves into marijuana science As more states allow for the use of medical marijuana, the University of Vermont is offering a course in the science of the drug—and the professors say they are challenged by a lack of research on what has long been a taboo topic.
	CDC: too few schools teach prevention of HIV, STDs, pregnancy (HealthDay)—Too few U.S. schools teach students how to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, how to prevent pregnancy, and other important sexual health information, federal officials reported Wednesday.
	Redesigning inpatient care: Transforming health care one unit at a time An innovative inpatient care model utilizing multidisciplinary accountable care teams reduced hospital stays and lowered costs even beyond those associated with fewer days of hospitalization, according to a new study published in the December issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
	Which college students are likely candidates for risky sex? A University of Illinois study suggests a significant link between instability in the lives of college-age young adults and the likelihood that they will engage in risky sex.
	Pesticide found in milk decades ago may be associated with signs of Parkinson's A pesticide used prior to the early 1980s and found in milk at that time may be associated with signs of Parkinson's disease in the brain, according to a study published in the December 9, 2015, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
	Prostaglandin analogs impact circadian IOP-related patterns (HealthDay)—For patients with glaucoma, prostaglandin analogs seem to affect circadian intraocular pressure (IOP)-related patterns, according to a study published in the December issue of Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology.
	Staged surgical excision superior for treatment of lentigo maligna (HealthDay)—For patients with lentigo maligna, staged surgical excision is associated with a low rate of recurrence, according to research published online Nov. 30 in the British Journal of Dermatology.
	Emergency medicine expert says Paris, San Bernardino demonstrate a need to educate first responders and specialists Leonard Cole, director of terror medicine and security in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, recently testified with former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former Sen. Joseph Lieberman in a hearing on bioterrorism conducted by the House Committee on Homeland Security.Cole is now preparing to deliver his two-week terror medicine elective to final-year NJMS medical students for the fourth time. The tragic terror-related events of recent weeks have given Cole greater resolve to have similar courses taught in more locations nationwide. Rutgers Today recently spoke with Cole about the need to prepare those in the medical community for issues they'd face should a terrorist attack or other incident result in mass casualties.
	Brain death simulation teaches med students clinical, communications and ethical skills It all started with a broken mannequin and an idea for how to get students to improve their written coma examination reports. The resulting simulation exercise developed by faculty at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM) has already won an award at an international congress on clinical ethics, and this week will be presented at the VII International Symposium on Brain Death and Disorders of Consciousness in Havana.
Researcher's goal is to reduce neonatal mortality A doctoral dissertation at Örebro University has led to a national effort in Bangladesh next year to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in the country.
Capecitabine improved outcomes for breast cancer patients with disease after presurgery chemo Treatment with the chemotherapy agent capecitabine increased disease-free survival for women with HER2-negative breast cancer that was not eliminated by presurgery chemotherapy, according to results from the phase III CREATE-X clinical trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.
Health professionals lack knowledge about female genital mutilation Health practitioners need more resources and expert guidelines to provide appropriate medical and psychological treatment for women and girls that have had female genital mutilation or cutting, says a new review of the evidence by University of Sydney scholars.
What 2015 reveals about trends in the pharmaceutical industry As the year comes to an end, a survey of the hottest pharma news stories from the past year illustrates industry trends from megadeals to drug approvals. A suite of stories in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, highlights the most significant patterns that emerged in 2015.
US capability for treating Ebola outbreak appears sufficient but limited The United States has sufficient capacity for treating another outbreak of the Ebola virus, but financial, staffing and resource challenges remain a hurdle for many hospitals and health systems attempting to maintain dedicated treatment centers for highly infectious diseases, according to new study released today. The research was published online in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).
	SABCS15: Promising phase 1 results lead to phase 2 for ONT-380 in HER2+ breast cancer Results of an ongoing phase 1b clinical trial presented today at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium show promise of the experimental anti-cancer agent ONT-380 against metastatic HER2+ breast cancer, especially against brain metastases commonly associated with progression of the disease. Of 33 evaluable patients with metastatic HER2+ breast cancer (with and without brain metastases), 19 (58 percent) showed clinical benefit, with 16 achieving at least "stable disease" (i.e. no tumor progression while on trial), of which 11 patients experienced "partial response" (i.e. tumor shrinkage of more than 30 percent). Of 8 patients with brain metastases, 5 achieved at least stable disease, with 2 partial responses and one complete response in which existing brain metastases were undetectable after treatment.
Women poor at attending even tailored cardiac rehab program sessions Even with cardiac rehab (CR) programs tailored to their needs, women heart patients miss more than half of the sessions prescribed to them, according to a joint study by York University and the University Health Network (UHN).
Hospital safety culture critical in improving surgical results To achieve better results for surgical patients, hospitals tend to focus on technical issues like surgeons' skills and operating room equipment. However, a non-technical factor, the so-called 'safety culture,' may be equally important in delivering high-quality patient care, a team of investigators report in a study published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in advance of print publication.
Boston College now says 120 students reporting illnesses Boston College says more than 120 students have now reported gastrointestinal illnesses, and nearly all are students who ate at a Chipotle restaurant near campus.
Adding carboplatin to presurgery chemo improved disease-free survival for patients with TNBC Adding carboplatin to presurgery chemotherapy improved disease-free survival for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), according to results from the randomized phase II GeparSixto clinical trial presented at the 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 8-12.

Biology news

Chewbaaka migrated from North America The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is now at home on the African plains, but it started a migration 100, 000 years ago from North America towards its current habitat. The research, published in the open access journal Genome Biology, found that the migration from North America was costly for the species, triggering the first major reduction in their gene pool.
	New method allows scientists to screen natural products for antibiotics Biologists at UC San Diego have found that a method they developed to identify and characterize new antibiotics can be employed to screen natural products quickly for compounds capable of controlling antibiotic resistant bacteria.
	New study reveals belugas blow bubbles based on mood A newly-released study by Canisius College Professor of Animal Behavior Michael Noonan, PhD, is providing insight as to why beluga whales blow bubbles underwater and how their different shaped bubbles may be indicative of a beluga's mood. The eight-year study, conducted at Marineland of Canada in Niagara Falls, Ontario, examined more than 11,000 bubbling events recorded over nearly 5,000 minutes of observation.
	Domesticated 'wild' dog mothers found unwilling to share meat with offspring (Phys.org)—A small team of researchers with the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research has found that street dog mothers are not as willing to share meat with their pups as they are with other sources of food. In their paper published in Royal Society Open Science, the team describes experiments they carried out with semi-feral dogs, what they learned and why they believe their experiments offer evidence that suggests that dog domestication was more likely related to dog ancestors joining human civilizations than humans adopting wild puppies.
	Researchers discover ultrathin lipid coating covering snakeskin (Phys.org)—A combined team of researchers from the U.S. and Germany has discovered a very thin layer of fat covering the scales of a single species of snake. In their paper published in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the team describes how they studied the snakeskin and their views on what benefits the snake gets from the fatty outer scale layer.
	Penguin huddling found to be more complicated than thought (Phys.org)—A team of researchers from several institutions in France and one in Germany has found that emperor penguin huddles are more complicated than has been thought by many in the science community. In their paper published in the journal Animal Behaviour, the team describes their study of the penguins over three separate breeding seasons and what they learned by looking at video of penguin huddling.
	It's all about polarity: Researchers discover a mechanism behind asymmetric cell division The concept of sharing is a basic social principle that most of us are taught from an early age on. In general, we are told to share equally with each other. Sharing is also a concept that applies to cells; they need to share information during cell division to function properly. But in the case of cells, the exchange of information does not always have to be equal. During asymmetric cell division, so-called endosomes, vesicles that store signalling molecules, only go to one daughter cell. Researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) had discovered this already a few years ago, but they did not know the mechanism behind this unequal sharing. But now the team of Professor Marcos Gonzalez-Gaitan was able to shed light on how endosomes know to which cell to go to and how they physically do it.
	Research leads to first puppies born by in vitro fertilization For the first time, a litter of puppies was born by in vitro fertilization, thanks to work by Cornell University researchers.
What computers won't tell you about ecological and evolutionary dynamics In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Rasmus Ibsen-Jensen, postdoc at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) together with IST Austria Professor Krishnendu Chatterjee and Professor Martin A. Nowak from Harvard University discovered surprising connections between computer science and biology, two disciplines that study how information proliferates in time and space.
	How coffee berry borers survive on caffeine The world's most devastating coffee pest can cut yields by up to 80 percent, and it survives on what would be a toxic dose of caffeine for any other insect. Some 850 insects can feed on different parts of a coffee plant, but only the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) feeds on the bean itself—and feeds exclusively on it.
GM crops can benefit organic farmers too Have you eaten organic food today? If you have eaten anything, then technically you've eaten organic. By definition, all food is organic, it just may not have been grown under industry standards, such as Australian Certified Organic (ACO).
	A DNA analysis of ballast water detects invasive species The German research vessel Polarstern covers thousands of kilometres between the northern and southern hemispheres in search of samples of biological material. This ship, however, has some other onboard passengers: organisms that can adapt to extreme water temperatures and could potentially invade the new waters where this ice breaker takes them. Upon analysing the DNA present in this vessel's ballast water, a team of scientists showed the first molecular evidence of the persistence of DNA belonging to a tiny sea snail which is capable of tolerating adverse conditions.
A microscope that sees live cells in 3D EPFL spin-off Nanolive has launched the 3D Cell Explorer, a microscope for observing living cells in 3D. This new tool could be a real boon for researchers in such areas as infertility.
	Study measures drag from fishing gear entanglements on North Atlantic right whales Entanglement in fishing gear is the leading cause of death for North Atlantic right whales—one of the most endangered of all the large whale species. Their migratory routes take them through some of the busiest commercial fishing areas along the East Coast of the United States and into Canada.
Researchers develop tool to determine function of MicroRNAs As microRNA biology has been implicated in everything from the development of cancer to virus infections, a new tool developed by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai holds tremendous potential to develop new therapies that involve these small regulatory fragments of RNA. The scientists' findings are detailed in a study, titled "MicroRNA Function is Limited to Cytokine Control in the Acute Response to Virus Infection," published in the December issue of Cell Host & Microbe. While the article focuses on microRNA function as it pertains to virus infection, the development and characterization of this new tool has implications that far exceed the field of microbiology.
	Teresensis' bromeliad treefrog found in Brazil A new tree frog species, Dendropsophus bromeliaceus, spends its tadpole stage in pooled water that collects in bromeliad plants in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, according to a study published December 9, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rodrigo Ferreira from the Utah State University and Universidade Vila Velha and colleagues.
	Forty years of data on furthest-migrating warbler reveals new insights Tiny Blackpoll Warblers have the longest migratory route of any New World warbler, making a nonstop flight over the Atlantic Ocean each fall from New England to northern South America each year, but a study forthcoming in The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows that individuals that breed in western North America migrate east first to fatten up before migrating across the water. Pulling together data on more than 22,000 individual birds from 13 different sites in the U.S. and Canada, the study's authors have provided new insights about one of the most impressive bird migrations in the Americas.
	Invasive lizard takes up residence in Bermuda A non-native species of lizard has been discovered in Bermuda, a potential problem for the island's critically endangered Bermuda skink. The observation was made by Florida International University biology student James Stroud.
	Whales entangled at alarming rate along California coast An unusual warming in the Pacific Ocean may be having disastrous consequences for the majestic whales that use the waters off California as a migratory super-highway.
	Pacific tuna conservation meeting ends in deadlock Environmental groups expressed frustration Wednesday after a key Pacific fishing industry meeting failed to adopt measures to protect vulnerable tuna species from overfishing.
	Dogs (and probably many other animals) have a conscience too The article has been published in the journal Ethology, Ecology and Evolution, with a title the researcher Roberto Cazzolla Gatti borrowed from the novel by Lewis Carroll: "Self-consciousness: beyond the looking-glass and what dogs found there."
	Remote cameras offer glimpse into the 'forgotten forests' of South Sudan Camera trapping survey captures newest country's first photographic records of forest elephants, African golden cat and more…
	Feeding food waste to pigs could save vast swathes of threatened forest and savannah A new study shows that if the European Union lifted the pigswill ban imposed following 2001's foot-and-mouth disease epidemic, and harnessed technologies developed in East Asian countries for 'heat-treating' our food waste to safely turn it into pig feed, around 1.8 million hectares of land could be saved from being stripped for grain and soybean-based pig feed production—including over quarter of a million hectares of Brazilian forest and savannah.

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