Sunday, June 4, 2017

Science X Newsletter Sunday, Jun 4

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for June 4, 2017:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

Chemical 'dance' of cobalt catalysis could pave way to solar fuels

Takeoff and cruise: Toyota making 'flying car,' luxury boat (Update)

Two giant, rare 'corpse' flowers bloom in Chicago

Treatment extends life for some with advanced prostate cancer

SpaceX blasts off cargo using recycled spaceship

Dojo is pebble-shaped monitor for protecting smart home devices

Robot arm can work out how to stack stones

Drug helps fight breast tumors tied to 'cancer genes'

Astronomy & Space news

SpaceX blasts off cargo using recycled spaceship

SpaceX on Saturday blasted off a shipment of food and supplies for the astronauts living at the International Space Station using for the first time a vessel that had flown before.

Technology news

Takeoff and cruise: Toyota making 'flying car,' luxury boat (Update)

Toyota Motor Corp. is working on a "flying car."

Dojo is pebble-shaped monitor for protecting smart home devices

(Tech Xplore)—BullGuard issued a press release at the end of last month making a case for why we need to be thinking about security for smart-home devices.

Robot arm can work out how to stack stones

(Tech Xplore)—We are not surprised by now to watch the progress being made in robots doing the heavy lifting for construction sites.

'Tallinn Manual 2.0'—the rulebook for cyberwar

With ransomware like "WannaCry" sowing chaos worldwide and global powers accusing rivals of using cyberattacks to interfere in domestic politics, the latest edition of the world's only book laying down the law in cyberspace could not be more timely.

Toyota ends electric-car ties with Tesla: report

Toyota has terminated its tie-up with Tesla and stepped up efforts to develop electric vehicles by itself, a newspaper said Saturday.

Blockchain seen as tool in food safety

The food industry is turning to the same technology used by virtual currencies to strengthen food safety and inventory management by tracking meats and crops from farm to table.

Laptop ban hot topic as airlines meet in Cancun

Top airline industry players are meeting Monday and Tuesday in Cancun to seek alternatives to the US and British bans on laptops and tablets on certain flights, which they say is hurting business.

System aims to recreate challenging mountain climbs in gym

After spending time in Switzerland studying and hiking in the Alps, Dartmouth assistant professor Emily Whiting wanted to relive those climbs back home.

Bahrain minister briefly hacked after Qatar cyber attack

Hackers temporarily took over the Twitter account of the Bahraini foreign minister on Saturday, just 10 days after a cyber attack on the official news agency of neighbouring Qatar.

Q&A: Internet extremism and how to combat it

In the wake of Britain's third major attack in three months, Prime Minister Theresa May called on internet companies to do more to block extremist groups who use the web to recruit members and send coded messages.

Medicine & Health news

Treatment extends life for some with advanced prostate cancer

Adding a new anti-hormonal drug to the standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer has been shown to reduce the risk of dying by almost 40 percent, according to two studies published Saturday.

Drug helps fight breast tumors tied to 'cancer genes'

A twice-daily pill could help some advanced breast cancer patients avoid or delay follow-up sessions of chemotherapy, a new clinical trial reports.

International variation on definition of brain death must be cleared up to restore public confidence

A session at this year's Euroanaesthesia congress in Geneva, Switzerland (3-5 June) will focus on the international variation in the definition of death, which experts say must be cleared up to restore both public and professional confidence, and also to help improve management of patients at the end of life to improve successful organ donation.

Older patients have a higher pain tolerance after major surgery—or do they?

New research presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia meeting in Geneva (3-5 June) suggests that age plays a part in the level of pain experienced after major surgery, with older people most likely to better tolerate serious post-operative pain. However, pain-related impact on physical function does not decline, suggesting older patients are in fact experiencing pain but not admitting to it.

Frailer patients at much greater risk of institutional care and death after discharge from hospital

Independent of age, frail patients are almost twice as likely to die in the year following admission to critical care, and even more likely to need nursing home care after discharge from hospital, compared with patients who are not frail, according to new research presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia Congress in Geneva (3-5 June).

Enhanced test for urinary tract infections detects more bacteria than standard test

One of the primary ways physicians diagnose urinary tract infections is with a test that detects bacteria in urine.

Adding abiraterone to standard treatment improves prostate cancer survival by 40 percent

Adding abiraterone to hormone therapy at the start of treatment for prostate cancer improves survival by 37 per cent, according to the results of one of the largest ever clinical trials for prostate cancer presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago and published in the New England Journal of Medicine today (Saturday).

Immunotherapy drug effective for metastatic triple negative breast cancer

The immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab—already FDA-approved for other forms of cancer-has been found to be effective in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer, according to an international clinical trial led by NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center.

New disposable, wearable patch found to effectively detect sleep apnea

Results of a definitive clinical trial show that a new, disposable diagnostic patch effectively detects obstructive sleep apnea across all severity levels.

Babies born to mothers with sleep apnea have higher risk of adverse neonatal outcomes

A new study is the first to demonstrate a higher risk of congenital anomalies and resuscitation at birth in newborns of mothers who have obstructive sleep apnea.

Bed partners may unintentionally contribute to the perpetuation of insomnia

Preliminary results from a new study show that partners of people who have insomnia may try to be supportive by engaging in a range of behaviors that unintentionally contradict treatment recommendations.

Breastfeeding may protect against chronic pain after Caesarean section

Breastfeeding after a caesarean section (C-section) may help manage pain, with mothers who breastfed their babies for at least 2 months after the operation three times less likely to experience persistent pain compared to those who breastfed for less than 2 months, according to new research being presented at this year's Euroanaesthesia Congress in Geneva (3-5 June).

Questions raised over physician-assisted suicide

Few issues in medicine have been more controversial in recent years than physician-assisted suicide, with medical experts and the general public unable to come to a consensus that balances the delicate issue of dying with dignity with the interests of the individual and society as a whole. A special session at this year's Euroanaesthesia meeting in Geneva (3-5 June) will see doctors debating this delicate issue.

Pregnancy not dangerous for women who had breast cancer

Becoming pregnant after a diagnosis of breast cancer does not raise the risk of the cancer returning, said the largest study of its kind to date, released Saturday at a major cancer conference.

New approaches aim to calm anxiety in cancer patients

Meditation, relaxation and psychological counseling are becoming important tools in the care of people with cancer, according to multiple clinical trials released at the world's largest conference on cancer.

Electronic patient-reported symptom monitoring associated with increased survival among patients

The integration of electronic patient-reported outcomes into the routine care of patients with metastatic cancer was associated with increased survival compared with usual care, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being presented at the 2017 ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) annual meeting.

Expanding trials of olaparib leads to new treatment options for patients with advanced BRCA-related breast cancer

Six years ago an international team of physician scientists known as BRCA-TAC led a charge to advance clinical testing of the PARP inhibitor olaparib in cancer patients with known inherited mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. This weekend during the plenary session of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (abstract LBA4), that push comes full circle with the presentation of results of the phase III OlympiAD trial demonstrating for the first time that olaparib is superior to chemotherapy in patients with BRCA-related advanced breast cancer.

Promising cancer treatment targets rare genetic flaw

An experimental cancer medicine called larotrectinib has shown promise treating a diverse range of cancers in people young and old, researchers said at a major cancer conference in the United States.

Quickly reporting cancer complications may boost survival

If you're being treated for cancer, speak up about any side effects. A study that had patients use home computers to report symptoms like nausea and fatigue surprisingly improved survival—by almost half a year, longer than many new cancer drugs do.

Reporting symptoms online to docs helps cancer patients live longer

(HealthDay)—When people with advanced cancer report their symptoms to health care providers using an online program, they may live longer, a new study suggests.

Short-term benefits for immunotherapy in allergic asthma

(HealthDay)—Administration of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) in patients with allergic asthma leads to lower short-term symptom and medication scores, according to a review published online May 19 in Allergy.

MTHFR A1298C polymorphism not linked to MTX outcomes in RA

(HealthDay)—The methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene A1298C polymorphism does not appear to be related to methotrexate (MTX) efficacy or toxicity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a meta-analysis published online May 25 in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.

PERFI feasible for in vivo imaging of nonmelanoma skin cancer

(HealthDay)—Polarization-enhanced reflectance and fluorescence imaging (PERFI) is feasible for in vivo intraoperative imaging of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), according to a study published online May 25 in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.

Comorbid celiac disease common among youth with T1DM

(HealthDay)—Children with type 1 diabetes often have comorbid celiac disease (CD), according to a study published online May 25 in Diabetes Care.

Substantial increase in costs with metastases in prostate CA

(HealthDay)—Diagnosis of subsequent metastases is associated with substantially increased costs and medical resource use (MRU) among patients initially diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (PC), according to a study published online May 23 in Cancer.

Model predicts acute GI bleeding in anticoagulated patients

(HealthDay)—For patients taking oral anticoagulants, a new model can predict acute gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, which is associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, according to a study published online May 19 in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Post-op A-fib down with low-level vagus nerve stimulation

(HealthDay)—For patients undergoing cardiac surgery, low-level vagus nerve stimulation (LLVNS) is associated with a reduction in postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and with lower levels of inflammatory cytokines, according to a study published online May 31 in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.

2011 to 2014 saw increase in use of high-intensity statins after MI

(HealthDay)—From 2011 to 2014 there was an increase in the use of high-intensity statins following hospitalization for myocardial infarction (MI), according to a study published in the June 6 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Court ruling potentially threatens physicians' immunity

(HealthDay)—A court ruling allowing a civil rights lawsuit against a medical examiner may have serious consequences for physicians in public service, according to a report published by the American Medical Association.

Biology news

Two giant, rare 'corpse' flowers bloom in Chicago

It is unusual enough to see one of nature's biggest, rarest—not to mention smelliest—flowers bloom. But it is extraordinary to see two bloom at once.

Indian fishermen try new nets for healthier oceans

The fishermen were dubious when ocean experts suggested they could save their dwindling marine stocks just by switching to new nets.

Two lions, freed from circuses, are poached in South Africa

In 2016, 33 lions freed from circuses in Peru and Colombia were transported to South Africa to live out their days in a wildlife refuge. Last week, poachers broke into the sanctuary, killing two of the big cats.


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