Science X Newsletter Wednesday, Sep 13

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for September 13, 2017:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

Three 'super-Earth' exoplanets orbiting nearby star discovered

Studies help explain link between autism, severe infection during pregnancy

Scientists create alternate evolutionary histories in a test tube

Fox squirrels use 'chunking' to organize their favorite nuts

Expanding polymer enables self-folding printable structures without heating or immersion in water

New supernova analysis reframes dark energy debate

iPhone X puts exclamation point on Apple's pricing strategy

Three astronauts reach ISS for five-month mission

Teens' ability to consider the intentions of others linked to structural changes in the brain

Promising clinical trial results could give doctors a new tool against drug-resistant strains of malaria parasite

Bluetooth: It's complicated. Armis Labs researchers see pitfalls

Pulsar jackpot reveals globular cluster's inner structure

As 'flesh-eating' Leishmania come closer, a vaccine against them does, too

Paper-based tuberculosis test could boost diagnoses in developing countries

Don't blame your genes for your toothache, twin study shows

Astronomy & Space news

	Three 'super-Earth' exoplanets orbiting nearby star discovered (Phys.org)—NASA's prolonged Kepler mission, known as K2, has made another significant discovery, revealing the existence of three new exoplanets. The newly found alien worlds circle the nearby star GJ 9827 and were classified as "super-Earths." The finding is presented in a paper published Sept. 6 on arXiv.org.
	New supernova analysis reframes dark energy debate The accelerating expansion of the Universe may not be real, but could just be an apparent effect, according to new research published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The new study—by a group at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand—finds the fit of Type Ia supernovae to a model universe with no dark energy to be very slightly better than the fit to the standard dark energy model.
	Three astronauts reach ISS for five-month mission Two US astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut docked at the International Space Station for a five month mission on Wednesday following a night-time launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
	Pulsar jackpot reveals globular cluster's inner structure The Milky Way is chock full of star clusters. Some contain just a few tens-to-hundreds of young stars. Others, known as globular clusters, are among the oldest objects in the Universe and contain up to a million ancient stars.
	VLT makes first detection of titanium oxide in an exoplanet A team of astronomers led by Elyar Sedaghati, an ESO fellow and recent graduate of TU Berlin, has examined the atmosphere of the exoplanet [WASP-19b] in greater detail than ever before. This remarkable planet has about the same mass as Jupiter, but is so close to its parent star that it completes an orbit in just 19 hours and its atmosphere is estimated to have a temperature of about 2000 degrees Celsius.
	Research provides evidence of ground-ice on asteroids Research at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering has revealed new evidence for the occurrence of ground ice on the protoplanet Vesta.
	Cassini readies final plunge into Saturn NASA's Cassini probe is counting its final hours before one last plunge into Saturn on Friday that will cap a fruitful 13-year mission that greatly expanded knowledge about the gaseous giant.
	Researchers create first global map of water in Moon's soil In research that may prove useful to future lunar explorers, scientists from Brown University have created the first quantitative map of water and its chemical building blocks trapped in the uppermost portion of the Moon's soil.
	New gravity map suggests Mars has a porous crust NASA scientists have found evidence that Mars' crust is not as dense as previously thought, a clue that could help researchers better understand the Red Planet's interior structure and evolution.
	Hibernation over, New Horizons continues its Kuiper Belt cruise A long summer break ended for NASA's New Horizons on Sept. 11, as the spacecraft "woke" itself on schedule from a five-month hibernation period.
	Receiving Cassini's 'last breath of data' from 1.5 billion kilometers away This Friday evening (15 September) at about 9:54pm AEST, CSIRO's team at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex will capture the final signals from NASA's Cassini spacecraft as it plunges into Saturn's atmosphere at over 111,000 kph.
	Cassini's search for the building blocks of life on Titan Lakes and seas of liquid methane, rain from hydrocarbon clouds, and evidence of poisonous hydrogen cyanide in the atmosphere of Titan were just some of the discoveries the Cassini probe made of Saturns's largest moon.
	Using NASA satellite data to predict malaria outbreaks In the Amazon Rainforest, few animals are as dangerous to humans as mosquitos that transmit malaria. The tropical disease can bring on high fever, headaches and chills and is particularly severe for children and the elderly and can cause complications for pregnant women. In rainforest-covered Peru, the number of malaria cases has spiked. In the past five years, the country has had on average the second highest rate in the South America. In each of the years 2014 and 2015 there were 65,000 reported cases.
	Goodbye Cassini: Saturn spacecraft gets funny opera send-off NASA's Cassini spacecraft is getting a grand but hilarious opera send-off before it plunges through Saturn's atmosphere and vaporizes Friday.
	Scientists ready for Cassini mission to Saturn grand finale University of Colorado Boulder Professor Larry Esposito has been eying the fabulous rings of Saturn for much of his career, beginning as a team scientist on NASA's Pioneer 11 mission when he discovered the planet's faint F ring in 1979.

Technology news

	iPhone X puts exclamation point on Apple's pricing strategy Apple has made a luxury iPhone that punctuates its technological swagger with a high-priced exclamation point. And that exclamation point appears to be a sign of things to come.
	Bluetooth: It's complicated. Armis Labs researchers see pitfalls (Tech Xplore)—If you ask two researchers what is the problem with Bluetooth they will have a simple answer.
	Privacy streams helps developers create privacy friendly apps A smartphone app that uses the raw feed from the device's microphone or accesses its contact list can raise red flags for a user concerned about privacy. In many cases, however, the app doesn't need all the details that users find most sensitive.
	New manufacturing process for SiC power devices opens market to more competition Researchers from North Carolina State University are rolling out a new manufacturing process and chip design for silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, which can be used to more efficiently regulate power in technologies that use electronics. The process - called PRESiCE - was developed with support from the PowerAmerica Institute funded by the Department of Energy to make it easier for companies to enter the SiC marketplace and develop new products.
	Artificial 'skin' gives robotic hand a sense of touch A team of researchers from the University of Houston has reported a breakthrough in stretchable electronics that can serve as an artificial skin, allowing a robotic hand to sense the difference between hot and cold, while also offering advantages for a wide range of biomedical devices.
	Team shatters long-range communication barrier for devices that consume almost no power University of Washington researchers have demonstrated for the first time that devices that run on almost zero power can transmit data across distances of up to 2.8 kilometers—breaking a long-held barrier and potentially enabling a vast array of interconnected devices.
	Researchers develop spectroscopic 'science camera' system for smartphones The latest versions of most smartphones contain at least two and sometimes three built-in cameras. Researchers at the University of Illinois would like to sell mobile device manufactures on the idea of adding yet another image sensor as a built-in capability for health diagnostic, environmental monitoring, and general-purpose color sensing applications.
	Researchers design the building blocks of synthetic muscle using computational method Each time you flex your bicep, millions of molecular motors work together in a complex process inside your muscle. These motors—called myosin—are chemically-powered proteins. Combinations of them perform different muscular functions like maintaining a heartbeat or bearing weight.
	Robot 'conductor' steals the show from Italy's top tenor Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli's voice soars to the rafters of the Tuscan theatre, but all eyes are on the orchestral conductor beside him—a robot with an apparent penchant for Verdi.
	Innovation could mean flexible rechargeable batteries for pacemakers Experts at Queen's University Belfast have designed a flexible and organic alternative to the rigid batteries that power up medical implants.
	Apple 'spaceship' nestled in Earthly oasis Apple's new "spaceship" headquarters peeked above a nearby hillside as the sun shined gloriously through towering glass walls of the entryway to Steve Jobs Theater.
	Self-driving boats: The next tech transportation race Self-driving cars may not hit the road in earnest for many years - but autonomous boats could be just around the pier.
	Toshiba agreement on sale to Bain-led consortium protested Toshiba's long meandering sale of its computer memory business took another turn Wednesday, as the Japanese nuclear and electronics company's announcement of a deal with a consortium was immediately met with opposition from U.S. joint venture partner Western Digital.
Canadian class action suit launched against Equifax over data breach A class action lawsuit by Canadian consumers whose data was stolen in a massive hack of US credit bureau Equifax was launched Tuesday, seeking damages of Can $550 billion ($450 billion US).
	Trump administration unveils guidelines on self-driving cars The Trump administration released new guidelines on Tuesday designed to promote the development of self-driving cars.
China plans nationwide ethanol use by 2020 China plans to expand use of ethanol in gasoline nationwide by 2020 to curb smog and fossil fuel demand, the government said Wednesday, joining United States, Brazil and other nations that use blended fuel.
	Mergeable nervous systems for robots Researchers at the Université libre de Bruxelles have developed self-reconfiguring modular robots that can merge, split and even self-heal while retaining full sensorimotor control. The work envisions robots that can autonomously change their size, shape and function. The study is published in Nature Communications.
	Robots are here to stay, so let's make them better, says psychologist Leila Takayama is an expert on robots, yet she's the first to admit that she has a complicated relationship with these technological marvels.
	Japan pivotal in advancing energy storage and conversion materials Japanese researchers have helped discover, analyze and commercialize novel conducting materials and products, such as zirconia-based gas sensors and lithium-ion batteries.
	Could computer vaccines start a new approach to preventing cyber-attacks? There were 638m attempted ransomware cyber-attacks in 2016, according to one report. And with several high-profile attacks already committed this year, the numbers for 2017 may be even higher. Perhaps it's time then for a new approach to tackling cyber-attacks, one that focuses not on defending against them but preventing them from happening in the first place.
	Should the US put power lines underground? It is the height of a highly destructive hurricane season in the United States. The devastation of Harvey in Texas and Louisiana caused nearly 300,000 customers to lose electricity service, and Hurricane Irma has cut service to millions of people. Soon, winter storms will bring wind and snow to much of the country.
	More coal doesn't equal more peak power The proposed closure date for Liddell, AGL's ancient and unreliable coal power station, is five years and probably two elections away. While AGL has asked for 90 days to come up with a plan to deliver equivalent power into the market, state and local governments, businesses and households will continue to drive the energy revolution.
	Machine gaydar—AI is reinforcing stereotypes that liberal societies are trying to get rid of Following the old saying that "knowledge is power", companies are seeking to infer increasingly intimate properties about their customers as a way to gain an edge over their competitors. The growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), algorithms that use machine learning to analyse large multifaceted data sets, provides an especially attractive way to do this. In particular, the rapid advancement in AI capabilities for pattern discrimination and categorisation are leading researchers to explore its capabilities for increasingly complex data mining tasks.
	Carmakers see promise of bonanza in eastern Europe As Frankfurt's IAA auto show gets under way, European carmakers are looking to the continent's east for growth, where increasing numbers of people are wealthy enough to afford their own wheels.
	Better, cheaper bio-ink may be used to create artificial organs A new bio-ink that may support a more efficient and inexpensive fabrication of human tissues and organs has been created by researchers at UBC's Okanagan campus.
	Frankfurt auto show: Diesels improve, but will people buy? German automakers say they have new and improved diesels that meet or beat ever-tightening emissions standards. But will consumers buy them the way they used to in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal and threats of diesel bans?
	Lawsuit targets searches of electronic devices at US border A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday claims the U.S. government's growing practice of searching laptops and cellphones at the border is unconstitutional because electronic devices now carry troves of private personal and business information. The government has vociferously defended its searches as critical to protecting the homeland.
	There's no need to spend $999 for a good phone these days Apple's new iPhone X is special. It has flashy upgrades, facial recognition and animated emoji, all in celebration of the iPhone's 10-year anniversary. And its price tag is appropriately special: $999 and up.
	US bans government use of software from Russian firm Kaspersky The US government banned the use of Kaspersky security software in federal offices Wednesday, saying the Russian company has risky ties to Russian intelligence that threaten US national security.
	Protecting the power grid with circuit simulation methods In December 2015, Russian hackers allegedly pummeled Ukraine's power grid, disrupting the flow of electricity for nearly a quarter-million Ukrainians. Then, in December 2016, roughly a year after the first attack, the hackers struck again. But this time, they targeted an electric transmission station in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Each cyberattack lasted no more than six hours, but security experts were still alarmed: hackers had just demonstrated their ability to infiltrate the grid and drastically alter the flow of society.
	Waymo suit against Uber on road to trial Waymo's case against Uber over swiped self-driving car technology appeared headed for trial after an appeals court on Wednesday rejected a bid to steer it toward private arbitration.
	Japanese firm to offer 'drive-thru' funeral service A Japanese funeral parlour is set to offer relatives the chance to pay their final respects to deceased loved ones without leaving the comfort of their cars.
	Tech-oriented New York grad school launched by contest opens The city's quest to make itself a legitimate rival to Silicon Valley as a high-tech hub has long bumped up against some harsh realities, among them the fact it hasn't had a top-tier technology school pumping out the next generation of entrepreneurs and engineers.

Medicine & Health news

	Studies help explain link between autism, severe infection during pregnancy Mothers who experience an infection severe enough to require hospitalization during pregnancy are at higher risk of having a child with autism. Two new studies from MIT and the University of Massachusetts Medical School shed more light on this phenomenon and identify possible approaches to preventing it.
	Teens' ability to consider the intentions of others linked to structural changes in the brain When it comes to the concept of fairness, teenagers' ability to consider the intentions of others appears to be linked to structural changes underway in the brain, according to a Dartmouth-led study published by Scientific Reports. The study is the first to provide evidence linking structural changes with behavioral changes within this context. Understanding the intentions of others is fundamental to human cooperation and how we exist as social beings.
	Promising clinical trial results could give doctors a new tool against drug-resistant strains of malaria parasite Tulane University researchers have developed a new drug that is effective against non-severe cases of malaria, according to results from an FDA-supervised clinical trial published in the latest issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
	As 'flesh-eating' Leishmania come closer, a vaccine against them does, too Parasites that ulcerate the skin, can disfigure the face, and may fatally mutilate its victim's internal organs are creeping closer to the southern edges of the United States.
	Don't blame your genes for your toothache, twin study shows For the first time, investigators have looked at the role that genes and the oral microbiome play in the formation of cavities and have found that your mother was right: The condition of your teeth depends on your dietary and oral hygiene habits. The study appears September 13 in Cell Host & Microbe.
	Researcher sheds new light on how brain operates like GPS Every time you walk out of a building, you immediately see where you're at and then step toward a destination. Whether you turn left, right or go straight ahead, you don't even think about it. Simple, right?
	Systems analysis points to links between Toxoplasma infection and common brain diseases More than 2 billion people - nearly one out of every three humans on earth, including about 60 million people in the United States - have a lifelong infection with the brain-dwelling parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
	Low-level radiation health risks smaller than obesity, researchers say The health risks from modern day life such as obesity, smoking and air pollution are higher than low-level radiation exposure a new study has found.
	Study clears important hurdle toward developing an HIV vaccine An international team of researchers has demonstrated a way of overcoming one of the major stumbling blocks that has prevented the development of a vaccine against HIV: the ability to generate immune cells that stay in circulation long enough to respond to and stop virus infection.
	3-D protein structure offers insight into rapid communication by brain cells New HHMI research reveals how three proteins help brain cells synchronize the release of chemical signals. A similar interaction may play a role in how cells secrete insulin and airway mucus, too.
	Novel way to present pancreatic proteins increases the sensitivity of type 1 diabetes tests Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Stanford University and the University of Florida report the development of a novel antibody detection technology that holds promise for improving the accuracy of diagnostic tests for type 1 diabetes in young children and making populationwide screening practical.
	Double agents: Vessels that help cancers spread can also boost immune therapies In a surprise finding, an international research team from the University of Chicago, the University of Lausanne, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne has discovered that the lymphatic vessels, often blamed for enabling cancer cells to spread from a primary location to many other sites, have a flip side.
FDA-approved drug may block resistance to anti-angiogenesis therapy A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team has identified a potential strategy for improving the efficacy of angiogenesis inhibitors, drugs that help fight cancer by blocking the formation of new blood vessels. In a follow-up to a study published earlier this year that discovered how anti-angiogenesis treatment can interfere with the immune response against colorectal cancer, the team now describes another pathway that induces an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, one that can be blocked with an FDA-approved drug.
	Brief reactivations of visual memories are enough to complete a full learning curve, researchers say A new Tel Aviv University study finds that brief memory reactivations can replace repeated extensive practice and training—commonly known as "practice makes perfect"—as a basis of procedural learning.
Preventing childhood deafness following chemotherapy treatment Charity Action on Hearing Loss is supporting the biotechnology firm Otomagnetics, which today announces an important breakthrough towards preventing hearing loss caused by a widely used chemotherapy drug.
	New research on probiotics in the prevention and treatment of colon cancer In an innovative approach to colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention and treatment, scientists are studying ways to replace missing metabolites in patients prone to gut inflammation and CRC. A new study in The American Journal of Pathology describes how administration of histamine-producing gut microbes to mice lacking the enzyme histidine decarboxylase (HDC) reduced inflammation and tumor formation. These results suggest that alteration of the gut microbiome with probiotics may become a new preventative or therapeutic strategy for patients at risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated CRC.
Immunotherapy treatment option for selected breast cancer patients, genetic study suggests Immunotherapy drugs could help some breast cancer patients based on the genetic changes in their tumours, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and their collaborators find. Published today (13 September) in Cancer Research, scientists identify particular genetic changes in a DNA repair mechanism in breast cancer.
Scientists reveal new insights and possible solutions for opioid epidemics using machine Mount Sinai researchers have identified unique structural, biological and chemical insights in the way different opioid drugs activate the receptors and specific signaling pathways responsible for the drug's beneficial and adverse effects, according to a study to be published in Nature's Scientific Reports.
	World lags badly on targets to slash TB, HIV, obesity: study Not a single country, out of nearly 200 reviewed, was on track to meet the UN target of eliminating new tuberculosis infections by 2030, according to a global health review published Wednesday.
	Type 2 diabetes is a reversible condition A body of research putting people with Type 2 diabetes on a low calorie diet has confirmed the underlying causes of the condition and established that it is reversible.
	Study prompts call to examine flu vaccine and miscarriage A puzzling study of U.S. pregnancies found that women who had miscarriages between 2010 and 2012 were more likely to have had back-to-back annual flu shots that included protection against swine flu.
	Magnetic cellular Legos for the regenerative medicine of the future By incorporating magnetic nanoparticles in cells and developing a system using miniaturized magnets, researchers at the Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes (CNRS/Université Paris Diderot) and collaborators have created cellular magnetic Legos. They were able to aggregate cells using only magnets and without an external supporting matrix. The cells then formed a tissue that can be deformed at will. This approach, which is detailed in Nature Communications, could prove to be a powerful tool for biophysical studies, as well as the regenerative medicine of tomorrow.
	Suicide attempts on the rise in US, finds study New data confirm that suicide attempts among U.S. adults are on the rise, with a disproportional effect on younger, socioeconomically disadvantaged adults with a history of mental disorders. The study, by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI), was published today in JAMA Psychiatry.
	Surgeons have major influence on breast cancer treatment A woman's choice of surgeon plays a significant role in whether she's likely to receive an increasingly popular aggressive breast cancer surgery.
	Wondering if that mole is cancerous? Look at illustrations, not photos After a summer of cumulative sunburn, you find yourself extra paranoid about the newfound mole on your shoulder. So you Google "signs of skin cancer" and spend an hour wading through mortality stats and one disturbing image after the next—more overwhelmed than when you started.
Brain activity between seizures in genetic form of epilepsy New research shows that in a mouse model of childhood absence epilepsy, brain activity is perturbed between seizures. The researchers speculate that this could underlie cognitive problems of the disease, which can persist despite treatment of seizures. That's according to research published today in the Journal of Physiology.
	New research shows asthma drug's effectiveness over usual care alone A new study co-authored by the University of Plymouth and published in The Lancet shows how an asthma drug was more effective at improving a patient's asthma control compared with their usual care.
	Superior pathological diagnosis using transparent tissues RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center and Osaka University researchers show CUBIC, a tissue clearing and 3-D imaging technique, makes human organs transparent to improve pathology diagnosis
	Memory is influenced by perineuronal nets Kristian Lensjø has taken a PhD at the University of Oslo investigating the mechanisms of learning and memory. His work has contributed to the understanding of perineuronal nets.
	When music makes male faces more attractive Women rate photographs of male faces as more attractive and are more likely to date the men pictured when they have previously heard music. Moreover, highly arousing music led to the largest effect on sexual attraction. A team of psychologists led by Manuela Marin (University of Innsbruck) and Helmut Leder (University of Vienna) explains the significance of this finding in relation to the origins of music in their latest publication in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.
	Is evidence for or against drug-testing welfare recipients? It depends on the result we're after The government's announcement in the May 2017 budget of a trial of random drug testing of 5,000 Youth Allowance and Newstart recipients has been almost universally criticised. While the prime minister claimed the program is "based on love", the CEO of Jobs Australia has warned it will be so demeaning as to drive young people to sex work. And the government shows no sign of being overwhelmed by the reportedly "overwhelming" medical evidence that its policy will not work.
	Talking about suicide and self-harm in schools can save lives Suicide and self-harm remain taboo topics in schools, despite the fact youth suicide has reached a ten year high.
	Is margarine actually better for me than butter? Only 20 years ago butter was the public villain – contributing to raised cholesterol levels and public concern over an increased risk of heart disease. Now this public perception seems to have been reversed, and reality cooking shows seem to use butter in every recipe. But what has caused this shift in perceptions and is it based on scientific evidence?
	Why I became the first person to donate my entire genome sequence to the public I had my complete genome sequenced a few years ago – all six billion base pairs of it. And rather than keeping it to myself, I became the first person in the world to make it publicly available by donating it to the Personal Genome Project UK, an organisation led by academic researchers. As anyone can access the data, the public can contribute to analysing it – in collaboration with professional scientists.
	How healthy is your diet? Online study on nutrition evaluation Free personalized online nutritional guidance is being offered by nutritionists as part of a new trial run by the University of Reading.
Interpreting brainwaves to give amputees a hand Biomedical engineers at Wits are researching how brainwaves can be used to control a robotic prosthetic hand.
	Magnetic fields to alleviate anxiety It is possible to unlearn fears. And this works even better when a specific region of the brain has previously been stimulated magnetically. This has been shown by researchers from the Würzburg University Hospital in a new study.
Differences in aggression among people with dementia Physical aggression among people with dementia is not unusual. A study from Lund University in Sweden showed that one-third of patients with the diagnosis Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia were physically aggressive towards healthcare staff, other patients, relatives, animals and complete strangers. This manifestation of disease must be both understood and addressed in the right way.
	Unhealthy cravings curbed by smartphone treatment What if an app could recognise when you are craving unhealthy food and give you a notification to warn you not to eat it? Researchers in the EU are working to make this a reality for those with eating disorders.
	Want to rebound from failure? Feel the pain Feeling the pain of failure leads to more effort to correct your mistake than simply thinking about what went wrong, according to a new study.
	Risk of heart disease in urban 'food deserts' is associated with individual's income rather than access to healthy food The risk for developing cardiovascular disease is higher in individuals living in low income neighborhoods or with lower personal income regardless of their access to healthy food, according to new research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.
	Vitamin D levels in blood may help predict risk of multiple sclerosis Examining vitamin D levels in the blood may help predict whether a person is at risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a large new study published in the September 13, 2017, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Measuring sepsis incidence and trends in US hospitals using clinical data Sepsis, the syndrome of life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by infection, is a major cause of death, disability, and cost. Many studies suggest that the incidence of sepsis is increasing over time, while mortality rates are decreasing. However, reliably measuring sepsis incidence and trends is challenging because clinical diagnoses of sepsis are often subjective and claims data, the traditional method of surveillance, can be affected by changing diagnosis and coding practices over time.
New hope for 'bubble baby disease' Babies born with Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) syndrome are defenceless against bacterial and viral infections that would be virtually harmless to most healthy people. If untreated, SCID is often fatal within a baby's first year of life.
	Diabetes threatens kidneys, vision of millions of Americans (HealthDay)—Millions of Americans with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes are at risk for chronic kidney disease, and another 59,000 Americans, 40 and older, are at risk for diabetes-related blindness.
	'Microbiomes' may hold key to kids' ear infections (HealthDay)—Recurrent ear infections are the bane of many children—and the parents who have to deal with their care.
	Lifestyle tips for better diabetes control (HealthDay)—Managing diabetes is more than just taking medication. Some adjustments in your daily lifestyle can have a huge impact on your overall well-being.
	What you can do to help fight the opioid epidemic (HealthDay)—Proper disposal of prescription painkillers and use of safe alternatives to manage pain could help combat America's opioid abuse epidemic, doctors say.
	Being heard key for women after gender-based violence (HealthDay)—For women who have experienced gender-based violence, feelings of being listened to and respected are important for defining a positive health care encounter, according to research published online Aug. 22 in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
	Are physicians obligated to help on planes? (HealthDay)—Does being a physician carry a moral obligation to respond to calls for medical assistance on airplanes? That is the topic of an article published in the Sept. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
	Distal bicep tendon rip tied to transthyretin amyloidosis (HealthDay)—Rupture of the distal biceps tendon (RBT) in a patient with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction should raise suspicion for wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRwt), according to a research letter published in the Sept. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Study shows modified blood thinner reduces the impact of traumatic brain injury in mice A chemically modified version of the common blood thinner heparin may be the first promising method of preventing the harmful cascade of destruction to brain tissue that commonly follows traumatic brain injury (TBI), according to new research findings. Though there is currently no drug therapy to prevent the repercussions that can occur in the days and weeks after TBI, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania showed that mice treated with a modified version of heparin with very low coagulant activity (known as 2-O, 3-O desulfated heparin, ODSH or CX-01) had less brain swelling and inflammation, and less evidence of brain damage, compared to mice that received saline. Results of the study will be presented in Baltimore this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.
	Endometriosis increases risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery A new meta-analysis shows that pregnant women with endometriosis are at greater risk for a host of complications during pregnancy and at delivery, including preterm birth and cesarean section. The study was published in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
	Researchers show that speech information is more distracting for elderly drivers The navigation system announces a detour, radio programs are selected by voice command: for many, in-car voice control is an everyday occurrence. Companies also have seniors in mind as customers. In research, however, it has been unclear whether complex language information distracts seniors from a second activity any more than it does younger people. Scientists from Saarbrücken have now examined this question for what may well be the most dangerous scenario, steering a vehicle.
	Developing highly specific computer models to better diagnose concussions in real time As fall sports seasons get under way and concerns related to concussions in contact sports continue to grow, a Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) biomedical engineering professor is developing better tools to understand the mechanics of traumatic brain injuries in athletes.
New oral diabetes drug shows promise in phase 3 trial for patients with type 1 diabetes A University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus study finds sotagliflozin helps control glucose and reduces the need for insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes.
	Infants with congenital Zika virus syndrome suffer serious visual impairment Although one of the most serious consequences of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in infants is microcephaly, there is a broad collection of anomalies now known as congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Some of the most serious are ophthalmologic, including macular scarring, retinal defects, low visual acuity, strabismus, and nystagmus. Two papers published in the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) evaluated visual function among infants with suspected and confirmed CZS. Both studies found that while about 40% of patients had ocular abnormalities, 100% of children tested had visual impairment. Thus, cortical visual impairment might be the most common cause of blindness among children with CZS.
	LED lights safer, more effective in producing Vitamin D3 than sunlight Research published today in Scientific Reports showsthat light from RayVio's 293nm ultraviolet (UV) LED is more efficient than sunlight at producing vitamin D3 in skin samples. Tyler Kalajian and his research team, led by Dr. Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., and supported by Boston University School of Medicine and a Boston University Ignition Award, found that skin samples exposed to RayVio's UV LED for just 0.52 minutes produced more than twice as much vitamin D3 as samples exposed to 32.5 minutes of sunlight.
	In-utero treatment reverses cleft palate in mice Researchers at University of Utah Health clarified a molecular pathway responsible for the formation of cleft palate and identified a new treatment to reverse this defect in mouse pups in-utero. These findings, published on September 5 in the journal Development, offer a new way to think about cleft development and could potentially yield treatments to prevent this common birth defect in people.
	Gonorrhoea strains across Europe becoming more susceptible to main treatment options According to test results from the annual European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (Euro-GASP), resistance levels to the main antimicrobials used for treatment of gonorrhoea infection have seen an encouraging decrease since 2010. However, resistance to one antibiotic agent which is part of the suggested dual therapy of gonorrhoea remains high and threatens the effectiveness of this regimen.
	50 years ago, Clomid gave birth to the era of assisted reproduction When Dr. Eli Adashi began practicing fertility medicine in 1974, there was nothing so revolutionary as in vitro fertilization, but at least there was the drug clomiphene citrate (Clomid). Before that came to market in 1967, Adashi said with only a little exaggeration, the job of a fertility doctor was basically to refer couples who could not conceive a baby to adoption agencies.
Study shows electronic health information exchanges could cut billions in Medicare spending Spending on entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid consumes some two-thirds of all federal spending, but new research from the University of Notre Dame shows that information technology investments in health care lead to significant spending reductions—potentially in the billions of dollars.
	Novel genetic mutation discovered in Parkinson's disease patient Mutations in the human genome may be responsible for many diseases. In the case of Parkinson's disease (PD), five locations have been the subject of recent attention. Variants of one of these locations, ACMSD (aminocarboxymuconate semialdehyde decarboxylase), may be implicated in PD, but until now, no mutations in ACMSD have been found in any PD patients. In a study in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, researchers found a unique mutation in a 74-year-old man with PD. This mutation is not found in the neurologically normal population, and may be the first indication that rare variants in ACMSD alone might increase the risk of PD.
	Semen harbors wide range of viruses (HealthDay)—Human semen provides a potential hiding place and breeding ground for a host of dangerous viruses, a new evidence review reports.
	'Upside' to diabetes really isn't (HealthDay)—Type 2 diabetes can reduce your chances for a rare but potentially fatal weakness of blood vessels, a new study says. But while this may sound like good news, it's not.
	Does mother's mental health affect pregnancy? (HealthDay)—Three common mental health disorders—depression, panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder—pose no serious threat to pregnant women or the health of their babies, a new study finds.
	Good survival for HSCT-treated thalassemia patients (HealthDay)—Patients with thalassemia treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) have 30-year survival that is similar to that of conventionally treated (CT) patients, according to a study published online Aug. 29 in the American Journal of Hematology.
	miRNA identified that plays role in milk allergy (HealthDay)—MiR-193a-5p is a post-transcriptional regulator of interleukin-4 (IL-4) expression and could have a role in children's cow's milk allergy (CMA), according to a study published online Aug. 30 in Allergy.
	Intestinal glucose stimulation has anti-incretin effect (HealthDay)—Intestinal glucose stimulation has an anti-incretin effect, down regulating insulin sensitivity, according to a study published online Aug. 29 in Diabetes.
	Beta-adrenergic receptor signaling affects tumor microenvironment (HealthDay)—β2-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) signaling in host immune cells regulates CD8+ T-cell frequency and functional orientation within the tumor microenvironment, according to a study published online Aug. 17 in Cancer Research.
	Vitamin D deficiency tied to neuropathic pain (HealthDay)—Vitamin D deficiency may be associated with increased neuropathic pain (NP) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a study published online Aug. 31 in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.
	Multivitamin use may cut risk of chemo-induced neuropathy (HealthDay)—Multivitamin use before diagnosis of breast cancer is associated with reduced risk of symptoms of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, according to a study published online Sept. 1 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
	Sentinel lymph node dissection non-inferior to axillary node (HealthDay)—Ten-year overall survival for primary breast cancer patients treated with sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) alone is similar to that seen in those treated with axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), according to a study published in the Sept. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
	Regular exercise, stress can both make a big difference in lupus, study finds Waking up in the morning with the joint pain, swelling and stiffness that accompanies lupus doesn't exactly inspire a workout.
Treatment nonexistent for some glioblastoma patients Patients diagnosed at high-volume centers are up to 40 percent more likely to receive treatment for glioblastoma, according to a study from researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Older drivers who experience falls may be at a higher risk for car crashes As we age, our ability to drive may help us live independently, shop for ourselves, and maintain social connections. Although car crash rates are low among older adults and are declining, older adults do still have higher rates of fatal crashes. Falls, which are a common and preventable cause of injury among older adults, may lower our ability to drive safely.
	Marijuana may produce psychotic-like effects in high-risk individuals Marijuana may bring on temporary paranoia and other psychosis-related effects in individuals at high risk of developing a psychotic disorder, finds a preliminary study from researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).
	RESPECT trial shows closing a small hole in heart may protect against recurrent stroke A device used to close a small hole in the heart may benefit certain stroke patients by providing an extra layer of protection for those facing years of ongoing stroke risk, according to the results of a large clinical trial led by UCLA researchers.
	Should Google offer an online screening test for depression? With one in five Americans experiencing clinical depression in their lifetime, should Google offer an online screening test for depression? Experts debate the issue in The BMJ today.
	Unintentional drug use continues among molly users in EDM party scene Electronic dance music (EDM) parties have historically been high-risk scenes for use of a variety of psychoactive substances. Studies over the past couple of years have found nightclub and festival attendees report high rates of use. These parties are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S., and drug use at such parties has been associated with severe adverse health outcomes, including death. Severity of potential negative health outcomes in EDM environments makes data on both known and unknown drug use critical to further prevention and harm reduction efforts.
Sri Lanka to export cannabis from first plantation Sri Lanka is to launch its first official cannabis plantation to supply the traditional medicine market and export to the United States, the health minister said Wednesday.
	First use of cadaver nerves to repair corneal anesthesia shows promise A new, minimally invasive procedure that replaces damaged corneal nerves with a donor nerve restores feeling in the cornea and halts progressive eye damage caused by a condition known as corneal anesthesia. The use of the donor nerve, an advance pioneered at Duke, may help people recover faster after surgery and could impact how other chronic eye conditions are treated.
Cholera cases in Yemen could hit 850,000 this year: Red Cross The cholera epidemic tearing through Yemen, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged country, could impact 850,000 people by the end of the year, the Red Cross warned Wednesday.
	Does brain tissue regeneration depend on maturity of stem cells used for transplantation? New research has shown that the success of transplanting stem cells into the brain to regenerate tissue damaged by stroke may depend on the maturity of the neuronal precursor cells used for transplantation. A study demonstrating the significant impact of human neuronal precursor cell maturity on cell survival after transplantation into stroke-injured rate brains is published in Tissue Engineering, Part A.
	Trial compares laparoscopic and open surgeries for pancreatic cancer A randomized clinical trial has compared key-hole (laparoscopic) surgery and open surgery in pancreatic cancer patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy, or the Whipple procedure.
Treating acute pain in opioid-dependent patients: Review and recommendations As healthcare providers see more patients with opioid abuse and dependence, they face a difficult challenge: What's the best way to manage acute pain without contributing to the patient's opioid use disorder (OUD)? A review and recommendations for acute pain treatment in patients with OUD is presented in in the September/October Journal of Trauma Nursing, official publication of the Society of Trauma Nurses.
Experts issue recommendations for gender-affirmation treatment for transgender individuals The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline on the treatment for gender-dysphoric/gender-incongruent people, commonly referred to as transgender, to develop the physical characteristics of the affirmed gender.
Rome sets mosquito campaign after chikungunya cases The city of Rome on Wednesday announced it would carry out a fast-track anti-mosquito campaign after a string of suspected cases of the insect-borne chikungunya virus were detected in the region.
	Theranostics: Paintball targeting of cancer cells combined with precision therapy The Journal of Nuclear Medicine's September 2017 supplement shines a spotlight on theranostics and its increasingly important role in the delivery of precision medicine. Theranostics refers to the combination of a predictive biomarker, identified through diagnostic imaging using radiolabeled ligands (which lock onto the specific cancer cell receptor/biomarker), with precise therapy targeted on the now-marked cancer cells. The cancer cells are destroyed, while healthy cells are unharmed—minimizing side effects and improving quality of life for patients.

Biology news

	Scientists create alternate evolutionary histories in a test tube Scientists at the University of Chicago studied a massive set of genetic variants of an ancient protein, discovering a myriad of other ways that evolution could have turned out and revealing a central role for chance in evolutionary history.
	Fox squirrels use 'chunking' to organize their favorite nuts Like trick-or-treaters sorting their Halloween candy haul, fox squirrels apparently organize their stashes of nuts by variety, quality and possibly even preference, according to new UC Berkeley research.
	Scientists map key DNA protein complex at near-atomic resolution Chalking up another success for a new imaging technology that has energized the field of structural biology, researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) obtained the highest resolution map yet of a large assembly of human proteins that is critical to DNA function.
	A hair-trigger for cells fighting infection To fight infections cells in the immune system play a dangerous game with their own genes. Damaging genes allows B cells to make antibodies that are specifically equipped to target to specific causes of illness, but damaging genes also puts them at risk of becoming cancerous. A new study led by scientists at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK identifies Tia1 as a hair-trigger protein that stop our body's defences from turning against us.
	Scientists create atlas of specialized defense cells in the human body Drexel University computational biologists have helped to create the first "anatomic atlas" of B-cell clone lineages, their properties and tissue connections.
	Why bacteria 'shapeshift' in space Bacterial cells treated with a common antibiotic in the near-weightlessness of the International Space Station (ISS) responded with some clever shape shifting that likely helped them survive, findings with implications for both astronauts and people on Earth.
	New study suggests that sperm whales travel together, dine alone Sperm whales have long been known to be highly social creatures and a new study confirms that when a group of them travel, they tend to hang pretty close together.
	Back from the dead—how to revive a lost species Scientists from around the world are hoping to return a lost species of giant tortoise to one of the world-famous Galápagos islands.
	Older fathers found to produce less fertile offspring (Phys.org)—An international team of researchers has conducted an extensive study of male fertility and aging and has found evidence of older fathers producing less fertile offspring than younger fathers. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their study of the reproductive success of children from males of different ages from several time periods, and what they found.
	South Africa's long-legged bees adapted to pollinate snapdragon flowers New research from Stellenbosch University (SU) in South Africa shows that, in an extraordinary case of adaptation, the disproportionately long front legs of South Africa's oil-collecting Rediviva bee species have evolved in response to the equally long oil-producing spurs of snapdragons.
	New study contradicts assumption that true frogs diversified as they expanded their range around globe Evolutionary biologists long have supposed that when species colonize new geographic regions they often develop new traits and adaptations to deal with their fresh surroundings. They branch from their ancestors and multiply in numbers of species.
	Research finds roots use chemical 'photos' to coordinate growth Though it may look haphazard, the network of intertwining plant roots snaking through the soil actually represents a deliberate process. Root growth is guided by chemical snapshots taken by the young roots, allowing them to detect obstructions and coordinate the paths they take, new research led by Florida Institute of Technology finds.
	In stingless bee species, queens control worker reproduction without castration Scientists have studied the organization and function of social insect colonies since Charles Darwin (1809-1882) investigated beehives near his home in Kent with the help of his five children. Since then, prompted by the theory of evolution, researchers have scrutinized every conceivable aspect of the life of bees. Decades ago, scientists discovered that in the nests of many species of European honeybees (genus Apis) in which healthy young queens regularly lay eggs, the queen uses chemical compounds called pheromones to inhibit worker reproduction.
	Calcium to phosphorus ratio in pig diets established by new study The amount of digestible calcium included in pig diets has a direct impact on phosphorus digestibility, but the optimum ratio between the two minerals has not yet been found. In a recent study from the University of Illinois, scientists have established a first approximation of that ratio for 25 to 50 kilogram pigs.
Elephants are changing their behaviour in fear of poachers Research, conducted by Save The Elephants and the University of Twente in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service, has discovered that elephants move more at night in areas that suffer high levels of poaching, turning to feeding and travelling instead of sleeping.
Alternative CRISPR system is less specific, more robust The genetic tool adept at line-by-line gene editing, CRISPR, has revolutionized the ability of scientists to manipulate genes for experimental, and perhaps someday therapeutic, purposes. But it comes in several varieties. The most commonly used, CRISPR-Cas9, only one of many CRISPR systems that, in nature, help bacteria defend themselves against invading viruses by chopping up viral DNA.
	Delayed weaning reduces behavioural problems in cats Early weaning increases aggression and stereotypic behaviour in cats, shows a new study from Professor Hannes Lohi's research group. Based on the study conducted at the University of Helsinki, the recommended weaning age of 12 weeks should be raised by at least two weeks. Delaying weaning is an easy and cost-efficient way of improving the quality of life of cats.
	New research suggests bird songs isolate species Two birds that look the same, but have songs so different they can't recognize each other, should be considered distinct species, suggests new University of British Columbia (UBC) research.
	European court sides with Italian farmer pushing GM crops The European Union court ruled Wednesday in favor of an Italian activist farmer who has defied his nation's laws by planting genetically modified corn.
	Lion conservation requires effective international cooperation Lions belong to the world's most charismatic megafauna. However, lion numbers and range have declined alarmingly over the last two decades.
Innate immunity—to operate, insert dimers The presence of DNA in mammalian cell cytoplasm triggers an immune response by binding to a dimeric enzyme, which inserts between DNA double helices to form the 'rungs' of a ladder-like structure, as an LMU team has now shown.
	Stampede suspected in dozens of walrus death Thousands of Pacific walrus are coming to Alaska's northwest shore again in the absence of summer sea ice and not all are surviving.
Getting to the point (mutations) in re-engineering biofuel-producing bacterial enzymes Converting fibrous plant waste, like corn stalks and wood shavings, into fermentable simple sugars for the production of biofuel is no simple process. Bacteria must break down tough leaves, stems and other cellulosic matter resistant to degradation to turn them into usable energy.
Modular drop-in fuel technology to boost bio-share of oil refineries EU project COMSYN aims to develop a production concept for competitive bio-based fuels by means of a compact gasification and synthesis process. The target reduction for biofuel production is up to 35 percent compared to alternative methods, which translates to less than 0.80 €/l production cost for diesel.
CU Boulder to create digital archive of 1.7 million Rocky Mountain botanical specimens University of Colorado Boulder researchers and collaborating institutions have been awarded $2.9 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a comprehensive digital archive of over 1.7 million plant specimens native to the southern Rocky Mountain region.
Rescuers save entangled whale off of Cape Cod A Massachusetts marine science center says it has disentangled a humpback whale off of Cape Cod.

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