Science X Newsletter Wednesday, Nov 8

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The all-new Multiphysics Simulation 2017 highlights how vehicle electrification companies, 5G component manufacturers, and large scientific research groups have all benefited from using multiphysics modeling and simulation apps to tackle unique technology challenges.

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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for November 8, 2017:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

Hard computing problem might be solvable only by quantum computers

Height and weight evolved at different speeds in the bodies of our ancestors

Researchers develop flexible, stretchable photonic devices

Startup to train robots like puppets

Visual intelligence is not the same as IQ

New silicon probes record activity of hundreds of neurons simultaneously

How ice in clouds is born

Star-shaped brain cells orchestrate neural connections

Not so different after all: Human cells, hardy microbes share common ancestor

Scientists narrow down the search for dark photons using decade-old particle collider data

Sensors applied to plant leaves warn of water shortage

Star exploded, survived, and exploded again more than 50 years later

Twilight trick: A new type of cell has been found in the eye of a deep-sea fish

Scientists create a recipe to make human blood-brain-barrier

Boy with rare disease gets brand new skin with gene therapy

Astronomy & Space news

	Star exploded, survived, and exploded again more than 50 years later It's the celestial equivalent of a horror movie villain—a star that wouldn't stay dead.
	Accretion theory suggests gas giants might start out as steamy worlds (Phys.org)—John Chambers, a planetary scientist with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at Carnegie Institution has suggested a new theory regarding the formation of gas giant planets. In his paper uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, soon to be published in the Astrophysical Journal, he describes his theory and its possible implications.
	Stressed seedlings in space Life on Earth has a myriad of problems, but gravity isn't one of them – staying grounded means organisms can soak up the light and heat that enables growth.
	Image: Vega launches Earth observation satellite for Morocco Arianespace has launched a Vega rocket to deliver an Earth observation satellite into orbit for the Kingdom of Morocco.
	China and the US are both shooting for the moon – but don't call it a space race On the face of it, it looks like two of the world's biggest powers are racing to get astronauts back on the lunar surface. China is aiming to land crew on the moon by 2036, while on the other side of the Pacific, US vice president, Mike Pence, has announced that the US will return there too. But declaring that a new space race is underway is probably the single quickest way to irritate space policy geeks – and for good reason.
	Image: Space station crew sees lots of clouds over Sudan Expedition 53 Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency (ESA) photographed cloudy skies over Sudan during an International Space Station flyover on Oct. 22, 2017.
Senate committee narrowly backs Trump pick for NASA chief A Senate committee on Wednesday narrowly backed President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as the next NASA chief.

Technology news

	Startup to train robots like puppets Robots today must be programmed by writing computer code, but imagine donning a VR headset and virtually guiding a robot through a task, like you would move the arms of a puppet, and then letting the robot take it from there.
	Twitter to double tweet limit to 280 characters (Update) Twitter announced Tuesday it would double the limit for tweets to 280 characters, a bid to draw in more users and boost engagement at the social network.
	A 'virtual wall' that improves wireless security and performance A team of researchers led by Dartmouth College may have finally solved the problem of how to inexpensively improve wireless signal strength for indoor spaces with multiple rooms. The same technology for enhancing office and home Wi-Fi signals can also be used to strengthen wireless security.
	Olympus is down to business with smart glasses for work sites (Tech Xplore)—Olympus has a new EyeTrek Insight EI-10 smart glasses for business use.
	Uber reaches for the skies with plan for sleek flying taxi Commuters of the future could get some relief from congested roads if Uber's plans for flying taxis work out.
	Researchers devise an algorithm to combat gerrymandering As the Supreme Court considers Gill v. Whitford, a challenge to the practice of partisan gerrymandering that may rewrite the rules used to draw congressional districts, a team of computer scientists has come up with a new algorithmic approach to redistricting that's less political and more mathematical.
	A robotic spy among the fish A new miniature robot developed by EPFL researchers can swim with fish, learn how they communicate with each other and make them change direction or come together. These capabilities have been proven on schools of zebrafish.
	Fully integrated circuits printed directly onto fabric Researchers have successfully incorporated washable, stretchable and breathable electronic circuits into fabric, opening up new possibilities for smart textiles and wearable electronics. The circuits were made with cheap, safe and environmentally friendly inks, and printed using conventional inkjet printing techniques.
	Research could 'untangle' vexing problem in computer-simulation technology The computer simulations used to design, optimize, test or control a vast range of objects and products in our daily lives are underpinned by finite element methods.
	Wind turbine breaks apart at Australia Antarctic base The blades of a wind turbine at an Australian Antarctic base broke off and narrowly missed a storage building as they crashed to the ground, officials said Wednesday, forcing the icy outpost to switch to backup power.
	Snap shares dive as loss widens Shares of Snapchat parent Snap plunged Tuesday after reporting a widening loss and user numbers that fell short of market expectations.
FBI again finds itself unable to unlock a gunman's cellphone The Texas church massacre is providing a familiar frustration for law enforcement: FBI agents are unable to unlock the gunman's encrypted cellphone to learn what evidence it might hold.
	New looks come to Snapchat and Twitter in bid for more users Struggling social-media darlings Twitter and Snapchat are taking on new looks as the services seek wider audiences in the shadow of Facebook.
	Mechanochemistry paves the way to higher quality perovskite photovoltaics For several years, tension has been rising in line with the approaching commercialization of perovskite photovoltaic cells. Now, researchers have developed devices based on these materials that can convert solar energy into electricity even more efficiently by producing perovskites via grinding rather than conventional methods.
Ford, Chinese partner form electric car venture Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday that it is launching a venture with a Chinese partner to develop electric vehicles for sale in China, the biggest market for the technology.
	You may be sick of worrying about online privacy, but 'surveillance apathy' is also a problem We all seem worried about privacy. Though it's not only privacy itself we should be concerned about: it's also our attitudes towards privacy that are important.
	Facing uncertain future, fossil fuel workers want retraining in renewables A top talking point at the United Nations climate talks in Bonn, Germany, this month is President Donald Trump's plan to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. The decision follows Trump's campaign commitment to get coal miners back to work.
	The challenge of authenticating real humans in a digital world Proving identity is a routine part of modern daily life. Many people must show a driver's license to buy alcohol at a store, flash an ID card to security guards at work, enter passwords and passcodes to retrieve email and other private information, and answer security validation questions when calling banks or credit card companies for customer service.
	NUS-developed manta ray robot swims faster and operates up to 10 hours Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have created MantaDroid, an aquatic robot that emulates the swimming locomotion of manta rays. The robotic manta ray, which swims at the speed of twice its body length per second and can operate for up to 10 hours, could potentially be employed for underwater surveillance in future.
	WeChat Pay arrives in Paris department stores Chinese tourists visiting Paris are now able to pay for their purchases in two of the city's famous department stores with their smartphones, thanks the adoption of the payment app of the popular Chinese social media network, WeChat.
	China's Tencent takes 12% stake in Snapchat parent (Update) Snapchat parent Snap Inc. disclosed Wednesday that Chinese tech giant Tencent had taken a 12 percent stake, in a sign of confidence in the social network that has delivered disappointing results since its share offering this year.
	Moscow says Twitter to store user data in Russia Russia's telecoms watchdog said Wednesday that Twitter had agreed to store the personal data of Russian nationals on servers located in Russia by mid-2018 to avoid the prospect of a ban.
	German officials celebrate doubled Twitter character limit German bureaucrats—notorious for their ability to create lengthy tongue twisters consisting of one single word—are celebrating the doubling of Twitter's character limit.
	No one is immune from hacks, says former Yahoo CEO Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer told lawmakers Wednesday that the threat from state-sponsored hackers has changed the playing field so dramatically that even the best-defended companies can fall victim.
	AT&T exec says 'uncertain' when Time Warner deal will close AT&T now says it's "uncertain" when its $85 billion Time Warner purchase will close, making investors worry that regulators may try to block it or require significant changes to the deal for approval.
	Review: Google Pixel 2 XL is almost perfect, but the screen gives me the blues The pressure on smartphone manufacturers must be intense.
	How do Facebook ads target you? The House Intelligence Committee is preparing to release to the public the 3,000 ads the Russian-based Internet Research Agency bought on Facebook as part of its coordinated disinformation campaign to sway the electorate, information that may help explain how voters were duped and which campaign benefited.
Facebook wants nude photos from Australian users—for a good reason Facebook's latest attempt to wipe revenge porn off its platform: asking users to send their own nude photos.
	Twitter purists mourn end of 140-character limit on posts It was a sad day for Twitter purists, dismayed that the 140-character limit restricting users on the social media platform to crisp, succinct posts had been doubled to a gaudy 280.
	AT&T deal delay? Reports say gov't wants TV properties sold AT&T says it's uncertain when its $85 billion deal for Time Warner will close, making investors worry that regulators may try to block it or require significant changes.
	BroadwayHD to offer West End plays and musicals The digital theater streaming network BroadwayHD is growing bigger than its name. It will soon be the first to stream hits from London's West End.
	Poland eyes cybersecurity in skies Poland on Wednesday agreed to test a cybersecurity pilot programme for the aviation sector as Europe's EASA civil aviation authority tackles the potential threats posed by hackers to air traffic.

Medicine & Health news

	Visual intelligence is not the same as IQ Just because someone is smart and well-motivated doesn't mean he or she can learn the visual skills needed to excel at tasks like matching fingerprints, interpreting medical X-rays, keeping track of aircraft on radar displays or forensic face matching.
	New silicon probes record activity of hundreds of neurons simultaneously Neuroscientists who want to follow the nervous system's cellular conversations will soon have access to easy-to-use technology that simultaneously monitors neural activity at hundreds of different sites within the brain, thanks to a major engineering effort funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Allen Institute for Brain Science, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and Wellcome. The new probes are expected to give scientists a much clearer picture of how different parts of the brain work together to process information.
	Star-shaped brain cells orchestrate neural connections Brains are made of more than a tangled net of neurons. Star-like cells called astrocytes diligently fill in the gaps between neural nets, each wrapping itself around thousands of neuronal connections called synapses. This arrangement gives each individual astrocyte an intricate, sponge-like structure.
	Scientists create a recipe to make human blood-brain-barrier The blood-brain barrier is the brain's gatekeeper. A nearly impenetrable shield of cells, it keeps toxins and other agents that may be in circulating blood from gaining access to and harming the brain.
	Boy with rare disease gets brand new skin with gene therapy Doctors treating a critically ill boy with a devastating skin disease used experimental gene therapy to create an entirely new skin for most of his body in a desperate attempt to save his life.
	'Bursts' of beta waves, not sustained rhythms, filter sensory processing in brain To better understand the brain and to develop potential therapies, neuroscientists have been investigating how "beta" frequency brainwaves help the brain filter distractions to process sensations. A new Brown University study stands to substantially refine what they thought was going on: What really matters is not a sustained elevation in beta wave power, but instead the rate of specific bursts of beta wave activity, ideally with perfect timing.
	Researchers produce the first draft cell atlas of the small intestine The lining or epithelium of the gut is one of the body's most diverse and dynamic tissues, an ecosystem of cells that acts as one of the body's main interfaces with the outside world. To better understand this complex tissues and its functions—and the diseases that affect it—a multicenter team led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital has produced a high-resolution, gene expression-based census of the cells constituting the lining of the small intestine, using more than 53,000 individual cells from the mouse gut or gut organoid models.
	How cells detect, mend DNA damage may improve chemotherapy The busy world inside a cell is directed by its DNA blueprint. When the blueprints are altered, cells can sicken, die or become cancerous. To keep DNA in working order, cells have ways to detect and mend damaged DNA.
	How chronic inflammation tips the balance of immune cells to promote liver cancer Chronic inflammation is known to drive many cancers, especially liver cancer. Researchers have long thought that's because inflammation directly affects cancer cells, stimulating their division and protecting them from cell death. But University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers have now found that chronic liver inflammation also promotes cancer by suppressing immunosurveillance—a natural defense mechanism in which it's thought the immune system suppresses cancer development.
	Scientists create first mathematical model that predicts immunotherapy success Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have created the first mathematical model that can predict how a cancer patient will benefit from certain immunotherapies, according to a study published in Nature.
	Chronic stress hormones may promote resistance to EGFR inhibitors in lung cancer patients Elevated levels of chronic stress hormones, such as those produced by psychological distress, may promote resistance to drugs commonly used to treat lung cancer patients with EGFR mutations, according to new research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Retrospective analysis of clinical patient data suggests that beta blocker drugs may slow or prevent the development of resistance to EGFR inhibitors.
	Novel approach could limit common complications of immunotherapy By connecting highly effective cancer immunotherapy drugs such as anti-CTLA4 (ipilimumab) and anti-PD-L1 (atezolizumab) to peptides that bind to tissues in and around tumors, a research team based at the University of Chicago found a way to improve the drugs' impact while limiting treatment-related side effects.
	Our body clocks cause wounds sustained at night to heal more slowly A new study has discovered how our body clocks cause wounds, such as cuts and burns, to heal approximately 60% faster if the injury happens during the day rather than at night.
	New study identifies targets to lessen the effects of alcoholic liver disease In 2015, nearly half of 80,000 deaths due to liver diseases in the United States were related to alcoholic liver disease (ALD), according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Chronic alcohol consumption causes abnormal fat accumulation in liver cells (steatosis) and liver fibrosis, which can lead to hepatitis, cirrhosis, and sometimes liver cancer. A new study in The American Journal of Pathology offers insights into the cellular aging that may trigger excessive fibrosis formation in the liver as well as possible means to inhibit these changes, which may lead to new therapeutic approaches for patients with ALD.
	Survey: Parents should be allowed to be present during trauma care Hospitals that adopt a policy allowing parents in trauma room are seeing the benefits
	Infrared imaging better than touch at detecting defects in protective lead aprons The fingertips are among the body's most sensitive areas and have the ability to detect very subtle changes to the surface of an object. For this reason, inspectors looking for defects in lead aprons that are used to shield patients' vital organs from radiation exposure have run their fingers over the aprons, relying on tactile inspection combined with visual inspection to find defects.
	Call for Europe-wide screening of babies for heart defects All babies across Europe should be routinely screened for critical congenital heart defects (CCHD) within 24 hours of their birth, say a group of experts led by a University of Birmingham Professor and Honorary Consultant Neonatologist at Birmingham Women's Hospital.
	Eating at night could increase risk of heart disease and diabetes Eating during the night is associated with higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, and the body's 24-hour cycle is to blame, according to research published today in Experimental Physiology.
	Brazil's tech junkies seek healing at digital detox clinic Like many young people, 29-year-old student L.L. loves his cell phone. So much so, in fact, that his studies, his work and even his personal relationships have suffered, and his phone eventually became a way to avoid people in the real world.
	Brain imaging reveals ADHD as a collection of different disorders Researchers have found that patients with different types of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have impairments in unique brain systems, indicating that there may not be a one-size-fits-all explanation for the cause of the disorder. Based on performance on behavioral tests, adolescents with ADHD fit into one of three subgroups, where each group demonstrated distinct impairments in the brain with no common abnormalities between them.
	Study discounts fluoride as a danger for tea drinkers If you drink tea, you can rest assured about your children's teeth or your adult bones, now that a University of Florida research team has found that most teas contain safe amounts of fluoride.
	Insomnia linked to alcohol-use frequency among early adolescents, says new psychology study Insomnia is linked to frequency of alcohol use among early adolescents, according to new Rutgers University–Camden research.
Medical nutrition-drink may affect development of early Alzheimer's In a new study, an international research team shows that a medical nutrition-drink, consisting of, among other things, essential fatty acids and vitamins, may have an impact on disease development in patients with so-called prodromal Alzheimer's disease. This nutritional treatment did not improve the patients' memory, but seems to slow down neurodegeneration and help patients cope somewhat better with everyday tasks.
New drugs show promise in critically ill patients with vasodilatory shock and respiratory failure Two recent Northwestern Medicine clinical trials examined the effects of drug therapies for critically ill patients suffering from vasodilatory shock and respiratory failure.
Genotype may identify complication likelihood in sickle cell patients Researchers have found a genotype that could help identify sickle cell disease (SCD) patients at greatest risk of common, yet severe, complications of SCD. The findings will be presented today at the American Physiological Society's Physiological and Pathophysiological Consequences of Sickle Cell Disease conference in Washington, D.C.
	What is tramadol, how dangerous is it – and where is it illegal? An Englishwoman named Laura Plummer is in jail in Egypt on suspicion of drug trafficking 290 tramadol tablets. The tablets (available on prescription in the UK) were found in her suitcase when it was examined at Hurghada international airport on Egypt's Red Sea coast on October 9. She's reported to have been given them by a colleague to treat her Egyptian husband's sore back and has said that she had "no idea" they were illegal in the country. So what is tramadol and why are the Egyptian authorities so concerned?
	Infections, complications and safety breaches—why patients need better data on how hospitals compare Australia's health system is an information industry – it is awash with data. Tragically, though, the data is not well collated, not put into the hands of the people responsible for acting on it. Nor is it shared with patients.
	Which sports supplements actually work? Whether your goal is to increase strength, decrease body fat or improve overall performance, adding supplements to your daily regimen can give you that extra edge. But with thousands of products on the market, choosing the ones that are right for you can be overwhelming.
	Device enhances radiation therapies For many cancer patients, going through radiation therapy can be an incredibly stressful and time-consuming process. Dalhousie's Dr. James Robar wants to change that by providing health practitioners with an in-house tool that improves the accuracy and efficiency of this treatment, while making it a more comfortable experience for the patient.
	Combat-related PTSD calmed by yoga therapy For thousands of years, yoga has been used to calm both mind and body.
	Shorter days triggering seasonal affective disorder Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression triggered by shorter days and reduced light.
A focus on dental health can protect children from developing overweight Talking about dental health with children and parents – about what is healthy and unhealthy for your teeth – can be one way to prevent children from developing overweight. This is suggested in a thesis from Sahlgrenska Academy on children's diet, BMI and well-being.
County smoking bans in bars, restaurants cut asthma-related hospitalizations Expanding smoke-free laws in bars or restaurants may be more impactful in preventing asthma-related hospitalizations than smoke-free laws in non-hospitality workplaces, according to a Georgia State University study published in the Canadian Respiratory Journal.
Training evolution in pathology needed to deliver precision medicine The future delivery of precision medicine is at risk unless pathology training programmes evolve to embrace genomics, warn UK researchers.
	Counselling doesn't work in the long term Person-centred counselling is one of the most popular treatments for mental health problems. Often just shortened to "counselling", the approach focuses on how patients view themselves in the here and now, rather than how a therapist interprets their unconscious thoughts. And the patient takes the lead in finding solutions to their own problems. This "humanistic" form of therapy was developed by Carl Rogers in the 1940s and is now one of three main mental health treatments, alongside cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic therapy. However, despite its popularity and longevity, counselling doesn't appear to make people better in the long term.
	HIV remission—the quest to turn lessons from exceptional cases into solutions The case of an HIV-infected child in South Africa who has been in remission for nearly nine years without taking any antiretroviral drugs has provided further proof that HIV remission is possible.
	Tumour analysis following surgery could predict response to drug treatment A novel approach developed by researchers from the University of Leicester and the MRC Toxicology Unit could help to predict how well patients respond to drugs designed to fight various forms of cancer.
	Study lists foods for fighting rheumatoid arthritis symptoms and progression A list of food items with proven beneficial effects on the progression and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis is provided in a new study published today in Frontiers in Nutrition. The authors suggest incorporating these foods into the diet to support the management of this debilitating autoimmune disease.
	Gene breakthrough on lithium treatment for bipolar disorder Genes linked to schizophrenia in psychiatric patients suffering from bipolar disorder are the reason why such patients don't respond to the "gold standard" treatment for bipolar - the drug lithium - according to international research led by the University of Adelaide.
	How the skin becomes inflamed Publishing online this week in Cell Host & Microbe, researchers at Johns Hopkins report the discovery of a key underlying immune mechanism that explains why to how our skin becomes inflamed from conditions such as atopic dermatitis, more commonly known as eczema. Toxin-producing bacteria on the surface of our skin induces a protein that causes our own cells to react and cause inflammation.
	Reversing negative effects of maternal obesity A drug that increases energy metabolism may lead to a new approach to prevent obesity in children born to overweight mothers, UNSW Sydney researchers have found.
Research reveals the true impact of diabetic foot ulcers The prognosis for people with an infected diabetic foot ulcer is worse than was previously thought, according to new research.
Team tests power of focused ultrasound, immunotherapy to battle breast cancer In its latest pioneering effort to harness the power of focused ultrasound to battle disease, the University of Virginia Health System is examining the scalpel-free surgery's potential to enable the body to identify and destroy metastatic breast cancer cells.
	Bringing natural killer cells to the tumor battlefield Natural Killer (NK) cells, lymphocytes of the innate immune system with strong cytotoxic activity, play a major role in the immune response against tumors. However, tumor cells can circumvent this immune defense by establishing a surrounding microenvironment that prevents the infiltration of NK cells and thus promotes tumor survival and growth. By studying melanoma, a highly malignant form of skin cancer, Dr Bassam Janji's research team at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) has revealed a mechanism by which the immunosuppressive environment can be switched to an immunosupportive one. They found that if autophagy - the intracellular recycling process - is blocked in tumor cells, they produce cytokines that attract NK cells. The massive recruitment of NK cells allows killing cancer cells and lets the tumors shrink.
Early intervention may hold key to treatment of Friedreich's ataxia Current treatments may be administered too late to target Friedreich's ataxia effectively. New research using a slow-onset frataxin knock-in/knockout mouse model showed significantly reduced levels of mitochondrial biosynthesis proteins and early mitochondrial deficiency in the cerebellar cortex, even at pre-symptomatic stages of development. This suggests that the progressive degeneration in mitochondrial function seen in individuals with Friedreich's ataxia is not only the mechanism causing the disease, but also a potential biomarker and therapeutic target.
Endurance training helpful in recovery from muscle inflammation, new study shows Endurance training can actually be helpful in dealing with muscle inflammation, according to a new paper co-written by faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York, and Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden.
	Exposure to BPA during pregnancy may cause health problems for offspring A chemical called bisphenol A—BPA—used in plastic packaging and in the linings of food and beverage cans, may be passed from a mother to her offspring during pregnancy and cause changes in the gut bacteria of the offspring, according to an international team of researchers.
Adolescents use dietary supplements to increase sports performance and improve immunity Adolescents in developed countries frequently use dietary supplements despite a lack of knowledge about possible harmful effects or drug interactions. Often males turn to dietary supplements in an attempt to increase their performance for sports while females are more concerned with preventing illness and disease. To understand the underlying reasons and sources of recommendation for dietary supplement use among adolescents in Slovenia, researchers at the University of Ljubljana studied both athletes and nonathletes.
Early breastfeeding success not affected by epidural pain relief with fentanyl Including the opioid fentanyl in the solution used to maintain an epidural during childbirth does not appear to affect the success of breastfeeding six weeks after delivery, according to a study published in Anesthesiology, the peer-reviewed medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). Previous research has suggested fentanyl might be associated with early termination of breastfeeding.
	New care model closes significant gap in addiction treatment A new program at Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction is showing that connecting patients to addiction treatment when they are hospitalized for other conditions can be a powerful tool in closing a gap in addiction treatment. In fact, early results show that many of these patients continue treatment after they are discharged, underscoring the importance of reaching patients who might otherwise not get treatment for their addiction.
	How human cognition can affect the spreading of diseases like Ebola If you were bitten by a bird, would you be concerned about getting sick? How likely would you be to seek medical attention? As it turns out, those answers may depend on your knowledge of other animals' susceptibility to disease.
	Heart attacks more likely in those with low blood phosphate levels Low phosphate in the blood is linked to the risk of heart attack and coronary artery disease, a new study in the journal PLOS One reports.
	Research links heart function to brain's memory center Research by a team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center scientists suggests that older people whose hearts pump less blood have blood flow reductions in the temporal lobe regions of the brain, where Alzheimer's pathology first begins.
	Mechanical heart valve often the safest choice, study says Mechanical heart valves may be safer in certain cases than valves made of animal tissue and should be used more in heart-valve replacements, especially in younger patients, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
	Breast cancer recurrence risk lingers years after treatment ends Even 20 years after a diagnosis, women with a type of breast cancer fueled by estrogen still face a substantial risk of cancer returning or spreading, according to a new analysis from an international team of investigators published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
	Standards to iron out 'weekend effect' in English hospitals don't make any difference The introduction of four priority standards for emergency care in hospitals in England has not made any difference to curbing excess deaths on Saturdays and Sundays, known as the 'weekend effect,' reveals the first study of its kind, published online in Emergency Medicine Journal.
	Four reasons that could explain ACOs' sluggish savings Despite aggressive targets set by the Medicare for the spread of value-based payment arrangements, such as accountable care organizations, achieving lower spending growth has proved extremely challenging. In an article in the November issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dartmouth Institute Professors Valerie Lewis, Elliott Fisher, and Carrie Colla offer four explanations—two economic and two organizational—as to why the nearly 1,000 organizations operating as ACOs have generated limited savings. As the authors note, even in the third year of Medicare ACO contracts, fewer than half of ACOs received a bonus for reduced savings.
	Video of blood clot contraction reveals how platelets naturally form unobtrusive clots The first view of the physical mechanism of how a blood clot contracts at the level of individual platelets is giving researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania a new look at a natural process that is part of blood clotting. A team led by John W. Weisel, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, describes in Nature Communications how specialized proteins in platelets cause clots to shrink in size.
	Will this year's flu shot be as weak as last season's? (HealthDay)—Lots of people came down with influenza last year despite getting a flu shot—and researchers can't promise this season's vaccine will be any more effective.
	What really works to fight a stubborn cough? (HealthDay)—If you're looking for a cough remedy this cold season, you might be out of luck.
	Five smart alternatives to processed foods (HealthDay)—Is your shopping cart filled with heavily processed foods? Some might seem to be time-savers, yet cost more than fresh foods and offer few nutrients. Others might actually harm your health.
	Lymphoma risk up with thiopurine, anti-TNF Tx in IBD (HealthDay)—For patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the risk of lymphoma is increased with use of thiopurine monotherapy, anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) monotherapy, and combination therapy, according to a study published online Nov. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
	Evidence scant for treatment of cough with the common cold (HealthDay)—There has been little change in the treatment recommendations for cough due to the common cold since publication of guidelines in 2006, according to a review published online Nov. 7 in Chest.
	Sodium oxybate promising for Parkinson's, daytime sleepiness (HealthDay)—For patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), sodium oxybate seems effective and well-tolerated, according to a study published online Nov. 6 in JAMA Neurology.
	Zelboraf approved for use in Erdheim-Chester disease (HealthDay)—Zelboraf (vemurafenib) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the first drug to treat certain adults patients with Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD).
	ASCO issues statement regarding alcohol and cancer (HealthDay)—Alcohol use is associated with certain types of cancer, and the risk of cancer can be reduced by strategies to prevent excessive use of alcohol, according to a statement published online Nov. 7 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
	Drop in incidence of end-stage renal disease due to diabetes (HealthDay)—The incidence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) with diabetes listed as the primary cause (ESRD-D) decreased across the United States from 2000 to 2014, according to a study published online Nov. 2 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Sports psychologists suffer fear and uncertainty working with elite footballers Sports psychologists have to cope with "fear and uncertainty", job insecurity and long working hours when working with elite footballers, research shows.
	Should exercise be what the doctor orders for depression? More mental health providers may want to take a closer look at including exercise in their patients' treatment plans, a new study suggests.
Autoimmunity may underlie newly discovered painful nerve-damage disorder An analysis of the medical records of patients treated at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for an often-mysterious condition involving damage to small nerve fibers supports the hypothesis that some cases are caused by autoimmune disease and also identifies the first effective treatment option. This report on 55 patients diagnosed with what appears to be autoimmune small-fiber polyneuropathy (SFPN) finds that treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin, used to treat other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, provided symptom relief and improved nerve function for most patients, allowing some to discontinue treatment.
	Fighting cancer with cancer: 3-D cultured cells could drive precision therapy Honeycomb-like arrays of tiny, lab-grown cancers could one day help doctors zero in on individualized treatments for ovarian cancer, an unpredictable disease that kills more than 14,000 women each year in the United States alone.
Dietary isoflavones linked to increased risk of advanced prostate cancer Dietary intake of isoflavones was linked with an elevated risk of advanced prostate cancer in a recent International Journal of Cancer study. No statistically significant associations were observed between the intake of isoflavones and non-advanced prostate cancer.
Fat cells may inactivate chemotherapeutic drug Adipocytes, or fat cells, can absorb and metabolize the chemotherapeutic agent daunorubicin, reducing the effectiveness of the drug and potentially contributing to poorer treatment outcomes.
Can lavender aromatherapy reduce anxiety in surgery patients? Lavender aromatherapy reduced preoperative anxiety in a study of ambulatory surgery patients undergoing procedures in general otolaryngology. The effect observed in the Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology study was modest, however.
In vitro fertilization linked with increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth A new analysis of published studies found an approximate 80% increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth (both before 37 and 34 weeks) when women become pregnant via in vitro fertilization (IVF) than through spontaneous conception.
New model may provide insights on neurocognitive disorders caused by HIV HIV infects certain cells in the brain called microglia, and infected microglia release toxic and inflammatory molecules that can impair or kill surrounding neurons. Researchers have been limited in their ability to study HIV in microglia, but in a new FEBS Journal study, investigators developed a new model of HIV infection in microglia using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology.
Certain factors are linked to sleep disturbance in patients with diabetes In a Journal of Advanced Nursing study of 90 adults with type 2 diabetes, female gender, elevated blood sugar levels, neuropathic pain, and fatigue were related to sleep disturbance, even after controlling for factors such as age, diabetes duration, depressive symptoms, and distress.
Lupus linked with increased risk of dementia A new International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry study indicates that the risk of dementia may be elevated in individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), an autoimmune disease affecting a range of systems including the peripheral and central nervous system.
Low value surgical procedures should be avoided to reduce costs and improve patient care Reducing the use of 'low value' interventions that deliver little benefit is vital to cut healthcare costs. In the BJS (British Journal of Surgery), investigators have identified 71 low value general surgical procedures, of which five services were of high volume and high cost, 23 were of high cost and low volume, 22 belonged to the low cost and high volume group, and 21 were in the low cost and low volume group.
	Academic performance predicts risk of suicide attempt In a recent Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica study, poor academic performance, measured as grade point average (GPA) at age 16, was a robust and strong predictor of suicide attempt up to middle age.
Study reveals racial differences in the use of rehabilitation services In a Journal of the American Geriatrics Society study of 6309 community-dwelling Medicare enrollees (1276 of whom reported receiving rehabilitation services in the previous 12 months), the likelihood of receiving rehabilitation services was 1.4-times greater in whites than in blacks.
Parental sexual orientation and children's psychological well-being In a Child Development study of 21,103 children aged 4-17 years, those with lesbian and gay parents did not differ from children of heterosexual parents in terms of emotional and mental health difficulties, as assessed on parental questionnaires.
	Scientists prove the role of zinc in type 2 diabetes mellitus Researchers from RUDN University and P. G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University have demonstrated an association between changes in the concentration of trace elements in blood (especially zinc) with prediabetes. The obtained data suggest that zinc metabolism disorders play an important role in the development of diabetes. The results of the study were published in Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology.
Gut bacterial makeup may exacerbate pain in sickle cell disease An overabundance of the bacteria Veillonella in the digestive tract may increase pain in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD). Researchers from Howard University will present their findings today at the American Physiological Society's Physiological and Pathophysiological Consequences of Sickle Cell Disease conference in Washington, D.C.
Gun violence in the US kills more black people and urban dwellers On Nov. 5, just 35 days after the deadly Las Vegas shooting, a man walked into a church in a small Texas town and murdered 26 people with an assault rifle. The coverage dominated the news.
Trump administration proceeds with Obama-era calorie rule The Trump administration is moving ahead with Obama-era rules that will require restaurants, stores and pizza delivery chains to list the calorie content of foods they sell.
	Novel nuclear medicine test can identify kidney transplant infection German scientists have developed a novel nuclear medicine test that can determine whether a kidney transplant patient has developed infection in the transplanted tissue. The study, which utilizes positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI), is presented in the December issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Risk of cardiac and stroke death increases after discontinuing hormone therapy Hormone therapy (HT) continues to be a hotly debated topic. The benefits of estrogen to the heart, however, appear to be universally accepted. A new study demonstrates that the risk of cardiac and stroke death actually increases in the first year after discontinuation of HT. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
Internists say that all health care payers should support innovative payment models An internal medicine physician and fellow of the American College of Physicians (ACP) detailed for the House Energy and Commerce Committee his medical practice's experience participating in the CPC+ program. In testimony at the health subcommittee's hearing on "MACRA and Alternative Payment Models: Developing Options for Value-based Care," Louis Friedman, DO, FACP, who is part of Woodbridge Medical Associates a 5 clinician practice in Woodbridge, N.J., conveyed ACP's message that all public and private payers should support innovative payment and delivery models.
Endocrine Society experts examine how diabetes harms body's smallest blood vessels The Endocrine Society issued a new Scientific Statement today examining how diabetes damages the body's smallest blood vessels as well as how the condition affects the body's natural repair processes designed to protect the eyes, kidneys, nerves and other organs.

Biology news

	Not so different after all: Human cells, hardy microbes share common ancestor To Tom Santangelo, single-celled microorganisms called archaea are like ancient mariners, surviving among the most extreme conditions on Earth, including volcanic vents in the deep ocean.
	Twilight trick: A new type of cell has been found in the eye of a deep-sea fish A new type of cell has been found in the eye of a deep-sea fish, and scientists say the discovery opens a new world of understanding about vision in a variety of light conditions.
	Sheep are able to recognize human faces from photographs Sheep can be trained to recognise human faces from photographic portraits - and can even identify the picture of their handler without prior training - according to new research from scientists at the University of Cambridge.
	Researcher finds that when sperm compete, eggs have a choice The delicately mannered dance between discerning eggs and vying sperm is more complicated than scientists once believed, and it may hold secrets about the evolution of new species.
	Chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys interfere with other group members' relationships Humans do not only form complex and long-lasting social relationships with friends, family, and romantic partners, but also keep track of threats to these relationships and protect them jealously against outsiders. We also observe changes in the relationships around us and try to prevent alliances that could harm us in the long run. Researcher of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, show that wild sooty mangabeys and chimpanzees, both living in complex social groups, monitor the interactions of others and take active steps to prevent friends from defecting any alliances from being formed.
	Dozens of new wildlife corridors identified for African mammals Researchers at the University of California, Davis, have identified 52 potential wildlife corridors linking protected areas across Tanzania. Using a cost-effective combination of interviews with local residents and a land conversion dataset for East Africa, they found an additional 23 corridors over those previously identified by Tanzanian government reports.
	Tracking collars uncover the secrets of baboons' raiding tactics Scientists from Swansea University are part of an international team who have revealed how canny baboons in Cape Town, South Africa, use a sit-and-wait tactic before raiding people's homes in search of food.
	Paradoxes in microbial economies Microbes can produce many of the metabolic resources they need to survive. But because they have permeable cell walls, those resources can leak out into the surrounding environment. Since microbes often live in communities with many other types of microbes, they can also take in the metabolic resources that other microbes have leaked. And, they can respond to their environments, shifting what and how much of some good they produce themselves. In a way, this exchange of goods is its own kind of economy—but it's one we humans don't understand well.
	Targeting a single protein might treat a broad range of viruses Most drugs that fight viruses are designed to target individual pathogens. But scientists at The Rockefeller University have identified a protein that a broad range of viruses require to spread within a host—a discovery that could lead to fighting viruses as varied as parainfluenza, West Nile, and Zika with a single drug.
	A warbler's flashy yellow throat? There are genes for that Birds get their bright red, orange and yellow plumage from carotenoid pigments—responsible for many of the same bright colours in plants. But how songbirds turn carotenoids into the spectacular variety of feathered patches found in nature has remained a mystery.
	Survival of the least-fit: Antiviral drug selectively targets the nastiest viruses An antiviral drug that inhibits a virus' replication machinery selectively targets the most aggressive viruses, according to new research that looked at the infection of individual cells by a virus and the consequence of antiviral intervention. This new insight into the dynamics of an infection and the mechanism of an antiviral drug could not be seen by the typical approach of studying populations of cells. Researchers at Penn State, Duke University, and the University of Texas at Austin have developed a high-throughput system to study large numbers of single, infected cells that facilitated the new insight. A paper describing the results of the research appears in the journal Cell Reports.
	Microbial murder mystery solved Immune cells called "killer cells" target bacteria invading the body's cells, but how do they do this so effectively? Bacteria can quickly evolve resistance against antibiotics, yet it seems they have not so readily been able to evade killer cells. This has caused researchers to become interested in finding out the exact mechanism that killer cells use to destroy bacterial invaders.
	Scientists find missing clue to how HIV hacks cells to propagate itself Computer modeling has helped a team of scientists, including several scholars from the University of Chicago, to decode previously unknown details about the process by which HIV forces cells to spread the virus to other cells. The findings, published Nov. 7 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may offer a new avenue for drugs to combat the virus.
	France to oppose EU's 5-year renewal for weedkiller glyphosate France will oppose a European Commission proposal to renew authorisation for controversial weedkiller glyphosate for five years instead of 10, saying Wednesday the new cutoff should be three years.
	Walking beaches, volunteers amass data on dead seabirds Barbara Patton scans the expansive beach on Washington's outer coast looking for telltale signs of dead seabirds: a feather sticking straight up, dark colors in the sand, unusual seaweed clumps that could mask a carcass.
	Mice in social conflict show rule-observance behavior Humans have learned to live together by solving most conflicts with compromises and rules rather than aggression. But how did this evolve in the first place? But do animals learn to set up new social rules? A new study from the Center for Cognition and Sociality shows that laboratory mice establish rules that provide equal long-term rewards, even if this requires a certain degree of tolerance and patience. Published in Nature Communications, this study reveals how animals and humans evaluate costs and benefits in social interactions.
	Veterinarians caution that antifreeze is poisonous to pets and humans As it gets colder, more people will take out the antifreeze to keep their radiator from freezing, but the brightly colored liquid can cause more harm than good for pets and children alike.
	Researchers take aim at invasive, 'pernicious' spotted lanternfly As populations of the invasive spotted lanternfly explode—and the state-imposed quarantine area in southeastern Pennsylvania expands—researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences are looking for solutions to help stop the insect's spread and save agricultural crops from serious damage.
	Gender roles in ancient times Two new studies by Osaka University researchers provide insights on why male and female bodies of the same species differ. The studies show factors that regulate the expression of doublesex1, a gene responsible for the growth of male traits in the ancient crustacean Daphnia magna and the subsequent spatial expression of doublesex1 in embryo development. The studies provide information on how the environment causes genetic changes for gender preference and the evolution of sexual dimorphism.
New 'sugar-glass' film uses viruses to kill harmful bacteria in food With antibiotic resistance on the rise, bacterial contamination of food is becoming more problematic. Now in a study appearing in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, scientists report that they have developed an antibacterial "sugar-glass" coating in which viruses that destroy bacteria are embedded and are kept stable for up to three months. The coating could someday be used in the food packaging and processing industries to help prevent food-borne illnesses and deaths.
	Cockatoos match objects into corresponding frames in a tool-use task Cognitive biologists from the University of Vienna and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna tested Goffin cockatoos in a tool use task, requiring the birds to move objects in relation to a surface. The parrots were not only able to select the correct key but also required fewer placement attempts to align simple shapes than primates in a similar study.
	Great Barrier Reef protected zones help fish in even lightly exploited areas Protected zones of the Great Barrier Reef benefit fish even at the relatively lightly-fished northern reefs, according to a study published November 8, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Carolina Castro-Sanguino from the University of Queensland, Australia, and colleagues.
	'Golden' potato delivers bounty of vitamins A and E An experimental "golden" potato could hold the power to prevent disease and death in developing countries where residents rely heavily upon the starchy food for sustenance, new research suggests.
	Malaysia rescues 140 pangolins from suspected smugglers Dozens of live pangolins were seized from suspected traffickers close to Malaysia's border with Thailand, officials said Wednesday, thwarting the latest attempt to smuggle the critically endangered creatures.
Sifting gold from the data deluge Next-generation DNA sequencing technologies have flooded databases and hard drives worldwide with large data sets, but are researchers getting the most they can out of this deluge of data? In a new study in the October issue of Applications in Plant Sciences, Dr. Brent Berger and colleagues propose one way to sift the remaining gold out of large sequence data sets. The authors show that a new data mining technique can be used to glean valuable information from existing data sets, and prove the concept by retrieving sequence from genes influencing the peculiar floral structures seen in the plant family Goodeniaceae.
	Turning jellyfish from a nuisance to useful product Global climate change and the human impact on marine ecosystems have led to dramatic decreases in the number of fish in the ocean. It has also had an unforseen side effect: because overfishing decreases the numbers of jellyfish competitors, their blooms are on the rise.
Efforts to capture, save Mexico's endangered porpoise end Experts say they have suspended effort to capture the few remaining vaquita porpoises in Mexico's Gulf of California after the one they managed to catch died quickly in captivity.

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