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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for April 26, 2018:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Stellar thief is the surviving companion to a supernovaSeventeen years ago, astronomers witnessed a supernova go off 40 million light-years away in the galaxy called NGC 7424, located in the southern constellation Grus, the Crane. Now, in the fading afterglow of that explosion, NASA's Hubble has captured the first image of a surviving companion to a supernova. This picture is the most compelling evidence that some supernovas originate in double-star systems. |
 | ExoMars returns first images from new orbitThe ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has returned the first images of the Red Planet from its new orbit. |
 | A Yellowstone guide to life on MarsA University of Cincinnati geology student is helping NASA determine whether life existed on other planets. |
 | Stellar dust survey paves way for exoplanet missionsVeils of dust wrapped around distant stars could make it difficult for scientists to find potentially habitable planets in those star systems. The Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems, or HOSTS, survey was tasked with learning more about the effect of dust on the search for new worlds. The goal is to help guide the design of future planet-hunting missions. In a new paper published in the Astrophysical Journal, HOSTS scientists report on the survey's initial findings. |
 | Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer spacecraft to re-enter over tropicsFragments of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) spacecraft, a NASA mission to observe the time variation of astronomical X-ray sources, are expected to fall to Earth on or about May 1. The mission was terminated and the spacecraft decommissioned on Jan. 12, 2012. |
Video: Sentinel-3B liftoffThe second Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite, Sentinel-3B, lifted off on a Rockot from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 17:57 GMT (19:57 CEST) on 25 April 2018. Sentinel-3B joins its twin, Sentinel-3A, in orbit. The pairing of identical satellites provides the best coverage and data delivery for Europe's Copernicus programme – the largest environmental monitoring programme in the world. The satellites carry the same suite of cutting-edge instruments to measure oceans, land, ice and atmosphere. | |
Technology news
 | Researchers suggest exoskeletal technology has evolved to embrace the spirit of exoskeletons in science fictionA pair of researchers affiliated with the University of Tsukuba and Cyberdyne are suggesting exoskeletal technology has evolved to complement science fiction. In their paper published in the journal Science Robotics, Yoshiyuki Sankai and Takeru Sakurai offer a Focus piece outlining the current state of exoskeletal research. |
 | How small creatures generate world's fastest snaps, jumps and punchesWhen it comes to things that are ultrafast and lightweight, robots can't hold a candle to the fastest-jumping insects and other small-but-powerful creatures. |
 | A system for influencing hypnagogic micro-dreamsA team of researchers at MIT has created a hand-worn device that they claim can influence a person's micro-dreams during hypnagogia. The group has announced their device by posting a page describing it on an MIT website. The group is scheduled to present their device at the Computer-Human Interface conference this week. |
 | NVIDIA researchers raise the bar on image inpaintingFor those not yet familiar with photo reconstruction tools, the title of this paper on arXiv might be totally puzzling: "Image Inpainting for Irregular Holes Using Partial Convolutions." The research, though, from a NVIDIA team, points the way to exciting improvements in store for those who must perform image editing and who desire good results. |
 | F-Secure finds a way to hack older RFID based hotel key locksA pair of researchers at F-Secure, Timo Hirvonen and Tomi Tuominen, has reported to the press that they have found a way to hack some older RFID-based hotel room key locks. They are also planning to give a presentation outlining their findings at this year's Infiltrate conference. |
 | Snapchat upgrades 'Spectacles' after first-generation flopSnapchat on Thursday began selling a new version of its eyewear with built-in cameras after the first version failed to catch on with users of the youth-oriented social network. |
 | Samsung's profit exceeds expectations thanks to memory chipsSamsung Electronics Co. reported better-than-expected financial results Thursday as robust demand from global data centers for its mainstay memory chips earned it another record-high quarterly profit. |
 | Hyundai Motor first quarter net profit slumps 48%South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor saw its first-quarter net profits plunge 48 percent as strikes and a strong won weighed on its bottom line, it said Thursday. |
 | China's Huawei under US probe for Iran sanctions violations: reportThe US Justice Department has opened an investigation into suspected violations of Iran sanctions by China's Huawei Technologies, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. |
 | GM to add 700 US jobs to plant building SUVsGeneral Motors said Wednesday it plans to add 700 jobs in September to boost production of its popular sport-utility vehicles and models for export to Australia and New Zealand. |
 | Women listed as inventors in third of global patent filings: UNThe UN on Thursday hailed a significant increase in women listed as inventors in global patent filings over the past decade, but warned a pronounced gender gap remained. |
Maryland reaches $33.5 million settlement with VolkswagenMaryland officials announced Wednesday that they had reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with Volkswagen AG and two of its affiliates for using devices in cars that violated the state's environmental laws. | |
 | Ford gets record fine in Australia for 'unconscionable' conductCar giant Ford is set to pay out Aus$10 million (US$7.6 million) for its "unconscionable" handling of gearbox complaints in Australia after a court on Thursday slugged the auto manufacturer with a record penalty. |
 | Volkswagen sees 'good start' to 2018 despite slip in profitsGerman car giant Volkswagen on Thursday reported a small drop in profits but nonetheless said strong sales got the year off to "a good start", as new CEO Herbert Diess pushes on with a post-dieselgate revamp of the behemoth. |
 | Disguising access patterns to protect sensitive data in the cloudA team of computer scientists is working to defend against the next potential cyber risk – cloud storage. Wensheng Zhang, an associate professor of computer science at Iowa State University, says cloud users can encrypt sensitive data and information, but how they access the data may make it vulnerable. |
 | EU tells tech giants to tackle fake news by end-yearThe EU warned US tech giants Thursday to crack down on the spread of "fake news" by the end of the year or face regulation in the wake of a scandal involving the illegal harvesting of Facebook users' data. |
 | Fido funeral: In Japan, a send-off for robot dogsThe robot dogs lined up in their dozens Thursday in Japan were no tech fair display. They were the dearly departed being honoured with their own traditional "funeral." |
It's time we demanded the protection of our personal dataWe are beginning to see the extent to which our online personal information can be compromised and used in ways we never intended and never authorized. | |
 | Facebook says to extend political ad changes to UKFacebook on Thursday said that it would be extending a raft of measures to allow its users to identify the source of political adverts that appear in their feed to Britain next year. |
 | China's electric carmakers bloom at Beijing auto showAuto executives from across the globe are plugging their plans for an electric car future in China at the Beijing auto show, but they will find their Chinese counterparts are already motoring ahead. |
 | UK lawmakers call on Zuckerberg to appear before themThe U.K. parliament's media committee demanded Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appear before the panel after lawmakers said the senior executive who testified Thursday failed to fully answer their questions about the data protection scandal that has engulfed the company. |
 | Head of Tesla Autopilot project leaves for IntelThe head of Tesla's Autopilot project is leaving the carmarker, amid a US government probe into a fatal accident involving a vehicle using the semi-autonomous driving system. |
 | Delete Facebook? Nope, Facebook is growingCongratulations everyone: You really showed Facebook. |
 | Gmail's new 'confidential mode' offers more privacy controls—but don't get too comfortableIn rolling out major updates to Gmail, Google announced Wednesday that the popular email service will soon feature a new "confidential mode" that promises to give users more control over who sees the emails they send, and for how long. |
 | Shell says profit jumps on high energy pricesEnergy major Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that profits leapt by about two thirds in the first quarter of 2018, energised by resurgent crude oil and gas prices. |
 | Lufthansa cuts Q1 losses as it digests Air BerlinGerman airline giant Lufthansa said Thursday it had pared back losses in the first quarter, but confirmed it expects a slightly leaner result over the full year than in 2017. |
 | The disappearing jobs of yesterdayAhead of May Day, AFP reporters, video and photo teams spoke to men and women around the globe whose jobs are becoming increasingly rare, particularly as technology transforms societies. |
 | Ford deepens cost cuts even as earnings riseFord will deepen planned cost cuts and phase out several small models in North America even as it reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, the company announced Wednesday. |
 | Air France unions announce four days of strikes in MayThree Air France pilots unions have announced new strikes for May 3, 4, 7 and 8 in the latest move in a long-running pay dispute with the French flag carrier. |
 | Telefonica sales hit by end of roaming chargesSpanish telecoms giant Telefonica saw its sales plunge in the first quarter due to the end of roaming charges in Europe, but still posted a 7.4 percent rise in net profit. |
 | Nintendo annual profits soar 36 percent to $1.27bn on Switch salesNintendo on Thursday said its annual net profit soared 36.1 percent, thanks to the immense popularity of its Switch console, and announced it was appointing a new president. |
 | Nokia struggles with losses after 'challenging' quarterFinnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia on Thursday posted its fifth straight quarter in the red, though its losses narrowed in a "challenging" first quarter as sales slowed in North America. |
 | Gooooal! Messi scores in EU court battle to trademark name (Update)Lionel Messi, the world's top earning footballer, won a legal battle Thursday to register his name as a trademark to sell sports goods after an EU court ruled that he is too famous to be confused with other businesses. |
 | Ukraine says Chernobyl remains an 'open wound' 32 years onUkraine on Thursday marked 32 years since Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear disaster, saying it would "remain an open wound in the hearts of millions." |
 | Fiat Chrysler drives profits higherFiat Chrysler (FCA) said Thursday that its net profit jumped 59 percent in the first quarter of the year, but unfavourable exchange rate changes ate away at an increase in sales of vehicles. |
 | GM earnings hit by South Korea chargeGeneral Motors reported a big drop in first-quarter profits Thursday due to costs connected with shuttering a plant in South Korea, but car sales rose in the US and China. |
 | American Airlines 1Q profits hit by higher fuel costsAmerican Airlines reported a drop in first-quarter profits Thursday in part due to higher fuel costs, but said consumer demand for air travel remained robust. |
Google honors Olympic runner Fanny Blankers-Koen, 'The Flying Housewife'Google is paying tribute to "The Flying Housewife." | |
Medicine & Health news
 | Common class of drugs linked to dementia even when taken 20 years before diagnosisThe largest and most detailed study of the long-term impact of anticholinergic drugs, a class of drugs commonly prescribed in the United States and United Kingdom as antidepressants and incontinence medications, has found that their use is associated with increased risk of dementia, even when taken 20 years before diagnosis of cognitive impairment. |
 | Noninvasive brain tumor biopsy on the horizonTaking a biopsy of a brain tumor is a complicated and invasive surgical process, but a team of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis is developing a way that allows them to detect tumor biomarkers through a simple blood test. |
 | Noninvasive spinal stimulation method enables paralyzed people to regain use of hands, study findsThe ability to perform simple daily tasks can make a big difference in people's lives, especially for those with spinal cord injuries. A UCLA-led team of scientists reports that six people with severe spinal cord injuries—three of them completely paralyzed—have regained use of their hands and fingers for the first time in years after undergoing a nonsurgical, noninvasive spinal stimulation procedure the researchers developed. |
 | Unprecedented study identifies 44 genetic risk factors for major depressionA global research project has mapped out the genetic basis of major depression, identifying 44 genetic variants which are risk factors for depression, 30 of which are newly discovered. The study, by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and co-led in the UK by King's College London, is the largest study to-date of genetic risk factors for major depression. |
 | Metastatic cancer gorges on fructose in the liverBiomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated that metastatic cancer cells can reprogram their metabolism to thrive in new organs. Specifically, the research shows that cells originating from colorectal cancer change their dietary habits to capitalize on the high levels of fructose often found in the liver. |
 | Key differences in young, older people's immune cells attributed to environmentDiscoveries by Stanford University School of Medicine investigators may help explain why older people's immune systems often don't work so well, why different people's immune systems age at different rates, and why the environment matters more than heredity in generating these age-related differences. |
 | The complicated biology of garlicResearchers today generally agree that eating garlic, used for thousands of years to treat human disease, can reduce the risk of developing certain kinds of cancers, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. Nevertheless, in a review published April 26 in the journal Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, researchers in the UK argue that explaining exactly how garlic affects human health—and getting consistent results during clinical trials—is more complex, because of the vast array of compounds garlic produces. |
 | Cancer drug helps treat tuberculosis by restoring leaky blood vesselsBiomedical engineers have discovered an unlikely potential ally in the global fight against tuberculosis—an FDA-approved drug originally designed to treat cancer. |
 | CRISPR-based diagnostic SHERLOCK optimized for rapid use during viral outbreaksIn a paper published today in Science, researchers at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard report a new tool that engineers the CRISPR-based diagnostic SHERLOCK for rapid outbreak response. The updates to SHERLOCK, which was first unveiled in 2017, enable clinicians to quickly and cheaply diagnose patient samples and track epidemics such as Ebola and Zika with limited equipment—lifting a barrier to rapid deployment in outbreak zones. |
 | A bit of dark chocolate might sweeten your visionIt may not replace prescription glasses, but a few bites of dark chocolate might offer a slight and temporary bump up in vision quality, new research suggests. |
 | Belief in fake causes of cancer is rifeMistaken belief in mythical causes of cancer is rife according to new research jointly funded by Cancer Research UK and published today (Thursday) in the European Journal of Cancer. |
 | New imaging system makes back surgery safer, faster and less expensiveResearchers at Dartmouth College have found a way to make back surgery safer, faster and more cost effective. |
Hidden costs of skin cancer caused by workplace sun exposure revealedSkin cancer cases attributable to work-related sun exposure could be costing millions of dollars, and must be better addressed by policymakers. | |
 | New testing provides better information for parents of children with form of epilepsyAdvances in genetic testing offer new insights to parents who have a child with a rare but serious form of epilepsy, epileptic encephalopathy (EE), found in one of about every 2,000 births and characterized by developmental disabilities as well as horrible seizures. |
 | Labeling alcoholic drinks as lower in strength could encourage people to drink moreWines and beers labelled as lower in alcohol strength may increase the total amount of alcoholic drink consumed, according to a study published in the journal Health Psychology. The study was carried out by the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research at London South Bank University. |
Media representations of cancer neglect an important risk factor: AgeAge and older adults are largely obscured in media representations of cancer, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. It is important that older adults appreciate their heightened risk of cancer, as a lack of awareness may have a negative impact on early presentation and detection, a team of researchers led by the University of Glasgow Institute of Health and Wellbeing suggest. | |
 | Should doctors recommend e-cigarettes to help smokers quit?The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence offers guidance for doctors to advise people who are trying to quit smoking - that e-cigarettes are helpful tools when trying to quit. However, emerging evidence suggests that e-cigarettes as actually used, actually depress, not assist cigarette smoking cessation for most users, and are a gateway to youth smoking. |
Emergency treatment by older surgeons linked to slightly lower death ratesPatients undergoing emergency surgery who are treated by older surgeons (aged 60 or over) have slightly lower death rates in the first few weeks after their operation than patients treated by younger surgeons (aged less than 40) within the same hospital, finds US study published by The BMJ today. | |
 | More than skin deep: brotherly bond saved French burn victim"Life". For Franck Dufourmantelle the word tattooed on his charred arm in English was like "a nod from destiny". |
 | Genetic sleuthing bolsters food poisoning searchesDisease hunters are using genetic sequencing in their investigation of the ongoing food poisoning outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, a technique that is revolutionizing the detection of germs in food. |
 | Oregon marijuana: Lots of data, few to analyze and check itTo the beat of electronic dance music, men and women inside a slate-gray building harvested marijuana plants festooned with radio-frequency identification tags. In another room, an employee entered the tag numbers into a government database. |
 | TERRAs, the non-coding RNAs that protect telomeres, are important epigenetic regulatorsIn 2008, the Telomeres and Telomerase Group led by Maria A. Blasco at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) was one of the first to discover TERRAs, long non-coding telomeric RNAs that are transcribed from telomeres are are part of the telomeric chromatin. Since then, this group has set out to decipher the function of these novel and still mysterious telomeric components. In a paper published in Nature Communications, Maria A Blasco and her collaborators Juan José Montero and Isabel López de Silanes report that TERRA play a decisive role in the assembly of telomeric heterochromatin. The authors discovered that TERRAs are able to interact with components of the polycomb complex (PRC), an important epigenetic regulator of gene expression, and in this manner, they facilitate the assembly of telomeric heterochromatin. |
 | Study links night exposure to blue light with breast and prostate cancerA study performed by an international team led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, reports a link between exposure to blue light at night and higher risk of developing breast and prostate cancer. Blue light is a range of the visible light spectrum emitted by most white LEDs and many tablet and phone screens. The results have been published in Environmental Health Perspectives. |
No future for egoists—that's what their brain saysSome people are worried about the future consequences of climate change, while others consider them too remote to have an impact on their well-being. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, examined how these differences are reflected in our brains. With the help of neuro-imaging, the scientists found that people deemed "egotistical" do not use the area of the brain that enables imagining a distant future. In "altruistic" individuals, on the other hand, the same area is alive with activity. The research results, published in the journal Cognitive, Affective & Behavioural Neuroscience, may help psychologists devise exercises that activate this specific area of the brain. These could be used to improve people's ability to project themselves into the future and raise their awareness of the effects of climate change, for example. | |
 | Culprit in reducing effectiveness of insulin identifiedScientists at Osaka University have discovered that Stromal derived factor-1 (SDF-1) secreted from adipocytes reduces the effectiveness of insulin in adipocytes and decreased insulin-induced glucose uptake. |
Dopamine-producing areas of the brain inspire creativityAn international research team led by scientists from MedUni Vienna's Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with Goldsmiths University London has uncovered the secret of the "Aha!-moment". When people solve a puzzle through a flash of insight, the mood-enhancing substance dopamine is released and deep-brain structures are activated. The researchers were able to identify the nucleus accumbens, a core structure in the basal forebrain, as the central area for the Aha!-moment. | |
 | How to halve elderly patient falls in hospitalsAs a business school academic it is not often possible to say that your research led directly to lives being saved. However, this was one particularly positive outcome of research conducted by myself and colleagues Nicola Burgess and James Hayton into knowledge diffusion and brokering in the English NHS. |
 | Hearing aids linked to fewer hospital and ER visits by older adultsThey cost thousands of dollars, and insurance almost never covers them. But hearing aids may hold the potential to cut older adults' visits to the hospital or emergency room, according to a new study. |
 | Blood cancer precursor found in 9/11 firefightersA study in today's issue of JAMA Oncology reports that New York City firefighters exposed to the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster site face an increased risk for developing myeloma precursor disease (MGUS), which can lead to the blood cancer multiple myeloma. The study was conducted by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Health System, the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. |
 | US autism rate edges up in new CDC reportResearchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health contributed to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that finds the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among 11 surveillance sites as one in 59 among children aged 8 years in 2014 (or 1.7 percent). This marks a 15 percent increase from the most recent report two years ago, and the highest prevalence since the CDC began tracking ASD in 2000. Consistent with previous reports, boys were four times more likely to be identified with ASD than girls. The rate is one in 38 among boys (or 2.7 percent) and one in 152 among girls (or 0.7 percent). |
 | Mind-bending drugs and devices—can they make us smarter?Demand for drugs and devices that can enhance brain functions such as memory, creativity, attention and intelligence, is on the rise. But could the long-term side-effects outweigh the benefits of being "smarter"? |
Phenotyping may lead to more tailored treatment for head and neck cancerResearch led by UNC School of Medicine student Wesley Stepp, Ph.D., shows how more detailed genetic testing of head and neck tumors could lead to more personalized treatments for patients. | |
Racial disparity in premature deaths has narrowed since 1990The past quarter century has brought a striking decline in earlier-than-expected deaths among blacks in the U.S., according to a first-of-its-kind analysis performed using an extensive death records database maintained by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. | |
 | Sleep therapy road test awakens new interestThe use of sleep restriction therapy to help treat adults with insomnia is under-recognised – despite encouraging results since it was first introduced in the late 1980s. |
 | Exercise to change the brainFor someone with Parkinson's disease (PD), the simple desire to grasp a glass of water can become an insurmountable task, made impossible by the tremors in their hand or arm. Finding strategies to improve these movement impairments is one of the major goals of rehabilitating people with Parkinson's disease. |
 | App an effective tool to record sun exposureA smartphone app is an accessible tool that reliably measures the amount of exposure to the sun's skin-damaging ultra-violet radiation, a QUT study has found. |
 | New study shows how to live a long and active lifeAre you a man and do you expect to manage on your own for a while longer? Research at Uppsala University now shows that efforts to achieve a healthy diet, normal waist size and non-smoking habit can yield benefits long after the age of 90. |
 | End of ageing and cancer? Scientists unveil structure of the 'immortality' enzyme telomeraseMaking a drug is like trying to pick a lock at the molecular level. There are two ways in which you can proceed. You can try thousands of different keys at random, hopefully finding one that fits. The pharmaceutical industry does this all the time – sometimes screening hundreds of thousands of compounds to see if they interact with a certain enzyme or protein. But unfortunately it's not always efficient – there are more drug molecule shapes than seconds have passed since the beginning of the universe. |
 | Obesity inhibits key cancer defense mechanismObesity is a known risk factor for certain types of cancer, including colon, pancreatic and breast cancer. Studies have shown its role in promoting tumor growth and malignant progression. But its role in cancer initiation has been uncertain. |
 | Molecular culprit behind virus-mediated chronic inflammation and cancers identifiedWithin cells infected by Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV), the human protein CADM1 interacts with viral proteins to promote chronic inflammation, which plays a major role in the development of cancers caused by KSHV. Richard Hunte of the University of Miami, Florida, and colleagues present these new findings in PLOS Pathogens. |
 | Surveillance of livestock could detect rift valley fever disease before human transmissionOccurrence of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) has often been linked with El Niño rainfall. To curb future outbreaks of RVF, M. Kariuki Njenga and colleagues carried out enhanced syndromic surveillance of 22 high-risk RVF Kenyan counties to collect data on RVF-associated syndromes and risk factors in livestock from November 2015 through February 2016. Their research, recently published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, could provide the first step toward establishing a national syndromic surveillance system for livestock in Kenya. |
 | New computational model enables personalized simulation of exercise's metabolic effectsA new mathematical model incorporates personalized details to simulate the metabolic effects of exercise. Presented in PLOS Computational Biology by Maria Concetta Palumbo of the National Research Council of Italy, Rome, and colleagues, the model can be adapted to different individual characteristics, such as age and weight, as well as different types and intensities of exercise. |
 | Bringing the heat to abdominal cancersA thin wall called the peritoneal lining surrounds the abdominal cavity, which contains the stomach, intestines, kidneys and other organs. While the lining supports and protects these vital organs, it makes it difficult to treat cancers inside this wall with traditional chemotherapy, which travels via the bloodstream all over the body. |
 | Before banning fast food shops near schools, give pupils a reason to dine inA ban on fast food shops operating within 400 metres of schools has been called for by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. At a time when nearly one third of children aged two to 15 are overweight or obese, this measure sends a strong message to young people and their families, about the importance of cutting down on fast food. Even so, I doubt it would work. |
 | Some women feel grief after an abortion, but there's no evidence of serious mental health issuesThis week, the website Mamamia published, and then quickly removed, an article about the existence of "post-abortion syndrome" – a disorder apparently experienced by many women who have had an abortion. The article claimed this disorder has been concealed from the public and that the trauma of an induced abortion can be comparable to the experience of child sexual abuse or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffered by war veterans. |
 | Pregnant women are at increased risk of domestic violence in all cultural groupsDomestic violence occurs across all age groups and life stages. Rather than reducing during pregnancy, expecting a child is a key risk factor for domestic violence beginning or escalating. |
 | Managing stress at work can help employee well-being, productivityEncountering some stress at work is inevitable, especially when big projects and major deadlines loom. |
 | Antibody 'cocktail' can prevent Zika infection but is not effective for treatment of fetusesA "cocktail" of monoclonal antibodies that can prevent Zika virus (ZIKV) infection in primates was not effective for treatment of fetuses, according to a new collaborative study led by a University of Miami Miller School of Medicine research team. |
 | Improvements needed in hospital care of people living with dementiaNurses and healthcare workers are highly concerned about vulnerable patients who make up the equivalent of 3.2 million hospital beds per year, according to a new report by Cardiff University. |
 | How black cardiologists are combating a heart problem affecting millionsDoctors and African-American communities are obligated to learn more about heart valve disease and the lifesaving procedures available to treat it, according to a report from the Association of Black Cardiologists. |
 | Achieving a healthier you after breast cancerThere are more than 3 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S., with more than 1 in 8 American women forecasted to face the disease during their lifetime. |
 | Smartphone app monitors on daily tuberculosis therapyJohns Hopkins researchers report success with a smart phone video-based app that substitutes for a daily in-person visit by a health care worker required for tuberculosis treatment known as directly observed therapy, or DOT. The preliminary study showed that the app may be less costly and may improve privacy concerns raised by patients compared to in-person visits. |
 | Review finds more effective drugs to stop bleeding after childbirthNew evidence from a Cochrane review published today, led by a University of Birmingham scientist, suggests that alternative drugs may be more effective than the standard drug currently used to stop women bleeding after childbirth. |
Discovery of novel biomarker with remarkable specificity to rheumatoid arthritisRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's tissues. Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis affects the lining of the joints, causing painful swelling that can eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity. | |
Tailoring blood cells in the laboratoryFor some blood transfusion patients, it is particularly difficult to find a compatible blood donor. Growing matching blood cells in the laboratory has long been an overarching goal of scientists for these patients. Research from Ashley Toye and colleagues at the University of Bristol, UK, and NHS Blood and Transplant has brought this vision one step closer to reality. The research is published today in EMBO Molecular Medicine. | |
Kids exposed to general anaesthestic have poorer development, literacy and numeracy scores: studyThe new finding published today in Pediatric Anesthesia, is based on a data-linkage study of over 210,000 children in New South Wales, Australia. | |
 | An addiction researcher shares six strategies to address the opioid epidemicThe devastating opioid epidemic is one of the largest public health problems facing the U.S. Over 2.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from opioid use disorder. |
 | The lifestyle factors that cause cancer – and why many people are still confused by the risks,About a third of cancers could be prevented with lifestyle changes – that's roughly a million cases of cancer in Europe each year. You might have thought that by now most people would be aware of what the lifestyle risks are, but you'd be wrong. Our latest study, published in the European Journal of Cancer, shows that many people are still confused about risk factors, despite vast sums being spent on public health education campaigns. |
 | A better clot-buster drug for strokes?(HealthDay)—After a stroke, many patients are given the clot-busting intravenous drug alteplase, but another drug may be more effective, Australian researchers report. |
 | Unused meds? Saturday is national drug take back day(HealthDay)—Want to keep your unused medicines out of the hands of others? |
 | Hit-and-run deaths on the rise(HealthDay)—Hit-and-run deaths in the United States reached a record high in 2016, a new report shows. |
 | The paleo diet: Fad or not so fad?(HealthDay)—The so-called "Paleo" diet, which cuts out a number of food groups to bring about weight loss, has been around for several years now and at first blush may sound like just another fad. |
 | U.S. women loosening up sexually, study shows(HealthDay)—American women are becoming more frisky in the bedroom, new research reveals. |
 | People with opioid use disorder have high suicide rate(HealthDay)—Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) seem to have a high rate of suicide, according to a perspective piece published in the April 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. |
 | Curiosity is key to early childhood success in math and readingCurious children are better able to grasp basic math and reading. This is according to a group of researchers from the University of Michigan, led by Prachi Shah. The study in the journal Pediatric Research, which is published by Springer Nature, is the first to investigate a possible link between curiosity and early academic success among young children. In addition, the researchers found that for children from poorer communities, curiosity is even more important for higher academic achievement than for children from more well-off backgrounds, and may serve as a potential target of intervention to close the achievement gap associated with poverty. |
Who is using guns for suicide?The average profile of an American using a gun for suicide is a married, white male over the age of 50 who is experiencing deteriorating health. | |
Biomarkers and efficacy of vaccine responses among patients treated with new MS drugIn March 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ocrelizumab as the first treatment for both relapsing (RMS) and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a genetic disease that afflicts approximately 400,000 Americans with an estimated 10,000 new cases every year. This week at the 2018 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, Penn Medicine neurologist Amit Bar-Or, MD, FRCPC, chief of the Multiple Sclerosis division and director for the Center for Neuroinflammation and Experimental Therapeutics, presented findings from two studies that look more deeply into the impact of ocrelizumab in these patients. | |
Probiotics useful in the fight against infection preventionProbiotics may be a relatively safe, simple, and low-cost solution for preventing Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in hospital settings, according to two studies published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Both studies show that treating patients who received antibiotics with multi-strain probiotics, cut down on CDI incidence rates over time. | |
 | New metric defines areas of highest prostate cancer burdenTo catch prostate cancer at earlier stages, when it's more easily treated, many institutions do community outreach and education sessions to explain why cancer screenings can be life-saving. In order to have the highest impact, however, institutions must select where to focus their efforts. Prostate cancer is most common among African American men and can be more aggressive in African American and men in a low socioeconomic bracket. Therefore, many institutions base their outreach on these two demographic factors. However, work recently published in the journal Preventive Medicine shows that this may not be the best approach and offers another method for identifying areas with the highest prostate cancer burden. |
Mid-life chronic inflammation may be linked to frailty laterA study of nearly 6,000 Americans followed for 24 years from middle to late adulthood found that having chronic inflammation in middle age may be linked to an increased risk of frailty and overall poorer health decades later. | |
 | Upgrading the immune system to fight cancerThere have been few cancer treatments with such a promising future as using the patient's own immune system. Known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, or CAR-T, this treatment uses re-engineered killer T-cells to attack cancer cells, but it also causes potentially deadly side effects. Now, research led by Assistant Professor Wilson Wong (BME) is opening doors to making such therapy safer and more effective. |
 | PARP-1 may be key to effectiveness of PARP inhibitors, and now researchers can image itPenn Medicine researchers have used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to isolate a key genetic feature that could cause resistance to PARP inhibitors in patients with ovarian cancer—and they've also proven they have a way to see that feature using PET imaging. |
RNA editing study shows potential for more effective precision cancer treatmentIf there is one thing all cancers have in common, it is they have nothing in common. A multi-center study led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has shed light on why proteins, the seedlings that serve as the incubator for many cancers, can vary from cancer to cancer and even patient to patient, a discovery that adds to a growing base of knowledge important for developing more effective precision therapies. | |
 | Molecule may help tame virulent bacteria and prevent infectionAccording to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in three humans carries Staphylococcus aureus, or "staph," in our noses, and 2 percent of us carry the dreaded methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strain that thwarts common antibiotics. |
 | Community efforts to prevent teen problems have lasting benefitsWant to prevent kids from using drugs and make it stick into young adulthood? Get the community involved and intervene before they're teens, say researchers from the University of Washington. |
First-of-its-kind study associates obesity with poorer stroke outcomes in non-white patientsResearch led by LSU Health New Orleans faculty has found that obesity contributed to poorer outcomes in non-white patients who had hemorrhagic strokes. It is one of the few studies examining outcomes of patients with obesity following intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and is the first such study conducted within the stroke belt of the US with a racially diverse population. The findings were published this month in Obesity Science & Practice Early View. | |
 | New study addresses the role of health in climate lawsuitsResearchers at the George Washington University (GW) are at the forefront of analyzing how climate lawsuits shape the nation's response to climate change. A new analysis investigates the role of health concerns in climate litigation since 1990 and finds that although health is cited in a minority of cases, it may have critical potential for protecting communities from the effects of climate change and coal fired power plants. |
Be wary of cosmetic surgeons' online reviewsConsumers consider online reviews important for choosing physicians, but they should be wary of using those ratings to choose plastic surgeons. The reviews tend to be polarized, and some are written by people whom consulted with the doctor but never had surgery, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. | |
 | Research helps frail older people in hospitalsResearchers led by the University of Leicester have devised a 'risk score' which will be used to help frail older people have better support in hospital. |
 | Largest-ever study of thyroid cancer genetics finds new mutations, suggests immunotherapyUniversity of Colorado Cancer Center researchers recently completed the largest-ever study of thyroid cancer genetics, mining the data of 583 patient samples of advanced differentiated thyroid cancer and 196 anaplastic thyroid cancers. In addition to identification of specific genes that may drive these cancers and thus provide attractive targets for treatment, the researchers found that in several samples of advanced differentiated and anaplastic thyroid cancer (the most aggressive and dangerous forms of the disease), mechanisms meant to repair faulty DNA had been broken. These broken repair mechanisms led to a subset of thyroid cancers accumulating a high number of genetic alterations - and this "high mutation burden" is a marker recognized by the FDA to recommend treatment with anti-cancer immunotherapies. |
Searching for a nursing home and don't know where to turn?Yelp reviews of nursing homes tend to focus more on staff attitudes, staff responsiveness and the physical facility itself than government reviews, a new USC study finds. | |
 | Another opioid epidemic downside: more heart infections(HealthDay)—Here's yet another consequence of the U.S. opioid crisis: a rise in serious heart infections in a state hard-hit by the drug epidemic. |
 | Breast cancer genes a real risk for men, too(HealthDay)—Few American men are screened for gene mutations that can greatly increase their risk of breast and other types of cancers, a new study reveals. |
 | Multiple anesthesia exposures affect learning and attention(HealthDay)—Children with multiple exposures to anesthesia before age 3 are more likely to develop adverse outcomes related to learning and attention, according to a recent study published in Anesthesiology. |
 | Proactive swallowing rehab program helpful in phalangeal CA(HealthDay)—A proactive speech and language pathology (SLP) program is beneficial for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), according to a study published online April 19 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. |
 | AAN: Cerliponase alfa beneficial for form of Batten's disease(HealthDay)—For children with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 (CLN2) disease, intraventricular infusion of cerliponase alfa is associated with reduced decline in motor and language function, according to a study published online April 24 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was published to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, held from April 21 to 27 in Los Angeles. |
 | ACOG committee recommends better, ongoing postpartum care(HealthDay)—Postpartum care should become an ongoing process rather than a single visit in order to optimize the health of women and infants, according to a Committee Opinion published in the May issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. |
 | Substance use disorders linked to conversion to schizophrenia(HealthDay)—Substance use disorders are associated with conversion from schizotypal disorder to schizophrenia, according to a study published online April 25 in JAMA Psychiatry. |
 | Get a grip: What your hand strength says about your marriage prospects and mortalityResearchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Columbia Aging Center found men with a stronger grip were more likely to be married than men with weaker grips. Grip strength was not a factor in the marital status of women. The findings are published online in the journal SSM-Population Health. |
'Rapid autopsy' programs seek clues to cancer within hours of deathAfter Keith Beck died of bile duct cancer last year, family members said more than 900 people showed up to pay respects to the popular athletic director at the University of Findlay in northwestern Ohio. | |
 | Can cannabis kill pain without getting you stoned?More than 87 percent of medical marijuana users report smoking or ingesting it for pain-related conditions. Yet for many, the cognitively impairing properties of its active ingredient, THC, make cannabis impractical as an everyday painkiller. |
Quality cancer care—not just a matter of anti-cancer medicinesESMO, the leading professional organisation for medical oncology, shares concerns expressed in a scientific paper and reflected in the international media about the rising costs of cancer medicines. | |
 | How the brain learns to read—development of the "word form area"The ability to recognize, process and interpret written language is a uniquely human skill that is acquired with remarkable ease at a young age. But as anyone who has attempted to learn a new language will attest, the brain isn't "hardwired" to understand written language. In fact, it remains somewhat of a mystery how the brain develops this specialized ability. Although researchers have identified brain regions that process written words, how this selectivity for language develops isn't entirely clear. A recent PLOS Biology study by researchers from the University Paris-Saclay adds significantly to our understanding of the changes supporting reading acquisition in the child brain. |
Fluoride varnish in the primary dentition can prevent cariesWhereas caries in adults and adolescents is declining, studies in children under the age of 3 have shown that caries in this age group has hardly decreased: On average, about 14% of all 3-year-olds in Germany have caries in the primary dentition. Fluoride varnish effectively helps in the remineralization of the tooth surface and prevents the development and progression of caries. The use of fluoride varnish has advantages especially for small children because it hardens quickly. Due to a lack of conclusive data it is unclear, however, whether fluoride application also has advantages regarding further patient-relevant outcomes such as tooth preservation, toothache or dental abscesses. | |
VA delivers higher quality care than other health providers, study findsThe VA health care system performs similar to or better than non-VA systems on most measures of inpatient and outpatient care quality, although there is high variation in quality across individual VA facilities, according to a new RAND Corporation study. | |
Publication details IDRI's promising leprosy vaccine candidateA publication in Nature Partner Journals (npj) Vaccines indicates that post-exposure prophylaxis with LepVax, IDRI's leprosy vaccine candidate, not only appears safe but, unlike BCG (a tuberculosis vaccine that provides some protection against leprosy), alleviates and delays the neurologic disruptions caused by Mycobacterium leprae infection in nine-banded armadillos. This is an important finding because armadillos are the only other host of M. leprae that closely recapitulates many of the structural, physiological and functional aspects of leprosy observed in humans, including progressive and irreversible nerve damage. | |
New clinical trial shows second generation drug-eluting stents are safe and effectiveResults of the PERSPECTIVE trial were presented today as late-breaking clinical science at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2018 Scientific Sessions. The PERSPECTIVE study is a prospective, single-center rigorously performed clinical trial and reports on one-year outcomes of patients undergoing chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) treated with Zotarolimus-Eluting Stents (ZES). The ZES included in the study were manufactured by Medtronic and represent a modern, newer generation drug-eluting stent (DES). | |
New study shows life-saving outcomes using 3-D printing models for heart valve diseaseA new study examines the effectiveness of 3D printing technology and computer modeling to predict paravalvular leak (PVL) in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). A common risk of TAVR is an ill-fitting valve which can lead to PVL. To address this risk, the study used 3D printing technology to help confirm and detect the location of the leak. The retrospective study was presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) Scientific Sessions. | |
New study shows length of hospital stay impacts outcomes after TAVR procedureA new study finds patients who stay in the hospital for more than 72 hours when undergoing trans-femoral transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TF-TAVR) procedure may be associated with negative short and long-term outcomes. The authors, for the first time, report a significant decline in the rates of delayed discharge; and identified independent predictors of both delayed and early discharge post TAVR. The study was presented as late-breaking clinical science at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2018 Scientific Sessions. | |
Expanded registry data shows continued positive results for the mitraclip deviceThe post-approval study evaluating the safety and efficacy of MitraClip in a real-world, commercial setting was presented today as late-breaking clinical science at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2018 Scientific Sessions. The prospective, single-arm, multi-center, observational study entitled, The Abbott Post-Approval Study 1 MitraClip Registry: 1-year Results of the First 2,000 Patients in the Transcatheter Valve Therapy Registry, is the first to include echocardiographic, functional and quality of life outcomes. | |
New study shows therapy for psoriasis can reduce heart plaqueLate-breaking clinical science shows common therapy options for psoriasis (PSO)-a chronic inflammatory skin disease-can help reduce coronary plaque. The authors found that not only do the treatments reduce the volume of the plaque, but also the plaque becomes less inflammatory over time harboring fewer characteristics prone to rupture and cause a heart attack. It is the first-in-human observational study demonstrating that treating remote inflammation in the body can modulate coronary disease. It was presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) Scientific Sessions 2018 by Research Fellow Youssef Elnabawi from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. | |
Infection of the heart valves and healthcare costs on rise due to impact of IV drugA new study finds the number of patients hospitalized with endocarditis has increased dramatically over the last decade in a pattern that mirrors the increase in mixed drug use. The nearly decade-long retrospective study analyzed patients in the epicenter of the opioid epidemic—West Virginia. Findings showed a trend between the significant increase in patients hospitalized with endocarditis from mixed drug abuse and the substantial cost it has on state and federal programs. The study was presented today at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2018 Scientific Sessions. | |
 | Conjoined twins separated at Houston hospital dischargedTwin girls born in 2016 conjoined at the chest and abdomen have been discharged from a Houston hospital more than three months after separation surgery. |
Studies find more patients admitted to hospitals with cardiac conditions in winter monthsTwo new studies examined seasonal variations in cardiac-related hospitalizations specifically for aortic dissection and ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarctions (STEMI). The results of both studies revealed winter as the most common time for hospital admissions and used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database (NIS) for analysis. Results were presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) Scientific Sessions in San Diego. | |
 | Toddler Alfie Evans' parents say they'll work with doctorsThe father of terminally ill toddler Alfie Evans said Thursday that he would work with doctors to give his son "dignity and comfort," as he called for a truce in a divisive case that has pitted doctors and the British courts against Alfie's parents, Christian groups and the pope. |
Herbal treatment for anxietySeveral herbal remedies have been studied as a treatment for anxiety, but more research is needed to understand the risks and benefits. Here's what we know—and don't know: | |
Biology news
 | Scientists reveal the genetic roadmap to building an entire organism from a single cellWhether a worm, a human or a blue whale, all multicellular life begins as a single-celled egg. |
 | Egyptian fruit bat genome yields clues about bats' ability to harbor and transmit deadly pathogens without getting sickBoston University researchers, Thomas Kepler, professor of microbiology; Stephanie Pavlovich, an MD/PhD student; and Elke Mühlberger, director, Biomolecule Production Core, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL); in collaboration with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Viral Special Pathogens Branch, today released new research about bats' ability to harbor and transmit deadly pathogens, like Marburg virus, without getting sick themselves. |
 | Study examines how early embryonic development can go awryA new study in the journal Nature Cell Biology has uncovered information about a key stage that human embryonic cells must pass through just before an embryo implants. The research, led by UCLA biologist Amander Clark, could help explain certain causes of infertility and spontaneous miscarriage. |
 | 100-million-year-old liverwort mimicry in insectsCamouflage and mimicry are pervasive throughout the biological world as part of the usual interactions between predators and their prey, allowing both to avoid detection. Among insects, the icons of mimicry include familiar stick and leaf insects, leaf-like moths and katydids. |
 | Camouflage protects animals – even if they are spottedPythons, moths and frogs exhibit a certain type of camouflage that hides their identity from other animals even after they have been spotted, new research has found. |
 | E. coli rewired to control growth as experts let them make proteins for medicineExperts have equipped biotech workhorse bacteria with feedback control mechanism to balance growth with making protein products. |
 | Study finds horses remember facial expressions of people they've seen beforeA study by the Universities of Sussex and Portsmouth reveals that horses can read and then remember people's emotional expressions, enabling them to use this information to identify people who could pose a potential threat. |
 | Study could spawn better ways to combat crop-killing fungusAbout 21 million years ago, a fungus that causes a devastating disease in rice first became harmful to the food that nourishes roughly half the world's population, according to an international study led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists. |
 | Treating cardiovascular disorders—and more—with the flips of a switchYou've heard of "nature versus nurture," and philosophers argue about which is more important. But how does this work on the cellular level? |
 | CRISPR/Cas9 silences gene associated with high cholesterol levels through epigenetic regulationBiomedical engineers at Duke University have used a CRISPR/Cas9 genetic engineering technique to turn off a gene that regulates cholesterol levels in adult mice, leading to reduced blood cholesterol levels and gene repression lasting for six months after a single treatment. |
 | Study sheds light on recently evolved traits among Japanese descendantsEvolution enables beneficial traits to dominate a population. Given enough time, groups exposed to different environments will eventually evolve unique adaptive traits. Knowing how environmental pressures shape human evolution can lead to a better understanding of why certain populations or ethnic groups today are predisposed to certain characteristics. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers centered at Osaka University conducted a large-scale genomic analysis to explore recent evolutionary events among individuals of Japanese descent. |
 | Study sheds light on bacterial propeller assemblyMany bacteria are equipped with a flagellum, a helical propeller that allows bacteria to travel. The flagellum is assembled in a highly organized manner involving the stepwise addition of each of its internal parts. However, there are many open questions as to how this orderly construction is achieved. In a study published in Science Advances, a Japanese research team centered at Osaka University has uncovered new molecular details and provided a model explaining how stepwise flagellar assembly occurs. |
 | Critically endangered Javan Rhino dies in IndonesiaA Javan rhino has died in Indonesia, the environment ministry said Thursday, bringing the critically endangered mammals closer to extinction with just 60 believed to be still living in the wild. |
 | Zinc is able to modulate Escherichia coli bacteria's virulence, study findszinc can modulate the virulence of Escherichia coli bacteria, a pathogen that causes urinary infections in humans, according to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports by biologist Carlos Balsalobre, from the University of Barcelona (UB). The new study reveals for the first time that zinc can regulate the expression of bacterial virulence factors, in particular, alfa-hemolysin, an exotoxin produced by some Escherichia coli pathogenic strains. |
Analyzing insect performance—Researchers looking at the role neonicotinoid insecticides play in arthropod performancePollinators and other beneficial insects play an important role in the agricultural world, especially in terms of economic value for growers. A study conducted by Cornell University showed that crops pollinated by those beneficial insects contributed $29 billion to farm income in 2010. | |
 | The convoluted history of the double-helixIt's been 65 years since the paper "Molecular structure of nucleic acids," by James Watson and Francis Crick, was published in Nature. Or, more prosaically, the paper that first describes the structure of DNA as we know it today. |
 | Whale shark logs longest-recorded trans-Pacific migrationLittle is known about the world's largest living fish, gentle giants reaching 12 meters (40 feet) in length. Researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and colleagues tracked a female whale shark from the eastern Pacific to the western Indo-Pacific for 20,142 kilometers (more than 12,000 miles), the longest whale shark migration route ever recorded. |
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