Science X Newsletter Tuesday, Jul 21

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for July 21, 2015:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Macroscopic quantum phenomena discovered in ice
- William James revisited: Ongoing brain activity and connectivity influence variability in perception
- How does color blindness affect color preferences?
- Clinic gets approved medical supply drop by drone in Virginia
- Perovskite solar technology shows quick energy returns
- Astronauts' skin changes before and after missions are studied
- New research effort claims King Phillip II buried in Tomb I not Tomb II
- Genetic studies link indigenous peoples in the Amazon and Australasia
- Stress 'sweet spot' differs for mellow vs. hyper dogs
- Degrading BPA with visible light and a new hybrid photocatalyst
- New technology to help prevent rhino poaching
- Yeast cells optimize their genomes in response to the environment
- Archaeologists use new methods to explore move from hunting, gathering to farming
- New mussel-inspired surgical protein glue: Close wounds, open medical possibilities
- Scientists track monster waves below the ocean surface

Astronomy & Space news

	Astronauts' skin changes before and after missions are studied As NASA once put, space is no trip to the spa. Changes in skin occur during spaceflight. According to recent reports, scientists have found that skin of astronauts who spend a lot of time in space gets thinner.
	Study of human body fluid shifts aboard space station advances journey to Mars NASA and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) are studying the effects of how fluids shift to the upper body in space and how this adaptation to space flight affects changes in vision. This research will help prepare for a human journey to Mars. The Fluid Shift investigation is part of the groundbreaking research taking place during the One-Year Mission, in partnership between NASA's Human Research Program and Roscosmos to tackle the complex, unanswered questions of how space flight changes the human body.
	NASA robotic servicing demonstrations continue onboard the space station It's back, it's updated, and it's making great progress – all on the International Space Station (ISS).
	Inside Imhotep Imhotep is located close to the comet's equator and is relatively flat compared to the overall shape of the nucleus. It caught the attention of scientists on the approach to the comet with its broad smooth area, covering about 0.8 square km, standing out in the first close images of this region. Within this intriguing area, a variety of diverse features can be found. This diverse geomorphology holds fundamental clues to understanding the cometary processes that lead to the formation of the surface as we see it today, and also provides insights for the underlying and possibly primordial structure of the comet.
	What's this ridge on Iapetus? The strangest feature on Iapetus is the equatorial ridge. What could possibly create a feature like this?
	New Horizons brought our last 'first look' at one of the original nine solar system planets Carl Sagan famously said we were the luckiest generation, to be present during the first reconnaissance of the solar system. The New Horizons mission to Pluto completes this half-century project with its stunning images and data. Meanwhile, however, space science has helped change dramatically our notions of solar systems and planets, with Pluto's status itself the subject of controversy while New Horizons was on its way.
	The hunt for ET will boost Australian astronomy It's already an exciting time for Australia in the field of astronomy and space science. But we've just received an astronomical boost with the announcement of CSIRO's role with the Breakthrough Prize Foundation's (BPF) US$100 million dollar search for extraterrestrial intelligence, called Breakthrough Listen.
	Seeing triple: New 3-D model could solve supernova mystery Giant stars die a violent death. After a life of several million years, they collapse into themselves and then explode in what is known as a supernova.

Technology news

	Clinic gets approved medical supply drop by drone in Virginia Flirtey is a drone delivery company from Australia specializing in last-mile delivery using unmanned vehicles, and it recently marked July 17 as a day going down in history—the first drone delivery, government-approved, in the U.S., with packages of medical supplies getting to its source, a clinic in Virginia.
	The future of data science looks spectacular It wasn't that long ago that we lived in an entirely analogue world. From telephones to televisions and books to binders, digital technology was largely relegated to the laboratory.
	New computer program first to recognise sketches more accurately than a human Known as Sketch-a-Net, the program is capable of correctly identifying the subject of sketches 74.9 per cent of the time compared to humans that only managed a success rate of 73.1 per cent.
International consortium hopes to unlock spectrum above 6 GHz The University of Bristol is part of an international consortium that aims to develop concepts and key components for a new 5G mobile radio access technology. The technology is expected to operate in a range of frequency bands between 6 and 100 GHz, including millimetre-wave (mmWave) frequencies.
	Behind the scenes at PhyloPic Open science is about more than just tossing some publications and data notebooks into the digital ether. It's all about communication–so, at this point I'm obligated to say that "A picture is worth a thousand words." One of my favorite open-friendly image sources is PhyloPic, a phenomenal site with over 2,200 silhouettes of organisms past and present. These silhouettes can be quite handy to illustrate family trees (for instance, we used them in our paper on the horned dinosaur Aquilops), or blog posts, or public presentations. Suffice to say, it's a great resource. [full disclosure: I have contributed some images to the site]
3D acquisition of forensic evidence presents crime scene analysts with new perspectives If you are into TV crime series, you have probably noticed how the likes of traces on bodies or shoe prints often help detectives to shorten their list of suspects. Such forensic evidence also plays a key role in real investigations, but state-of-the-art techniques have their limitations. Technology developed under the 3D-FORENSICS project will help greatly improve the precision of these analyses thanks to the use of 3D laser scanning technology.
	CEO of Japan's Toshiba resigns over doctored books Toshiba's CEO and eight other executives resigned Tuesday to take responsibility for doctored books that inflated profits at the Japanese technology manufacturer by 152 billion yen ($1.2 billion) over several years.
	Chaos is an inherent part of city traffic It's not unusual for two drivers to depart from the same location, head out to the same destination, drive more or less the same speed and nevertheless arrive at dramatically different times, with one driver taking significantly longer to arrive. While this can simply be bad luck, sometimes the reason isn't an obvious external event.
	Gun-firing 'drone' built by US teen under investigation The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday it was investigating an online video that shows an alleged home-made "drone" firing a handgun in the Connecticut countryside.
Location-based ads need more than closeness to overcome creepiness Location-based advertisements may pinpoint customers geographically, but often miss the target because customers may find the ads creepy and intrusive, according to an international team of researchers. To overcome this negativity, the researchers suggest advertisers invite their customers to help tailor ads they might receive.
	Increased reports of officer misconduct associated with larger police departments The size of a community's police force is a greater predictor for police misconduct than its ethnic diversity, according to researchers from Florida International University and Montana State University.
Ventilation through breathing windows Centralised ventilation systems that exchange heat between the air inside and outside a building often come with a lot of silver-coloured pipes and shafts. By contrast, compact and decentralised ventilation systems, which are distributed throughout a building, can provide a real added-value in terms of design, comfort and energy efficiency. Now, an innovative solution offering decentralised ventilation can be integrated into building features. It is called the Green Ventilation system and works by balancing the inbound and outbound air flow in such a way that it reduces heating and cooling requirements—a principle called balanced heat recovery. The advantage of this system is that it can be added to building envelope components such as windows, walls, insulation materials, terminal heating and cooling units and lintels.
Flexible engineering design for infrastructure projects For nearly 50 years, Richard de Neufville has been working on ways to plan, analyze and design complex engineering systems. A civil engineer by background, de Neufville's latest research focuses on a major paradigm shift in engineering in general.
Singapore's UOB, Temasek to offer $500 mn for Asia start-ups Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB) said Tuesday it will partner with state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings to provide up to $500 million in venture debt financing to start-ups in China, India and Southeast Asia.
India's Infosys posts 5.00% rise in profits Indian software giant Infosys Technologies reported a five percent rise in quarterly net profits on Tuesday, aided by a weak rupee and strong demand from the United States.
	8-Bit Icons: A look at the video games of 'Pixels' Q(asterisk)bert is ready for his close-up.
United Technologies posts lower 2Q revenue, profit United Technologies Corp. posted second-quarter declines Tuesday in revenue and profit as a strong dollar cut exports. It also reduced its 2015 outlook on Otis elevator sales in Europe and China's slowing economy.
	Weak results from IBM, others send US stock indexes lower U.S. stocks moved lower in afternoon trading Tuesday, on course for their first broad decline in three days. Weak results from IBM, United Technologies and other companies weighed on the market. Apple and Microsoft were among the other big-name companies reporting earnings later in the day.
	Apple online music and shops stumble Apple's online shop and recently launched streaming music service stumbled on Tuesday, experiencing outages as the company was poised to release quarterly earnings figures.
BlackBerry cuts jobs as part of turnaround plan BlackBerry Ltd. announced another round of job cuts Tuesday as it deals with weak smartphone sales and pushes ahead with a restructuring plan.
Feds: Man tried to export night-vision goggles to China A man was arrested in Hawaii for allegedly arranging to buy six pairs of military-grade night-vision goggles from an undercover federal agent and trying to export them to China, court documents show.
Yahoo swings to loss as revenues rise Yahoo said Tuesday swung to a loss in the second quarter but that revenues grew as the Internet pioneer refocused its efforts on mobile and other growing sectors.
Apple: Strong iPhone sales, few details on Watch Apple's latest financial report shows the iPhone is still the key engine of the company's success. But the impact of its newest product, the Apple Watch, isn't clear.

Medicine & Health news

	How does color blindness affect color preferences? (Medical Xpress)—Dichromacy is a color vision defect in which one of the three types of cone photoreceptors is missing. The condition is hereditary and sex-linked, mostly affecting males. Although researchers have explored color perception in dichromats, there are few studies of their affective response to color, such as color preference. A group of researchers from Spain and the United Kingdom have recently conducted a study about the color preferences of red-green dichromats, and have published their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
	William James revisited: Ongoing brain activity and connectivity influence variability in perception The brain is an exceedingly complex and active organ in which most neural activity is not directly evoked by, and thereby linked to, specific external events. Moreover, intrinsic activity occurring in one location exhibits functional connectivity – that is, being correlated with other brain regions – but there has been only limited direct evidence of these continuous large-scale connectivity dynamics having behavioral relevance. Recently, however, scientists at University of California, Berkeley demonstrated that these ongoing changes correlate with behavior by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers conclude that moment-to-moment changes in baseline functional connectivity may shape subsequent behavioral performance. Their findings suggest that a highly modular network structure is beneficial to perceptual efficiency.
	Deadly and distinctive—cancer caused by gene deletions A deadly form of T cell lymphoma is caused by an unusually large number gene deletions, making it distinct among cancers, a new Yale School of Medicine study shows.
	Can social isolation fuel epidemics? Conventional wisdom has it that the more people stay within their own social groups and avoid others, the less likely it is small disease outbreaks turn into full-blown epidemics. But the conventional wisdom is wrong, according to two SFI researchers, and the consequences could reach far beyond epidemiology.
	Fluorescent material reveals how cells grow Fibre from a semiconducting polymer, developed for solar cells, is an excellent support material for the growth of new human tissue. Researchers at Linköping University have shown that the fibre glows, which makes it possible to follow the growth of the cells inside living tissue.
	How do networks shape the spread of disease and gossip? A new approach to exploring the spread of contagious diseases or the latest celebrity gossip has been tested using London's street and underground networks.
	Fatherhood makes men fat All those leftover pizza crusts you snatch from your kids' plates add up. Men gain weight after they become fathers for the first time whether or not they live with their children, reports a large, new Northwestern Medicine study that tracked the weight of more than 10,000 men from adolescence to young adulthood.
Words jump-start vision, psychologist's study shows Cognitive scientists have come to view the brain as a prediction machine, constantly comparing what is happening around us to expectations based on experience—and considering what should happen next.
Hereditary swellings caused by defective blood protein Oedema, or tissues becoming swollen due to fluid retention, is a common symptom in a number of pathologies such as allergies or kidney and heart diseases. The swelling is caused by blood vessels leaking fluid into the surrounding tissue. In hereditary angioedema (HAE), the leakage, and hence the swelling, is primarily caused by the hormone bradykinin.
Former professional rugby players have greater cervical spine degeneration French researchers used clinical examinations and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies to determine whether retired professional rugby players experience more serious symptoms of cervical spine degeneration than people in the general population. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the largest study of its kind covering any professional contact sport, and it confirms greater cervical spine degeneration in former rugby players. The research findings are reported and discussed in the article, "Clinical and radiological cervical spine evaluation in retired professional rugby players," by David Brauge, MD, and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.
S. Korea tourism struggles to recover from MERS crisis The recent outbreak of the deadly MERS virus in South Korea has left the country's tourist industry in intensive care, with visitor numbers plunging more than 40 percent in June, according to data released Tuesday.
Studies show success in HIV drugs for prevention Despite evidence that taking powerful anti-HIV drugs can help protect uninfected partners from contracting the virus that causes AIDS, the therapy is far from becoming routinely prescribed, scientists said Monday.
	Juvenile inmates have more mental health hospitalizations, study finds Depression, substance abuse and other mental health problems account for a much larger share of hospital stays for children and teenagers in the juvenile justice system than for other hospitalized adolescents.
	Gene variation identified for teen binge eating A variation of a gene that can lead teenagers to binge eat has been identified by researchers. The work, carried out by academics at UCL and the universities of Bristol and Queensland, hope the finding will allow a better understanding of why binge eating develops, and inform the development of future preventative strategies for teens at risk before they become overweight or obese.
Pluripotent stem cells help ID method of treatment for inherited disease Using pluripotent stem cells, researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have gained insight into an inherited pediatric disease and identified a novel method of treatment.
	Research shows effects of aging on speech processing As humans age, many develop difficulties with understanding and processing speech – especially in noisy settings such as restaurants or bars. New multidisciplinary research at the University of Maryland's Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences suggests this phenomenon is due to changes in the central auditory system that effectively slow or disrupt the way our brains process words.
Nutritionists back calls for more fibre in our diets University of Otago nutritionists say a major new British report that highlights the need for fibre in the human diet upholds their stance that the popular low-carbohydrate diets that are high in fat may not be ideal for our health.
	Is workplace romance OK? New ways of working mean employers are rethinking the way they manage workplace romance. While some would still prefer that staff kept affairs of the heart out of the office, new research shows that others are taking a perhaps more realistic – and even welcoming – approach to Cupid.
	Older singles in hospital more often, longer Older Australians who live alone are the focus of new research with implications for health policy and funding.
	Treatment hope for dystonia sufferers For nearly 20 years, Sylvia May has not been able to hold her head straight. The muscles in her neck are in constant spasm, meaning her head tilts permanently to one side in an often painful position.
	Confidence keeps new parents strong Just months after her daughter Jayne was born, Amelia was a sleep-deprived zombie. Breastfeeding was a nightmare, the baby kept her awake most of the night – and Amelia spiralled into postnatal depression.
	How much weight do you really need to lose? Most people are aware that being overweight and sedentary is commonly associated with being unhealthy. This has spurred a growth in the sales of fitness trackers with 25 million being sold globally last year. Fitness trackers and connected scales may help in measuring your progress to achieve certain goals but they typically don't tell you what those goals should be or the best way to get there.
	Art and science combine to reveal the inner workings of our DNA How can cells that contain the same DNA end up so different from each other? That is not only a difficult question for science to answer, but also a challenging one to represent visually.
	Slowness as organisation principle in the brain The brain is so complex that its structure cannot be completely determined by genetics. Neuroscientists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) attempt to figure out which mechanisms nerve cells use to organise themselves. They have suggested that slowness may be the decisive factor. The Ruhr-Universität's science magazine RUBIN reports.
Scientists to unlock the secrets of the biological clock Scientists in Leicester are tackling two of the most critical questions to ageing – why do some people stay healthy in older age while others succumb to chronic disease, and what can we do about it?
	Sleeping on cerebral palsy difficulties While a decent night's sleep is hard enough for some people to master children with cerebral palsy (CP) face added sleeping pressures with recent research finding the child's ability to sleep well hinging on their level of physical impairment.
	Researchers using ground-breaking stem cell technology to test and assess new approaches to disease Scientists have successfully used stem cells to grow fully functional bile ducts in the lab, which could one day help prevent liver tissue damage. Bile ducts are vital to enabling the liver to dispose of waste; malfunctioning bile ducts are behind a significant proportion of all liver transplants (30 % for adults and 70 % for children). The treatment will next need to be extensively tested in clinical trials before it can be used on patients.
Exploding the nuclear family Lesley and John Brown had been trying to conceive for nine years. The ongoing failures took their toll: Lesley became depressed, and at one point suggested that John find a "normal woman".
Sex and violence may not really sell products If there's one thing advertisers think they know, it is that sex and violence sell.
Transgender youth have typical hormone levels Johanna Olson, MD, and her colleagues at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, provide care for the largest number of transyouth in the U.S. and have enrolled 101 patients in a study to determine the safety and efficacy of treatment that helps patients bring their bodies into closer alignment with their gender of identity. Baseline characteristics of these individuals have been published on July 21 in the Journal of Adolescent Health and include a significant finding: transgender individuals have sex hormone levels consistent with the gender they were assigned at birth.
Scientists make big discovery in antibiotics research Scientists seeking to develop the next generation of antibiotics may have found a crucial clue within the human body: a protein that distinguishes between our cells and those of invading microbes, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Comparing your partner to someone else's? Find yours comes up short? When Julie compares her husband George to her friend's husband Sam, she can't help but notice that Sam is better is better at helping his children with homework. But rather than be upset about George's shortcomings in the children's homework arena, Julie reasons that since she enjoys doing homework with their children, it's not that important that George do it.
	Elderberry benefits air travelers The negative health effects of international air travel are well documented but now it seems that the common elderberry can provide some relief.
Common chemicals may act together to increase cancer risk, study finds Common environmental chemicals assumed to be safe at low doses may act separately or together to disrupt human tissues in ways that eventually lead to cancer, according to a task force of nearly 200 scientists from 28 countries, including one from Oregon State University.
Universal flu vaccine in the works Each year, scientists create an influenza (flu) vaccine that protects against a few specific influenza strains that researchers predict are going to be the most common during that year. Now, a new study shows that scientists may be able to create a 'universal' vaccine that can provide broad protection against numerous influenza strains, including those that could cause future pandemics. The study appears in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Foods with added phosphate cause spike in blood, even in people with healthy kidneys Phosphates artificially added to dairy and cereal products appear to cause bigger spikes in blood phosphorus levels than naturally occurring phosphates, potentially putting harmful stress on kidneys. Too much dietary phosphate stiffens blood vessels, enlarges the heart and is bad for bones, but a new study by Houston Methodist researchers suggests it matters where the phosphates come from.
	Women descend into alzheimer's at twice the speed of men: study (HealthDay)—Women with mild thinking and memory problems—known as mild cognitive impairment—deteriorate twice as fast mentally as men with the same condition, according to new research.
	Cervical cerclage rates remain steady (HealthDay)—Cervical cerclage is a commonly performed obstetric procedure and its rate of use has remained steady in recent years, according to a study published online July 7 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.
	Intervention can improve appropriateness of telemetry use (HealthDay)—A hospitalist-driven intervention to improve appropriate use of telemetry can reduce length of stay and costs, according to a study published online July 7 in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
	Macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae in all U.S. regions (HealthDay)—Macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MRMP) has a prevalence of 13.2 percent in a sample of M. pneumoniae-positive specimens from six locations in the United States, according to a study published in the August issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Emerging Infectious Diseases.
	Prostate cancer interacts with comorbidity to increase VTE rate (HealthDay)—For men with prostate cancer (PC), the rate of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is increased with high comorbidity, according to a study published online July 6 in Cancer.
	The top five unnecessary tests, treatments in newborn medicine (HealthDay)—The top five unnecessary tests and treatments have been identified in newborn medicine, according to an article published online July 20 in Pediatrics.
	Clinical signs of citrin deficiency mimic anorexia nervosa (HealthDay)—The clinical features of citrin deficiency (CD) may mimic those of anorexia nervosa (AN), according to a case report published online July 20 in Pediatrics.
	Extensive nonadherence to vaccine guidelines in diabetes (HealthDay)—Among patients with diabetes, considered to be at increased risk of infection and infectious complications, there is considerable nonadherence to national guidelines for hepatitis B, influenza, and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines, according to a study published in the July issue of Clinical Diabetes.
	Diode laser safe, effective for treating facial skin laxity (HealthDay)—An 810- and 940-nm diode laser is safe and efficacious for treating facial skin laxity, according to a study published online July 15 in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.
	Article answers reader questions about coding (HealthDay)—Reader questions about coding a new evaluation and management (E/M) with modifier 25 and codes for three-dimensional (3D) mammograms are answered in an article published in Medical Economics.
	AAIC: as baby boomers age, alzheimer's rates will soar (HealthDay)—The number of people with Alzheimer's disease is set to increase significantly in the United States due to the aging of the baby-boom generation, and the cost of caring for these patients will use up a large proportion of Medicare's budget, new research suggests. Findings from the study were scheduled to be presented Monday at annual Alzheimer's Association International Conference, held from July 18 to 23 in Washington, D.C.
Antibiotic use and decrease in INR levels among patients taking vitamin K antagonists Researchers have found an association between treatment with the antibiotic dicloxacillin and a decrease in international normalized ratio (INR; a measure of blood coagulation) levels among patients taking the vitamin K antagonists warfarin or phenprocoumon, according to a study in the July 21 issue of JAMA.
Adjuvants improve immune response to H7N9 flu vaccine In a phase 2 trial that included nearly 1,000 adults, the AS03 and MF59 adjuvants (a component that improves immune response of inactivated influenza vaccines) increased the immune responses to two doses of an inactivated H7N9 influenza vaccine, with AS03-adjuvanted formulations inducing the highest amount of antibody response, according to a study in the July 21 issue of JAMA.
Examination of use of diabetes drug pioglitazone and risk of bladder cancer Although some previous studies have suggested an increased risk of bladder cancer with use of the diabetes drug pioglitazone, analyses that included nearly 200,000 patients found no statistically significant increased risk, however a small increased risk could not be excluded, according to a study in the July 21 issue of JAMA. Additional analyses with another large group found that use of pioglitazone was associated with an increase in the risk of prostate and pancreatic cancer, although further investigation is needed to assess whether the associations are causal or due to other factors.
Studies examine use of bystander interventions for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Two studies in the July 21 issue of JAMA find that use of interventions such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillators by bystanders and first responders have increased and were associated with improved survival and neurological outcomes for persons who experienced an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
	PolyU establishes Hong Kong's first breast milk nutrient database Breastfeeding has become more common all across the world in recent years, however, breastfeeding rate has remained low in Hong Kong. One of the main reasons is that Hong Kong mothers worry about the nutrient adequacy of their breast milk to meet the growing needs of the infant. Local healthcare professionals also lack reference of breast milk composition of local mothers in their daily practice. In light of filling the data gap of Hong Kong breast milk nutrition research, the research team at PolyU embarked on the study in breast milk research, with an aim to understanding the diet and nutritional characteristics of breast milk in Hong Kong lactating women, so as to analyze how daily diet affects the nutritional composition of breast milk.
The ends count starting at birth: Newborns use first and last syllables to recognize words Most of us think of infants as tiny beings whose main business is to sleep, suck and cry, without much awareness of what is happening around them. It may come as somewhat of a surprise, then, to know that newborn brains are full of feverish activity and that they are already gathering and processing important information from the world around them. At just two days after birth, babies are already able to process language using processes similar to those of adults. SISSA researchers have demonstrated that they are sensitive to the most important parts of words, the edges, a cognitive mechanism which has been repeatedly observed in older children and adults.
	Birmingham, Ala., neighborhood revitalization motivated exercise When the HOPE VI community revitalization project in the disadvantaged Birmingham, Ala., neighborhood of Ensley reached the phase of building walking and biking paths, green spaces, and improved lighting in 2010, two things happened, according to a new study: First, residents developed specific expectations that leisure exercise would become more plausible, and then they followed through and got out there.
	Induced pluripotent stem cells show promise for kidney treatment One promising way to treat diseased or damaged kidneys is cell therapies that include the transplantation of renal progenitor cells, which can then develop into the cells needed for full recovery. Acquiring a sufficient number of progenitor cells has been difficult, however, which is why scientists have considered induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), since they can be expanded at significantly high levels and then differentiated into the progenitors.
Bust up big kidney stones with tamsulosin Tamsulosin works no better than placebo on small kidney stones, but does improve passage of more large kidney stones than placebo does. The results of this large clinical trial evaluating tamsulosin versus placebo were published online Friday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Distal Ureteric Stones and Tamsulosin: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized, Multi-Center Trial (The DUST Trial)").
Blood vessels can actually get better with age Although the causes of many age-related diseases remain unknown, oxidative stress is thought to be the main culprit. Oxidative stress has been linked to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases including diabetes, hypertension and age-related cancers. However, researchers at the University of Missouri recently found that aging actually offered significant protection against oxidative stress. These findings suggest that aging may trigger an adaptive response to counteract the effects of oxidative stress on blood vessels.
	The medical odyssey of an undiagnosed child Children born with ADNP-related autism syndrome suffer from a heart-breaking combination of ambiguous developmental problems injurious to both their physical health and cognitive functioning. For parents, the mystery surrounding their infants' suffering can be even more agonizing than the syndrome itself, which has no known cure.
	Dartmouth team conducts first synthesis of molecules that cause rapid cell death in cancer Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues have carried out the first total syntheses of certain compounds involved in excessive cell death in leukemia.
Poor diabetes control found in older Americans Only one in three older Americans have their diabetes under control as measured by guidelines set by the American Diabetes Association, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.
Europe approves Amgen's first-in-class cholesterol drug Amgen on Tuesday received European approval for its first-of-a-kind cholesterol drug that lowers levels of the artery-clogging substance more than older drugs that have been prescribed for decades.
Turkmenistan the world's most non-smoking country: WHO Health-obsessed former Soviet Turkmenistan is the country with the world's lowest proportion of smokers, World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan said during a visit to the isolated nation on Tuesday.
Applying New Jersey population traits to Louisiana reverses colorectal cancer trends If Louisiana, which has some of the highest colon cancer incidence and mortality rates in the nation, had the same risk factors, screening uptake, and survival rates as New Jersey, incidence and mortality from the disease would not only drop, they would drop to levels below that of New Jersey, according to a new study. The study, appearing in Cancer, shows that removing differences in health behavior and survival would close a gap that has appeared over the past several decades.
Evolution not just mutation drives development of cancer A paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argues against the commonly held "accumulation of mutations" model of oncogenesis in favor of a model that depends on evolutionary pressures acting on populations of cells. Basically, the paper states that the ecosystem of a healthy tissue landscape lets healthy cells outcompete ones with cancerous mutations; it is when the tissue ecosystem changes due to aging, smoking, or other stressors, that cells with cancerous mutations can suddenly find themselves the most fit, allowing their population to expand over generations of natural selection.
Early antiretroviral therapy prevents non-AIDS outcomes in HIV-infected people, study Starting antiretroviral therapy early not only prevents serious AIDS-related diseases, but also prevents the onset of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other non-AIDS-related diseases in HIV-infected people, according to a new analysis of data from the Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) study, the first large-scale randomized clinical trial to establish that earlier antiretroviral treatment benefits all HIV-infected individuals. Rates of both serious AIDS-related events and serious non-AIDS-related events were significantly reduced with early therapy.
Acupuncture impacts same biologic pathways in rats that pain drugs target in humans In animal models, acupuncture appears to impact the same biologic pathways ramped up by pain and stress, analogous to what drugs do in humans. Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) researchers say their animal study, published online in Endocrinology, provides the strongest evidence to date on the mechanism of this ancient Chinese therapy in chronic stress.
New treatment for severe depression with far fewer side effects Electroconvulsive therapy remains one of the most effective treatments for severe depression, but new UNSW research shows ultra-brief pulse stimulation is almost as effective as standard ECT, with far fewer cognitive side effects.
Questionnaire beats blood test in identifying at-risk drinking among ER patients Emergency room physicians treating patients with alcohol-related trauma can better identify those at risk of future drinking-related trauma with a 10-point questionnaire rather than the standard blood alcohol content test, according to a study in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association (JAOA).
Diabetes drug may protect against Parkinson's disease A type of drug used to treat diabetes may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study published in PLOS Medicine.
	Manipulating molecule in the brain improves stress response, new target for depression treatment July 21, 2015 - Increasing the levels of a signaling molecule found in the brain can positively alter response to stress, revealing a potential new therapeutic target for treatment of depression, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers said.
Specific protein as missing link for earliest known change in Alzheimer's pathology A recent study conducted at Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (NKI) and NYU Langone Medical Center implicates a new culprit in Alzheimer's disease development. The research reveals that ßCTF—the precursor of the amyloid beta (Aß) peptide—acts at the earliest stage of Alzheimer's to initiate a range of abnormalities leading to the loss of groups of neurons critical for memory formation. Results from the study are published online July 21, 2015 in the journal, Molecular Psychiatry, and the article has been selected for an issue cover.
Keeping up that positive feeling: The science of savoring emotions Savoring a beautiful sunset and the positive emotions associated with it can contribute to improved well-being, according to research. But why and how are some people better than others in keeping the feeling alive?
	In pursuit of precision medicine for PTSD Brain scans of war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder have led researchers to an area of the prefrontal cortex that appears to be a good predictor of response to treatment with SSRIs—the first-line drug treatment for PTSD.
Cellphones seen as change agents for health among young, poor, urban women In a survey of a diverse group of almost 250 young, low-income, inner-city pregnant and postpartum women, Johns Hopkins researchers have learned that more than 90 percent use smartphones or regular cellphones to give and get information.
	Psoriasis drug may help preserve pancreas cells in type 1 diabetes (HealthDay)—Taking two 12-week courses of alefacept—a drug already approved to treat the skin condition psoriasis—may help people with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes preserve some function in the beta cells in the pancreas, a new study suggests.
Minds of older women fuzzier after general anesthesia than men's (HealthDay)—Older women are much more likely than men to suffer brain dysfunction after surgery with general anesthesia, a new study finds.
	Computerized system almost completely cuts medical errors (HealthDay)—Over five years, a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system can reduce medical errors (MEs), with no new type of errors detected, according to a study published online July 14 in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics.
	USPSTF: more evidence needed for visual acuity screening (HealthDay)—The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded that there is currently insufficient evidence to assess the benefits and harms of screening for impaired visual acuity in older adults. These findings form the basis of a draft recommendation statement based on an evidence review published online July 20 by the USPSTF.
	Six-minute walk test predictive for pulmonary hypertension (HealthDay)—The six-minute walk (6MW) stress echocardiography test is prognostic for development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in connective tissue disease (CTD), according to a study published in the July 28 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
	ASCO guidelines: biomarker use in metastatic breast CA treatment (HealthDay)—Biomarkers can be used to guide decisions on systemic therapy for women with metastatic breast cancer, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline published online July 20 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Study suggests new treatment avenue to prevent serous retinal detachment Wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss in older individuals. AMD and other serious chronic eye problems that affect younger individuals result when fluid accumulates abnormally under or within the retina. A new study published in The American Journal of Pathology shows for the first time that the release of substances from mast cells may be a causal factor in this type of eye pathology, and inhibitors of this release may offer new ways to treat serous retinal detachment.
'Flexibility' on school sodium targets not an option, says American Heart Association American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown issued the following comments today on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations bill that would delay the sodium requirement for school foods under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act:
Novartis sees 20 percent income fall due to strong dollar Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis reported $4.1 billion (3.8 billion euros) in income for the first half of the year, down 20 percent, due largely to a stronger dollar.
S.Sudan cholera outbreak spreads, deaths rise to 39: WHO Cholera in war-torn South Sudan has spread to another state, with at least 39 dead since an outbreak was declared last month, the World Heath Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.
New drug assessment program to offer value-based price benchmark With drug prices for cancer and many other conditions soaring to new highs amid questions about their true value to patients, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) today launched a program to transform the way new drugs are evaluated and priced in the United States. Funded by a $5.2 million grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF), ICER will produce public reports on new drugs that have the potential to significantly change patient care and health system budgets. The reports will be produced near the time of FDA approval, with 15 to 20 reports planned in the first two years. Each report will include a full analysis of a drug's comparative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and potential budget impact. In addition, ICER will use transparent methods to calculate for each new drug a value-based price benchmark anchored to the real benefits the drug brings to patients.
ECOG-ACRIN opens trial of treatment sequencing in advanced melanoma A new phase III cancer treatment trial has opened for patient enrollment that examines two treatments that work in completely different ways yet have both been shown in previous clinical trials to be effective in treating patients with advanced melanoma, the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group announced today.
	BMI doesn't affect kidney transplant survival (HealthDay)—For patients undergoing kidney transplantation, survival is unaffected by body mass index (BMI), according to a study published online July 3 in the American Journal of Transplantation.
	Cosby testimony puts '70s party drug quaaludes back in news Before there was Molly there was the quaalude, the most popular party drug of the 1970s.
Horizon Pharma raises bid for Depomed to $33 per share Drugmaker Horizon Pharma PLC is boosting its offer for fellow drugmaker Depomed to $33 per share.
32 boys dead in S.African initiation season Traditional rite-of-passage ceremonies in South Africa left 32 boys dead and more than 150 hospitalised, local authorities said Tuesday, as the annual initiation season drew to a close.
Pfizer is expanding its vaccine portfolio, developing others Pfizer has expanded its research on vaccines to eventually safeguard people from cradle to grave, from shots for pregnant women to protect their babies from the moment of birth to vaccines for senior citizens with waning immune systems, company officials said Tuesday during a media briefing.
Bristol-Myers says HIV drug gets government incentives Bristol-Myers said Tuesday that U.S. government regulators will help speed up development for one of its experimental HIV drugs.
Cash transfers conditional on schooling do not prevent HIV among young South African women A Phase III, individually randomized trial has found conditional cash transfers for school attendance did not reduce the risk of HIV among high-school aged women in South Africa, investigators from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) reported today at the 8th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Vancouver, Canada.
	Biomarkers in blood shown to be highly selective indicators of brain damage Researchers have shown that the levels of two proteins present in blood and cerebrospinal fluid increase significantly at different time points following traumatic brain injury (TBI), confirming their potential value as biomarkers of trauma-related brain damage. The researchers linked the changes in circulating UCH-L1 and GFAP proteins in rats to brain tissue damage and neuronal degeneration seen on examination of the rat brains and present their findings in an article published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Neurotrauma website.
Court ruling clears way for Novartis' low-cost biotech drug A federal appeals court has ruled that Novartis can begin selling its lower-cost copy of an Amgen Inc. drug in September, rejecting a bid to further delay the launch of the knock-off biotech medication.
A 2nd covert video targets Planned Parenthood on fetal parts Anti-abortion activists on Tuesday released a second undercover video aimed at discrediting Planned Parenthood's procedures for providing fetal tissue to researchers.

Biology news

	RNA insecticide could target specific pests A novel insecticide targets a specific gene in a pest, killing only that bug species on crops and avoiding collateral damage to beneficial insects caused by today's pesticides.
	Researchers aiming to produce vaccine to save the Tasmanian devil New research, led by University of Southampton biological scientist Dr Hannah Siddle, is aiming to develop an effective vaccine against an infectious cancer that is eradicating the Tasmanian devil, the world's largest remaining marsupial carnivore.
	New technology to help prevent rhino poaching A new group of technologies packaged together and called Rapid (Real-Time Anti-Poaching Intelligence Device) by its makers is on track to reduce poaching of rhinos, primarily in South Africa. The system was invented by British scientist Paul O'Donoghue—he and fellow scientist Christian Rutz, both of the University of St. Andrews have published an article in the Journal of Applied Ecology, describing the current state of poaching in Africa and how the new device might put a stop to it.
	DNA sequencing of noninvasively collected hair expands the field of conservation genetics Information embedded within DNA has long contributed to biodiversity conservation, helping to reconstruct the past history of species, assess their current status, and guide strategies for their protection. A new study shows that the entire genome of hard to study species may now be available to scientists without the need to handle or even see their study organism, opening up the field of conservation genomics to the use of non-invasive sampling techniques.
Sweet revenge against superbugs A special type of synthetic sugar could be the latest weapon in the fight against superbugs.
Archaeologists use new methods to explore move from hunting, gathering to farming One of the enduring mysteries of the human experience is how and why humans moved from hunting and gathering to farming.
	Yeast cells optimize their genomes in response to the environment Researchers at the Babraham Institute and Cambridge Systems Biology Centre, University of Cambridge have shown that yeast can modify their genomes to take advantage of an excess of calories in the environment and attain optimal growth.
	Thriving in the tropics of Borneo: 2 new Hoya species on the third largest island Dr. Michele Rodda describes two new tropical plants species from the Hoya genus, found on the world's third largest island Borneo. The genus is one of the largest and most complex plant groups in Asia. The first to be described in the paper, H. ruthiae, is characterised with its lack of coloured milk-like sap typical for most of the Hoya species, and H. bakoensis - with its strict preference for growing epiphytically (without causing any harm to its host) and rooting inside ant nests. The study is published in the open-access journal PhytoKeys.
	Stress 'sweet spot' differs for mellow vs. hyper dogs People aren't the only ones who perform better on tests or athletic events when they are just a little bit nervous—dogs do too. But in dogs as in people, the right amount of stress depends on disposition.
	Tropical forests just got a little more diverse After decades of relying on scientific opinion, an international team of researchers has come close to determining the number of tree species in the tropics.
	Warming waters endanger fish health New evidence is emerging that climate change could join overfishing as a major threat to the world's seafood supplies.
	Giving fish their medicine at the right time can make all the difference Over the course of evolution, humans and other animals have developed biological clocks. These act as internal timekeepers and are synchronised by environmental cues, mainly the daily alternation between day and night. These internal clocks control biological rhythms for things like temperature, alertness and tiredness, helping animals to adapt their daily and seasonal activities to the environmental changes.
Altering RNA helicases in roundworms doubles their lifespan The things we do to extend our lives—quitting smoking, cutting back on carbs, taking up jogging —all have some impact on our longevity, if only just a little. But no matter how hard we work towards chasing the dream of forever staying fit and youthful, our efforts all end the same way and we must come to terms with the fact that we are mortal beings living on a finite timeline. There is nothing we can do to stop the aging process, and most things people do only serve to delay the inevitable: we can't stop death.
	Circus bears offered sanctuary from trauma in Romania Circus bear Mura wound up in the world's biggest brown bear sanctuary in the heart of Romania's Carpathian mountains after refusing to perform any longer, following five years of unbearable abuse.
	Video: How do fireflies glow? Warm summer nights wouldn't be complete without the beautiful glow of fireflies. But until recently, we didn't really understand how fireflies produced their glow. Now Bruce Branchini, Ph.D., from Connecticut College and colleagues at Yale University have recreated the firefly's glow in the lab. This bright discovery, published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could have exciting applications in medicine.
	Yeast byproduct inhibits white-nose syndrome fungus in lab experiments A microbe found in caves produces a compound that inhibits Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats, researchers report in the journal Mycopathologia. The finding could lead to treatments that kill the fungus while minimizing disruption to cave ecosystems, the researchers say.
	Exploring evolution via electric fish hybrid zone Michigan State University is using a $700,000 National Science Foundation grant to study how electric fish signals evolve, research that could offer insights into the evolution of new species.
	A handy field guide to the nearshore marine fishes of Alaska Most people can recognize themselves in a childhood photo. But if fish took pictures, many would be unable to pick their younger selves out of a lineup. In many species, the juveniles bear little resemblance to the adults, and even scientists can have a tough time telling them apart.
	Detecting disease in beef cattle using ear tag units A smartphone switches its orientation from portrait to landscape depending on how it's tilted. A car's airbags inflate when it senses collision forces. By detecting earth's vibrations, a computer can measure the magnitude and aftershocks of an earthquake.
Summit to weigh endangered red wolf's plight as numbers drop Wolf experts from around the nation will be gathering this week to consider how to help the critically endangered red wolf.
	Going green: Microalgae as a feedstuff for grower steers Algae are organisms so environmentally adaptable that they flourish in wastelands, sewage and saline bodies of water. They can grow in high densities, in the dark and in the presence of high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphates.
	At 83, Belgian strives to realise DR Congo wildlife dream "I was already saying I'd go live in the Congo when I was nine or 10," says Willem Boulanger, who after satisfying that dream is embarking at age 83 on another—founding a game reserve near Kolwezi.
	Soybean meal positively affects pigs with PRRSV Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is the most widespread disease in the swine industry. In sows, PRRSV causes reproductive problems during gestation, including abnormal litters or abortions. Growing pigs with the disease will have respiratory problems and poor growth.

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