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Webinar: Simulating Food Industry Processes using COMSOL Multiphysics >> Thursday, October 27, 2016 - 2:00PM EDT: https://goo.gl/J8vq6h
Tune into this free webinar for an overview of multiphysics modeling as applied to simulating processes related to the food industry. Includes live demo and Q&A session.
Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for October 26, 2016:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Young stellar system caught in act of forming close multiplesFor the first time, astronomers have seen a dusty disk of material around a young star fragmenting into a multiple-star system. Scientists had suspected such a process, caused by gravitational instability, was at work, but new observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) revealed the process in action. |
 | VLT detects unexpected giant glowing halos around distant quasarsAn international collaboration of astronomers, led by a group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, has used the unrivalled observing power of MUSE on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO's Paranal Observatory to study gas around distant active galaxies, less than two billion years after the Big Bang. These active galaxies, called quasars, contain supermassive black holes in their centres, which consume stars, gas, and other material at an extremely high rate. This, in turn, causes the galaxy centre to emit huge amounts of radiation, making quasars the most luminous and active objects in the Universe. |
 | Image: Changing colors in Saturn's poleThese two natural color images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show the changing appearance of Saturn's north polar region between 2012 and 2016. |
 | Breakthrough Listen to search for intelligent life around weird starTabby's star has provoked so much excitement over the past year, with speculation that it hosts a highly advanced civilization capable of building orbiting megastructures to capture the star's energy, that UC Berkeley's Breakthrough Listen project is devoting hours of time on the Green Bank radio telescope to see if it can detect any signals from intelligent extraterrestrials. |
 | STEREO—10 years of revolutionary solar viewsLaunched 10 years ago, on Oct. 25, 2006, the twin spacecraft of NASA's STEREO mission – short for Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory – have given us unprecedented views of the sun, including the first-ever simultaneous view of the entire star at once. This kind of comprehensive data is key to understanding how the sun erupts with things like coronal mass ejections and energetic particles, as well as how those events move through space, sometimes impacting Earth and other worlds. Ten years ago, the twin STEREO spacecraft joined a fleet of NASA spacecraft monitoring the sun and its influence on Earth and space – and they provided a new and unique perspective. |
 | Australian desert telescope views sky in radio technicolourA telescope located deep in the West Australian outback has shown what the Universe would look like if human eyes could see radio waves. |
 | Astronomers use observations of a gravitationally lensed galaxy to measure the properties of the early universeAlthough the universe started out with a bang it quickly evolved to a relatively cool, dark place. After a few hundred thousand years the lights came back on and scientists are still trying to figure out why. |
 | OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in good health after testing its thrustersNASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft continues its so far flawless journey to asteroid Bennu, after successfully completing its first trajectory correction maneuver (TCM-1) on Oct. 7. According to the mission's deputy principal investigator, the probe is currently in good health and all of its instruments are working properly. |
 | Next step towards a gravitational-wave observatory in spaceToday, ESA has invited European scientists to propose concepts for the third large mission in its science programme, to study the gravitational Universe. |
 | How to read a STEREO imageIn the same way that two eyes give humans a three-dimensional perception of the world around us, the twin spacecraft of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission, or STEREO, enable us to understand the sun in 3-D. Thanks to this mission, which launched on Oct. 25, 2006, we can see and study the sun from multiple viewpoints – crucial for understanding solar activity and the evolution of space weather. |
 | New 'selfie' microsatellite captures images of Chinese space stationHere's a great new view of China's Tiangong II space station, taken by a new 'selfie' satellite. The Banxing-2 satellite is about the size of a desktop printer and was released from the station on Sunday. It has been nicknamed the "Selfie Stick" by Chinese officials and is taking pictures of the station and the docked Shenzhou XI spacecraft. The Chinese astronauts who boarded the station last week aren't just joining the selfie craze; the 25 megapixel camera with wide-angle and infrared imagers has a specific job. |
 | Feeling the rhythmMany astronauts play instruments, and some have even made music in space. Few have danced in space, though, perhaps because crew members find it difficult to tap their toes when weightless. Or it could be that spending time in space throws off their rhythm - at least their circadian rhythm. |
 | NASA's tool for calculating orbital trajectories now aids in spacecraft designA NASA-developed tool that private industry and other agency centers now use to plot a mission's path to far-flung interplanetary destinations has gotten significantly more proficient and can now even reveal—sometimes in just a matter of minutes—the specifics of the spacecraft's mission and elements of the system design. |
 | Dream coming true for ISS-bound rookie French astronautFirst-time French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said Wednesday he was thrilled to go to space with two veterans from Russia and US, though slightly worried that they wouldn't like his saxophone music. |
 | Image: Cygnus spacecraft attached to space station's Unity moduleOrbital ATK's Cygnus cargo craft (left) is seen from the Cupola module windows aboard the International Space Station on Oct. 23, 2016. The main robotic work station for controlling the Canadarm2 robotic arm is located inside the Cupola and was used to capture Cygnus upon its arrival. |
Technology news
 | Making it easier to collaborate on codeGit is an open-source system with a polarizing reputation among programmers. It's a powerful tool to help developers track changes to code, but many view it as prohibitively difficult to use. |
 | Finding patterns in corrupted data: New model-fitting technique efficient even for data sets with hundreds of variablesData analysis—and particularly big-data analysis—is often a matter of fitting data to some sort of mathematical model. The most familiar example of this might be linear regression, which finds a line that approximates a distribution of data points. But fitting data to probability distributions, such as the familiar bell curve, is just as common. |
 | You are less anonymous on the web than you think—much lessIf you still think you can be anonymous on the internet, a team of Stanford and Princeton researchers has news for you: You can't. Over the summer, the team launched what they called the Footprints Project, which invited individuals to participate in an online experiment that allowed researchers to access their anonymous web browsing history, including information about active Twitter usage. Based on that information alone, Footprints successfully identified 11 out of 13 people who visited the site on its first day of operation. |
 | Next-generation smartphone battery inspired by the gutResearchers have developed a prototype of a next-generation lithium-sulphur battery which takes its inspiration in part from the cells lining the human intestine. The batteries, if commercially developed, would have five times the energy density of the lithium-ion batteries used in smartphones and other electronics. |
 | Microsoft aims at Apple with high-end PCs, 3D softwareMicrosoft launched a new consumer offensive Wednesday, unveiling a high-end computer that challenges the Apple iMac along with an updated Windows operating system that showcases three-dimensional content and "mixed reality." |
 | For the first time, brain surface stimulation provides 'touch' feedback to direct movementIn the quest to restore movement to people with spinal cord injuries, researchers have focused on getting brain signals to disconnected nerves and muscles that no longer receive messages that would spur them to move. |
Non-state actor likely behind US cyber attack: ClapperThe giant cyber attack that paralyzed many US sites last week was likely not the work of a foreign country, the top US intelligence chief said Tuesday. | |
 | Pokemon Go boost limited as Nintendo cuts profit forecast"Pokemon Go" is giving only a modest boost to Japanese video game maker Nintendo, which has slashed its operating profit and sales forecasts for this fiscal year citing lagging demand for game consoles like the Wii U. |
IBM Watson's new conversational capabilities bring brands and consumers closerIBM today introduced Watson Virtual Agent, a cognitive conversational technology that allows businesses to simply build and deploy conversational agents. These agents, or "bots," have emerged as businesses look to improve customer engagement, offering customers quick responses to queries and addressing potential issues in real time. | |
 | New automatic forest fire detection system by using surveillance dronesResearchers from UPM are developing a method to detect forest fires by using a new color index. The index is based on methods for vegetation classification and has been adapted to detect the tonalities of flames and smoke. |
 | Finger vein authentication using smartphone cameraHitachi today announced the development of highly-accurate finger vein authentication technology using the camera commonly integrated in the standard smartphone. This technology will enable the use of biometric authentication using finger vein patterns to be available as a personal identification method for smartphone transactions such as online shopping, providing higher security and accuracy as well as preventing unauthorized use. |
 | High storage batteries from sodium ion batteriesThe mechanism of sodium ion storage in an important two-dimensional material could be a simpler and less toxic route to cheaper batteries, a team of KAUST researchers discovered. |
Pedestrians walk freely in a world of self-driving carsImagine an urban neighborhood where most of the cars are self-driving. What would it be like to be a pedestrian? | |
 | Amazon's Alexa voice assistant arrives on Fire tabletsAmazon's Fire tablets are getting the Alexa voice assistant. |
 | Despite ratings drop, Olympics boosts Comcast in 3QComcast's profit rose 12 percent in the July-September quarter thanks to the Olympics and the first third-quarter gains in video subscribers in a decade. |
 | NTU Singapore's robot to spray paint JTC's industrial developmentsA new NTU robot will soon be spray-painting the interiors of industrial buildings in Singapore, saving time and manpower while improving safety. |
Ford recalls nearly 412K SUVs to fix fuel leaksFord is recalling nearly 412,000 older SUVs worldwide to fix fuel leaks that could cause fires. | |
 | MTV Europe awards plans Facebook bot, virtual realityThe MTV Europe Music Awards, seeking to reach a wide global audience, will feature a first-of-a-kind interactive bot on Facebook Messenger and a virtual reality edition, the network said Wednesday. |
 | Review: For home security, Samsung SmartCam PT has just the right angleEveryone wants security cameras around their house. |
Energy storage industry wants tax credits enjoyed by wind, solarThey may not get it this year, but boosters of energy storage technologies want their sector to get the same tax credits that the federal government extends to the wind and solar industries. | |
Virtual reality makes progress, but still faces hard reality of salesFor all the hype around virtual reality, the legions of developers plugging away at the technology are still searching for the experience that turns a headset that costs hundreds of dollars into a must-have device. | |
Lithium battery dangers mean Samsung recall won't be lastA faulty battery has cost Samsung a pile of money and tarnished its reputation. | |
To keep drones out of high-risk areas, companies try hijacking them and shooting them downA public awareness campaign last year did little to deter the growing number of rogue drones flying near wildfires and forcing firefighters to ground their own aircraft. | |
Autonomous search agents could support researchersResearchers could soon enlist help from digital assistants to review vast swathes of literature, according to a new report on artificial intelligence. | |
 | Long-vanished German car brand joins electric raceCars bearing the stamp of once-defunct manufacturer Borgward will once again roll off an assembly line in north Germany from 2018, the firm said Wednesday. |
 | New York's MoMA acquires original set of emojisBack in the day, before cars could drive themselves and phones could send stickers and animations, a Japanese phone company released a set of 176 emojis. |
 | IBM Watson machine smarts hitch a ride with GM carsIBM on Wednesday announced it was teaming with General Motors to put Watson artificial intelligence to work to personalize the driving experience for motorists. |
 | Verizon warily staying with deal to buy YahooA Verizon executive overseeing the deal to buy Yahoo said Wednesday the deal was moving ahead pending the outcome of an investigation into an epic hack. |
Apple says it needs more time before new ear buds are readyApple says it needs "a little more time" before it starts selling the new wireless ear buds that are designed to work with its newest iPhones—the ones that don't come with a dedicated headphone jack. | |
Maybe 100,000 hijacked devices used in cyber attack: DynThe US company targeted in last week's massive cyber attack said Monday that possibly 100,000 connected devices were hijacked to swamp its systems and close off the internet to millions of users. | |
Tesla surprises with profit in third quarterElectric carmaker Tesla on Wednesday announced a profit for the third quarter and said it sees more positive results ahead as it ramps up production of new models. | |
 | Ericsson names new CEO amid declining networks industrySwedish mobile networks company Ericsson said Wednesday it has named longtime board member Borje Ekholm as its new CEO, in a bid to turn around the company amid a decline in the industry. |
 | EU researchers offer sustainable solutions for European manufacturingDuring its final conference held in Brussels on 18 October 2016, the EU-funded USE-IT-WISELY project outlined its innovative frameworks and tools that will equip European manufacturers to effectively compete in an increasingly globalised world economy. |
Improved internal arc protection with new techniquesA new study from the University of Vaasa, Finland, investigates development directions of internal arc protection. Arc faults in switchgear can be characterized as electrical explosions which are very hazardous to personnel and devastating to equipment. | |
 | NTU Singapore to build an offshore integrated system of renewable energy sourcesNanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) is building an offshore system that will integrate multiple renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal, diesel, and power-to-gas technologies. |
US warned against Chinese takeover of German firm: reportThe German government withdrew its approval for a Chinese firm to purchase Aixtron, which makes semiconductor equipment, after the US secret services raised security concerns, a German media report said Wednesday. | |
 | Customers are starting to see the NBC effect on ComcastWhile many are skeptical of the business logic behind AT&T's desire to buy Time Warner, a similar deal from earlier this decade, Comcast's marriage with NBCUniversal, foreshadows some of the possibilities—as well as the potential competitive and consumer harms—that could result. |
Medicine & Health news
 | How AIDS conquered North America: Researchers restore HIV genomes from serum samples more than 40 years oldResearchers at the University of Arizona and the University of Cambridge in the U.K. have reconstructed the origins of the AIDS pandemic in unprecedented detail. |
 | Neuro chip records brain cell activityBrain functions are controlled by millions of brain cells. However, in order to understand how the brain controls functions, such as simple reflexes or learning and memory, we must be able to record the activity of large networks and groups of neurons. Conventional methods have allowed scientists to record the activity of neurons for minutes, but a new technology, developed by University of Calgary researchers, known as a bionic hybrid neuro chip, is able to record activity in animal brain cells for weeks at a much higher resolution. The technological advancement was published in the journal Scientific Reports this month. |
 | Mutations in bone cells can drive leukemia in neighboring stem cellsCertain DNA mutations in bone cells that support blood development can drive leukemia formation in nearby blood stem cells, researchers from Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta have found. |
 | Self-renewable cancer killer cells could be key to making immunotherapy workA small molecule that can turn short-lived 'killer T-cells' into long-lived, renewable cells that can last in the body for a longer period of time, activating when necessary to destroy tumour cells, could help make cell-based immunotherapy a realistic prospect to treat cancer. |
 | Insight into neural language enables amputees to discern light touch to intense pressureWalking through a busy store, Keith Vonderhuevel confidently held his 5-year-old granddaughter's hand with his prosthetic hand. Feedback in the form of electrical pulses that mimic pressure, told him how intensely he grasped her hand. |
 | Asthmatics could breathe easier in the future with help from an unlikely quarter—parasitic hookwormsAsthmatics could breathe easier in the future with help from an unlikely quarter—parasitic hookworms. |
 | Teaching the body's own T-cells to attack tumorsUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison engineers are manufacturing highly personalized cancer treatments that take advantage of a patient's own cells to attack tumors. |
 | Scientists edit gene mutations in inherited form of anemiaA Yale-led research team used a new gene editing strategy to correct mutations that cause thalassemia, a form of anemia. Their gene editing technique provided corrections to the mutations and alleviated the disease in mice, the researchers said. The finding could lead to studies of a similar gene therapy to treat people with inherited blood disorders. |
 | Finding the clues for better autism treatmentsAs a researcher at Harvard Medical School, Christopher W. Cowan, Ph.D., used to watch autistic kids come onto campus to attend a special school. |
 | Common sets of genes disrupted in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressionStudying brain tissue from deceased donors, Johns Hopkins scientists have found common groups of genes disrupted among people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. The commonly affected genes sets, identified with RNA sequencing methods, engage in making proteins, controlling brain cell communications and mounting an immune system response, the researchers say. |
 | The kids are all right: Children with 3-way DNA are healthyMore than 15 years ago, 17 babies were born after an experimental infertility treatment that gave them DNA from three people: Mom, Dad and an egg donor. |
 | TB treatment's high success rate hailed as 'breakthrough'A new treatment for drug-resistant tuberculosis patients, that reported a success rate of 82 percent in a study, has been hailed as a "breakthrough" at a medical summit in Britain. |
Parent-led early intervention for autism is the first to show reduction in symptom severity through to ages 7-11An early intervention for autism aimed at helping parents communicate with their child has been shown to have an effect on reducing the severity of autism symptoms, and this reduction continued for six years after the end of treatment, according to a study published in The Lancet. The study led by the University of Manchester, King's College London and Newcastle University (UK) is the first to identify a long-term effect of an early intervention for autism, and is consistent with UK guidance supporting the use of early intervention. | |
 | Less than half of older hip fracture patients fully recover: study(HealthDay)—For older adults, a fractured hip is often life-changing: The majority will never return to their former levels of independence and physical activity, according to new research. |
 | The scoop about healthy poop(HealthDay)—Your bowel movements can offer important clues about your health, a doctor says. |
 | ASA: tranexamic acid doesn't up death, thrombotic complications(HealthDay)—Tranexamic acid is associated with a lower risk of bleeding than placebo for patients undergoing coronary artery surgery without increased risk of death or thrombotic complications, according to a study published online Oct. 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research was published to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, held from Oct. 22 to 26 in Chicago. |
Heart rate, blood pressure in male teens associated with later risk for psychiatric disordersHigher resting heart rate and higher blood pressure in late adolescence were associated with an increased risk in men for the subsequent development of obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders, according to a new article published online by JAMA Psychiatry. | |
Electronic prescriptions associated with less nonadherence to dermatologic RxDoes how a prescription for dermatologic medicine is written - either on paper or electronically—matter when it comes to whether patients will fill it and pick it up? | |
Is bariatric surgery a cost-effective treatment for teens with severe obesity?In a study published online by JAMA Surgery, Chin Hur, M.D., M.P.H., of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues assessed the cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery for adolescents with obesity using recently published results from the Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery study. | |
 | Importance of universal sanitation underestimated in efforts to reduce child mortalityThe value of sanitation at reducing child mortality in many low income countries has been substantially underestimated according to recent research. |
New tool may predict survival after gunshot woundsResearchers have developed a first-of-its-kind tool to help predict a person's chance of survival after a gunshot wound in the head or other penetrating injury, according to a new study published in the October 26, 2016, online issue of Neurology, a medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. It's called the SPIN-Score, which stands for Surviving Penetrating Injury to the Brain. | |
 | Retinopathy: Senescence-associated secretory phenotype contributes to pathological angiogenesisDiabetic retinopathy is the most prominent complication of diabetes and the leading cause of blindness in working age individuals. It is estimated that half a million Canadians are afflicted by diabetic retinopathy and it is predicted that the incidence will double over the next 15 years. |
Research provides new understanding of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease and opens path to treatmentA team of scientists at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital has discovered that in three separate laboratory models, the protein TRIM28 can promote the accumulation of two key proteins that drive the development of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and related diseases. The discovery, which appears in eLife, offers a new understanding of these diseases and possible opportunities for drug development. | |
Low vaccination rates in Texas could result in measles epidemicsWith almost 45,000 children in Texas with nonmedical or "reasons of conscience" exemptions to school immunization laws, an expert at Baylor College of Medicine outlines the possibility of diseases such as measles reappearing in the region. His perspective was published today in the journal PLOS Medicine. | |
Vitamin E can modify the risk of pneumonia in some older men depending on their lifestyleMany people have been advised to take vitamin supplements to boost their immune systems. However, a recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that taking vitamin E supplements led to an increased risk of pneumonia for more than one in four older men (28%) who smoked and did not exercise. However, the opposite effect was true for older men who exercised and did not smoke - in that vitamin E actually decreased their risk of contracting pneumonia. | |
Cost-effectiveness of Herceptin for early stage breast cancer varies by age and tumour typeA new study from the University of Otago, Wellington (UOW) found that the cost-effectiveness of the drug trastuzumab (known more commonly as Herceptin) in treating early stage breast cancer was highly variable depending on the disease characteristics and age of the woman. | |
 | Pioneering germ trap technology moves forward with first commercial applicationFacemasks incorporating an innovative new technology which emerged from research conducted by The University of Manchester's School of Chemistry will be able to comprehensively trap and kill over 99 percent of all flu viruses. |
 | Dietitians weigh in on whether a soda tax would help curb obesitySeveral U.S. cities and other countries have enacted taxes on soda and sugar-sweetened beverages as a way to fight the worldwide rise in obesity and Type 2 diabetes. In a push to influence more governments to adopt similar measures, the World Health Organization recently urged countries to tax sugary drinks. |
Three reasons the U.S. doesn't have universal health coverageAmidst the partisan rancor and the unusual tilt toward questions on civility during the second and third presidential debates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump drew the attention of health experts when they articulated their path forward for health policy in America. | |
 | Chlamydia expert weighs in on rise of STDsThe big three bacteria of sexually transmitted diseases — chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis—are on the rise according the Center for Disease Control. A report issued last week shows that reported infections of all three increased in 2015 to an all-time high. |
 | Could flavoured vaping help battle obesity?Vaping electronic cigarettes with flavoured liquids could help with weight control, according to a new paper co-authored by two Massey University College of Health researchers. |
 | Stricter speed enforcement can impair driver safetyNew research from The University of Western Australia has found strictly enforced speed limits could have a detrimental impact on road safety. |
More than 50% of Americans now have at least one chronic health condition, mental disorder or substance-use issueWith the future of U.S. healthcare likely to rest on the next presidency, a new study from Psychology, Health & Medicine highlights just how complex the medical needs of many Americans now are. | |
Clean cookstoves lead to 40% reduction in child burnsInitial results from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM)-led Cooking and Pneumonia Study (CAPS) in Malawi indicate that cooking with cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstoves reduced the risk of burns in children under the age of five by over 40% compared to traditional open fire cooking. | |
 | Genetic diseases, infection, cancer targeted by WA gene projectA Perth-led project to map the genes used by different cell types in the human body is preparing to release its latest results following a win at the prestigious Eureka Prizes. |
 | Sports safety—avoiding mouth injuriesAs fall begins, so do youth sports like football, baseball, softball and soccer—all of which can result in sport-related injuries to the mouth. |
 | Migraine headache therapy shifts treatment focus from the head to the neckA researcher at Murdoch University has investigated a migraine headache therapy which shifts treatment focus from the head to the neck. |
'Fairer sex' myth debunked—girls have a better response to stress than boysA study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) in collaboration with San Cecilio Clinic Hospital (Granada) has scientifically proven that neonate girls present a greater antioxidant defense and less oxidative stress on their cell membranes than boys, in addition to higher antioxidant enzymatic activity. In other words, girls have a better response to stress than boys. | |
Using stem cells to boost immunity against Candida albicans infectionsResearchers from the Universitat de València (UV) and the Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have partnered to describe a biological mechanism that generates cells better equipped to fight off serious infections caused by the Candida albicansfungus. | |
 | New estimate suggests a quarter of the world's population has latent tuberculosisIn rich countries, tuberculosis is sometimes thought of as a thing of the past, the disease that claimed Keats, Poe, Chopin. But globally, TB is today the number one infectious killer, causing an estimated 1.8m deaths in 2015. |
 | Study suggests patch is safe, convenient mode of treatment for peanut allergyA wearable patch that delivers small amounts of peanut protein through the skin shows promise for treating children and young adults with peanut allergy, with greater benefits for younger children, according to one-year results from an ongoing clinical trial. The treatment, called epicutaneous immunotherapy or EPIT, was safe and well-tolerated, and nearly all participants used the skin patch daily as directed. |
 | Study examines rates of common oral infection that can cause mouth cancerResearchers at the University of Derby have carried out the first pilot study in the UK looking at the rates of a common oral infection in young healthy adults which can cause cancer in the mouth. |
Femmes fatales play leading role in sexing up smokingSmoking as a social habit is increasingly on the nose for many in modern society, but the reverse is true when it comes to portraying strong female characters in French and Chinese cinema, according to researchers from the University of Adelaide. | |
 | Essential tremor sufferers needed for groundbreaking studyYou probably know someone who has it. It is the most common movement disorder, yet most people don't even know its name. |
 | Brain scans of children with Tourette's offer clues about disorderUsing MRIs, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified areas in the brains of children with Tourette's syndrome that appear markedly different from the same areas in the brains of children who don't have the neuropsychiatric disorder. |
Early supplementation may help offset early-life stress on the adult brainEarly-life stress has been shown to impair learning and memory in later life, but new research, published online in The FASEB Journal, suggests that improved nutrition may help offset the negative effects of this stress. Specifically, using mice, scientists focused on essential micronutrients, including methionine, vitamins B6and B12, and folic acid, none of which are made by the body and need to be ingested through diet. They found that early-life stress reduces the levels of these nutrients in mouse pups, but supplementation prevented the reduction of methionine levels and even prevented some of the lasting negative effects of early-life stress on later learning and memory in adult offspring. | |
Majority of stillbirth cases remain unexplained, post mortem investigation needs to be refinedAnalysis by a Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) led team looking at the effectiveness of different elements of the post mortem process shows that, despite full standard investigation, in the majority of cases of stillbirth the cause remains unknown. The papers highlight the need for further research to improve post mortem techniques to better detect a cause of death. | |
Reading the right sexual cuesBoth college men and women focus primarily on a photographed woman's nonverbal emotional cues when making snap decisions about whether she is expressing sexual interest at a particular moment in time. But their judgments also are based to a large degree on how attractive she is and the provocativeness of her attire. Physical attractiveness plays a much larger role in how college men than women make these quick judgments. Female students in turn tend to pick up more than men on clothing style and the woman's emotional cues. This is according to a study in the journal Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, published by Springer. Around 500 students were asked to give their first impressions about the current sexual interest of women in a series of photographs. | |
Mulberry extract activates brown fat, shows promise as obesity treatmentGood news for those who want to activate their brown fat (or BAT, brown adipose tissue) without having to be cold: New research, published in The FASEB Journal, suggests that a natural compound in mulberries, called "rutin," can activate the BAT in our bodies to increase metabolism and facilitate weight loss. | |
Additional benefit of omega-3 fatty acids for the clearance of metabolites from the brainNew research published online in The FASEB Journal suggests that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, could improve the function of the glymphatic system, which facilitates the clearance of waste from the brain, and promote the clearance of metabolites including amyloid-β peptides, a primary culprit in Alzheimer's disease. | |
New tool from IU and Regenstrief measures communication experiences of inpatient familiesMore than 13 million older adults are admitted to hospitals annually in the United States. Nearly a quarter need to have all decisions made for them by a family member, and almost half need help from family to make some decisions. Clinician-researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute have developed a tool to measure the communication experiences of family members of hospitalized patients. | |
 | Antibodies from Ebola survivors neutralize virus, protect against infection in labA study by scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center, in collaboration with the biotechnology company Atreca, Inc., has found that antibodies generated from the blood of survivors of Ebola virus disease can strongly neutralize the Ebola virus in the laboratory and protect mice from a lethal viral challenge. |
 | Study finds perception of e-cigarette harm growing among US adultsThe proportion of American adults who perceive e-cigarettes to be equally or more harmful than traditional cigarettes has tripled over the last few years, highlighting the need for more accurate public health messaging, according to a study led by tobacco researchers in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. |
Virus-resistant mosquitoes to be unleashed in Colombia, BrazilGovernments and philanthropists on Wednesday announced an $18 million plan to release mosquitoes resistant to Zika, dengue and other viruses in urban areas of Colombia and Brazil. | |
Multivitamins on the outs, but these supplements are inWatch out multivitamins, here comes vitamin D, fish oil and probiotics. | |
 | Scientists identify bacterial genes that could lessen severity of malariaResearchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have identified a set of bacterial genes that may help them find ways to lessen the severity of the disease malaria. |
 | Genetic risk factor for binge eating discoveredResearchers have identified a gene (CYFIP2) associated with binge eating. |
 | Iron supplements in the fight against leadTargeted iron supplements in biscuits can achieve a striking reduction in the level of lead in children's blood in regions with high exposure to this toxic heavy metal. This has been demonstrated for the first time by an ETH-led research group in a study of schoolchildren in Morocco. |
 | Bilingual brains activate different networks when reading opaque and transparent languagesThree Spanish researchers have discovered that bilinguals use different neural networks to read languages that are pronounced as they are written - such as the Basque language - from those in which this correspondence does not exist, like English. The results are valuable for teaching reading to adults and children. |
Political polarization among voters likely to have effect on future health policyAn in-depth analysis of results from 14 national public opinion polls that looked at how Republican and Democratic likely voters in the 2016 presidential election view the health policy issues raised during the election campaign shows that the two parties' voters have markedly different values, priorities, and beliefs about the future of health policy. | |
 | COPD patients with moderately low oxygen deficiencies don't benefit from long-term oxygenA newly published study of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) concludes that long-term supplemental oxygen treatment results in little or no change in time to death, time to first hospitalizations or significant quality of life improvements for those with moderately low blood oxygen levels. |
Children should be screened to prevent early heart attacksThe researchers from QMUL's Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine estimate that, with effective treatment, the screening strategy could prevent about 600 heart attacks in people under the age of 40, each year in England and Wales, if the programme was rolled out by public health agencies. | |
Cut exposure to synthetic chemicals to ward off 150,000+ European diabetes casesCutting exposure to common environmental synthetic chemicals by 25 per cent might ward off more than 150,000 cases of diabetes in Europe and save €4.5 billion every year, suggest estimates published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. | |
 | Epigenetics and neural cell deathLudwig-Maximilians-Universitaet researchers have demonstrated how deregulation of an epigenetic mechanism that is active only in the early phases of neurogenesis triggers the subsequent death of neural cells. |
 | Experts hope mosquito-borne bacteria can beat the Zika virusResearchers are trying to infect mosquitoes in Brazil and Colombia with a type of bacteria that could prevent them from spreading the Zika virus and other dangerous diseases. |
Consortium develops technology to identify genetic and environmental causes of cancersThrough the development of a novel, inexpensive genotyping microarray, the OncoArray, Dartmouth investigators have led a key collaborative research study that will revolutionize our knowledge of the causes of common cancers. | |
 | Scientists get the upperhand in biological pathway that leads to heart formationResearchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine have identified a pathway essential to heart formation and, in the process, unveiled a mechanism that may explain how some previously puzzling segments of the genome work. |
 | Study shows that choice of medical center impacts life expectancy of multiple myeloma patientsPeople diagnosed with multiple myeloma are more likely to live longer if they are treated at a medical center that sees many patients with this blood cancer. Mayo Clinic researchers published these findings today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. |
 | High rate of antidepressant use after cancer(HealthDay)—Treatment for depression and anxiety is nearly twice as common among U.S. cancer survivors as it is for those who never had the disease, a new study finds. |
 | FDA warns of dangers from testosterone supplements(HealthDay)—Supplemental testosterone and related anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) can cause heart attacks, personality changes and infertility, and are easily abused, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns. |
 | New guidelines urge diabetics to move more(HealthDay)—People with diabetes need to move more often than previously advised, new guidelines say. |
 | ASA: Low unplanned admission for dental procedure plus other Sx(HealthDay)—Few pediatric patients having a dental procedure combined with another surgical procedure require unplanned admission for perioperative concerns, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, held from Oct. 22 to 26 in Chicago. |
 | Heart failure care up, regardless of hospital teaching status(HealthDay)—Adherence to performance measures is similar at teaching hospitals (TH) and nonteaching hospitals (NTH), according to a study published online Oct. 25 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. |
 | Statins offset insulin-related cancer risk in T2DM(HealthDay)—For patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), use of statins offsets insulin-related cancer risks, according to research published online Oct. 21 in the Journal of Internal Medicine. |
 | Low CA risk for premenopausal abnormal uterine bleeding(HealthDay)—Premenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding have low risk of endometrial cancer and atypical hyperplasia, according to a review published online Oct. 20 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. |
 | Gene therapy shows promise for treating Niemann-Pick disease type C1For the first time, National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have demonstrated in mice that gene therapy may be the best method for correcting the single faulty gene that causes Niemann-Pick disease, type C1 (NPC1). The gene therapy involved inserting a functional copy of the NPC1 gene into mice with the disease; the treated animals were then found to have less severe NPC1 symptoms. The study, led by researchers at NIH's National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, was published Oct. 26, 2016, in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. |
 | Cholesterol test for one-year-olds? Study says it could helpWhat if a blood test could reveal that your child is at high risk for early heart disease years in the future, giving you a chance to prevent it now? A big study in England did that—screening thousands of babies for inherited risk—and found it was twice as common as has been thought. |
LA hospital pays $450,000 after 'dumping' homeless patientA Los Angeles hospital will pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that it "dumped" a mentally ill homeless lady in the street, wearing only simple paper pajamas. | |
Drug regulation in the age of AMR – what is known from experience with tuberculosisThe World Health Organization's Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report 2016, released last week, is a sobering read. TB remains one of the world's biggest killers, and cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are increasing. | |
 | High levels of estrogen in lung tissue related to lung cancer in postmenopausal womenThanks to advances in medical imaging, the detection rate for synchronous multiple lung adenocarcinoma (SMLA) has been on the rise. Cases of SMLA in Japanese women have been on the rise despite having a national smoking rate of less than 10% in recent years. This suggests that SMLA is influenced by something other than smoking and, indeed, several studies have found that estrogen is involved in lung cancer carcinogenesis. |
GSK sees earnings rise amid good demand for vaccinesPharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline says its net profit rose 50 percent in the third quarter to 808 million pounds ($986 million) thanks in part to strong sales of its vaccine products. | |
New online tool offers essential tools for cancer survivorsThe American Cancer Society (ACS) in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched an online tool for cancer survivors. Springboard Beyond Cancer is designed to make it easy for those in treatment and post-treatment to access essential information to help them manage ongoing cancer-related symptoms, deal with stress, improve healthy behaviors, communicate better with healthcare teams, and seek support from friends and family. | |
Easing labor pain may help reduce postpartum depression in some women, early research suggestsEpidural anesthesia may do more than relieve pain during labor; in some women it may decrease the likelihood of postpartum depression, suggests a preliminary study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2016 annual meeting. | |
The weight loss plateau: What it means and how you can get past itYou've been exercising daily. You've improved your diet. And you've seen the number on the scale decrease. Not only do you look better, you feel better, too. However, you reach a point where you no longer are seeing results, despite the effort you are making to do so. Throughout your weight loss journey, you may find yourself at a dead end. Although frustrating and sometimes discouraging, experiencing a weight loss plateau is a normal part of losing weight. | |
How narrow is it? Government begins limited test of comparison tool for health plan networksThe incredible shrinking provider network is nothing new in marketplace plans. One way insurers have kept premiums in check on the individual market is by reducing the number of providers available in a plan's network. Earlier this year, the federal government said that it would introduce a tool this fall to help consumers who are shopping on HealthCare.gov gauge how narrow a plan's provider network is compared with others in the area. | |
Older and younger women benefit equally from breast reconstruction after mastectomyThe most comprehensive study of its kind to date found that older women enjoy the same benefits from breast reconstruction following mastectomy for breast cancer as younger women without a significant increase in the risk for complications. As with patients across all age groups, the benefits of breast reconstruction must be weighed against the risks. However, these study results showed that the procedure was successful in the vast majority of cases and that age alone should not disqualify a woman from undergoing a reconstruction procedure. | |
Drug targeting tumor metabolism enters clinical trialThe University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Institute for Applied Cancer Science (IACS) has initiated the first clinical study of a novel drug designed to starve cancer cells, IACS-10759. The study will enroll patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and is supported by a $3.5 million investment from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Therapy Acceleration Program. Recent approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical studies was based on compelling activity upon IACS-10759 treatment in multiple preclinical models of AML. | |
Biology news
 | Species speed up adaptation to beat effects of warmer oceansSome fish species are adapting to survive environmental changes without significant genetic evolution, according to research from the University of East Anglia and Dalhousie University, Canada. |
 | New gene-editing technology successfully cures a genetic blood disorder in miceA next-generation gene-editing system developed by Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University scientists has successfully cured a genetic blood disorder in living mice using a simple IV treatment. Unlike the popular CRISPR gene-editing technique, the new technology can be administered to living animals and it significantly decreases unwanted, off-target gene mutations. The findings, reported in Nature Communications, offer a new therapeutic approach to treat genetic diseases of the blood like beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease by targeting faulty genes in hematopoietic stem cells. |
 | New analysis of big data sheds light on cell functionsResearchers have developed a new way of obtaining useful information from big data in biology to better understand—and predict—what goes on inside a cell. Using genome-scale models, researchers were able to integrate multiple different data sets and discovered new biological patterns among different cellular processes. The research, led by bioengineers at the University of California San Diego, was published online Oct. 26 in Nature Communications. |
 | Universal clamping protein stabilizes folded proteins: New insight into how the chaperone protein Hsp70 worksOn October 26th Nature will publish a study that overturns the decades-old textbook model of action for a protein that is central for many processes in living cells. Researchers at the FOM Institute AMOLF and the University of Heidelberg show that the protein Hsp70 can mechanically stabilize folded proteins using a moveable lid, and thus protect them against stress and damage. This insight into how proteins help each other, offers a new perspective on diverse cellular functions and can ultimately lead to a better understanding of diseases like cancer and Parkinson's, in which failing protein systems are central. |
 | Survey shows impact of sea star wasting disease in Salish SeaSea star wasting disease has devastated intertidal populations of these animals on the West coast from Mexico to Alaska. But what about sea stars that live below the low tide line, mostly out of sight? An analysis of data collected by divers in the Salish Sea shows severe impacts on some species, especially the sunflower sea star, Pycnopodia helianthoides. |
 | Study shows how giraffe assassin bugs outwit spider prey(Phys.org)—A biologist at Macquarie University in Australia has discovered the secret behind the giraffe assassin's ability to catch and kill spiders in their webs. In his paper published on the open access site Royal Society Open Science, Fernando Soley describes the study he conducted with the bugs and what he discovered. |
 | A songbird's travelogueBiologists at the University of Utah recently used light-weight geolocation technology to follow a species of songbird on its 10,000-kilometer migration from the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa. The study, published October 26 in The Condor: Ornithological Applications identified key regions of importance for the species and highlighted the lack of protection many of these regions receive. |
 | Automating the search for small-molecule modulators of plant growthAgricultural biotechnologists at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) have developed a screening technique that can quickly determine how chemicals affect the growth of plants. Together with their colleagues from the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and the University of Freiburg, they have devised a way to quickly identify chemicals that influence the rate at which plants grow. The scientists developed a compound screening technique that relies on pollen and offers an alternative to the conventional seed germination assays, which tend to require over a week to complete. |
 | Citizen scientists can now lend a hand in penguin conservationA new interactive and user-friendly website that tracks Antarctic penguin populations and provides information for scientists to better understand environmental changes will now be accessible to the general public. The new tool, developed by Heather J. Lynch, PhD, an Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution, and colleagues internationally, is the first of its kind giving citizen scientists a lens into the world of scientists seeking to impact global environmental change by way of analyzing penguin living patterns, known as a strong indicator of the effects of climate change. |
 | The molecular mechanism that blocks membrane receptors involved in immunological response are identifiedNearly 70% of the drugs currently being developed target membrane receptors. Located outside the cell, these receptors play a decisive role in transmitting information to the inside of the cell. That is why in order to be able to advance in the development of more specific and more efficient drugs, the molecular mechanism that regulates the activity of these receptors needs to be deciphered. A piece of research in which the Ikerbasque researcher of the Biofisika Institute (UPV/EHU-CSIC) Xabier Contreras has participated has achieved a new advance when revealing how the receptors interact with the lipid nanodomains of the membrane. The work has been published in the prestigious journal Cell. |
What happens to a pathogenic fungus grown in space?A new study, published this week in mSphere, provides evidence that Aspergillus fumigatus, a significant opportunistic fungal threat to human health, grows and behaves similarly on the International Space Station compared with earth. The study provides important information that can help with space exploration. As the durations of manned space missions increase, it is vitally important to understand the long-term consequences of microbial exposure on human health in closed human habitats. | |
NOAA: Americans added an extra pound of seafood to their diet in 2015Across the nation, U.S. fishermen landed 9.7 billion pounds of fish and shellfish valued at $5.2 billion, a volume and value similar to recent years. The highest value U.S. commercial species were lobster ($679.2 million), crab ($678.7 million), shrimp ($488.4 million), salmon ($460.2 million), and Alaska (walleye) pollock ($441.7 million). By volume, the nation's largest commercial fishery remains Alaska (walleye) pollock, which had landings of 3.3 billion pounds (up 4 percent from last year), trailed by Atlantic and Gulf menhaden, which accounted for 1.6 billion pounds (up 29 percent). | |
What the elk is that? Animal in SC for 1st time in centuriesA wild elk has been spotted roaming the woodlands of South Carolina for the first time in more than 200 years. | |
 | Jaguar scat study suggests restricted movement in areas of conservation importance in MesoamericaA research group led by the American Museum of Natural History and global wild cat conservation organization Panthera has published the largest gene-based survey of its kind on wild jaguar populations in Mesoamerica. The analysis, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, is based on nearly 450 jaguar scat samples collected in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. This work identifies areas of conservation concern for Mesoamerican jaguars and underscores the importance of large-scale genetic monitoring efforts when prioritizing conservation and management efforts for this near-threatened, and elusive, carnivore species. |
 | Researchers identify new species of dragonfly in BrazilA new species of dragonfly with a brown spot on each of its four wingtips and a bluish waxy body coating has been described by Brazilian researchers in an article published in the scientific journal Zootaxa. Found in 2011 near a spring on the Itororó Ecological Reserve in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, it has been named Erythrodiplax ana. |
 | A rare window on the lives of young albatrossesUnderstanding population dynamics is crucial for the conservation of long-lived species like albatrosses, but collecting data on albatrosses before they reach adulthood and begin to breed is challenging. A new study from The Condor: Ornithological Applications provides the first direct estimates of the population size and annual survival of young birds in Oahu's Laysan Albatross population, giving important new insights into the demographics of these "prebreeders." |
 | Irrawaddy dolphins functionally extinct in LaosThe population of critically endangered Mekong River Dolphins—also known as Irrawaddy Dolphins — in the Cheuteal trans-boundary pool between southern Laos and northern Cambodia has shrunk by 50 per cent this year alone and the population is functionally extinct in Laos, according to WWF. |
 | Japan, West clash over 'cultural' whale huntsJapan pleaded with the world's whaling watchdog Wednesday to allow small hunts by coastal communities, arguing that for three decades these groups had been unjustly barred from a traditional source of food. |
 | 'Stinky whale' whiff wafts over whaling talksBetween explosive diplomatic quarrels and pressing animal welfare concerns, world whaling talks came up against an unusual challenge this week, that of "stinky whales". |
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