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Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for April 10, 2019:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
Astronomy & Space news
 | Astronomers deliver first photo of black holeAstronomers on Wednesday unveiled the first photo of a black hole, one of the star-devouring monsters scattered throughout the Universe and obscured by impenetrable shields of gravity. |
 | NASA demos CubeSat laser communications capabilityTwo NASA CubeSats teamed up on an impromptu optical, or laser, communications pointing experiment. The laser beam is seen as a brief flash of light close to the center of the focal plane, to the left of Earth's horizon. |
 | Are brown dwarfs failed stars or super-planets?Brown dwarfs fill the "gap" between stars and the much smaller planets—two very different types of astronomical objects. But how they originate has yet to be fully explained. Astronomers from Heidelberg University may now be able to answer that question. They discovered that the star ν Ophiuchi in the Milky Way is being orbited by two brown dwarfs, which in all probability formed along with the star from a gas and dust disk, just as planets do. The research results were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. |
 | Scientists set to reveal first true image of black holeThe world is finally about to see a black hole—not an artist's impression or a computer-generated likeness, but the real thing. |
 | Image: Astronaut Matthias Maurer training for EVAESA astronaut Matthias Maurer practices Space Station repairs in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA. |
 | SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket poised for first commercial launchSpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket is poised for its first commercial space launch Wednesday, carrying a Saudi satellite operated by Arabsat, a year after sending founder Elon Musk's red Tesla roadster into orbit as a test. |
 | Battle for space more stealth than Star WarsAt tens of thousands of kilometers above the Earth, a Russian satellite slowly approached the French-Italian satellite Athena-Fidus in October 2017, a move France later denounced as "an act of espionage." |
 | Ridding space of old satellites and debrisWith constellations of thousands of telecommunication mini satellites expected to orbit Earth in the near future, the risk of space-debris collisions will grow. For Nobu Okada, it's an opportunity. |
 | Seeing is believing: Four lessons of the new black hole imageBlack holes are cosmic prisons, where nothing escapes, not light or even data. But lots did come out of Wednesday's first image of the shadowy edge of a supermassive black hole. Here are four things we learned: |
Technology news
 | IBM sees the value of putting AI to work in human resourcesWho put the non-human into human resources? At first glance, it seems like an unpopular alliance—the use of artificial intelligence to support a company's strategic goals vis a vis human resources. |
 | The ethics of emerging technologiesIn today's digital age, artificial intelligence and big data are helping people navigate the world in new ways. While many researchers are using these new tools to innovate and advance different disciplines, a few, like Fred Fonseca, are approaching these advancements from a different perspective. |
 | Transforming the art industry with BlockchainSometimes an art forgery is so sophisticated, it fools even the experts. For example, in 2011, Sotheby's brokered a deal for a darkly coloured gentleman's portrait said to be by 17th century painter Frans Hals the Elder. The buyer paid roughly AU$15 million (US$10.9 million). In 2016, amid a string of similar scandals, this work was discovered to be made partially of synthetic paint, making its supposed provenance impossible. |
 | Privacy 'poisoning' poses threat to companies using blockchainA new type of cyberattack that can render blockchain technology unusable may become a major headache for organizations that depend on it. |
 | Where's the bus? UW student's new web tool tracks transit through the Seattle regionHave you ever run to a bus stop just in time for its scheduled arrival only to end up waiting for the bus to show up? |
 | House passes bill to restore 'net neutrality' rulesThe House has passed bill Wednesday to restore Obama-era "net neutrality" rules, but the legislation faces slim odds of making it through the Republican-controlled Senate. |
 | Uber launches electric bikes, scooters in ParisUS ride-hailing group Uber said Wednesday that it would start deploying electric bikes and scooters for rent on Paris streets as soon as this week, joining a crowded market which city officials have vowed to rein in. |
 | Uber seeks $10 bn IPO, scales back value target: reportUber is seeking to raise some $10 billion in what would be the largest stock offering of the year, with details coming this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. |
 | Yahoo to pay $117.5M in latest settlement of massive breachNearly 200 million people who had sensitive information snatched from their Yahoo accounts will receive two years of free credit-monitoring services and other potential restitution in a legal settlement valued at $117.5 million. |
 | Boeing reports 19% drop in Q1 plane deliveries on MAX groundingBoeing on Tuesday reported a 19 percent drop in first-quarter commercial airplane deliveries as the global grounding of its 737 MAX plane hits results. |
 | Capitol Hill hearing on online hate sees it firsthandA congressional hearing on online hate turned into a vivid demonstration of the problem Tuesday when a YouTube livestream of the proceedings was bombarded with racist and anti-Semitic comments from internet users. |
Hawaii closer to forcing Airbnb to collect taxes on rentalsHawaii lawmakers eager to gather tax revenue from the state's flourishing, yet mostly unpermitted, vacation rental sector on Tuesday passed legislation that would require websites like Airbnb to collect and pay taxes on behalf of short-term rental hosts. | |
Benin eyes video gaming in play for jobs and developmentWest Africa lags behind the northern hemisphere when it comes to software development but moves are afoot to tap into a growing interest in the region and across the continent. | |
 | Airbus flies into new era with change of bossFrenchman Guillaume Faury took over as CEO of European aerospace giant Airbus on Wednesday, looking to benefit from the current troubles of rival Boeing and limit potential disruption from Brexit and US President Donald Trump's trade threats. |
 | 3-D-printed propeller blade opens the way to eco-friendly shippingTo make the European maritime industry more competitive globally, innovative materials are needed to improve ships' performance and make them more environment friendly. In recent years, other industries have made a lot of progress in this area. However, the maritime sector is lagging behind in the adoption of advanced materials that have a smaller environmental footprint and are less costly and easier to maintain. |
 | US praises German 5G standards as Huawei battle simmersThe top U.S. diplomat for cybersecurity policy on Wednesday praised Germany's draft security standards for next generation mobile networks, which he said could effectively shut out China's Huawei. |
 | Facebook cracks down on groups spreading harmful informationFacebook said Wednesday it is rolling out a wide range of updates aimed at combatting the spread of false and harmful information on the social media site—stepping up the company's fight against misinformation as it faces growing outside pressure. |
 | Democrats want feds to target the 'black box' of AI biasCongress is starting to show interest in prying open the "black box" of tech companies' artificial intelligence with oversight that parallels how the federal government checks under car hoods and audits banks. |
 | Facebook ordered to pay 30,000 euros in France over 'abusive' usage termsA French court has ordered Facebook to pay 30,000 euros ($34,000) over "abusive" terms-of-use agreements that people had to accept in order to access their social media accounts, the consumer group which filed the lawsuit said Wednesday. |
 | Amazon's growing ties to oil industry irks some employeesAmazon is getting cozy with the oil industry—and some employees aren't happy about it. |
Medicine & Health news
 | New cancer drug targets accelerate path to precision medicineIn one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers used CRISPR technology to disrupt every gene in over 300 cancer models from 30 cancer types and discover thousands of key genes essential for cancer's survival. The team, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Open Targets, then developed a new system to prioritise and rank 600 drug targets that show the most promise for development into treatments. |
 | A new way of finding compounds that prevent agingResearchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed a new method for identifying compounds that prevent aging. The method is based on a new way of determining age in cultured human cells and is reported in a study in the journal Cell Reports. Using the method, the researchers found a group of candidate substances that they predict to rejuvenate human cells, and that extend the lifespan and improve the health of the model organism C. elegans. |
 | New non-antibiotic strategy for the treatment of bacterial meningitisWith the increasing threat of antibiotic resistance, there is a growing need for new treatment strategies against life-threatening bacterial infections. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden and the University of Copenhagen may have identified such an alternative treatment for bacterial meningitis, a serious infection that can lead to sepsis. The study is published in Nature Communications. |
 | Inflammation linked to chemical imbalance in schizophreniaA study published in Molecular Psychiatry has identified changes in inflammation-related biochemical pathways in schizophrenia that interfere with proper brain nerve cell communication. Researchers have found the first direct evidence in support of increased kynurenic acid production in the brain, which is known to block a key glutamate receptor. This discovery paves the way for development of better targeted therapies with fewer side effects for people with schizophrenia. |
 | Releasing an immune system brake could help patients with rare but fatal brain infectionThe anti-cancer drug pembrolizumab has shown promise in slowing or stopping the progression of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a typically fatal infection of the brain caused by the JC virus (JCV). This finding comes from a small-scale study by scientists at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine. |
 | Active lifestyles may help nerves to heal after spinal injuriesLeading an active lifestyle may increase the likelihood of damaged nerves regenerating after a spinal cord injury. |
 | Protein pileup affects social behaviors through altered brain signalingScientists at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) have discovered that when a normal cellular cleanup process is disrupted, mice start behaving in ways that resemble human symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia. They found that loss of normal autophagy, the process that recycles damaged cellular components such as proteins, influences how brain cells react to inhibitory signals from each other and contributes to the behavioral changes. This intricate signaling pathway could be a new therapeutic target for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. |
 | The protein p38-gamma identified as a new therapeutic target in liver cancerAn enzyme involved in cell stress responses could become a new pharmacological target in the treatment of liver cancer, a disease that currently has few available treatment options. The research team at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) led by Guadalupe Sabio has discovered that the protein p38γ, one of the four types of p38 kinase, is essential for the initiation of cell division in liver cells. This indicates that "p38γ could be a useful therapeutic target for liver cancer," says Sabio, adding, "We are now developing inhibitors of this protein to test in this cancer." The study has been published today in Nature. |
 | Genetic defects without consequencesMany diseases are caused by genetic defects. However, their severity can vary among individual patients, so that even mild forms can occur. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim have now decrypted a molecular mechanism responsible for this phenomenon. Accordingly, the mRNA of the defective gene ensures that related genes are activated thereby compensating the defect. The researchers hope to make use of this mechanism for therapeutic approaches. |
 | A dust-up: Microbes interact with harmful chemicals in dustThe dust that settles throughout our homes and offices almost always contains bits of chemicals that can cause problems for the human endocrine system, scientists say. But a new study indicates that the microbes we track into buildings—the microscopic bacteria and other microorganisms that thrive on our skin and outdoors—can help break those chemicals down. |
 | Researchers offer new insights into how maternal immunity impacts neonatal HSVFindings from a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, led by David Leib, Ph.D., professor and chair of microbiology and immunology at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, are offering new insights into neonatal herpes, its impact on developing nervous systems, and how newborns can be protected from the disease. |
 | Research reveals how the most common ALS mutation dooms cellsSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have cracked the mystery surrounding the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. The research suggests possible new approaches to diagnosis and treatment of the lethal disorder. The findings appear online today in the journal Molecular Cell. |
 | Studies give new insights on immunotherapy in elderly patients with advanced NSCLCTwo studies to be reported at ELCC 2019 provide new insights on the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in elderly patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), where information has previously been lacking despite being the age group most commonly affected. |
 | Woman lived to 99 with most organs on wrong side of bodyRose Marie Bentley was an avid swimmer, raised five kids, helped her husband run a feed store, and lived to the ripe age of 99. It was only after she died that medical students discovered that all her internal organs—except for her heart—were in the wrong place. |
British drug firm Indivior indicted for pushing opioid treatmentBritish pharmaceutical firm Indivior Inc. was indicted Tuesday over an alleged scheme to push its treatment for opioid addicts and reap billions of dollars from it. | |
A new role for genetics in cancer therapy-induced cardiomyopathyRecent advances in the development of cancer therapies have increased long-term survival and prognosis. However, the increased burden and prevalence of harmful side effects, including cardiomyopathy, have emerged alongside those therapeutic benefits. In particular, there have been increases in cancer therapy-induced cardiomyopathy (CCM)—a heart condition which may compromise a patient's quality of life and long-term prognosis after the cancer has been treated. And while certain clinical risk factors for CCM are known, the factors that contribute to an individual's susceptibility remain a mystery. A team of investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School finds that genetics may be at play and elucidates rare genetic variants which may influence risk for developing CCM. Results are published in Circulation. | |
 | Antibiotic resistance across Wisconsin revealed by new mapsWhen a patient arrives at a hospital with an infection, her doctor must decide which antibiotic might have the best chance of curing her—no easy feat when disease-causing pathogens are increasingly resistant to multiple antibiotics. |
 | Study examines threshold of home healthcare services to avoid re-hospitalizationAn average of one to two home health physical therapy sessions per week can help lower the risk of re-hospitalization by up to 82 percent in older adults during a 60-day period, according to research findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. |
 | What can we do to keep people from gaining more weight?During a plane ride, Sara Bleich watched a flight attendant take an overweight passenger's drink order. The passenger asked for cranberry juice. |
 | Low cholesterol linked to higher risk of bleeding stroke in womenLowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol reduces the risk of heart attacks and stroke, with an ideal value below 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). But can it be too low? A new study finds that women who have levels of LDL cholesterol 70 mg/dL or lower may be more than twice as likely to have a hemorrhagic stroke than women with LDL cholesterol levels from 100 to 130 mg/dL. The study is published in the April 10, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. |
 | Suicide rates in suicidal people discharged from hospital down 50%A new study by UNSW Sydney researchers has explored a half-century of research into the suicide rates of people discharged from hospital after they presented with suicidal thoughts or behaviours. |
 | Do insecticide-treated mosquito nets harm sleep quality?Between 2015 and 2017, 624 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed, mostly for free, to reduce malaria, severe disease and death in regions of the world where malaria is endemic. |
 | Millions of children worldwide develop asthma annually due to traffic-related pollutionAbout 4 million children worldwide develop asthma each year because of inhaling nitrogen dioxide air pollution, according to a study published today by researchers at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH). The study, based on data from 2010 to 2015, estimates that 64 percent of these new cases of asthma occur in urban areas. |
 | Researchers identify factors linked with healthy memory in older adultsIn a new study that has implications for preventing Alzheimer's disease through targeted early intervention efforts, University of Alberta neuroscientists have identified different factors for maintaining healthy memory and avoiding memory decline for people 55 and over. |
 | Immigrant children's health declines rapidly after arrival in CanadaA healthy, happy future, free from poverty: This is the aspiration of many new immigrants and refugees to Canada and the United States. Leaving harsh conditions and food scarcity behind, they embrace the safety and relative affluence that North America offers. |
 | Leap to middle school is hard, but can be a fresh start for socially anxious childrenFor young people, the transition from elementary to middle school can be a time of stress, disruption and discomfort. For children who already have trouble interacting with their peers, the transition can be particularly fraught. |
 | Breastfeeding associated with lower cardiovascular riskLow-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is a key contributor to cardiovascular disease, one of the leading causes of death globally. |
 | Discovery of a host mRNA that inhibits immune functions of antiviral protein RIG-IHepatitis C virus (HCV) is a hepatotropic virus, with about 80 million chronic infections confirmed worldwide. HCV infection leads to the development of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and in some instances, hepatocellular carcinoma. The recent development of highly potent direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs), targeting viral proteins, facilitates virus elimination in >90 percent of treated individuals. However, the mechanism of DAA failure in the remaining 10 percent is not understood. |
 | CDC: Measles cases reach 465 this year in the United States(HealthDay)—The number of reported measles cases in the United States hit 465 as of April 4, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. That is 78 more than in the previous week's update, CNN reported. |
 | FDA approves osteoporosis therapy for high-risk postmenopausal women(HealthDay)—Evenity (romosozumab-aqqg) was approved for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women with a high risk for fracture, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced. |
 | Multimorbidity has a greater impact on risk of all causes of death in middle aged menMultimorbidity – the presence of two or more long-term health conditions – has a greater impact on risk of all causes of death in middle aged men, as opposed to older populations, according to new research. |
 | Inhaled nanoparticles could treat lung cancerQUT pharmaceutical scientist Dr. Nazrul Islam, from School of Clinical Sciences, said lung cancer was one of the most common cancers globally and one of the deadliest, being a leading cause of cancer deaths. |
 | Vaccination only way to halt childhood diseaseVaccination is the most effective and safe preventive strategy against many childhood infectious diseases. We can vaccinate effectively and safely against potentially lethal and debilitating diseases including measles, mumps, influenza, smallpox, tuberculosis, Rubella, poliomyelitis, and various other diseases. However, there are still outbreaks where vaccination is not available and increasingly in the era of contrarian thinking where vaccines are not taken as an option by some parents for their children, we are seeing the re-emergence of epidemics of these horrendous diseases. |
 | Diet rich in animal protein is associated with a greater risk of deathA diet rich in animal protein, and meat in particular, is not good for health, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland finds, providing further backing for earlier research evidence. Men who favoured animal protein over plant-based protein in their diet had a greater risk of death in a 20-year follow-up than men whose diet was more balanced in terms of their sources of protein. The findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. |
 | How to cut your kids' sugar intake(HealthDay)—The concerns about sugar and kids go far beyond the risk of cavities. |
 | Food insecurity linked with low self-esteem in children: StudyChildren in households with uncertain access to nutritious food are twice as likely to have low self-esteem and less likely to believe they can make healthy choices, new research shows. |
 | Researchers relate DNA methylation levels to obesityDNA methylation is a mechanism that regulates whether genes are "on" or "off", and is influenced by hereditary and environmental factors, as well as lifestyle and nutritional habits. |
 | Why do certain faulty genes only cause cancer in some parts of the body?The question of how cancers start is something that scientists have spent years trying to figure out. And the answer, undoubtedly, lies within cells and what's written in their DNA. |
 | New therapy needed for two forms of painful joint conditionA new collaborative study led by The University of Western Australia has found that a painful joint condition called arthrofibrosis that can result from traumatic injury or surgery may come in two forms which should be treated separately. |
 | A new molecule to improve treatment for type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseA new molecule, EPB-53, could help fight type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a new study led by the team of Manuel Vázquez-Carrera, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), and the Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Diseases Networking Biomedical Research Centre (CIBERDEM). |
Researchers develop new vaccine against deadly Middle East Respiratory SyndromeA collaborative team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Saudi Arabia and Canada developed a potent and safe vaccine that protects against the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. The findings recently were published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. | |
 | Half-hearted: New insight into why the heart doesn't develop properly in some childrenAlmost one percent of all American babies are born with malformed hearts. Heart abnormalities are at once the most common and most deadly type of birth defect in the U.S. |
 | New guideline decreases breast cancer re-operation ratesA UBC medical student has determined that a new surgical guideline is making a difference for breast cancer patients. |
 | Experimental drug delivers one-two punch to vision lossIn studies with lab-grown human cells and in mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have found that an experimental drug may be twice as good at fighting vision loss as previously thought. |
Mandatory preseason guidelines reduce heat illness among high school football playersResearchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and partners have found strong evidence that rates of heat-related illnesses, such as heat cramps and heat strokes, were reduced by half in states that had mandated guidelines to reduce exertional heat illness among high school football players. This is one of the first studies examining the effectiveness of state-mandated guidelines for reducing exertional heat illness among high school football players and it provides compelling evidence that exertional heat illness can be prevented through mandated safety policies. | |
 | New study finds higher C-section infection risk for mothers on MedicaidThe risk of surgical site infection following cesarean delivery is higher among Medicaid-insured women when compared to women who were privately insured, according to a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found that mothers delivering via cesarean section covered by Medicaid had a 1.4 fold increase in infection compared to those covered by private insurance. |
 | Higher lead in topsoil boosts probability of cognitive difficulties in five-year-old boysSoil contamination has long been recognized as a contributor to lead exposure in people and is now a health concern worldwide. In a new study, researchers sought to estimate the causal effects of exposure to lead in topsoil on the cognitive ability of 5-year-olds in the United States. The study found that higher lead in topsoil significantly increases the probability that 5-year-old boys will have cognitive difficulties but does not seem to affect 5-year-old girls. The researchers found the adverse effects in boys even in U.S. counties where the government considers the levels of lead concentration in the soil to be low. |
Caregiving not as bad for your health as once thought, study saysFor decades, articles in research journals and the popular press alike have reported that being a family caregiver takes a toll on a person's health, boosting levels of inflammation and weakening the function of the immune system. Now, after analyzing 30 papers on the levels of immune and inflammatory molecules in caregivers, Johns Hopkins researchers say the link has been overstated and the association is extremely small. Caregiver stress explains less than 1 percent of the variability in immune and inflammation biomarkers, they report. Their new meta-analysis was published March 10 in The Gerontologist. | |
Team publishes first evidence of impulsive behavior in nonsuicidal self-injuryAre young adults who harm themselves more at risk for suicide? New research suggests there could be a connection under specific conditions associated with negative emotions. | |
 | Breast milk analyses show new opportunities for reducing risk of childhood obesityNew research suggests the composition of breast milk in normal weight mothers differs from that of overweight mothers, and that variations in small molecule metabolites found in breast milk are possible risk factors for childhood obesity. The new research is published online in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. |
 | Nurses use FDNY geospatial mapping of opioid overdoses to inform clinical practice in real timeNurse practitioners and nursing students can use local, real-time maps of opioid overdoses to inform their clinical work with adolescents in community health settings, finds new research from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing. |
Canada opioid deaths top 10,000More than 10,000 Canadians have died of opioid-related overdoses since a public health crisis erupted in 2016, according to new data released Wednesday. | |
Living transplant donors need long-term monitoring, tooWhile organ transplant recipients receive continual care as the end-stage treatment to their condition, attention also should be given to living donors, who can suffer from hypertension, diabetes and other disorders after donation, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco. | |
 | Biochemical switches identified that could be triggered to treat muscle, brain disordersSt. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have found that the enzymes ULK1 and ULK2 play a key role in breaking down cell structures called stress granules, whose persistence leads to toxic buildup of proteins that kill muscle and brain cells. Such buildup is central to the pathology of three related diseases: inclusion body myopathy (IBM), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). |
 | Herbals in pregnancy may endanger mom, baby(HealthDay)—During pregnancy, even harmless-sounding "natural" supplements should be avoided, a new research review suggests. |
 | Don't suddenly stop taking a prescribed opioid, FDA warns(HealthDay)—Because of the danger of "serious harm" to patients, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising doctors not to suddenly stop patients from taking opioid painkillers, or drastically lower the dose. |
 | NFL retirees help scientists develop early test for brain condition CTE(HealthDay)—When NFL legend Frank Gifford died in 2015 at the age of 84, his family revealed that for years he'd suffered from mental issues caused by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), tied to head trauma experienced during his years of play. |
 | More Alzheimer's drug trial failures: are researchers on the wrong track?(HealthDay)—Amyloid beta has long been a prime suspect in Alzheimer's disease, since abnormal levels of the protein form disruptive plaques between patients' brain cells. |
 | Cardiac-specific comorbidity index beats generic indexes(HealthDay)—For patients admitted to the hospital with a cardiac condition, a cardiac-specific comorbidity index outperforms generic indexes for predicting mortality, according to study published online March 18 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association. |
 | Recurrence score may cut costs for high-risk breast cancer care(HealthDay)—Genomic recurrence score (RS) testing using a 21-gene assay is associated with decreased cancer care costs in real-world practice among certain patients with breast cancer who would otherwise receive standard chemotherapy, according to a study published in the March issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. |
 | STI incidence up after receipt of HIV preexposure prophylaxis(HealthDay)—For gay and bisexual men, receipt of HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is associated with an increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to a study published in the April 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. |
 | Brain scans may reveal concussion damage in living athletesResearchers may be closing in on a way to check athletes while they're alive for signs of a degenerative brain disease that's been linked to frequent head blows. Experimental scans found higher levels of an abnormal protein tied to the disease in a study of former National Football League players who were having mood and thinking problems. |
SWOG cancer research network study opens window into immune microenviromentThe first comprehensive study of immune cell types in pre- and post-chemotherapy cancer tissues points up a host of targets for new or existing cancer drugs that could improve patients' sensitivity to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy. | |
 | Opinion: Here's why well-intentioned vegan protesters are getting it wrongProtests from animal-rights activists around the country have drawn a swift national backlash. The Prime Minister has condemned the animal-rights protesters as "shameful," "un-Australian" and, memorably, "green-collar criminals." |
 | Researchers develop an intradermal model to study Staphylococcus aureus infectionsInfections caused by the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria through skin wounds cause thousands of deaths every year due to their fast transmission among large groups of people, such as hospitalised patients. Furthermore, these infections also cause millions in losses for livestock farmers. In addition, there has been an appearance of strains of Staphylococcus aureus that are resistant to antibiotics, which makes the development of new experimental models necessary in order to create efficient therapeutic tools against these infections. A group of researchers from the CEU Cardenal Herrera University has just developed a new intradermal experimental model on rabbit skin which makes it possible to describe in a detailed way, for the first time, the development of this infection. The results of their work are part of the doctoral thesis of researcher Asunción Silvestre, guided by CEU UCH professors Juan Manuel Corpa and David Viana. |
 | Healthy kitchen essential: The vacuum sealer(HealthDay)—If you're looking for a cooking shortcut and a way to make food more economical, consider vacuum sealing. |
 | Getting drugs off the roadsAustralians are well aware of the dangers of drink driving. Drinking can reduce your coordination and concentration, reduce your ability to judge speed and distance, and slow your reaction times. |
Austrian city suspends bus services over measles caseThe Austrian city of Klagenfurt indefinitely suspended its bus services Wednesday after a case of measles was detected in one of the drivers. | |
 | Adenosine kinase deficiency makes liver more susceptible to carcinogenA new study has shown that reduced adenosine kinase expression (ADK) in the liver can make it more susceptible to carcinogenic damage and the development of liver cancer. Combined results from the study of human liver cancer samples and mice with reduced levels of ADK expression support these findings, reported in Journal of Caffeine and Adenosine Research. |
VA's process for determining TBI in veterans seeking disability compensation examined in new reportThe U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) should expand the requirement in its disability compensation process regarding who can diagnose traumatic brain injury (TBI) to include any health care professional with pertinent and ongoing brain injury training and experience, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Currently, one of four specialties must diagnose TBI—a neurologist, neurosurgeon, physiatrist, or psychiatrist—but Evaluation of the Disability Determination Process for Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans says that it is the training and experience, not necessarily the medical specialty, that renders a health care provider capable of an accurate diagnosis. | |
 | ClinEpiDB data resource releases childhood malnutrition and intestinal disease studyAs the big data revolution continues to evolve, access to data that cut across many disciplines becomes increasingly valuable. In the field of public health, one barrier to sharing data is the need for users to fully comprehend complex methodological details and data variables in order to properly conduct analyses. The Clinical Epidemiology Database, ClinEpiDB.org aims to address these barriers by not only providing access to huge volumes of data, but also providing tools to help interpret complex global epidemiologic research studies. The development of ClinEpiDB has been led by a collaboration between the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts and Sciences, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Georgia's Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Liverpool's Institute of Integrative Biology. |
 | Research underscores value of cognitive training for adults with mild cognitive impairmentResearchers at the Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, investigated the effects of combining two non-pharmacological interventions for adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI): eight semi-weekly sessions of Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART), a cognitive training program shown to improve reasoning and ability to extract the bottom-line message from complex information; and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) over the left frontal region, an area associated with cognitive control and memory recovery success in people with Alzheimer's disease. |
 | Online tool empowers kids with social learning deficits via real-time, virtual world training and interactionsAfter five years of proven success with Charisma(TM) for Youth—an evidence-based virtual training program to learn and practice social skills in real time with trained clinicians—the Brain Performance Institute at the Center for BrainHealth has taken the program online. Regardless of where they live, kids struggling socially can now access this science-based social skills training. |
 | Is maternal vaccination safe during breastfeeding?In light of the continuing anti-vaccination movement, a provocative new article provides a comprehensive overview of the potential risks of vaccinating breastfeeding women. The article, which determined that only smallpox vaccine and, in some circumstances yellow fever vaccine, are the only vaccines having the potential to cause harm to infants, is published in Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. |
Biology news
 | Scientists identify a key gene in the transmission of deadly African sleeping sicknessLife scientists from UCLA and the University of Bern have identified a key gene in the transmission of African sleeping sickness—a severe disease transmitted by the bite of infected tsetse flies, which are common in sub-Saharan Africa. |
 | Genetic code of WWI soldier's cholera mappedThe oldest publicly-available strain of the cholera-causing bacterial species, Vibrio cholerae, has had its genetic code read for the first time by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators. The bacterium was isolated from a British soldier during World War One (WWI) and stored for over 100 years before being revived and sequenced. |
 | CRISPR-based 'allelic drive' allows genetic editing with selective precision and broad implicationsNew CRISPR-based gene drives and broader active genetics technologies are revolutionizing the way scientists engineer the transfer of specific traits from one generation to another. |
 | Scant amounts of DNA reveal conservation cluesThe key to solving a mystery is finding the right clues. Wildlife detectives aiming to protect endangered species have long been hobbled by the near impossibility of collecting DNA samples from rare and elusive animals. Now, researchers at Stanford and the National Centre for Biological Sciences at India's Tata Institute of Fundamental Research have developed a method for extracting genetic clues quickly and cheaply from degraded and left-behind materials, such as feces, skin or saliva, and from food products suspected of containing endangered animals. |
 | Showy male primates have smaller testiclesMale primates equipped with all the bells and whistles to attract a female mate tend to have smaller gonads, according to a study by researchers at The University of Western Australia and University of Zurich. |
 | Dolphins who help fishermen found to also hang out together between mealsA team of researchers with members from Brazil, South Africa and the U.S. has found an example of homophily among dolphins who work together with fishermen in Brazil for the mutual benefit of both. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, the group describes their study of the dolphins and what they found. |
 | New imaging reveals previously unseen vulnerabilities of HIVImagine that HIV is a sealed tin can: if you opened it, what would you find inside? An international team led by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of Melbourne think they know. For the first time, they have visualized what the "open can" of the human immunodeficiency virus looks like, revealing a previously unknown virus shape and a very detailed image of the vulnerabilities of the virus. |
 | Scientists invent time-saving technique to show how cells differentiateResearchers with the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago have developed a new "lab-on-a-chip" that can examine thousands of individual live cells over a weeklong period, performing experiments that would take more than 1 million steps in a laboratory. |
 | Ultrasound aligns living cells in bioprinted tissuesNorth Carolina State University researchers have developed a technique to improve the characteristics of engineered tissues by using ultrasound to align living cells during the biofabrication process. |
 | Tiny traces of neonicotinoid pesticides impair insects' ability to spot predatorsTraces of neonicotinoid pesticides can impair a flying insect's ability to spot predators and avoid collisions with objects in their path, new research by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) shows. |
 | Evolution from water to land led to better parentingThe evolution of aquatic creatures to start living on land made them into more attentive parents, says new research on frogs led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath. |
 | Long-lived bats could hold secrets to mammal longevityUniversity of Maryland researchers analyzed an evolutionary tree reconstructed from the DNA of a majority of known bat species and found four bat lineages that exhibit extreme longevity. They also identified, for the first time, two life history features that predict extended life spans in bats. |
 | Pesticide cocktail can harm honey beesA recently approved pesticide growing in popularity around the world was developed as a "bee safe" product, designed to kill a broad spectrum of insect pests but not harm pollinators. |
 | Giant Antarctic sea spiders weather warming by getting holeyScientists have wondered for decades why marine animals that live in the polar oceans and the deep sea can reach giant sizes there, but nowhere else. University of Hawai'i at Manoa zoology Ph.D. student Caitlin Shishido, with UH researcher Amy Moran and colleagues at the University of Montana, went to Antarctica to test the prevailing theory-the 'oxygen-temperature hypothesis'-that animals living in extreme cold can grow to giant sizes because their metabolisms are very slow. The animals they studied were sea spiders, marine relatives of land spiders that breathe through their legs. |
 | The best place for a bird's voice box is low in the airway, researchers findAll air-breathing vertebrates have a larynx—a structure of muscles and folds that protects the trachea and, in many animals, vibrates and modulates to produce a stunning array of sounds. |
 | New electron microscopy technique limits membrane destructionMembrane proteins play an important role in many biological processes. Studies suggest they're targeted by more than 50% of all modern medicinal drugs. Unfortunately for researchers, determining their structures has been a longstanding challenge because it's difficult to track the protein without damaging the cellular membrane using current techniques. Not anymore. |
 | Researchers explain signals of CpG 'traffic lights' in DNAA research team featuring bioinformaticians from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) has identified reliable markers of gene activity. The discovery has potential for future applications in clinical practice. The findings are reported in BMC Genomics. |
 | Empathy is the secret ingredient that makes cooperation – and civilization – possibleHuman societies are so prosperous mostly because of how altruistic we are. Unlike other animals, people cooperate even with complete strangers. We share knowledge on Wikipedia, we show up to vote, and we work together to responsibly manage natural resources. |
 | Cuba's worker bees boost thriving honey businessIn the floral valleys of Cuba's Matanzas province, old fashioned farming means bees can swarm without the threat of pesticides that have decimated populations across the world. |
 | Record Singapore bust puts scrutiny on overlooked pangolin (Update)Singapore has seized more than 28 tons of pangolin scales belonging to around 38,000 of the endangered mammals over the past week, a global record that spurred calls for more protection for pangolins, which are used in traditional medicine. |
 | New dimension to coral researchFor the first time, international researchers have mapped the network of bacteria on coral reefs. They write about it in Nature Communications (9 April). Professor by special appointment Nicole de Voogd (Naturalis Biodiversity Center & Institute of Environmental Sciences) and two of her Ph.D. students co-authored the publication. |
 | Too many pets are packing on too many poundsPets make us healthier. They can raise our spirits, extend our lives, lower our blood pressure and make us more active, research shows. |
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