Science X Newsletter Thursday, Nov 14

Dear Reader ,

Here is your customized Science X Newsletter for November 14, 2019:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

A unifying approach for controlling flying robotic insects

A new theoretical model to capture spin dynamics in Rydberg molecules

Graphene: The more you bend it, the softer it gets

Simulation reveals how bacterial organelle converts sunlight to chemical energy

Researchers generate terahertz laser with laughing gas

Research team develops tiny low-energy device to rapidly reroute light in computer chips

IPTF14hls may be a variable hyper-wind from a very massive star, study suggests

Evolution can reconfigure gene networks to deal with environmental change

New RNA molecules may play a role in aging

Study finds 'hyperhotspots' that could predict skin cancer risk

Climate may have helped crumble one of the ancient world's most powerful civilizations

Future rainfall could far outweigh current climate predictions

No deliveries: How cells decide when to accept extracellular packages

China tests Mars lander in international cooperation push

Top cosmologist's lonely battle against 'Big Bang' theory

Astronomy & Space news

	IPTF14hls may be a variable hyper-wind from a very massive star, study suggests A source known as iPTF14hls, assumed to be a Type IIP supernova, may be a long-term outflow similar to stellar winds, according to a new study published November 5 on arXiv.org. The new research proposes that iPTF14hls is most likely a so-called "hyper-wind"—an extreme mass outflow from a massive star.
	China tests Mars lander in international cooperation push China showed off its Mars spacecraft during a landing test Thursday as the country pushes for inclusion in more global space projects.
	Two cosmic peacocks show violent history of the magellanic clouds Two peacock-shaped gaseous clouds were revealed in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) by observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). A team of astronomers found several massive baby stars in the complex filamentary clouds, which agrees well with computer simulations of giant collisions of gaseous clouds. The researchers interpret this to mean that the filaments and young stars are telltale evidence of violent interactions between the LMC and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) 200 million years ago.
	What's the best way to sail from world to world? Electric sails or solar sails? In the past decade, thousands of planets have been discovered beyond our solar system. This has had the effect of renewing interest in space exploration, which includes the possibility of sending spacecraft to explore exoplanets. Given the challenges involved, a number of advanced concepts are currently being explored, like the time-honored concept of a light sail (as exemplified by Breakthrough Starshot and similar proposals).
	Now in space: A cutting-edge satellite the size of a shoebox built by students Just be thankful there are students like Paige Northway and Nathan Wacker, two University of Washington students who think it's neat to work on stuff like a satellite the size of a shoebox.
	New moon-seeking sensor aims to improve earth observations A new instrument with its eye on the Moon is taking off aboard a high-altitude NASA plane to measure the Moon's brightness and eventually help Earth observing sensors make more accurate measurements.
	NASA warned of safety risks in delayed private crew launches NASA auditors warn the space agency faces "significant safety and technical challenges" that need to be solved before astronauts fly in private capsules.

Technology news

	A unifying approach for controlling flying robotic insects One of the key problems confronting researchers in the field of microrobotics is designing and implementing reliable controllers for insect-scale micro air vehicles (FWMAVs), which are tiny flying robots typically inspired by insects. In fact, although these insect-size robots could have numerous useful applications, for instance, assisting humans in search and rescue missions or in agriculture, developing controllers that match their size and structure has so far proved to be difficult.
	Security problems found in 5G protocol A combined team of researchers from the University of Iowa and Purdue University has found nearly a dozen security breaches in the 5G protocol. They have written a paper describing both their findings and a security breaching tool they developed called 5GReasoner, and have uploaded it to the Documentcloud server.
	Design flaw could open Bluetooth devices to hacking Mobile apps that work with Bluetooth devices have an inherent design flaw that makes them vulnerable to hacking, new research has found.
	A new parallel strategy for tackling turbulence on Summit Turbulence, the state of disorderly fluid motion, is a scientific puzzle of great complexity. Turbulence permeates many applications in science and engineering, including combustion, pollutant transport, weather forecasting, astrophysics, and more. One of the challenges facing scientists who simulate turbulence lies in the wide range of scales they must capture to accurately understand the phenomenon. These scales can span several orders of magnitude and can be difficult to capture within the constraints of the available computing resources.
	AI for plant breeding in an ever-changing climate How might artificial intelligence (AI) impact agriculture, the food industry, and the field of bioengineering? Dan Jacobson, a research and development staff member in the Biosciences Division at the US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), has a few ideas.
	Modeling every building in America starts with Chattanooga Buildings use 40 percent of America's primary energy and 75 percent of its electricity, which can jump to 80 percent when a majority of the population is at home using heating or cooling systems and the seasons reach their extremes.
	Facebook says AI getting better at spying unwanted content Facebook on Wednesday said that its software is getting more skilled at spying banned content at the social network, then working with humans to quickly remove terrorist videos and more.
	Taiwan halts sales of three Huawei phones in wording row Taiwan has suspended sales of three Huawei smartphone models that listed it as "Taiwan, China" for timezones and contacts—a designation the self-ruled, democratic island bristles at.
	Motorola flips for its futuristic foldable phone Motorola is bracing for the future by returning to the past. The company is adapting its historical flip-phone design for a smartphone with a foldable screen.
	Software helps planners design walkable cities Walkable cities reduce traffic congestion, which causes around 3.3 million deaths and $121 billion in economic losses every year. But when architects are developing pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, they often rely on trial and error, intuition or specialized simulations that are hard to use and to incorporate into their designs.
	Report exposes flaw in iVote system used in New South Wales election Flaws in the iVote internet and telephone voting system used in the 2019 New South Wales election could have made it vulnerable to undetectable voter fraud, a new report has revealed.
	Convoy, the 'Uber for Trucking' app, scores $400 million in new round of funding Convoy, the Seattle-based company whose app promises to make the freight process more reliable and efficient, said it has raised $400 million in its latest funding round, announced Wednesday.
	Buddy Adventures and Niantic Wayfarer coming to 'Pokémon Go' Augmented reality has always been a key component to "Pokemon Go." It was a major feature when the mobile game was released, and over time, Niantic has expanded that element and refined it.
	Five years ago Amazon introduced Alexa. The name may never be the same. Here's what happened About 4,250 Alexas are turning five in the U.S. this year. One of them is Amazon's.
	Google Flights aims to save air travelers money with new alerts on nearby airports, travel dates Google Flights is trying to make the process of booking a flight a little easier—and less stressful—with some new updates.
	Consumer Reports finds vehicle redesigns come with glitches When it comes to buying a new car, the latest and greatest may not be the most dependable.
	Scientists design built-in controls for mini-chemical labs on a chip Since the 1990s, scientists have been exploring the possibilities of miniaturized chemical "laboratories" on a chip, which have potential as point-of-care diagnostics, analysis kits for field research and someday even conducting chemical tests on other planets.
	WPI engineers creating miniaturized, wireless oxygen sensor for sick infants Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are developing a sensor the size of a Band-Aid that will measure a baby's blood oxygen levels, a vital indication of the lungs' effectiveness and whether the baby's tissue is receiving adequate oxygen supply. Unlike current systems used in hospitals, this miniaturized wearable device will be flexible and stretchable, wireless, inexpensive, and mobile—possibly allowing the child to leave the hospital and be monitored remotely.
	WeWork loses $1.25 billion in third quarter WeWork racked up $1.25 billion in losses in the third quarter as it geared up for, and ultimately scuttled, its debut as a public company.
	Robots with benefits: How sexbots are marketed as companions When thinking of sexbots, companionship might not be the first word that comes to mind. But sexbot advertising promises more than sex toys. It is also selling emotional intimacy: robots marketed as if they are capable of meeting both physical and psychological needs.
	Tech Q&A: Some slow PCs can't be made much faster Q: About three months ago, I purchased an HP Pavilion laptop, model 17-ar050wm, that is clearly the slowest PC I've ever owned or used. I had a technician look for anything that could be turned off or deleted to make the PC run faster, but it hasn't helped. Is this a problem with the PC that I'll have to live with, or is there a remedy?
	Review: 'Death Stranding' is 'Oregon Trail' with detours through Kojima's imagination Look up the word "enigma" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of "Death Stranding." Since it was revealed in 2016, the game raised more questions than answers. The project seemed like an amalgamation of random images with gameplay that was equally as mysterious.
	Computer scientists develop new tool that generates videos from themed text In a world of novice photographers and videographers, capturing a deluge of content via their smartphones and handheld devices, there is a need for an intelligent, easy-to-use tool for automating the creation of movies and video montages. To date, many quality videos still rely on professional frame-based editing tools to manipulate raw footage and produce a coherent video with a captivating storyline.
	A turbocharger for the supercomputer JUWELS The Jülich supercomputer JUWELS will have a big brother, a so-called booster module, as Forschungszentrum Jülich, Atos, and ParTec have agreed. The module, equipped with several thousand graphics processors, is designed for extreme computing power and artificial intelligence tasks. It is designed as a Franco-German project together with NVIDIA and Mellanox using the co-design process. With the launch of the booster in 2020, the computing power of JUWELS will be increased from currently 12 to over 70 petaflops. This is equivalent to 70 trillion computing operations per second or the power of more than 300,000 modern PCs—no computer in Europe currently calculates faster.
	New Jersey seeks $640M from Uber for misclassifying workers New Jersey is seeking more than $640 million from Uber in taxes and penalties, saying the ride-hailing company misclassified its drivers as independent contractors.

Medicine & Health news

	Study finds 'hyperhotspots' that could predict skin cancer risk New research by Yale University scientists reports the discovery of "hyperhotspots" in the human genome, locations that are up to 170-times more sensitive to ultraviolet radiation (UV) from sunlight compared to the genome average.
	A potential new way to diagnose male infertility and pharmaceutical treatment options It can take a year or longer of trial and error for a doctor to determine if a man is infertile but new research by Michael Skinner, a Washington State University reproductive biologist, could change that.
	Blocking a survival mechanism could tackle melanoma treatment resistance The effectiveness of current treatments for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, could be improved by using approaches that wipe out the 'survival system' of cancer cells according to a study published in Nature Communications today.
	Antibody injection stops peanut allergy for 2 to 6 weeks, study shows One injection of an antibody treatment let people with severe peanut allergies eat a nut's worth of peanut protein two weeks later, a small, Stanford-led pilot study showed.
	Prostate cancer bone metastases thwart immunotherapy by producing TGF-beta Prostate cancer that spreads to the bone triggers the destruction of bone tissue that, in turn, thwarts the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors by blocking the development of T cells that are crucial to successful treatment, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Cell.
	We know we're full because a stretched intestine tells us so We commonly think a full stomach is what tells us to stop eating, but it may be that a stretched intestine plays an even bigger role in making us feel sated, according to new laboratory research led by UC San Francisco neuroscientist Zachary Knight, Ph.D.
	The ways astronauts prep for spaceflight could benefit cancer patients, say researchers During spaceflight, astronauts experience similar physical stress as cancer patients undergoing treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy. In a commentary published November 14 in the journal Cell, researchers suggest that by mimicking a NASA astronaut's schedule of exercising before, during, and after a mission, cancer patients could reduce the long-term impact their treatments often have on their bodies.
	Earthquake-like brain-wave bursts found to be essential for healthy sleep New research in rats shows that cortical arousals and brief awakenings during sleep exhibit non-equilibrium dynamics and complex organization across time scales necessary for spontaneous sleep-stage transitions and for maintaining healthy sleep. Prof. Plamen Ch. Ivanov of Boston University and colleagues present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.
	Lithium can reverse radiation damage after brain tumor treatment Children who have received radiotherapy for a brain tumor can develop cognitive problems later in life. In their studies on mice, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now shown that the drug lithium can help to reverse the damage caused long after it has occurred. The study is published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry and the researchers are now planning to test the treatment in clinical trials.
	Scientists identify a genetic basis for healthy sleep From organisms as simple as worms to those as complex as humans, sleep is a fundamental necessity. But although an estimated 50 to 70 million people in the United States suffer from a chronic sleep disorder, the genetic mechanisms that regulate human sleep remain poorly understood. Now, Caltech scientists have identified a genetic pathway that is necessary and sufficient for proper sleep in zebrafish and appears to also regulate sleep in humans. This pathway regulates levels of a particular neural compound that could one day be a therapeutic target for sleep disorders, including insomnia.
	Bacteria in the gut may alter aging process, study finds An international research team led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has found that microorganisms living in the gut may alter the aging process, which could lead to the development of food-based treatment to slow it down.
	Researchers find simpler, more effective cancer vaccine approach Using a precursor to dendritic cells appears to be an efficient and effective way to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer tumors, according to a study in animal and cell models by researchers at the Duke Cancer Institute.
	Restoring protein homeostasis improves memory deficits in Down syndrome model Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, and currently there is no effective treatment. Memory deficits are a hallmark of this condition and a study published today in the journal Science reports that the defects in a conserved stress pathway dubbed the 'integrated stress response,' or ISR, could explain the cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Down syndrome.
	Research: Chloroquine makes tuberculosis bacteria more susceptible to other antimalarial drugs A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, both in India, have found that the antimalarial drug chloroquine can make the tuberculosis bacteria more sensitive to other antimalarial drugs. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the group describes their study of the ways that the bacteria behind tuberculosis has become more drug resistant, and what they found.
	Discovery reveals mechanism that turns herpes virus on and off New research from Dr. Luis M. Schang and his group at the Baker Institute for Animal Health has identified a new mechanism that plays a role in controlling how the herpes virus alternates between dormant and active stages of infection.
Parents want mental health support to reduce stress of children's hospitalizations Parents of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) want individualized, formal psychosocial support during their children's in-hospital stays, according to a new study published in the Journal of Pediatrics. The study by researchers from Nemours Children's Health System outlines ways to optimize mental health for parents and mitigate the impact of stress on long-term outcomes for children and families.
	Inhaled immunosuppressant may increase survival, pulmonary function after lung transplant University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers found that lung transplant recipients who had early signs of organ rejection could increase their chances of survival by using an inhaled form of the immunosuppression drug cyclosporine. This is the first randomized, controlled study to demonstrate increased survival and improved lung function using an investigational form of cyclosporine called liposomal cyclosporine, which can be inhaled. It is used in combination with an investigational nebulizer to deliver the drug to the lungs.
	Artificial intelligence tool predicts life expectancy in heart failure patients When Avi Yagil, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Physics at University of California San Diego flew home from Europe in 2012, he thought he had caught a cold from his travels. When a "collection of pills" did not improve his symptoms, his wife encouraged him to see a doctor.
	Mechanical signaling cascade central to fibrotic scar tissue development defined In a new study published in Science Signaling, Cleveland Clinic researchers have identified a novel target for new therapies that may help to treat or prevent a host of fibrotic conditions, which contribute to nearly half of overall mortality in the United States.
	Diet trials often amend their outcome measures as they go Ever wonder why science can't settle simple diet-related questions? In part it's because most clinical trials involving diet, even those published in good journals, lack the rigor of most drug trials. They're often small, of short duration, and unable to rigorously control subjects' adherence to the test diets.
	Early spinal patterns may predict scoliosis in teen years A pediatric researcher has identified patterns of spinal curvature in younger children that may be likely to develop into scoliosis by adolescence. Accurately predicting scoliosis, a common, abnormal curvature of the spine, may set the stage for the first-ever methods to prevent the potentially disabling condition.
	Unhealthy habits can start young: Infants, toddlers, and added sugars A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that nearly two-thirds of infants (61 percent) and almost all toddlers (98 percent) consumed added sugars in their average daily diets, primarily in the form of flavored yogurts (infants) and fruit drinks (toddlers). Infants were 6-11 months, and toddlers were 12-23 months.
High rates of vaccine-preventable infections in pediatric transplant patients University of Colorado researchers have found lower vaccination rates among children who receive liver transplants, increasing the risk of sickness for those children, who already face significant health issues.
	Inoculating against the spread of viral misinformation In a year that has seen the largest measles outbreak in the US in more than two decades, the role of social media in giving a platform to unscientific anti-vaccine messages and organizations has become a flashpoint.
After trade deal, unhealthy foods flowed into Central America, Dominican Republic, study finds How do free trade agreements impact diet and health?
	Climate change already damaging health of world's children and threatens lifelong impact Climate change is already damaging the health of the world's children and is set to shape the wellbeing of an entire generation unless the world meets Paris Agreement targets to limit warming to well below 2 degrees C, according to a major new report published in The Lancet.The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change is a comprehensive yearly analysis tracking progress across 41 key indicators, demonstrating what action to meet Paris Agreement targets—or business as usual—means for human health. The project is a collaboration between 120 experts from 35 institutions including the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank, University College London, and Tsinghua University.
	Regular use of prescription drugs for pain and sleep increases frailty risk by 95 percent Researchers from the Oregon Research Institute (ORI) and Florida Atlantic University (FAU) are the first to demonstrate statistically significant links between self-reported regular use of prescription drugs for pain and/or sleep, and longitudinal risk of frailty in adults ages 65 and older. Frailty consists of deficits in a variety of functional measures, and is a reliable predictor of loss of independence, increased use of health care resources, and mortality. The possible implications of current research findings are especially serious given that it is common for older Americans to use two or more prescription drugs at the same time and many of these prescription drugs are for pain and sleep, including analgesics and sedatives.
Early ID of prenatal exposure to opioids, gabapentin improves timely treatment of newborns Timely identification of newborns exposed to both opioids and gabapentin during pregnancy could mean more appropriate care for newborns experiencing withdrawal, according to researchers at Marshall University, in collaboration with Marshall Health, Cabell Huntington Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Women most affected by vascular complications of diabetes Women are most affected by the vascular complications of diabetes—a situation likely to escalate in the coming decades, reports a paper published on World Diabetes Day in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
	Indonesians quitting 'rice addiction' over diabetes fears Indonesian Mirnawati once ate rice with every meal, but its link to diabetes convinced her to join a growing movement to quit a staple food in the third biggest rice-consuming nation on Earth.
	Second Ebola vaccine introduced in DR Congo The Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday introduced a second vaccine to fight a 15-month-old epidemic of Ebola in the east of the country, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said.
	Tonga closes schools as measles epidemic spreads All government primary schools and kindergartens in Tonga have been shut in an effort to limit the spread of measles sweeping through the South Pacific, the government announced Thursday.
	'Nudging' heart patients to take their statins leads to better adherence and better outcomes Statins are an effective medication for treating patients with heart disease—they cut the risk of a second major adverse cardiac event by almost 50 percent. But only about six percent of patients take statins as prescribed. One way to solve that? Nudge them. Literally.
	Researchers discover a new way in which insulin interacts with its receptor Since the discovery of insulin nearly 100 years ago, scientists have explored how it interacts with its receptor with the goal of improving the ability of therapeutic insulins to mimic the way insulin works in the body. In a new study, researchers have solved a critical piece of the puzzle by showing how insulin interacts with its receptor at a second binding site. The team of scientists from the Paul Langerhans Institute Dresden (a satellite of Helmholtz Zentrum München and a partner of the German Center for Diabetes Research) and the Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus at TU Dresden in Germany, together with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich, Germany, McGill University in Canada, and the University of Helsinki in Finland will publish their results Nov. 14, 2019, in the The Journal of Cell Biology (JCB).
	Link between hearing and cognition begins earlier than once thought Research has shown that adults with age-related hearing loss have higher rates of cognitive decline. Now, a study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has found that even the earliest stage of hearing loss—when hearing is still considered normal—is linked to cognitive decline.
	Revised criteria lead to more accurate screening for eye disease in premature infants A multicenter group of 41 hospitals led by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has confirmed that an improved method for predicting retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of blindness in children, was able to reduce the number of babies having invasive diagnostic examinations by nearly a third, while raising disease detection up to 100 percent. If implemented, this screening approach could considerably reduce both unnecessary health care costs and physically stressful retinal examinations for premature infants.
	Zika virus can cause immune and brain abnormalities in asymptomatic pig offspring Zika virus infection in the womb produces altered immune responses and sex-specific brain abnormalities in apparently healthy pig offspring, according to a study published november 14 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Uladzimir Karniychuk of the University of Saskatchewan, and colleagues. As noted by the authors, the findings could point to new strategies to prevent and alleviate the long-term effects of Zika virus infection.
	Researchers develop a faster, stronger rabies vaccine Every year, more than 59,000 people around the world die of rabies and there remains no cheap and easy vaccine regimen to prevent the disease in humans. Now, researchers report in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases that adding a specific immune molecule to a rabies vaccine can boost its efficacy.
	SNAP reverses chemotherapy resistance in human tumor cells through downregulation of MGMT Glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, is the most frequently occurring and gravest primary tumor of the central nervous system in adults. Poor survival rates among patients with GBM are associated with the development of resistance to chemotherapy drug temozolomide (TMZ). A recent study in The FASEB Journal sheds light on a potential strategy to overcome TMZ resistance in GBM cells.
	Availability of drugs as implants could expand, thanks to MRI maps What if a drug you need every single day of your life could be implanted into your body so that you don't have to remember to take a pill?
	China accused of 'falsifying' organ donation data China is engaged in the "systemic falsification" of voluntary organ donation data, an academic paper suggested Friday, calling into question Beijing's claim to have ended forced-harvesting of organs from prisoners.
	Diabetes cases soar, 1-in-11 adults affected: doctors More than 460 million people—1-in-11 adults—now suffer from diabetes, largely brought on by an over-rich lifestyle short on exercise, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) said Thursday.
	Get your game face on: Study finds it may help At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Michael Phelps was caught on camera glaring as he prepared for the men's 200-meter butterfly final. The look, popularly known as Phelps face, became an example of a concept that has long been familiar in sports: the game face.
	Smokers and hypertensive individuals have higher risk of sudden death from brain bleed than previously believed Contrary to the previous data, a Finnish study clarifies that smoking and high blood pressure do not protect from death in patients suffering from subarachnoid hemorrhage, the most lethal stroke subtype. In fact, subarachnoid hemorrhage kills smokers and hypertensive individuals even before they reach hospitals, and therefore, previous studies that did not include these deaths outside hospitals in their analyses may have reached erroneous conclusions.
	Anti-obesity effect of resveratrol and quercetin metabolites Resveratrol and quercetin are two functional ingredients to which a fat-reducing effect has been attributed in experiments conducted in vivo and in vitro. Yet their rapid metabolism means that only a tiny fraction of these compounds reach organs and tissue. Now, a new study suggests that their metabolism should not be regarded as a limitation in the use of resveratrol in pre-adipocytes nor in the use of quercetin in mature adipocytes.
	Sonic havens: How we use music to make ourselves feel at home The concept of "home" refers to more than bricks and mortar. Just as cities are more than buildings and infrastructure, our homes carry all manner of emotional, aesthetic and socio-cultural significance.
	From cataracts to macular degeneration: Age-related eye problems and how to treat them Monique is 77 years old. I met her when she came to the eye clinic at the University of Montréal, where I am a professor. A retired teacher, Monique has enjoyed an active and full life with her students and family and considers herself lucky to be in good health.
	If Dr. Google's making you sick with worry, there's help It's a busy day at the office and your left eye has been twitching uncontrollably. So, out of curiosity and irritation you Google it.
	Online shopping in treatment-seeking patients with buying-shopping disorder A new study in Comprehensive Psychiatry found that one-third of a group of patients seeking treatment for buying-shopping disorder (BSD) also reported symptoms of addictive online shopping. These patients tended to be younger than the others in the study sample, experienced greater levels of anxiety and depression, and were likely to exhibit a higher severity of BSD symptoms.
	People know little about brain health but want to know more People do not think about their own brain health and are unsure how to maintain it, according to a recent interview study in the Lifebrain project.
	Strengths-based communications help parents develop stronger line of communications with adolescents Parents and teens do not have the same memory about how often parents are talking to the teen about the teen's strengths and weaknesses. Parents often think they talk more about strengths than weaknesses, but teens think parents talk more about weaknesses than strengths, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published in Applied Developmental Science.
	Smartwatch app shows promise for identifying atrial fibrillation For participants without atrial fibrillation, use of a smartwatch application (app) can identify irregular pulse, which may indicate atrial fibrillation with high positive predictive value, according to a study published in the Nov. 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
	Health groups urge president to ban all flavored e-cigarettes An ad campaign urging U.S. President Donald Trump to follow through on a commitment to ban all flavored electronic cigarettes, including mint and menthol, has been launched by a number of public health groups.
	Diabetes technology often priced out of reach While the high price of insulin has gotten a lot of attention lately, it's not the only cost issue facing people with diabetes. New technologies designed to improve blood sugar management often cost too much for people to afford.
	Genetics may determine who benefits from broccoli's effects on kidney health New research indicates that the benefits of a dietary compound on kidney health may depend on an individual's genetics. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of JASN, may be helpful for tailoring interventions to prevent or treat kidney disease.
	Celiac disease screening for family members Celiac disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten. A recent Mayo Clinic study found that this autoimmune disease tends to run in families. Researchers say screening family members of celiac disease patients could prevent long-term complications, such as nutritional deficiencies, development of new autoimmune conditions and small bowel malignancy.
	'Superbugs' on the rise, new CDC report says Six years after a federal government warning that lifesaving antibiotics were losing their punch, a new update Wednesday revealed that the problem of antibiotic-resistant infections is, by some measures, getting worse.
	Eliminating common bacterial infection significantly decreases gastric cancer risk While it is well known within the medical community that there is a link between the bacteria Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and rates of gastric cancer—commonly referred to as stomach cancer—the rates and risk among Americans has been largely understudied. Now, after analyzing records of close to 400,000 patients, researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, have found that successfully eliminating H. pylori from one's gastrointestinal tract led to a 75 percent reduction in risk of gastric cancer. Researchers also found that rates of gastric cancer after detection of H. pylori infection are higher among specific populations, suggesting that people who fall into these groups could benefit from more careful monitoring. The study is published in the journal Gastroenterology.
	Snail slime: The science behind mollusks as medicine Snails are well known for their lack of speed and their ability to upset gardeners. But there is growing scientific interest in the familiar sticky trail of slime they leave behind—and the medicinal value it may contain.
	New technique could optimize PSMA-targeted prostate cancer therapy Researchers have discovered a new way to optimize results in treating patients with prostate cancer tumors while minimizing negative side effects. The study is featured in the November issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
	A step closer to cancer precision medicine Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute for Molecular Medicine (FIMM) at the University of Helsinki have developed a computational model, Combined Essentiality Scoring (CES) that enables accurate identification of essential genes in cancer cells for development of anti-cancer drugs.
	Women more likely to survive stroke but have poorer recovery than men, study shows Women are more likely to survive a stroke, but have worse disability and poorer quality of life afterwards compared to men, according to research published in the latest issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
	Why telling people with diabetes to use Walmart insulin can be dangerous advice About 7.4 million people in the U.S. require manufactured insulin to stay alive. I'm one of them. I've lived with Type 1 diabetes for over 15 years and inject two kinds of insulin every day. These insulins are notoriously expensive, and even with health insurance, people with diabetes regularly struggle to make ends meet.
	How HIV infection may raise the risk for sudden cardiac death: New study sheds light The success of antiretroviral therapies has extended the lives of people living with HIV, long enough for other chronic health conditions to emerge, including a recently documented uptick in sudden death. Now, in a study comparing medical information and portable EKG patch data from men living with HIV to men without it, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers and collaborators report they have found more variability of the electrical "reset" period between heartbeats—known as the QT interval—in men living with the virus, which may contribute to the increased risk of sudden cardiac deaths.
	Researchers block metastasis-promoting enzyme, halt spread of breast cancer In a breakthrough with important implications for the future of immunotherapy for breast cancer, UC San Francisco scientists have found that blocking the activity of a single enzyme can prevent a common type of breast cancer from spreading to distant organs.
	New study dispels myths about what makes youth sports fun for kids A new study looks at what makes organized sports fun for kids, and some of the findings might surprise you. The new study, published today, dispels the popular myth that what makes sports the most fun for girls are the social aspects, like friendships, while for boys the fun factor has to do with competition.
	Analysis finds big drugmakers could lose $1 trillion in sales and still be most profitable industry A new analysis of publicly reported financial data published today by researchers at West Health Policy Center and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that large, brand-name drug manufacturers would still be the most profitable industry sector even with $1 trillion in lower sales, all while maintaining current research investments.
	Advances in the detection of the postoperative progress of abdominal aortic aneurysm An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a focal dilation of the abdominal aorta, that if not treated, tends to grow and may rupture. The most common treatment is endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), which requires patients to undergo lifelong postoperative surveillance based on computed tomography angiography (CTA) due to the possible appearance of complications. These complications may again lead to aneurysm dilation and rupture.
	New process kills mosquito larvae using bacteria in the male's gut microbiome A team of undergraduate student researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), who competed in the 2019 iGem competition, have developed an innovative targeted biological approach that kills mosquito larvae, using natural bacteria delivered by the male mosquito while mating.
	Researchers find new role for dopamine in gene transcription and cell proliferation The dopamine D2 receptor has a previously unobserved role in modulating Wnt expression and control of cell proliferation, according to a new study from the George Washington University (GW) and the University of Pittsburgh. The research, published in Scientific Reports, could have implications for the development of new therapeutics across multiple disciplines including nephrology, endocrinology, and psychiatry.
	Inflammatory bowel disease appears to impact risk of Parkinson's disease Relatively new research findings indicating that the earliest stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) may occur in the gut have been gaining traction in recent years. In a review published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, Tomasz Brudek, Ph.D., evaluates evidence for the association between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and PD and proposes directions for future research.
	Stress, plastic additives in late pregnancy raise risk of premature birth Women exposed simultaneously to stress and plastic additives late in pregnancy are at increased risk for premature birth, according to a study by Rutgers and other institutions.
	Home-visits before and after birth can benefit caregiving in low- and middle-income settings A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports that home-visiting by trained community workers during and after pregnancy can improve mother-child interactions in the first years of life. However, this benefit was not found for mothers who experienced depressive symptoms during pregnancy.
	Rollercoaster weight changes can repeat with second pregnancy, especially among normal-weight women Everyone knows that gaining excess weight during one pregnancy is bad, but clinicians rarely consider weight gains and losses from one pregnancy to the next—especially in normal-weight women.
	Four studies look at global burden of digestive diseases (HealthDay)—Global burdens of colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and stomach cancer increased from 1990 to 2017, according to four studies published online Oct. 21 in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The studies were published to coincide with the United European Gastroenterology Week, held from Oct. 19 to 23 in Barcelona, Spain.
	Surgery for congenital heart disease tied to kidney disease (HealthDay)—The risk for mortality and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is high in children who undergo surgical repair for congenital heart disease compared with the general population, according to a study published in the October issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
	Tobacco cessation programs may up quit rates in cancer patients (HealthDay)—Enrolling actively-smoking oncology patients into a comprehensive tobacco cessation program may help patients sustain long-term abstinence from smoking and improve their cancer treatment outcomes, according to a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.
	Vitamin D, omega-3 do not cut heart failure hospitalization (HealthDay)—Neither vitamin D nor marine omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid supplementation significantly reduces the rate of first heart failure hospitalization, according to a research letter published online Nov. 11 in Circulation to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Heart Association, held from Nov. 16 to 18 in Philadelphia.
	Heart attack survivors who develop PTSD don't always take heart meds Experiencing a heart attack may be so terrifying that it triggers post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and those who develop PTSD have twice the risk of having a second heart attack.
	Mindfulness may be a balm for breast cancer patients (HealthDay)—Women with advanced breast cancer might find mindfulness can ease their pain, anxiety and depression, a new study suggests.
	Fish oil is good medicine for heart failure (HealthDay)—Fish oil might help people with heart failure avoid repeat trips to the hospital, a new study suggests.
	Bisphenol-a structural analogues may be less likely than BPA to disrupt heart rhythm Some chemical alternatives to plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), which is still commonly used in medical settings such as operating rooms and intensive care units, may be less disruptive to heart electrical function than BPA, according to a pre-clinical study that explored how the structural analogues bisphenol-s (BPS) and bisphenol-f (BPF) interact with the chemical and electrical functions of heart cells.
	Diverging trends: Binge drinking and depression Binge drinking among U.S. adolescents precipitously declined from 1991 to 2018, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Depressive symptoms among U.S. adolescents have sharply increased since 2012. And for the first time in the past 40 years, binge drinking and depressive symptoms among adolescents are no longer associated. The findings are published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
	Findings could identify aggressive breast cancers that will respond to immunotherapy University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered a promising method to identify aggressive breast cancer tumors that will respond to drugs that unleash the immune system against cancer.
	UN to test impact of mosquito sterilisation on disease spread The UN said Thursday it was preparing to test a sterilisation technique targeting mosquitoes that could help rein in the spread of a range of devastating diseases such as dengue and Zika.
	Study: Multidisciplinary transplantation evaluation shows promise for older adults Older adults with blood cancers can benefit from a team-based, holistic evaluation before undergoing transplantation, according to a new study published today in Blood Advances. The study, which reported on a multidisciplinary clinic (MDC) at the University of Chicago Medical Center, found that patients treated with this approach experienced better transplantation outcomes and survival rates.
	Study reveals urban hotspots of high-schoolers' opioid abuse A new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that in several cities and counties the proportion of high-schoolers who have ever used heroin or misused prescription opioids is much higher than the national average.
	How maternal Zika virus infection results in newborn microcephaly A new study led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine revealed how in utero Zika virus infection can lead to microcephaly in newborns. The team discovered that the Zika virus protein NS4A disrupts brain growth by hijacking a pathway that regulates the generation of new neurons. The findings point at the possibility of developing therapeutic strategies to prevent microcephaly linked to Zika virus infection. The study appears today in the journal Developmental Cell.
	Blood test for deadly eye melanoma A simple blood test could soon become the latest monitoring tool for the early detection of melanoma in the eye.
	Research quantifies how much speakers' first language affects learning a new language Language research has documented that people tend to draw inferences about speakers based on how they talk. These often implicit inferences can occur in the blink of an eye and can affect how smart we think someone is, how much we like them, and more. This is also the case for the non-native accents typically present in speakers who learn a new language later in life.
	Study: Doctors give electronic health records an 'F' The transition to electronic health records (EHRs) was supposed to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare for doctors and patients alike—but these technologies get an "F" rating for usability from health care professionals, and may be contributing to high rates of professional burnout, according to a new Yale-led study.
	Parity law improved medicaid acceptance at substance use disorder treatment centers A 2008 federal parity law succeeded in expanding Medicaid acceptance by treatment facilities for substance use disorders (SUDs), according to a study by University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers.
	Is opioid treatment available to those who need it most? The U.S. opioid epidemic is still raging—it's particularly pronounced in low-income areas and in those where people lack access to health care services, which includes cities in Michigan and across the Rust Belt. But the effectiveness of efforts to provide treatment and recovery options to those who need it most—that is, in locations with the greatest number of deaths from opioid overdose—has been unclear.
Injection drug use: a new study shows a mixed Canadian portrait In Canada, 171,900 people injected drugs in 2016, up from 130,000 in 2011. In a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) estimated, using multiplier methods, the number of people who injected drugs in 11 of the 13 Canadian provinces (Nunavut and Northwest Territories not included) and reported a 30-per-cent increase in the period studied. The researchers also estimated how many people received medication for opioid use disorder and how many needle syringes were distributed.
	How Crohn's disease-associated bacteria tolerate antibiotics Bacteria associated with Crohn's disease rely on multiple stress responses to survive, multiply, and tolerate antibiotics within white blood cells called macrophages, according to a study published November 14 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Olivier Espéli of the College de France and PSL Research University in Paris, France, and colleagues.
Giving breast cancer patients an average survival time is more often wrong than right Doctors who give advanced breast cancer patients just one estimate, such as 12 months, for the average amount of time they are expected to live are only accurate 20-30% of the time, according to Dr. Belinda Kiely, medical oncologist and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia.
Complementary therapies can do more harm than good when breast cancer becomes visible Patients with advanced breast cancer that has spread to the skin are likely to cause more harm than good if they use complementary therapies to treat their skin lesions.
	Players' mental health becoming major issue in cricket A serious health concern is emerging in Australian cricket. The first test of the home summer starts in Brisbane next week and Australia has three players out of the selection frame because of mental health reasons.
	New method described for quantifying antisense oligonucleotides in nuclei A novel method uses subcellular fractionation to quantify label-free antisense oligonucleotides (AONs)- designed to silence targeted genes—that have crossed into the nucleus of a cell, where they can exert their effects. Researchers used this method to correlate nuclear entry of several AON molecules with target gene knockdown and they report their results in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics.
	Sit, heal: Dog teaches military medical students the merits of service animals The newest faculty member at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences has a great smile—and a wagging tail.
	Belgium reports first death from vaping An 18-year-old man died in Belgium of respiratory failure that authorities on Thursday attributed to vaping and a mixture of harmful products in an e-cigarette.
	FDA accepts submission for selumetinib as treatment for neurofibromatosis AstraZeneca and MSD (Merck) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted acceptance to file status of its application for the MEK inhibitor selumetinib, for use in patients with plexiform neurofibromas, a common manifestation in the disease neurofibromatosis type one (NF1). The FDA's acceptance of the application is a major milestone for selumetinib becoming the first ever approved treatment for NF patients. This follows previous designations from the FDA granting the treatment orphan drug status as well as breakthrough status, and now enters the drug into the FDA's approval pipeline. The FDA also granted priority review, and a PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act) has been set for the second quarter of 2020.
	E-cigarettes: five things to know E-cigarettes have become hugely popular in the past decade but a rash of vaping-linked deaths and illnesses is feeding caution about a product, already banned in some places.
	Research explores impact of racial discrimination on dating websites for gay, bisexual men Race-based discrimination and stereotypes are ubiquitous in the online communities and mobile apps that gay and bisexual men use to search for sexual and romantic partners, research indicates.
	German lawmakers approve compulsory measles vaccine plan Germany's parliament has passed a law requiring that children who attend school or daycare must be vaccinated for measles.
	Vaping illnesses in US still rising, though at slower pace The number of vaping illnesses in the U.S. is still rising, but at a slower pace.

Biology news

	Simulation reveals how bacterial organelle converts sunlight to chemical energy Scientists have simulated every atom of a light-harvesting structure in a photosynthetic bacterium that generates energy for the organism. The simulated organelle behaves just like its counterpart in nature, the researchers report. The work is a major step toward understanding how some biological structures convert sunlight into chemical energy, a biological innovation that is essential to life.
	Evolution can reconfigure gene networks to deal with environmental change Scientists at the University of Birmingham have unravelled the genetic mechanisms behind tiny waterfleas' ability to adapt to increased levels of phosphorus pollution in lakes.
	New RNA molecules may play a role in aging The genome is the master plan for all body parts, from toe nails to eyebrows. But it's not just the blueprint that determines what's built. All of the cellular players that draw instructions from the blueprint add their own interpretation to the design, and researchers are still discovering new players. Using new tools they developed, Thomas Jefferson University researchers have found a sea of a new subtype of RNA molecules in the cell, and evidence suggesting they may play a role in aging processes.
	No deliveries: How cells decide when to accept extracellular packages Endocytosis, a fundamental process that cells use to take in macromolecules, functions a lot like an airlock on a spaceship—but squishier, says Dr. Gunther Hollopeter, assistant professor of molecular medicine at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Researchers have studied how cells initiate and perform endocytosis since the 1960s, but in a new paper in the journal eLife, Hollopeter's lab finally describes how cells shut down this important cellular machinery. And their findings are not without controversy.
	Genes borrowed from bacteria allowed plants to move to land Natural genetic engineering allowed plants to move from water to land, according to a new study by an international group of scientists from Canada, China, France, Germany, and Russia.
	Is evolution predictable? An international team of scientists working with Heliconius butterflies at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama was faced with a mystery: How do pairs of unrelated butterflies from Peru to Costa Rica evolve nearly the same wing-color patterns over and over again? The answer, published in Current Biology, forever changes the way evolution is understood.
	DNA data offers scientific look at 500 years of extramarital sex in Western Europe These days it's easy to resolve questions about paternity with over-the-counter test kits. Now, researchers have put DNA evidence together with long-term genealogical data to explore similar questions of biological fatherhood on a broad scale among people living in parts of Western Europe over the last 500 years.
	How to make better biofuels? Convince yeast it's not starving Yeast already helps make bread and beer and cranks out the biofuel ethanol, but scientists believe it can be used to create an even more efficient fuel called isobutanol. Normally, yeast only creates a tiny amount of isobutanol. Now researchers at Princeton University have discovered a genetic switch that significantly ramps up production.
	Fertilization discovery reveals new role for the egg An unexpected discovery about fertilization from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals new insights on how sperm and egg fuse and could have major implications for couples battling infertility—and may lead to a future male contraceptive.
	Gene deletion study identifies many new targets in malaria pathogen Despite great efforts in medicine and science, more than 400,000 people worldwide are still dying of malaria. The infectious disease is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium. The genome of the parasite is relatively small with about 5,000 genes. In contrast to human cells, Plasmodium parasites only have a single copy of each individual gene. If one removes a gene from the entire genome of the parasite, this leads therefore directly to a change in the phenotype of the parasite.
	Architecture of a bacterial power plant decrypted Both humans and many other creatures need oxygen for survival. In the conversion of nutrients into energy, oxygen is converted to water, for which the enzyme oxidase is responsible. It represents the last step of the so-called respiratory chain.
	Human link in spread of infectious cancer in mussels Mussels hitching a ride on ocean-going ships are likely responsible for the spread of an infectious cancer found in different species on either side of the Atlantic, scientists say.
	How giant kelp may respond to climate change When a marine heat wave hit California's coast in 2014, it brought ocean temperatures that were high for Northern California but fairly normal for a Southern California summer. Much of the giant kelp in the north died in the heat wave, while southern populations survived.
	Research brings better news for European ash trees For the past decade the outlook has been gloomy for European ash trees devastated by Ash dieback and facing the threat of more invasive pests.
	Tool for studying decision-making is ineffective for training better behavior A two-step task commonly used to study people's decision-making behaviors does not appear to be effective for training people to rely more on goal-oriented behaviors and less on habitual behaviors. Elmar Grosskurth of Inselspital University Hospital Bern, Switzerland, and colleagues present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.
	Old dogs, new tricks: 10,000 pets needed for science Can old dogs teach us new tricks? Scientists are looking for 10,000 pets for the largest-ever study of aging in canines. They hope to shed light on human longevity too.
	Shark salvation found in crossing conformation Confirmation of a transatlantic crossing by a highly endangered marine animal signals the need for "an international mindset" when seeking ways to conserve the basking shark—named among the world's 'weirdest' animals by National Geographic.
	Scientists developing warning system to teach bears to avoid trains Researchers at the University of Alberta are working on a warning system aimed at teaching grizzly bears that frequent railway tracks to get out of the way of oncoming trains.
	MicroRNA comprehensively analyzed Messenger RNA transmits genetic information to the proteins, and microRNA plays a key role in the regulation of gene expression. Scientists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Research Centre for Medical Genetics have described the complex interactions between these two and other kinds of human RNA. The paper was published in Frontiers in Genetics.
	Is it ethical to keep pets and other animals? It depends on where you keep them New York City's comprehensive new code for animal welfare restricts when horse-drawn carriages can operate and bans the sale of the fatty liver of a force-fed duck, foie gras.
	Is your cat in pain? Its facial expression could hold a clue They say that eyes are windows to the soul. Indeed, research suggests this might also be true for our four-legged friends. Since the days of our most celebrated natural historian, Charles Darwin, humans have been interested in how animals communicate via their facial expressions, and how different species might express themselves in similar ways.
	World's oldest captive white rhino dies in French zoo The world's oldest captive white rhino, South African-born Sana, has died at the age of 55, the French zoo that she called home for the last 26 years said Thursday.
	Sociable crows are healthier—new research A new study has found that crows living in large social groups are healthier than crows that have fewer social interactions.
	Plan would protect 21 coral hot spots in Gulf of Mexico A plan to protect corals in the Gulf of Mexico is close to becoming a law, drawing cheers from environmental groups who believe leaving the corals alone would help vulnerable ocean ecosystems to grow.

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