ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

---

• Miscarriage diagnosis guidelines questioned
• 'Never married' men still more likely to die from cancer
• Researchers invent tiny artificial muscles with the strength, flexibility of elephant trunk
• Twitter data used to track vaccination rates and attitudes
• Gut bacteria may affect whether a statin drug lowers cholesterol
• A step towards new vaccines for most important chicken parasite
• Women with polycystic ovary syndrome at increased risk of pregnancy complications, research finds
• Study could help battle against superbugs
• Hospital superbug debugged
• Nasal congestion: More than physical obstruction
• Preventing dangerous nonsense in human gene expression
• Agricultural pest management program efficiency challenged by information diffusion barriers among farmers
• Climatic tipping points for tropical forest and savanna: Satellite data reveal where they are most vulnerable
• Professor uncovers potential issues with apps built for Android systems
• 'Robot biologist' solves complex problem from scratch
• Plankton's shifting role in deep sea carbon storage explored
• Inhibiting allergic reactions without side effects
• Direct access to physical therapists associated with lower costs and fewer visits, new study says
• Earlier autism diagnosis could mean earlier interventions
• NASA continues critical survey of Antarctica's changing ice
• Future forests may soak up more carbon dioxide than previously believed
• Taking steps to prevent 'going postal'
• Earthquakes generate big heat in super-small areas
• Schizophrenia genetics linked to disruption in how brain processes sound
• From blue whales to earthworms, a common mechanism gives shape to living beings
• Nanoparticle assembly is like building with LEGOs
• New technologies challenge old ideas about early hominid diets
• Emulating -- and surpassing -- nature: Using DNA to build nanomaterials with desired properties
• Association between menopause, obesity and cognitive impairment
• Researchers correct sickle cell disease in adult mice: Protein could be a target for treating people who have the blood disorder
• How the zebra gets its stripes: A simple genetic circuit
• Deactivating a single protein corrects sickle cell disease in mice
• Scientists reveal surprising picture of how powerful antibody neutralizes HIV
• Reversing sickle cell anemia by turning on fetal hemoglobin
• Inefficient developing world stoves contribute to 2 million deaths a year
• Carbon nanotube muscles generate giant twist for novel motors
• 100,000-year-old ochre toolkit and workshop discovered in South Africa
• Regaining trust after a transgression
• New breeds of broccoli remain packed with health benefits
• Lower income dads encourage exercise, healthy diet but may give wrong dose of medicine, study suggests
• Severe drought, other changes can cause permanent ecosystem disruption
• Public reporting has''t improved transplant centers' care
• A neighborhood's raw, edgy atmosphere is an essential feature in attracting designers
• New scheme for photonic quantum computing
• Differences in jet lag severity could be rooted in how circadian clock sets itself
• Polar bears ill from accumulated environmental toxins
• Permanently dismal economy could prompt men to seek more sex partners
• Method of studying roots, rarely used in wetlands, improves ecosystem research
• Tests to catch the makers of dangerous 'legal high' designer drugs
• First physical evidence bilingualism delays onset of Alzheimer's symptoms
• Precision with stem cells a step forward for treating multiple sclerosis, other diseases
• Children, not chimps, prefer collaboration: Humans like to work together in solving tasks - chimps don't
• Researchers block morphine's itchy side effect
• Hidden genetic influence on cancer discovered
• Controlling cell death prevents skin inflammation
• Eating green veggies improves immune defenses
• Reversing smoke-induced damage and disease in the lung
• Children, not chimps, choose collaboration
• Understanding the beginnings of embryonic stem cells helps predict the future
• College students limit technology use during crunch time

Miscarriage diagnosis guidelines questioned Posted: 13 Oct 2011 06:39 PM PDT Current guidelines that help clinicians decide whether a woman has had a miscarriage are inadequate and not reliable, and following them may lead to the inadvertent termination of wanted pregnancies.

'Never married' men still more likely to die from cancer Posted: 13 Oct 2011 06:39 PM PDT It is known that the unmarried are in general more likely to die than their married counterparts and there is some indication that the divide is getting worse. New research looks at the changes in cancer survival over the past 40 years and show that the difference in mortality between the married and never married, especially between married and never married men, has also increased.

Researchers invent tiny artificial muscles with the strength, flexibility of elephant trunk Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:50 PM PDT An international team of researchers has invented new artificial muscles strong enough to rotate objects a thousand times their own weight, but with the same flexibility of an elephant's trunk or octopus limbs.

Twitter data used to track vaccination rates and attitudes Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT The first case study in how social-media sites can affect the spread of a disease has been designed and implemented by a scientist studying attitudes toward the H1N1 vaccine. The method is expected to be repeated in the study of other diseases.

Gut bacteria may affect whether a statin drug lowers cholesterol Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT Statins can be effective at lowering cholesterol, but they have a perplexing tendency to work for some people and not others. Gut bacteria may be the reason.

A step towards new vaccines for most important chicken parasite Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT Researchers have taken the first step in developing a new type of vaccine to protect chickens against coccidiosis, the most important parasite of poultry globally. A vaccine of this type -- based on proteins from the coccidiosis bug rather than being derived from a live parasite -- could be produced on a larger scale than is currently possible so could be used to provide much more widespread protection to chicken flocks.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome at increased risk of pregnancy complications, research finds Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT Women with polycystic ovary syndrome are more likely to have problems with pregnancy regardless of whether they are undergoing fertility treatment, claims new research.

Study could help battle against superbugs Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT Targeting a toxin released by virtually all strains of MRSA could help scientists develop new drugs that can fight the superbug, research suggests. A new study has discovered the toxin -- SElX -- which leads the body's immune system to go into overdrive and damage healthy cells.

Hospital superbug debugged Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT Scientists have uncovered how a common hospital bacterium becomes a deadly superbug that kills increasing numbers of hospital patients worldwide and accounts for an estimated $3.2 billion each year in health-care costs in the US alone.

Nasal congestion: More than physical obstruction Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT Symptoms of nasal congestion have been difficult to treat because patient reports of congestion often have little relationship to the actual physical obstruction of nasal airflow. Now, scientists report that the annoying feeling of nasal obstruction is related to the temperature and humidity of inhaled air. This knowledge may help researchers design effective treatments for this familiar symptom of nasal sinus disease.

Preventing dangerous nonsense in human gene expression Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:48 PM PDT Human genes are preferentially encoded by codons that are less likely to be mistranscribed (or "misread") into a STOP codon, according to a new study.

Agricultural pest management program efficiency challenged by information diffusion barriers among farmers Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:47 PM PDT While international pest management programs have long relied on farmer cooperation to spread pest control information at larger scales, a study by French researchers reveals that slow information diffusion within farmer communities gives rise to significant lags in implementation of pest management procedures.

Climatic tipping points for tropical forest and savanna: Satellite data reveal where they are most vulnerable Posted: 13 Oct 2011 03:38 PM PDT Tropical tree cover will jump sharply between a forested state and savanna or treeless conditions rather than respond smoothly to climate change, according to a new study.

Professor uncovers potential issues with apps built for Android systems Posted: 13 Oct 2011 01:29 PM PDT Experts are concerned with potential issues with mobile applications (commonly referred to as apps) written for the Android system using the WebView platform.

'Robot biologist' solves complex problem from scratch Posted: 13 Oct 2011 01:29 PM PDT Scientists have taken a major step toward developing robot biologists. They have shown that their system, the Automated Biology Explorer, can solve a complicated biology problem from scratch.

Plankton's shifting role in deep sea carbon storage explored Posted: 13 Oct 2011 01:29 PM PDT The tiny phytoplankton Emiliania huxleyi, invisible to the naked eye, plays an outsized role in drawing carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it deep in the seas. But this role may change as ocean water becomes warmer and more acidic, according to a research team.

Inhibiting allergic reactions without side effects Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:46 PM PDT Researchers have announced a breakthrough approach to allergy treatment that inhibits food allergies, drug allergies, and asthmatic reactions without suppressing a sufferer's entire immunological system.

Direct access to physical therapists associated with lower costs and fewer visits, new study says Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:40 PM PDT A new study suggesting that "the role of the physician gatekeeper in regard to physical therapy may be unnecessary in many cases" could have significant implications for the US health care system.

Earlier autism diagnosis could mean earlier interventions Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:40 PM PDT Autism is normally diagnosed between the ages of 2 and 3. But new research is finding symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in babies as young as 12 months. If children could be diagnosed earlier, it might be possible to help them earlier -- and maybe even stop them from developing autism, according to experts.

NASA continues critical survey of Antarctica's changing ice Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:39 PM PDT Scientists with NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne research campaign began the mission's third year of surveys this week over the changing ice of Antarctica.

Future forests may soak up more carbon dioxide than previously believed Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:39 PM PDT North American forests appear to have a greater capacity to soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas than researchers had previously anticipated.

Taking steps to prevent 'going postal' Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:39 PM PDT Workplace violence continues to be a topic of great importance to many companies, as tales of extreme cases hit the media. Today's human resources departments spend a great deal of time preparing for these cases. However, a new study questions whether time might be better invested in further investigation.

Earthquakes generate big heat in super-small areas Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:39 PM PDT In experiments mimicking the speed of earthquakes, geophysicists detail a phenomenon known as flash heating. They report that because fault surfaces touch only at microscopic, scattered spots, these contacts are subject to intense stress and extreme heating during earthquakes, lowering their friction and thus the friction of the fault. The localized, intense heating can occur even while the temperature of the rest of the fault remains largely unaffected.

Schizophrenia genetics linked to disruption in how brain processes sound Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:39 PM PDT What links genetic differences to changes in altered brain activity in schizophrenia is not clear. Now, three labs have come together using electrophysiological, anatomical, and immunohistochemical approaches -- along with a unique high-speed imaging technique -- to understand how schizophrenia works at the cellular level, especially in identifying how changes in the interaction between different types of nerve cells leads to symptoms of the disease.

From blue whales to earthworms, a common mechanism gives shape to living beings Posted: 13 Oct 2011 12:39 PM PDT Mice don't have tails on their backs, and their ribs don't grow from lumbar vertebrae. And for good reason. Scientists have discovered the mechanism that determines the shape that many animals take -- including humans, blue whales, and insects.

Nanoparticle assembly is like building with LEGOs Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT Scientists report that nanotechnology has entered a new era. Because of developments in nanoparticle self-assembly, designer materials with unique properties are now possible. And that could lead to immediate applications in catalysis, medical sensing and optics.

New technologies challenge old ideas about early hominid diets Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT New assessments by researchers using the latest high-tech tools to study the diets of early hominids are challenging long-held assumptions about what our ancestors ate.

Emulating -- and surpassing -- nature: Using DNA to build nanomaterials with desired properties Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT Scientists have learned how to top nature by building crystalline materials from nanoparticles (the "atoms") and DNA (the "bonds"). The researchers have learned how to create crystals with the particles arranged in the same types of atomic lattice configurations as some found in nature, but they also have built completely new structures that have no naturally occurring mineral counterpart. Their design rules could help improve the efficiency of optics, electronics and energy storage technologies.

Association between menopause, obesity and cognitive impairment Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT In a study of 300 post-menopausal women, obese participants performed better on three cognitive tests than participants of normal weight, leading researchers to speculate about the role of sex hormones and cognition.

Researchers correct sickle cell disease in adult mice: Protein could be a target for treating people who have the blood disorder Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT Scientists have corrected sickle cell disease in adult laboratory mice by activating production of a special blood component normally produced before, but not after, birth.

How the zebra gets its stripes: A simple genetic circuit Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT Developmental processes that create stripes and other patterns are complex and difficult to untangle. To sort it out, a team of scientists has designed a simple genetic circuit that creates a striped pattern that they can control by tweaking a single gene. This genetic loop is made two linked modules that sense how crowded a group of cells has become and responds by controlling their movements.

Deactivating a single protein corrects sickle cell disease in mice Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT Flipping a single molecular switch can reverse illness in a model of sickle cell disease, according to a new study. When turned off, the switch, a protein called BCL11A, allows the body to manufacture red blood cells with an alternate form of hemoglobin unaffected by the mutation that causes the disease.

Scientists reveal surprising picture of how powerful antibody neutralizes HIV Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT Researchers have uncovered the surprising details of how a powerful anti-HIV antibody grabs hold of the virus. The findings highlight a major vulnerability of HIV and suggest a new target for vaccine development.

Reversing sickle cell anemia by turning on fetal hemoglobin Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT New research shows it's possible to reactivate production of fetal hemoglobin production in adult mice and effectively reverse sickle cell disease. The new studies show that interfering with a single protein "target" can provide enough fetal hemoglobin to improve symptoms of sickle cell anemia.

Inefficient developing world stoves contribute to 2 million deaths a year Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT An international effort to replace smoky, inefficient household stoves that people commonly use in lower and middle income countries with clean, affordable, fuel efficient stoves could save nearly 2 million lives each year, according to experts.

Carbon nanotube muscles generate giant twist for novel motors Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT Artificial muscles, based on carbon nanotubes yarn, that twist like the trunk of an elephant, but provide a thousand times higher rotation per length, have been developed by a team of researchers.

100,000-year-old ochre toolkit and workshop discovered in South Africa Posted: 13 Oct 2011 11:18 AM PDT An ochre-rich mixture, possibly used for decoration, painting and skin protection 100,000 years ago, and stored in two abalone shells, was discovered at Blombos Cave in Cape Town, South Africa.

Regaining trust after a transgression Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:52 AM PDT The scene has become all too familiar -- the disgraced politician, chastened business leader or shamed celebrity standing before a podium offering up their apologies as the news cameras flash. "Sorry" may be the hardest word to say, but does simply owning up to misdeeds do anything toward regaining trust after a transgression or are words, as some say, cheap?

New breeds of broccoli remain packed with health benefits Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:52 AM PDT Scientists have demonstrated that mineral levels in new varieties of broccoli have not declined since 1975, and that the broccoli contains the same levels of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium and other minerals that have made the vegetable a healthy staple of American diets for decades.

Lower income dads encourage exercise, healthy diet but may give wrong dose of medicine, study suggests Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:52 AM PDT Lower income, urban dads are involved in their children's health and encourage them to exercise and eat healthy foods. But these same dads may also give their kids the wrong dose of medicine and are uncomfortable handling emergency medical care for them. The study, the first of its kind, is a wake-up call to health care providers to include and educate fathers as key partners in their children's health.

Severe drought, other changes can cause permanent ecosystem disruption Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:52 AM PDT An eight-year study has concluded that increasingly frequent and severe drought, dropping water tables and dried-up springs have pushed some aquatic desert ecosystems into "catastrophic regime change," from which many species will not recover.

Public reporting has''t improved transplant centers' care Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:52 AM PDT Public reporting of the successes and failures of transplant centers has not diminished the gaps between the best and worst centers. If each center's performance matched that of the best center, about a third of deaths and organ failures could be averted. Additional studies are needed to investigate why public reports have not reduced differences across transplant centers

A neighborhood's raw, edgy atmosphere is an essential feature in attracting designers Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:51 AM PDT A neighborhood's raw, edgy atmosphere is an essential feature in attracting designers, according to new research. The study focused on Mile End, a multicultural district just north of downtown Montreal, long envied for its staple bagel shops and often depicted as the epicenter of all things Jewish by the late Canadian novelist, Mordecai Richler.

New scheme for photonic quantum computing Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:51 AM PDT The concepts of quantum technology promise to achieve more powerful information processing than is possible with even the best possible classical computers. To actually build efficient quantum computers remains a significant challenge in practice. A new scheme, called "coherent photon conversion," could potentially overcome all of the currently unresolved problems for optical implementations of quantum computing.

Differences in jet lag severity could be rooted in how circadian clock sets itself Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT Researchers have found hints that differing molecular processes in one area of the brain might play a significant role in the differences of jet lag severity between long-distance west-to-east travel and east-to-west travel.

Polar bears ill from accumulated environmental toxins Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT Industrial chemicals are being transported from the industrialized world to the Arctic via air and sea currents. Here, the cocktail of environmental toxins is absorbed by the sea's food chains, of which the polar bear is the top predator.

Permanently dismal economy could prompt men to seek more sex partners Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT New research shows a causal link between low survivability cues and sexual preparedness in men, using both behavioral and physiological measures.

Method of studying roots, rarely used in wetlands, improves ecosystem research Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT A method of monitoring roots rarely used in wetlands will help researchers effectively study the response of a high-carbon ecosystem to elevated temperatures and levels of carbon dioxide.

Tests to catch the makers of dangerous 'legal high' designer drugs Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT Urgently needed tests which could help identify the manufacturers of designer 'legal high' drugs are now being developed.

First physical evidence bilingualism delays onset of Alzheimer's symptoms Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:17 AM PDT Researchers have found that people who speak more than one language have twice as much brain damage as unilingual people before they exhibit symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. It's the first physical evidence that bilingualism delays the onset of the disease.

Precision with stem cells a step forward for treating multiple sclerosis, other diseases Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT Scientists have improved upon previous efforts to pluck out just the right stem cells to address the brain problem at the core of multiple sclerosis and a large number of rare, fatal children's diseases. Details of how scientists isolated and directed stem cells from the human brain to become oligodendrocytes - the type of brain cell that makes myelin - were recently published.

Children, not chimps, prefer collaboration: Humans like to work together in solving tasks - chimps don't Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT Recent studies have shown that chimpanzees possess many of the cognitive prerequisites necessary for humanlike collaboration. Cognitive abilities, however, might not be all that differs between chimpanzees and humans when it comes to cooperation. Children, but not chimpanzees, prefer to collaborate.

Researchers block morphine's itchy side effect Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT Itching is one of the most prevalent side effects of powerful, pain-killing drugs like morphine, oxycodone and other opioids. Now in mice, researchers have shown they can control opioid-induced itching without interfering with a drug's ability to relieve pain.

Hidden genetic influence on cancer discovered Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT In findings with major implications for the genetics of cancer and human health, researchers have uncovered evidence of powerful new genetic networks and showed how it may work to drive cancer and normal development.

Controlling cell death prevents skin inflammation Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT A new study provides evidence that stopping of a type of regulated cell death called "necroptosis" in keratinocytes is critical for the prevention of skin inflammation.

Eating green veggies improves immune defenses Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT Researchers have found another good reason to eat your green vegetables, although it may or may not win any arguments with kids at the dinner table.

Reversing smoke-induced damage and disease in the lung Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT By studying mice exposed to tobacco smoke for a period of months, researchers have new insight into how emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease develops. They also report a promising new way to reverse the lung damage underlying these conditions.

Children, not chimps, choose collaboration Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT When all else is equal, human children prefer to work together in solving a problem rather than on their own. Chimpanzees, on the other hand, show no such preference. That's according to a study of 3-year-old German kindergarteners and semi-free-ranging chimpanzees.

Understanding the beginnings of embryonic stem cells helps predict the future Posted: 13 Oct 2011 09:15 AM PDT Scientists have shown that laboratory-grown cells express a protein called Blimp1, which represses differentiation to somatic or regular tissue cells during germ cell development. Studies of these cells show that they also express other genes associated with early germ cell specification.

College students limit technology use during crunch time Posted: 13 Oct 2011 08:38 AM PDT A new study found college students -- only weeks away from final exams and in the library -- tend to pare use of electronics. It's their way to manage technology that permeates their lives.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Latest Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610