ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• A 'carbonizing dragon': Construction drives China's growing CO₂ emissions
• Is informed consent threatening biobank research?
• Smoking could lead to 40 million excess tuberculosis deaths by 2050
• Frequently used weight-loss method is light on evidence
• Regular exercise improves health of people with long-term kidney disease, study suggests
• Remitting multiple sclerosis: Natalizumab reduces relapses and disability, review suggests
• Scientists take up golf to prove long-standing theory of cell stickiness
• Prison education programs reduce inmate prison return rate, study shows
• Sociability may depend upon brain cells generated in adolescence
• Culling can't save the Tasmanian devil
• Keeping track of reality: Why some people are better at it
• Lungfish provides insight to life on land: 'Humans are just modified fish'
• Developing East Coast fever vaccine
• Efforts to defund or ban infant male circumcision are unfounded and potentially harmful, experts argue
• Compliance by children's hospitals with quality measure for asthma care not associated with reduced readmission rates
• Association between advance directives and U.S. Medicare end-of-life expenditures varies across regions
• Same-day discharge after elective PCI not associated with increased risk of death, rehospitalization, U.S. study shows
• How much should patients in intensive care eat?
• Intensive training helps children with reading and writing difficulties
• A fish's personality may determine how it is captured
• Hysterectomy is associated with increased levels of iron in the brain; Study suggests reducing iron may lower age-related brain disease risk
• Arctic sea ice continues decline, hits second-lowest level
• Children with spina bifida need personal 'starter'
• Hyperactive Hartley 2 has a split history, comet-exploring spacecraft finds
• Titanic jigsaw challenge: Piecing together a global color map of Saturn’s largest moon
• Kepler spacecraft discovers new multi-planet solar system
• Vitamin D could lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, study suggests
• Polar oceans in transition
• Rendering engine built to generate high-quality images of brain simulations
• Form follows family -- not function: Humans and chimpanzees have similar long bone shape
• Closer to solving the cod mystery
• A new technique for understanding quantum effects in water
• Terrorist attacks give rise to new research needs
• More children in Europe with Swedish family policy
• Growing up in bad neighborhoods has a 'devastating' impact, study finds
• Pumice proposed as home to the first life forms
• For common toy breed dog windpipe issue, veterinarians use technology and precision
• Advance offers new opportunities in chemistry education, research
• Newly identified gene may be risk factor for osteoporosis
• Does MRI pose more than minimal risk in pediatric research?
• Gaps in forest monitoring
• Herbivore populations will go down as temperatures go up
• Green tea helps mice keep off extra pounds
• Non-English speaking head and neck cancer patients have significantly worse outcomes
• Physicists move one step closer to quantum computer
• Natural compound helps reverse diabetes in mice
• This is your brain on estrogen
• Why narcoleptics get fat
• Why fat cells fail: Mechanism causes fat cells to lose their ability to efficiently store and use energy
• Hormone fights fat with fat: Orexin prevents obesity in mice by activating calorie-burning brown fat
• Experiments suggest research avenues for treating excess fat storage and obesity
• 'Benevolent sexism' is not an oxymoron and has insidious consequences for women, experts argue
• HIV: Cell-penetrating peptides for drug delivery act like a Swiss Army Knife
• New findings validate the accuracy of autism diagnosis in children with Down syndrome
• Young children show improved verbal IQ after 20 days of exposure to music-based, cognitive training 'cartoons'
• Certain biofuel mandates unlikely to be met by 2022; unless new technologies, policies developed
• Combination therapy beneficial for head and neck skin carcinomas, study suggests
• Circadian clock may impact organ transplant success
• People as 'sensors': Twitter messages reveal NFL's big plays and fans
• A shot of cortisone stops traumatic stress, study suggests

A 'carbonizing dragon': Construction drives China's growing CO<sub>2</sub> emissions Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Constructing buildings, power plants and roads has driven a substantial increase in China's carbon dioxide emission growth, according to a new study.

Is informed consent threatening biobank research? Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Having to obtain informed consent for the use of leftover human tissue samples could be hampering essential biobank research says a research group.

Smoking could lead to 40 million excess tuberculosis deaths by 2050 Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Between 2010 and 2050, smoking could be responsible for 40 million excess deaths from tuberculosis, according to new research.

Frequently used weight-loss method is light on evidence Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Although the transtheoretical model stages of change (TTM SOC) method is frequently used to help obese and overweight people lose weight, a newly published systematic review indicates there is little evidence that it is effective.

Regular exercise improves health of people with long-term kidney disease, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT There are many reasons why people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) often lose fitness and have increasing difficulty performing normal daily tasks, but new research shows scientific evidence for the benefits of regular exercise for people with CKD, including those with a kidney transplant. They can improve their physical fitness, walk further, have healthier blood pressures, healthier heart rates, higher health-related quality of life scores and better nutritional characteristics compared to those who don't exercise.

Remitting multiple sclerosis: Natalizumab reduces relapses and disability, review suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT Taking the new generation anti-inflammatory drug natalizumab for two years lowers the number of remitting multiple sclerosis patients who experience relapses and progression of disability.

Scientists take up golf to prove long-standing theory of cell stickiness Posted: 04 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT State-of-the-art, highly-sensitive golf clubs, developed by scientists, regularly catch the eye of golf's elite; however before the likes of Rory McIlroy get excited this time, this new golf putter is being put to use in microbiology laboratories.

Prison education programs reduce inmate prison return rate, study shows Posted: 04 Oct 2011 03:01 PM PDT A researcher has found that educating inmates and preparing them to find jobs upon their release from prison greatly reduces their recidivism rate.

Sociability may depend upon brain cells generated in adolescence Posted: 04 Oct 2011 03:01 PM PDT Mice become profoundly anti-social when the creation of new brain cells is interrupted in adolescence, a surprising finding that may help researchers understand schizophrenia and other mental disorders, researchers report.

Culling can't save the Tasmanian devil Posted: 04 Oct 2011 03:01 PM PDT Culling will not control the spread of facial tumor disease among Tasmanian devils, according to a new study. Unless a way of managing the disease is found, the iconic marsupial could become extinct in the wild within the next 25 years.

Keeping track of reality: Why some people are better at it Posted: 04 Oct 2011 03:01 PM PDT A structural variation in a part of the brain may explain why some people are better than others at distinguishing real events from those they might have imagined or been told about, researchers have found.

Lungfish provides insight to life on land: 'Humans are just modified fish' Posted: 04 Oct 2011 03:01 PM PDT A study into the muscle development of several different fish has given insights into the genetic leap that set the scene for the evolution of hind legs in terrestrial animals. This innovation gave rise to the tetrapods -- four-legged creatures, and our distant ancestors -- that made the first small steps on land some 400 million years ago.

Developing East Coast fever vaccine Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT A vaccine that protects cattle against East Coast fever, a destructive disease in eastern and central Africa, is being developed.

Efforts to defund or ban infant male circumcision are unfounded and potentially harmful, experts argue Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT Infectious disease experts say the medical benefits for male circumcision are clear and that efforts in an increasing number of states (currently 18) to not provide U.S. Medicaid insurance coverage for male circumcision, as well as an attempted ballot initiative in San Francisco earlier this year to ban male circumcision in newborns and young boys, are unwarranted.

Compliance by children's hospitals with quality measure for asthma care not associated with reduced readmission rates Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT Even though there has been high-compliance or improvement by children's hospitals regarding asthma care quality measures, improved compliance with providing a written home management plan upon discharge has not been associated with subsequent lower emergency department usage or asthma-related readmission rates, according to a new study.

Association between advance directives and U.S. Medicare end-of-life expenditures varies across regions Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT U.S. Medicare patients with advance directives specifying limits in treatment who lived in regions with higher levels of end-of-life spending were less likely to have an in-hospital death, averaged significantly lower end-of-life Medicare spending and had significantly greater odds of hospice use than decedents without advance directives in these regions, according to a new study.

Same-day discharge after elective PCI not associated with increased risk of death, rehospitalization, U.S. study shows Posted: 04 Oct 2011 01:23 PM PDT Among selected low-risk U.S. Medicare patients who underwent an elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries), same-day discharge was rarely implemented, but was not associated with an increased risk of being rehospitalized or having a higher risk of death at two days or at 30 days, than patients who remained in the hospital overnight, according to a new study.

How much should patients in intensive care eat? Posted: 04 Oct 2011 12:42 PM PDT Patients who are fed more calories while in intensive care have lower mortality rates than those who receive less of their daily-prescribed calories, according to a recent study of data from the largest critical care nutrition database in the world.

Intensive training helps children with reading and writing difficulties Posted: 04 Oct 2011 12:16 PM PDT Intensive daily training for a limited period is better for children with reading and writing difficulties than the traditional remedial tuition offered by schools, reveals new research.

A fish's personality may determine how it is captured Posted: 04 Oct 2011 12:16 PM PDT A fish's personality may determine how it is captured. This association between personality difference and capture-technique could have significant evolutionary and ecological consequences for affected fish populations, as well as for the quality of fisheries.

Hysterectomy is associated with increased levels of iron in the brain; Study suggests reducing iron may lower age-related brain disease risk Posted: 04 Oct 2011 12:16 PM PDT Men have more iron in their bodies and brains than women. These higher levels may be part of the explanation for why men develop these age-related neurodegenerative diseases at a younger age. But why do women have less iron in their systems than men? One possible explanation for the gender difference is that during menstruation, iron is eliminated through the loss of blood. Now, a new study confirms this suspicion and suggests strategies to reduce excess iron levels in both men and women.

Arctic sea ice continues decline, hits second-lowest level Posted: 04 Oct 2011 12:04 PM PDT Last month the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record. Satellite data from NASA and the the National Snow and Ice Data Center showed that the summertime sea ice cover narrowly avoided a new record low. The near-record ice-melt followed higher-than-average summer temperatures, but without the unusual weather conditions that contributed to the extreme melt of 2007.

Children with spina bifida need personal 'starter' Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:28 AM PDT Children born with spina bifida often have difficulties to perform everyday activities. This is not primarily due to being confined to a wheelchair or to parental overprotection as was previously believed -- new research shows that it is down to an inability to initiate and complete a task towards a specific goal.

Hyperactive Hartley 2 has a split history, comet-exploring spacecraft finds Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:28 AM PDT The latest analysis of data from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft shows that comet 103P/Hartley 2 is hyperactive in terms of the material it spews out, compared to the other comets observed up close to date. The comet also shows surprising diversity - ice on the comet's sunlit surface is found in patches that are isolated from areas of dust. In addition, one lobe of the dog-bone shaped comet may have lost much more of the primordial material from the formation of the comet than the other, suggesting that Hartley 2 was originally two comets that came together in a gentle collision.

Titanic jigsaw challenge: Piecing together a global color map of Saturn’s largest moon Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:28 AM PDT An international team has pieced together images gathered over six years by the Cassini mission to create a global mosaic of the surface of Titan.

Kepler spacecraft discovers new multi-planet solar system Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:28 AM PDT A team of researchers has used NASA's Kepler spacecraft to discover an unusual multiple-planet system containing a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets orbiting in resonance with each other.

Vitamin D could lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:28 AM PDT Scientists have shown that people with a good vitamin D supply are at lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Polar oceans in transition Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:27 AM PDT Polar bears will be affected by climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic, but so will India's iconic tigers and elephants. Researchers are working to understand what is happening in polar oceans -- and what can be done.

Rendering engine built to generate high-quality images of brain simulations Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:27 AM PDT Researchers have developed a high-quality cerebral cortex image rendering engine. The rendered images are used to generate 3D videos and movies.

Form follows family -- not function: Humans and chimpanzees have similar long bone shape Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:27 AM PDT Although humans and chimpanzees move quite differently, muscle attachment sites at their thighbones are similar. This result has major consequences for the interpretation of fossil hominin finds.

Closer to solving the cod mystery Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:27 AM PDT Fish quantities off the Norwegian coast fluctuate widely from year to year. For 150 years, scientists have tried to figure out why -- and now they are nearing an explanation.

A new technique for understanding quantum effects in water Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:27 AM PDT The use of oxygen isotope substitution will lead to more accurate structural modeling of oxide materials found in everything from biological processes to electronic devices.

Terrorist attacks give rise to new research needs Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:27 AM PDT On 22 July this year Norway was hit by two horrific acts of terrorism, carried out by a single individual. A total of 77 people died as a result of the bombing at the Government buildings in Oslo and the subsequent massacre of participants at a national Labour Party youth camp on nearby Utøya island.

More children in Europe with Swedish family policy Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT European politicians who want women to have more children should consider the Swedish model with subsidized child care and paid parental leave.

Growing up in bad neighborhoods has a 'devastating' impact, study finds Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Growing up in a poor neighborhood significantly reduces the chances that a child will graduate from high school, according to a new study. And the longer a child lives in that kind of neighborhood, the more harmful the impact.

Pumice proposed as home to the first life forms Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT The glassy, porous, and once gas-rich rock called pumice may have given rise to early life forms, according to a provocative new hypothesis on the origin of life.

For common toy breed dog windpipe issue, veterinarians use technology and precision Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Jack, a 12-year-old Yorkshire terrier, was lethargic and gasping for air when he arrived at a veterinary hospital. His tongue and gums were a bluish-purple. But, just one day following an innovative procedure, Jack bounced back to his former youthful exuberance.

Advance offers new opportunities in chemistry education, research Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Researchers have created a new, unifying method to describe a basic chemical concept called "electronegativity," first described almost 80 years ago by Linus Pauling and part of the work that led to his receiving the Nobel Prize. The new system offers simplicity of understanding that should rewrite high school and college chemistry textbooks around the world, even as it opens important new avenues in materials and chemical research.

Newly identified gene may be risk factor for osteoporosis Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Researchers have identified a new gene that modulates bone mass and that could become a risk factor for developing osteoporosis.

Does MRI pose more than minimal risk in pediatric research? Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT Shedding light on a question that has baffled research ethics review boards, a new analysis of the use of magnetic resonance imaging in pediatric clinical trials finds that the risks of physical and psychological harm associated with this procedure are no greater than the risks that healthy children face from everyday activities. However, adding an intravenous contrast dye or sedation to an MRI increases the odds of harm to unacceptable levels.

Gaps in forest monitoring Posted: 04 Oct 2011 10:25 AM PDT A new report identifies gaps in forest monitoring and ways to improve data collection. This will produce reliable estimates of greenhouse gas emission reductions from activities aimed at reducing deforestation.

Herbivore populations will go down as temperatures go up Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:38 AM PDT As climate change causes temperatures to rise, the number of herbivores will decrease, affecting the human food supply, according to new research.

Green tea helps mice keep off extra pounds Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:38 AM PDT Green tea may slow down weight gain and serve as another tool in the fight against obesity, according to food scientists.

Non-English speaking head and neck cancer patients have significantly worse outcomes Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT Researchers have found that among advanced head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation-based treatment, being non-English speaking was a more significant predictor of treatment outcome than being of non-white race.

Physicists move one step closer to quantum computer Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT Physicists have created a tiny "electron superhighway" that could one day be useful for building a quantum computer -- a new type of computer that will use quantum particles in place of the digital transistors found in today's microchips. Researchers now describe how to make a "topological insulator," a much-sought device that could help physicists create elusive pairs of quantum particles that are particularly useful for storing information.

Natural compound helps reverse diabetes in mice Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT Researchers have restored normal blood sugar metabolism in diabetic mice using a compound the body makes naturally. The finding suggests that it may one day be possible for people to take the compound much like a daily vitamin as a way to treat or even prevent Type 2 diabetes.

This is your brain on estrogen Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:36 AM PDT It's no secret that women often gain weight as they get older. The sex hormone estrogen has an important, if underappreciated, role to play in those burgeoning waistlines. Now, researchers have traced those hormonal effects on metabolism to different parts of the brain. The findings may lead to the development of highly selective hormone replacement therapies that could be used to combat obesity or infertility in women without the risks for heart disease and breast cancer, the researchers say.

Why narcoleptics get fat Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT People with narcolepsy are not only excessively sleepy, but they are also prone to gaining weight. In fact, narcoleptic patients will often pack on pounds even as they eat considerably less than your average person. Now researchers appear to have an answer as to why. It seems a deficiency of the neuropeptide hormone orexin, an ingredient that encourages hunger and wakefulness, may leave them with a lack of energy-burning brown fat.

Why fat cells fail: Mechanism causes fat cells to lose their ability to efficiently store and use energy Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT Yale University researchers have found one of the mechanisms that cause fat cells to lose their ability to efficiently store and use energy -- a scientific mystery and a phenomenon that contributes to a major public health problem.

Hormone fights fat with fat: Orexin prevents obesity in mice by activating calorie-burning brown fat Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that the hormone orexin activates calorie-burning brown fat in mice. Orexin deficiency is associated with obesity, suggesting that orexin supplementation could provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders. An orexin-based therapy would represent a new class of fat-fighting drugs -- one that focuses on peripheral fat-burning tissue rather than the brain's appetite control center.

Experiments suggest research avenues for treating excess fat storage and obesity Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:35 AM PDT Scientists have begun to unravel the complex process by which cells take in and store microscopic fat molecules, suggesting new directions for further research into solutions for obesity and its related conditions, such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease.

'Benevolent sexism' is not an oxymoron and has insidious consequences for women, experts argue Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:13 AM PDT Recent debate about whether acts of "benevolent sexism" harm women are addressed in a new commentary.

HIV: Cell-penetrating peptides for drug delivery act like a Swiss Army Knife Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:13 AM PDT Scientists have identified how HIV TAT peptides can have multiple interactions with the membrane, the actin cytoskeleton, and specific cell-surface receptors to produce multiple pathways of translocation under different conditions. Moreover, because they now know how cell penetrating peptides work, it is possible to have a general recipe for reprogramming normal peptides into cell penetrating peptides.

New findings validate the accuracy of autism diagnosis in children with Down syndrome Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:13 AM PDT New findings from a 16-year study confirm that the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, the gold-standard for the classification of mental health conditions, can be used to accurately identify autism spectrum disorders in children with Down syndrome, according to new research.

Young children show improved verbal IQ after 20 days of exposure to music-based, cognitive training 'cartoons' Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:13 AM PDT Canadian scientists who specialize in learning, memory and language in children have found exciting evidence that preschoolers can improve their verbal intelligence after only 20 days of classroom instruction using interactive, music-based cognitive training cartoons.

Certain biofuel mandates unlikely to be met by 2022; unless new technologies, policies developed Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:13 AM PDT It is unlikely the United States will meet some specific biofuel mandates under the current Renewable Fuel Standard by 2022 unless innovative technologies are developed or policies change.

Combination therapy beneficial for head and neck skin carcinomas, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:12 AM PDT Patients who have high-risk non-melanoma skin carcinomas of the head and neck may benefit from concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, according to a new study. Their study is the first to report on multiple patients with these skin carcinomas treated simultaneously with radio- and chemotherapy.

Circadian clock may impact organ transplant success Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:12 AM PDT Health-care providers assess blood and tissue type as well as organ size and health to enhance transplant success. New research indicates that checklist might also need to include the circadian clock. While some human studies have shown the time of day transplant surgery is performed can influence the outcome, this study of mice with dysfunctional internal clocks is the first correlating circadian clocks with transplant success.

People as 'sensors': Twitter messages reveal NFL's big plays and fans Posted: 04 Oct 2011 09:12 AM PDT Using millions of Twitter subscribers as living "sensors," engineers have found a way to monitor fans' levels of excitement and to keep track of the action in National Football League games -- without ever switching on a TV. SportSense is a computer program the engineers created to analyze NFL fan tweets in real time.

A shot of cortisone stops traumatic stress, study suggests Posted: 04 Oct 2011 08:38 AM PDT Scientists say that a single extra dose of cortisone -- which the body naturally produces just after a traumatic event -- reduces the chance that an individual will develop PTSD by 60 percent.

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