ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Preventing 'C'yber Pearl Harbor'
• Lignin-based thermoplastic conversion process
• Geoscientists cite 'critical need' for basic research to unleash promising energy resources
• Vitamin D tied to women's cognitive performance
• Men and women explore the visual world differently
• In schizophrenia patients, auditory cues sound bigger problems
• Emerging vector-borne diseases create new public health challenges
• More intense North Atlantic tropical storms likely in the future
• Novel studies of gene regulation in brain development may mean new treatment of mental disorders
• Native Americans and Northern Europeans more closely related than previously thought
• Robotic equivalent of a Swiss army knife: Reconfigurable robot a step toward something that can become almost anything
• Molecular knock-out alleviates Alzheimer's symptoms in mice
• How native plants and exotics coexist
• How signal molecules for formation of various cell types are controlled
• C. diff researchers reveal potential target to fight infections
• Breakthrough in the understanding of embryonic stem cells
• Gulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic; Mixing oil with dispersant increased toxicity to ecosystems
• Repeated knocks to the head leads to newly recognized brain disease
• Prenatal intervention reduces learning deficit in mice
• Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV
• Even brown dwarfs may grow rocky planets: Sizing up grains of cosmic dust around failed star
• Small and efficient: Water nanodroplets cool biomolecules ultrafast
• Hospital cleaning protocol ineffective against multidrug-resistant A. Baumannii
• Pathway to bypass DNA lesions in replication process is experimentally shown
• Digital portrait for grapes indicates their ripeness
• Carbon dioxide could reduce crop yields
• The color of love: Zebrafish perform colorful courtship displays
• New view of the Sun: Radio telescope could save world billions through advanced warnings
• As cigarette taxes go up, heavy smoking goes down
• Could mistletoe give the kiss of death to cancer?
• Obese children more vulnerable to food advertising
• Guineafowl may spread, not halt, fever-bearing ticks in turkey
• Genome-scale study ID's hundreds of drug targets for Huntington's
• Gene involved in lung tumor growth identified
• Working couples face greater odds of intimate partner violence

Preventing 'C'yber Pearl Harbor' Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST A new study shows computer network security analysts are not prepared for drawn out cyber attacks.

Lignin-based thermoplastic conversion process Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST Turning lignin, a plant's structural "glue" and a byproduct of the paper and pulp industry, into something considerably more valuable is driving a new research effort.

Geoscientists cite 'critical need' for basic research to unleash promising energy resources Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST Developers of renewable energy and shale gas must overcome fundamental geological and environmental challenges if these promising energy sources are to reach their full potential, according to a trio of leading geoscientists.

Vitamin D tied to women's cognitive performance Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST Two new studies show that vitamin D may be a vital component for the cognitive health of women as they age.

Men and women explore the visual world differently Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST New research has found that men and women see things differently.

In schizophrenia patients, auditory cues sound bigger problems Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:21 PM PST Researchers have found that deficiencies in the neural processing of simple auditory tones can evolve into a cascade of dysfunctional information processing across wide swaths of the brain in patients with schizophrenia.

Emerging vector-borne diseases create new public health challenges Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST West Nile virus, Lyme disease, dengue fever, and plague are examples of "vector-borne zoonotic diseases," caused by pathogens that naturally infect wildlife and are transmitted to humans by vectors such as mosquitoes or ticks. Land-use change, globalization of trade and travel, and social upheaval are driving the emergence of such diseases in many regions.

More intense North Atlantic tropical storms likely in the future Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST Tropical storms that make their way into the North Atlantic, and possibly strike the East Coast of the United States, likely will become more intense during the rest of this century.

Novel studies of gene regulation in brain development may mean new treatment of mental disorders Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST Researchers have come up with a novel way to describe a time-dependent brain development based on coherent–gene-groups (CGGs) and transcription-factors (TFs) hierarchy. The findings could lead to new drug designs for mental disorders such as autism-spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia.

Native Americans and Northern Europeans more closely related than previously thought Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:16 PM PST Using genetic analyses, scientists have discovered that Northern European populations descend from a mixture of two very different ancestral populations, and one of these populations is related to Native Americans.

Robotic equivalent of a Swiss army knife: Reconfigurable robot a step toward something that can become almost anything Posted: 30 Nov 2012 10:27 AM PST The device doesn't look like much: a caterpillar-sized assembly of metal rings and strips resembling something you might find buried in a home-workshop drawer. But the technology behind it, and the long-range possibilities it represents, are quite remarkable.

Molecular knock-out alleviates Alzheimer's symptoms in mice Posted: 30 Nov 2012 09:16 AM PST Researchers have identified an enzyme as a possible target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. The protein known as HDAC6 impairs transport processes within the nerve cells. The scientists observed only mild symptoms of the disease in mice if the enzyme was not produced. They propose to block its activity in a targeted fashion to treat the disease.

How native plants and exotics coexist Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:07 AM PST Exotic plants in many ecosystems may be better competitors, but biologists have found that exotics can be kept in check by herbivory.

How signal molecules for formation of various cell types are controlled Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST The regulation of important signal molecules that are critical for the formation of various cell types can be influenced by a chemically produced variant of indirubin, a natural material used in traditional Chinese medicine. Researchers were also able to demonstrate for the first time that these signal molecules in the cell -- regulatory SMAD proteins -- are not only controlled through regulation of their activation but also through the available quantity of signal molecules in the non-activated state.

C. diff researchers reveal potential target to fight infections Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST Researchers have discovered how a common diarrhea-causing bacterium sends the body's natural defenses into overdrive, actually intensifying illness while fighting infection.

Breakthrough in the understanding of embryonic stem cells Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST A significant breakthrough in the understanding of embryonic stem cells has been made. New research describes the process whereby genes that are 'on' in embryonic stem cells are switched 'off'. This process is essential in order to convert embryonic stem cells into different cell types such as neurons, blood or heart cells and therefore represents an important breakthrough in the area of regenerative medicine.

Gulf of Mexico clean-up makes 2010 spill 52-times more toxic; Mixing oil with dispersant increased toxicity to ecosystems Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST If the 4.9 million barrels of oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deep Water Horizon spill was a ecological disaster, the two million gallons of dispersant used to clean it up apparently made it even worse – 52-times more toxic.

Repeated knocks to the head leads to newly recognized brain disease Posted: 30 Nov 2012 08:05 AM PST Take a look inside the brains of many soldiers, football players, and boxers, and you'll find shrinking structures and massive, spreading pathology. Scientists now realize the pattern looks different from any known neurodegenerative disease. A fledgling scientific field has sprung up around these findings and is hurrying to identify, study, and prevent this newly described disease.

Prenatal intervention reduces learning deficit in mice Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:52 AM PST Mice with a condition that serves as a laboratory model for Down syndrome perform better on memory and learning tasks as adults if they were treated before birth with neuroprotective peptides, according to researchers.

Electrically spun fabric offers dual defense against pregnancy, HIV Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:52 AM PST Electrically spun cloth with nanometer-sized fibers show promise as a cheap, versatile platform to simultaneously offer contraception and prevent HIV.

Even brown dwarfs may grow rocky planets: Sizing up grains of cosmic dust around failed star Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:51 AM PST Astronomers have for the first time found that the outer region of a dusty disc encircling a brown dwarf contains millimeter-sized solid grains like those found in denser discs around newborn stars. The surprising finding challenges theories of how rocky, Earth-scale planets form, and suggests that rocky planets may be even more common in the Universe than expected.

Small and efficient: Water nanodroplets cool biomolecules ultrafast Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:51 AM PST Researchers have observed how biomolecules transfer energy into extremely small water droplets in their environment. A water shell consisting of only three water molecules around a phospholipid molecule is sufficient for energy transfer within 1 ps.

Hospital cleaning protocol ineffective against multidrug-resistant A. Baumannii Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:50 AM PST Current hospital cleaning protocol may be inadequate to rid patient rooms of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii.

Pathway to bypass DNA lesions in replication process is experimentally shown Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:50 AM PST DNA lesions are really common —- about one million individual molecular lesions per cell per day -— because its long strands usually have one missing base or are damaged. These lesions can stall the DNA replication process, what can lead to the cell death. To avoid it, there are several pathways to bypass lesions in order to continue with the process of DNA replication. One of these processes has been entirely reproduced in vitro using some techniques of manipulation of single-molecules.

Digital portrait for grapes indicates their ripeness Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:50 AM PST Researchers have developed a technique for estimating grape composition and variety using computer imaging. They have also put forward an index for identifying the ripeness of seeds without the need for chemical analysis. This new method can help to decide the best moment for picking. The normal procedure for identifying the sugar content of grapes involves chemical analysis. But this is a long and tedious task that tells vine-growers when to start picking their grapes. Now though, scientists are proposing an alternative technique: photographing grapes and analyzing the images.

Carbon dioxide could reduce crop yields Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:49 AM PST The carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere continues to climb and heat up the climate. The gas is, however, indispensable for plants, as they use the carbon it provides to form glucose and other important substances. Therefore, the more carbon dioxide the better? The equation is unfortunately not as simple as that. The plants, which ensure our basic food supply today, have not been bred for vertical growth but for short stalks and high grain yields. Scientists have now discovered that an increase in carbon dioxide levels could cancel out the beneficial effects of dwarf varieties.

The color of love: Zebrafish perform colorful courtship displays Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:48 AM PST Billy Ocean may not have been thinking of fish when he wrote "The Color of Love", but biologists were able to show that zebrafish males and females both wear their brightest colors while wooing a mate.

New view of the Sun: Radio telescope could save world billions through advanced warnings Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:48 AM PST A small pocket of Western Australia's remote outback is set to become the eye on the sky and could potentially save the world billions of dollars. The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope, unveiled November 30, will give the world a dramatically improved view of the Sun and provide early warning to prevent damage to communication satellites, electric power grids and GPS navigation systems.

As cigarette taxes go up, heavy smoking goes down Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:47 AM PST When cigarette taxes rise, hard-core smokers are more likely than lighter smokers to cut back, according to new research.

Could mistletoe give the kiss of death to cancer? Posted: 30 Nov 2012 06:47 AM PST Mistletoe has become an important symbol of Christmas, but it also has the potential to play a vital role as an alternative therapy for sufferers of colon cancer.

Obese children more vulnerable to food advertising Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:26 PM PST Rates of childhood obesity have tripled in the past 30 years, and food marketing has been implicated as one factor contributing to this trend. Every year, companies spend more than $10 billion in the US marketing their food and beverages to children; 98% of the food products advertised to children on television are high in fat, sugar, or sodium. Researchers have now used neuroimaging to study the effects of food logos on obese and healthy weight children.

Guineafowl may spread, not halt, fever-bearing ticks in turkey Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:25 PM PST The country Turkey releases non-native guineafowl to eat ticks that carry deadly Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. Yet research suggests guineafowl eat few ticks, but carry the parasites on their feathers, possibly spreading the disease they were meant to stop, says a Turkish biologist.

Genome-scale study ID's hundreds of drug targets for Huntington's Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:37 PM PST Scientists seeking to develop treatments for Huntington's disease just got a roadmap that could dramatically speed their discovery process. Researchers have used RNAi technology to identify hundreds of "druggable" molecular targets linked to the toxicity associated with HD. The gene RRAS, involved in cell motility and neuronal development, was among the diverse range of modifiers identified. RRAS was revealed as a potent modulator of HD toxicity in multiple HD models.

Gene involved in lung tumor growth identified Posted: 29 Nov 2012 01:21 PM PST Lung cancer researchers have identified a gene that plays a role in the growth and spread of non-small cell lung cancer tumors, opening the door for potential new treatment options.

Working couples face greater odds of intimate partner violence Posted: 29 Nov 2012 12:20 PM PST Intimate partner violence is two times more likely to occur in two income households, compared to those where only one partner works, a recent study found.

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