ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Wearable wireless devices: Low cost radio frequency antenna printed with graphene ink
• Reviving the Iban alphabet
• Used cigarette butts offer energy storage solution
• Antiviral compound may protect brain from pathogens, West Nile virus, study shows
• Smaller volumes in certain regions of the brain could lead to increased likelihood of drug addiction
• Omega-3: Intervention for childhood behavioral problems?
• Phage spread antibiotic resistance
• Soft-tissue engineering for hard-working cartilage
• Activity after ICD implantation may predict survival
• Age-friendly communities essential to urban elders' well-being
• Cancer survivors have evolving information needs
• Raising groundwater keeps valleys from sinking: Santa Clara Valley, Callifornia, USA
• Exercise, however modest, found progressively beneficial to the elderly
• Where the rubber meets the road
• Pharmacists help patients control blood pressure, study finds
• Random nanowire configurations increase conductivity over heavily ordered configurations
• Gardening in a polluted paradise: Is it safe?
• Experimental immunotherapy shows high response rate in advanced lung cancer
• Which is most valuable: Gold, cocaine or rhino horn?
• Exploring mechanics of spider silk to design materials with high strength and low density
• Tackling obesity needs a number of magic bullets
• Even Olympic athletes have cardiac abnormalities and may be at risk of cardiovascular disease
• Fee-for-service health care may lead to higher risk for robotic prostate surgery patients
• Hyenas know: It's best to make friends of friends
• Maybe dark matter is not made up of heavy particles after all
• Epilepsy has been found to reduce the generation of new neurons
• New way to treat skin conditions: World's first mercury-free film-type ultraviolet light source
• Calculating the service life of bridges: Engineers refine models
• Teacherbot: Can robots do it better?
• Eenvironmental risk assessment of sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage
• Researchers discover new ways to shut down signals involved in brain diseases
• New test detects drug use from a single fingerprint
• Many probiotics are contaminated with traces of gluten
• Corporate greed: That gut feeling you have about your CEO is spot on
• Towards a tunable graphene-like two-dimensional material
• Strong evidence still lacking on medical marijuana for pain
• Yoga and chronic pain have opposite effects on brain gray matter
• Antibody's unusual abilities might inspire vaccine strategies
• First large-scale graphene fabrication
• Perspective-taking difficulties diminished when autistic and psychosis tendencies balance
• Hazing remains a concern in college marching bands, new study shows
• Offline TV ads prompt potential online purchases by multitaskers
• Link between vitamin E, exposure to air pollution
• Half hour of physical activity 6 days a week linked to 40 percent lower risk of early death
• Diabetes drug may reduce heart attack risk in HIV patients
• Study characterizes effects of severe kidney injury during pregnancy
• We’re happy and we know it, and now the research shows it
• Nerve involvement explains why some cancers are very painful
• Genome-wide DNA study shows lasting impact of malnutrition in early pregnancy
• Earthquakes reveal deep secrets beneath East Asia
• Who should pay the price? Profiting from selfishness

Wearable wireless devices: Low cost radio frequency antenna printed with graphene ink Posted: 15 May 2015 02:49 PM PDT Scientists have moved graphene -- the incredibly strong and conductive single-atom-thick sheet of carbon -- a significant step along the path from lab bench novelty to commercially viable material for new electronic applications. Researchers have printed a radio frequency antenna using compressed graphene ink. The antenna performed well enough to make it practical for use in radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and wireless sensors, the researchers said. Even better, the antenna is flexible, environmentally friendly and could be cheaply mass-produced.

Reviving the Iban alphabet Posted: 15 May 2015 11:49 AM PDT A Malaysian indigenous group has revived its alphabet from the brink of extinction, thanks to specially designed computer fonts.

Used cigarette butts offer energy storage solution Posted: 15 May 2015 11:49 AM PDT Scientists have developed a new way to store energy that also offers a solution to a growing environmental problem.

Antiviral compound may protect brain from pathogens, West Nile virus, study shows Posted: 15 May 2015 11:13 AM PDT An antiviral compound may protect the brain from invading pathogens, researchers have found. Studying West Nile virus infection in mice, scientists showed that interferon-lambda tightens the blood-brain barrier, making it harder for the virus to invade the brain.

Smaller volumes in certain regions of the brain could lead to increased likelihood of drug addiction Posted: 15 May 2015 10:48 AM PDT Individual differences in brain structure could help to determine the risk for future drug addiction, new research suggests. The study found that occasional users who subsequently increased their drug use compared with those who did not, showed brain structural differences when they started using drugs.

Omega-3: Intervention for childhood behavioral problems? Posted: 15 May 2015 10:48 AM PDT Omega-3, a fatty acid commonly found in fish oil, may have long-term neurodevelopmental effects that ultimately reduce antisocial and aggressive behavior problems in children, a new study suggests.

Phage spread antibiotic resistance Posted: 15 May 2015 10:48 AM PDT Nearly half of the 50 chicken meat samples purchased from supermarkets, street markets, and butchers in Austria contained viruses that are capable of transferring antibiotic resistance genes from one bacterium to another -- or from one species to another, investigators report.

Soft-tissue engineering for hard-working cartilage Posted: 15 May 2015 10:48 AM PDT An international study points the way toward wider, more effective use of biocompatible materials in repairing human tissues. Focusing on the difficult case of restoring cartilage, which requires both flexibility and mechanical strength, the researchers investigated a new combination of 3-D printed microfiber scaffolding and hydrogels. They expect the new approach to have an impact on other areas of soft-tissue engineering research, including breast reconstruction and heart tissue engineering.

Activity after ICD implantation may predict survival Posted: 15 May 2015 10:48 AM PDT Patients who stayed active following ICD implantation had better survival rates that those who did not, a study concludes. They add that Information collected by ICD devices may one day help clinicians identify and help patients at higher risk for adverse outcomes.

Age-friendly communities essential to urban elders' well-being Posted: 15 May 2015 10:01 AM PDT The future of communities around the world will in large part be determined by the efforts to achieve a high quality of life for their older citizens, according to a new article. Age-friendly communities are designed to promote aging-in-place, which is the ability to live in one's own home and community safely, independently, and comfortably regardless of age, income, or ability level.

Cancer survivors have evolving information needs Posted: 15 May 2015 10:01 AM PDT Judging by the nature and topics of their information seeking, cancer patients' information needs appear to differ depending on the type of cancer they have and where they are in their survivorship.

Raising groundwater keeps valleys from sinking: Santa Clara Valley, Callifornia, USA Posted: 15 May 2015 09:59 AM PDT California and other parts of the western U.S. are experiencing extended severe drought conditions. The Santa Clara Valley in California underwent extensive groundwater development from the early 1900s through the mid-1960s. This development caused groundwater level declines of more than 200 feet.

Exercise, however modest, found progressively beneficial to the elderly Posted: 15 May 2015 09:59 AM PDT Even exercise of short duration and low intensity has life expectancy benefits for the elderly. Such conclusions have been well examined in the general population, where a recommended exercise program of 30 minutes at least five days a week (or 150 minutes per week) has been shown to reduce the average risk of death by 30%. However, such a correlation between the level of physical activity and risk of death has not been so clearly determined in the elderly. Indeed, most physical activity guidelines are the same for the middle-aged adults as for the elderly, even though it is estimated that over 60% of the elderly are unable to achieve this same level of exercise.

Where the rubber meets the road Posted: 15 May 2015 09:55 AM PDT Scientists have now uncovered new velocity and temperature-dependent properties of rubber friction on asphalt -- bolstering the idea that an important component of friction originates when chains of rubber molecules repeatedly stick to the road, stretch, and then release.

Pharmacists help patients control blood pressure, study finds Posted: 15 May 2015 09:55 AM PDT Medical teams with a pharmacist helped patients with hypertension control their blood pressure more effectively, a new study has concluded. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death for Americans.

Random nanowire configurations increase conductivity over heavily ordered configurations Posted: 15 May 2015 08:16 AM PDT For the first time, researchers have discovered that a performance gain in the electrical conductivity of random metal nanowire networks can be achieved by slightly restricting nanowire orientation. The most surprising result of the study is that heavily ordered configurations do not outperform configurations with some degree of randomness; randomness in the case of metal nanowire orientations acts to increase conductivity.

Gardening in a polluted paradise: Is it safe? Posted: 15 May 2015 08:16 AM PDT Researchers have looked into how vegetables take up different soil contaminants. They also considered how different gardening practices could reduce this uptake. They found that, in the majority of examples, eating vegetables grown in the contaminated soils studied was safe.

Experimental immunotherapy shows high response rate in advanced lung cancer Posted: 15 May 2015 08:16 AM PDT An early phase study testing an anti-PDL1 agent in combination with standard chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer has provided promising early results, prompting multiple phase III studies in lung cancer.

Which is most valuable: Gold, cocaine or rhino horn? Posted: 15 May 2015 07:20 AM PDT Elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, gorillas and the majority of other very large animal species are threatened with extinction, an international team of scientists have reported. And if current trends continue, the loss of these animals would have drastic implications not only for the species themselves, but also for other animals and the environments and ecosystems in which they live. One of the critical factors behind the disturbing trend is the tremendous financial incentive for poachers to sell animal parts for consumer goods and food. For example, rhinoceros horn is more valuable by weight than gold, diamonds or cocaine, said the study's lead author.

Exploring mechanics of spider silk to design materials with high strength and low density Posted: 15 May 2015 07:20 AM PDT Researchers explore the mechanics of silk to design materials. Coupling multiscale modeling with emerging microscale 3D-printing techniques, the team enabled a pathway to directly fabricate and test synthetic web structures by design. The lessons learned through this approach may help harness spider silk's strength for other uses, and ultimately inspire engineers to digitally design new structures and composites that are reliable and damage-resistant.

Tackling obesity needs a number of magic bullets Posted: 15 May 2015 07:20 AM PDT No one health issue has the most impact on human health, or engenders more debate about how to tackle it, than obesity. It has become the scourge of the health agenda, especially in the west, and it is a growing problem. Now experts weigh in on the series of challenges faced by everyone in the field of obesity care and study: from environmental and personal factors to biology, behaviour, cutting edge science, politics and public health.

Even Olympic athletes have cardiac abnormalities and may be at risk of cardiovascular disease Posted: 15 May 2015 07:18 AM PDT Even athletes whose performance and fitness are at the very highest level may have life-threatening cardiovascular abnormalities. Indeed, a study of more than 2000 athletes eligible for the summer and winter Olympic games and screened for cardiovascular health has now revealed an unexpectedly high prevalence of cardiovascular conditions, some of which were considered as very serious threats to health.

Fee-for-service health care may lead to higher risk for robotic prostate surgery patients Posted: 15 May 2015 05:35 AM PDT A 'perverse disincentive' for hospitals that have invested in expensive technology for robotic surgery may be jeopardizing prostate cancer patients who seek out the procedure, concludes a new study.

Hyenas know: It's best to make friends of friends Posted: 15 May 2015 05:35 AM PDT Bonding with a friend of a friend is something most humans gravitate toward naturally, or at least Facebook likes to think so every time it suggests friends for you to 'friend.' But a certain four-legged predator, the spotted hyena, seems to know the benefits of this type of social bonding instinctively, according to a new study.

Maybe dark matter is not made up of heavy particles after all Posted: 15 May 2015 05:34 AM PDT Scientists have conducted a simulation that explains the collision between two clusters of galaxies. Clusters of galaxies are the biggest objects that exist in the universe. They are collections of hundreds of thousands of galaxies pulled together by gravity. Rare, extreme examples of clusters caught in the act of colliding seem to be challenging the accepted view that dark matter is made up of heavy particles.

Epilepsy has been found to reduce the generation of new neurons Posted: 15 May 2015 05:34 AM PDT The mission of neural stem cells located in the hippocampus, one of the main regions of the brain, is to generate new neurons during the adult life of mammals, and their function is to participate in certain types of learning and responses to anxiety and stress. New research has discovered that hippocampal neural stem cells in the case of epilepsy stop generating new neurons and are turned into reactive astrocytes, a cell type that promotes inflammation and alters communication between neurons. Now the researchers are exploring the potential of neural stem cells in future therapies to fight the disease.

New way to treat skin conditions: World's first mercury-free film-type ultraviolet light source Posted: 15 May 2015 05:34 AM PDT Scientists have developed the world's first new mercury-free light source that produces ultraviolet radiation for medical applications. It is currently being certified as a medical instrument, and sales are expected to begin in October 2015. This equipment should effectively treat skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis, leucoderma, and psoriasis. Because it can deliver high-intensity radiation to only the affected area, it should reduce the treatment time and patients' stress.

Calculating the service life of bridges: Engineers refine models Posted: 15 May 2015 05:34 AM PDT In future, the service life of bridges may be estimated more accurate than ever before. Engineers have refined mathematical models for calculating them. Unlike previous models, they take local conditions into consideration, rather than depending on average default values.

Teacherbot: Can robots do it better? Posted: 15 May 2015 05:34 AM PDT Opinion is often divided over whether digital innovations within education are a value or a threat to teaching.

Eenvironmental risk assessment of sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage Posted: 15 May 2015 05:33 AM PDT A research project of carbon dioxide in the offshore sea bed is often discussed as a means to reduce further the increase of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. The project has developed recommendations for the selection and monitoring of submarine storage sites as well as an approach to a sound environmental risk assessment. 27 partner institutions from nine European countries cooperated in the project. The outcome helps to adjust regulations, and to operate sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage sites more safely.

Researchers discover new ways to shut down signals involved in brain diseases Posted: 15 May 2015 05:33 AM PDT A research team has found new ways to block a pathway that may be responsible for several brain disorders, which could open the door to developing better treatments. Their work is focused on the protein NOS-1, which generates nitric oxide, a chemical signal that is linked to neurological disorders from neurodegeneration, stroke and chronic pain sensitivity to anxiety and depressive disorders.

New test detects drug use from a single fingerprint Posted: 15 May 2015 05:33 AM PDT A new, non-invasive test that can detect cocaine use through a simple fingerprint has been presented by researchers. For the first time, this new fingerprint method can determine whether cocaine has been ingested, rather than just touched.

Many probiotics are contaminated with traces of gluten Posted: 15 May 2015 05:32 AM PDT More than half of popular probiotics contain traces of gluten, according to an analysis. Tests on 22 top-selling probiotics revealed that 12 of them (or 55%) had detectable gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley, and patients with celiac disease need to eliminate it from their diet or face pain, bowel symptoms, and an increased risk of cancer.

Corporate greed: That gut feeling you have about your CEO is spot on Posted: 15 May 2015 05:32 AM PDT Researchers tested the assumption that self-interest is a universal trait of CEOs, showed that too much altruism can harm company performance, revealed the dark, self-destructive tendencies of some entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses and provided a way to measure and correlate greed, arrogance and company performance.

Towards a tunable graphene-like two-dimensional material Posted: 15 May 2015 05:32 AM PDT A new porous material exhibits high electrical conductivity as a bulk material that is potentially tunable and has unusual temperature dependence, suggesting new fundamental physics.

Strong evidence still lacking on medical marijuana for pain Posted: 15 May 2015 05:32 AM PDT With increasing numbers of chronic pain patients experimenting with marijuana to get relief, physicians need to learn more about the plant and its constituents to counsel patients appropriately about its safety and possible analgesic benefits, according to a leading medical marijuana researcher.

Yoga and chronic pain have opposite effects on brain gray matter Posted: 15 May 2015 05:32 AM PDT Chronic pain is known to cause brain anatomy changes and impairments, but yoga can be an important tool for preventing or even reversing the effects of chronic pain on the brain, according to a new study.

Antibody's unusual abilities might inspire vaccine strategies Posted: 14 May 2015 09:13 PM PDT The recent discovery of a novel antibody that works in an unusual way could inspire new vaccine strategies. The antibody appears to have properties that might keep bacteria like disease-causing E. coli from adhering to human cell surfaces and also dislodge those already attached. Among the common pathogens for which researchers are seeking more effective methods to prevent adherence to human cell surfaces are the forms of E. coli that cause urinary tract infections.

First large-scale graphene fabrication Posted: 14 May 2015 09:13 PM PDT One of the barriers to using graphene at a commercial scale could be overcome using a new method. Graphene, a material stronger and stiffer than carbon fiber, has enormous commercial potential but has been impractical to employ on a large scale, with researchers limited to using small flakes of the material.

Perspective-taking difficulties diminished when autistic and psychosis tendencies balance Posted: 14 May 2015 09:11 PM PDT Researchers have shed new light on the relationship between autistic tendencies and psychosis proneness in neurotypical adults. The study indicates that while increased tendencies for either condition are associated with perspective-taking difficulties, unexpectedly, these difficulties are diminished in individuals with similar tendency to both autism and psychosis.

Hazing remains a concern in college marching bands, new study shows Posted: 14 May 2015 09:11 PM PDT Nearly a third of college marching band members surveyed in a national study observed hazing in their programs but few of the students reported the activities, often because of fears of retribution or loss of social standing, according to researchers.

Offline TV ads prompt potential online purchases by multitaskers Posted: 14 May 2015 09:11 PM PDT Many television advertisers fear that distracted viewers -- frenetic multitaskers using smartphones, laptops and tablets while viewing TV -- are less receptive to advertisers' messages. A new study refutes this and concludes that the "second screen" puts a virtual store in every consumer's pocket. Multitasking viewers now visit, browse, and even buy advertised products within moments of seeing a commercial.

Link between vitamin E, exposure to air pollution Posted: 14 May 2015 09:11 PM PDT An association between the amount of vitamin E in the body, exposure to particulate pollution and lung function has been uncovered by a new study. The paper adds to growing evidence from previous studies suggesting that some vitamins may play a role in helping to protect the lungs from air pollution.

Half hour of physical activity 6 days a week linked to 40 percent lower risk of early death Posted: 14 May 2015 09:11 PM PDT Thirty minutes of physical activity -- irrespective of its intensity -- six days a week is linked to a 40 percent lower risk of death from any cause among elderly men, finds new research. Boosting physical activity levels in this age group seems to be as good for health as giving up smoking, the findings suggest.

Diabetes drug may reduce heart attack risk in HIV patients Posted: 14 May 2015 09:09 PM PDT A diabetes drug may have benefits beyond lower blood sugar in patients with HIV. New research suggests the drug may prevent cardiovascular problems because it works to reduce inflammation that is linked to heart disease and stroke in these patients. The drug both improved metabolism and reduced inflammation in HIV-positive adults on antiretroviral therapy.

Study characterizes effects of severe kidney injury during pregnancy Posted: 14 May 2015 09:07 PM PDT The incidence of acute kidney injury that requires dialysis is 1 in 10,000 pregnancies, a new Canadian study reports; otherwise healthy women who acquire a major pregnancy-related complication are at increased risk. In pregnancies affected by severe acute kidney injury, babies are at increased risk of having low birth weights or being born prematurely, the researchers report.

We’re happy and we know it, and now the research shows it Posted: 14 May 2015 09:07 PM PDT If you have a spring in your step and a smile on your face, you're in good company. Americans are generally a pretty happy bunch, according to a new study that aims to further our collective understanding of happiness and its root causes. With age comes happiness. Beginning with 30- to 34-year-olds, every age group gets progressively happier than the general population, peaking among those aged 65 and older.

Nerve involvement explains why some cancers are very painful Posted: 14 May 2015 09:07 PM PDT More than half of all cancer patients experience pain, most often associated with the malignancy type, body location and disease progression. Pain researchers report that the relationship between tumors and nerves drives persistent and breakthrough pain and tumor progression in certain types of cancers.

Genome-wide DNA study shows lasting impact of malnutrition in early pregnancy Posted: 14 May 2015 12:28 PM PDT Children whose mothers were malnourished at famine levels during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy had changes in DNA methylation known to suppress genes involved in growth, development, and metabolism documented at age 59. This is the first study to look at prenatal nutrition and genome-wide DNA patterns in adults exposed to severe under-nutrition at different periods of gestation.

Earthquakes reveal deep secrets beneath East Asia Posted: 14 May 2015 12:28 PM PDT A new supercomputer model combined earthquake data to create 3-D tomographic images to depths of 900 km, or 560 miles below East Asia. Notable features found include a high velocity structure beneath Tibetan Plateau; and a deep mantle upwelling under Hangai dome in Mongolia.This research could help find hidden hydrocarbon resources and explore deep structures elsewhere.

Who should pay the price? Profiting from selfishness Posted: 14 May 2015 11:29 AM PDT Social dilemmas, in which an individual profits from selfishness, unless the whole group chooses the selfish option, have long provided an academic challenge. A new study theoretically analyzes the effects of incentives and meta-incentives on resolving social dilemmas. Researchers devise and analyze a replicator dynamics model of the extended public good games to solve the issue.

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