ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Scientists ‘watch’ rats string memories together
• Non-invasive device could end daily finger pricking for people with diabetes
• Key measure of hospital quality does not give accurate indication of avoidable deaths
• Ecologists predict impact of climate change on vulnerable species
• Why kids' recovery times vary widely after brain injury
• Melon genome study reveals recent impacts of breeding
• Pluto and Charon shine in false color
• Continued destruction of Earth's plant life places humans in jeopardy
• Kids expecting aggression from others become aggressive themselves
• Advanced composites may borrow designs from deep-sea shrimp
• Exercise may reverse age-related bone loss in middle-aged men
• Dietary intervention primes triple-negative breast cancer for targeted therapy
• Scientific curiosity and preparedness for emerging pathogen outbreaks
• Researchers discover way to assess future literacy challenges
• Lower-intensity treatment as effective as high-intensity for children with high-functioning autism, study shows
• Diversifying your diet may make your gut healthier
• Insects may be the answer to consumer demand for more protein
• Curiosity rover finds evidence of Mars' primitive continental crust
• Nanospheres shield chemo drugs, safely release high doses in response to tumor secretions
• Constant change: Determination of fundamental constants
• Dads' parenting of children with autism improves moms' mental health
• Earth's magnetosphere: Discovery of zebra stripes in space resolves a half-century mystery
• Environment, not distance, triggers genetic differences in 'sky island' birds
• Intellectual pursuits may buffer brain against addiction
• World first: Significant development in the understanding of macroscopic quantum behavior
• Rheumatoid arthritis: Novel approach identifies unique DNA signature
• Physician peer influence affects repeat prescriptions
• Organic farming needs direction to be sustainable
• Impact of Type 2 diabetes on lymphatic vessels identified
• Am I fat? Many of today's adolescents don't think so
• Key protein controls nutrient availability in mammals
• Obesity-related behaviors increase when school's out
• High-pressure oxygen can effectively treat fibromyalgia
• Nonmagnetic elements form unique magnet
• Treating more adults with statins would be cost-effective way to boost heart health
• Growing beating cardiac tissue from stem cells: New model for early heart development
• New guidelines for statin eligibility improve prediction of cardiovascular risk
• Human hands may be more primitive than chimp's
• Closing the quality chasm in mental health and substance use care
• Few states in US require HPV vaccine
• Investigational drug prevents life-threatening side effects of kidney disease treatment
• More precise estimate of Avogadro's number to help redefine kilogram
• Gut microbes enable coffee pest to withstand extremely toxic concentrations of caffeine
• Acoustical metamaterial with near-zero density
• New classification system for brain tumors
• Multiple, co-existing groups of gut bacteria keep Clostridium difficile infections at bay
• Could dissolvable microneedles replace injected vaccines?
• This is your brain on fried eggs: Brain, motivation and eating a high-fat diet
• NASA's three-billion-mile journey to Pluto reaches historic encounter
• Bed bugs 'bite' the wallet of hotel owners
• How big is Pluto? New Horizons settles decades-long debate
• MRI studies point to brain connectivity changes in autism spectrum disorders
• Visualizing RNA activity within brain tissues for efficient discovery of drugs
• Law governing anomalous heat conduction revealed
• Stem cells might heal damaged lungs
• Chicago's Metra rail commuters are glued to tech, but Wi-Fi and outlets are scarce
• Laurel wilt disease likely to increase Florida avocado prices
• Family support more important than pre-school care in securing children's wellbeing
• Potential of blue LEDs as novel chemical-free food preservation technology
• Antidepressant trials exclude most 'real world' patients with depression

Scientists ‘watch’ rats string memories together Posted: 14 Jul 2015 05:01 PM PDT By using electrode implants to track nerve cells firing in the brains of rats as they plan where to go next, scientists say they have learned that the mammalian brain likely reconstructs memories in a way more like jumping across stepping stones than walking across a bridge. The research sheds light on what memories are and how they form, and gives clues about how the system can fail.

Non-invasive device could end daily finger pricking for people with diabetes Posted: 14 Jul 2015 05:01 PM PDT A new laser sensor that monitors blood glucose levels without penetrating the skin could transform the lives of millions of people living with diabetes.

Key measure of hospital quality does not give accurate indication of avoidable deaths Posted: 14 Jul 2015 05:00 PM PDT Standardized mortality ratios for hospitals do not provide an accurate picture of how many deaths could have been avoided, according to a new study.

Ecologists predict impact of climate change on vulnerable species Posted: 14 Jul 2015 05:00 PM PDT As climate changes, many species are spreading beyond their historical ranges. Here biologists announce a method to predict which species decline as a result. Testing the method in Ontario, Canada, lakes where bass species have expanded northward with increasing temperatures, small fishes and fishes which rarely occurred with bass species were most likely to be lost where bass recently established. The method can predict losses due to competition and predation in a variety of organisms.

Why kids' recovery times vary widely after brain injury Posted: 14 Jul 2015 02:41 PM PDT Why do some youngsters bounce back quickly from a traumatic brain injury, while others suffer for years? New research suggests that damage to the coating around the brain's nerve fibers may explain the difference. The finding identifies possible biomarkers that physicians could use to predict high-risk patients.

Melon genome study reveals recent impacts of breeding Posted: 14 Jul 2015 02:41 PM PDT The first comprehensive genome analyses of seven melon varieties has been completed, providing breeders new knowledge important for understanding phenotypic variability and helping increasing plant quality yields by selective breeding.

Pluto and Charon shine in false color Posted: 14 Jul 2015 01:40 PM PDT New Horizons has obtained impressive new images of Pluto and its large moon Charon that highlight their compositional diversity. These are not actual color images of Pluto and Charon -- they are shown here in exaggerated colors that make it easy to note the differences in surface material and features on each planetary body.

Continued destruction of Earth's plant life places humans in jeopardy Posted: 14 Jul 2015 01:09 PM PDT Unless humans slow the destruction of Earth's declining supply of plant life, civilization like it is now may become completely unsustainable, according to a new article.

Kids expecting aggression from others become aggressive themselves Posted: 14 Jul 2015 01:09 PM PDT Hypervigilance to hostility in others triggers aggressive behavior in children, says a new study. The four-year longitudinal study, the largest of its kind involving 1,299 children and their parents, finds the pattern holds true in 12 different cultural groups from nine different counties across the globe.

Advanced composites may borrow designs from deep-sea shrimp Posted: 14 Jul 2015 01:09 PM PDT New research is revealing details about how the exoskeleton of a certain type of deep-sea shrimp allows the animal to survive scalding hot waters in hydrothermal vents thousands of feet under water. Insights into the complex molecular behavior of the materials could have implications for the design of new synthetic armor capable of withstanding environmental extremes.

Exercise may reverse age-related bone loss in middle-aged men Posted: 14 Jul 2015 12:09 PM PDT Researchers have found that certain types of weight-lifting and jumping exercises, when completed for at least six months, improve bone density in active, healthy, middle-aged men with low bone mass. These exercises may help prevent osteoporosis by facilitating bone growth, according to a new study.

Dietary intervention primes triple-negative breast cancer for targeted therapy Posted: 14 Jul 2015 12:09 PM PDT A diet that starves triple-negative breast cancer cells of an essential nutrient primes the cancer cells to be more easily killed by a targeted antibody treatment, scientists report.

Scientific curiosity and preparedness for emerging pathogen outbreaks Posted: 14 Jul 2015 12:09 PM PDT An essay reflects on a career path that started with the study of a somewhat obscure mouse virus mice and ended up at the frontline of the SARS and MERS coronavirus epidemics.

Researchers discover way to assess future literacy challenges Posted: 14 Jul 2015 12:09 PM PDT A quick biological test may be able to identify children who have literacy challenges or learning disabilities long before they learn to read, according to new research. The study centers on the child's ability to decipher speech -- specifically consonants -- in a chaotic, noisy environment. Noisy environments, such as homes with blaring televisions and wailing children, loud classrooms or urban streetscapes, can disrupt brain mechanisms associated with literacy development in school-age children.

Lower-intensity treatment as effective as high-intensity for children with high-functioning autism, study shows Posted: 14 Jul 2015 11:22 AM PDT Researchers have found that reducing the intensity of their comprehensive summer treatment (summerMAX) yielded improvements for high-functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) that were comparable to the original high-intensity program.

Diversifying your diet may make your gut healthier Posted: 14 Jul 2015 11:22 AM PDT A loss of dietary diversity during the past 50 years could be a contributing factor to the rise in obesity, Type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal problems and other diseases, according to an expert.

Insects may be the answer to consumer demand for more protein Posted: 14 Jul 2015 11:22 AM PDT The growing consumer demand for protein -- and the lack of new farmland to raise more livestock -- could make insects an attractive alternative to traditional protein sources, according to an expert.

Curiosity rover finds evidence of Mars' primitive continental crust Posted: 14 Jul 2015 11:20 AM PDT The ChemCam laser instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover has turned its beam onto some unusually light-colored rocks on Mars, and the results are surprisingly similar to Earth's granitic continental crust rocks. This is the first discovery of a potential 'continental crust' on Mars.

Nanospheres shield chemo drugs, safely release high doses in response to tumor secretions Posted: 14 Jul 2015 11:20 AM PDT Scientists coated nanospheres of the anti-cancer drug paclitaxel with a peptide shell that shields the drug as it travels through the circulatory system. When the nanosphere reaches a cancerous tumor, enzymes that enable metastasis slice open the shell to release the drug. The targeted delivery allowed them to safely give mice 16 times the maximum tolerated dose of the clinical formulation of paclitaxel and halted the growth of cancerous tumors.

Constant change: Determination of fundamental constants Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:16 AM PDT The fundamental constants that govern the laws of nature are being determined with increasing accuracy. A new paper outlines the proceedings from this year's Workshop on the Determination of the Fundamental Constants, where scientists convened to share their research of fundamental constants. Ultimately, better definitions of these constants will aid the redefinition of several standard scientific units, including the kilogram and the Kelvin, by 2018.

Dads' parenting of children with autism improves moms' mental health Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:16 AM PDT Fathers who read to, care for children with autism at 9 months reduce mothers' levels of depression and stress when children reach age 4.

Earth's magnetosphere: Discovery of zebra stripes in space resolves a half-century mystery Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:15 AM PDT In the 1960s, NASA launched six satellites to study Earth's atmosphere, magnetosphere and the space between Earth and the moon. Using observations from those satellites, researchers have detected mysterious plasma waves in the Van Allen radiation belts, the donut-shaped rings surrounding Earth that contain high-energy particles trapped by the planet's magnetic field.

Environment, not distance, triggers genetic differences in 'sky island' birds Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:15 AM PDT Joseph Manthey's paper in Molecular Ecology has been hailed as a 'blueprint' for future isolation-by-environment studies.

Intellectual pursuits may buffer brain against addiction Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:15 AM PDT Challenging the idea that addiction is hardwired in the brain, a new study of mice suggests that even a short time spent in a stimulating learning environment can rewire the brain's reward system and buffer it against drug dependence.

World first: Significant development in the understanding of macroscopic quantum behavior Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:15 AM PDT For the first time, the wavelike behavior of a room-temperature polariton condensate has been demonstrated in the laboratory on a macroscopic length scale. This represents a significant development in the understanding and manipulation of quantum objects.

Rheumatoid arthritis: Novel approach identifies unique DNA signature Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:54 AM PDT Researchers have for the first time identified disease-associated changes to the DNA epigenome in joint fluid cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Physician peer influence affects repeat prescriptions Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:54 AM PDT A new study finds that peer influence among physicians can affect both trial and repeat prescription behavior of a risky new prescription drug. The study tracks prescriptions of a new drug over 17 months, and measures the discussion and patient referral connections among physicians in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Organic farming needs direction to be sustainable Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:53 AM PDT Large-scale organic farming operations, based on a review of almost a decade of data from 49 states, are not reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Impact of Type 2 diabetes on lymphatic vessels identified Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:53 AM PDT Approximately 28 million Americans live with Type 2 diabetes, a condition characterized by high blood sugar levels. Until now, the disease's effect on the body's lymphatic vessels has been unknown. A study has identified for the first time how the condition affects lymphatic vessels -- a finding that could lay the groundwork for new therapies to improve the lives of people with Type 2 diabetes.

Am I fat? Many of today's adolescents don't think so Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:53 AM PDT Admitting that you have a weight problem may be the first step in taking action, but a new study found that an increasing number of overweight adolescents do not consider themselves as such.

Key protein controls nutrient availability in mammals Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:53 AM PDT Researchers have found a new benefit of Kruppel-like Factor 15 (KLF15) -- keeping the body in metabolic balance. The discovery, which highlights how KLF15 affects the availability of nutrients in the body, may also have significant implications for scientists' ability to understand ways that the body metabolizes different medications.

Obesity-related behaviors increase when school's out Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:49 AM PDT Regardless of family income, children on summer break consume more sugar, watch more television, and eat fewer vegetables than the rest of the year, according to researchers. Although obesity-promoting behaviors are generally more common during the summer break, the differences in obesity behaviors between income groups were not exacerbated during the summer break.

High-pressure oxygen can effectively treat fibromyalgia Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:49 AM PDT Women with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome, were able to drastically reduce, or even eliminate, their use of pain medication following hyperbaric oxygen treatment, according to new research.. The researchers also believe they have identified the primary factor causing fibromyalgia: the disruption of the brain mechanism for processing pain.

Nonmagnetic elements form unique magnet Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:49 AM PDT How can two metals that are not magnetic combine to make a magnet? Scientists have found one answer in their creation of the first known itinerant antiferromagnet from nonmagnetic constituents.

Treating more adults with statins would be cost-effective way to boost heart health Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:49 AM PDT A new study has found that it would be cost-effective to treat 48-67 percent of all adults aged 40-75 in the US with cholesterol-lowering statins. By expanding the current recommended treatment guidelines and boosting the percentage of adults taking statins, an additional 161,560 cardiovascular-related events could be averted, according to the researchers.

Growing beating cardiac tissue from stem cells: New model for early heart development Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:41 AM PDT Researchers have developed a template for growing beating cardiac tissue from stem cells, creating a system that could serve as a model for early heart development and as a drug-screening tool to make pregnancies safer. Scientists have mimicked human tissue formation by starting with stem cells genetically reprogrammed from adult skin tissue to form small chambers with beating human heart cells.

New guidelines for statin eligibility improve prediction of cardiovascular risk Posted: 14 Jul 2015 09:41 AM PDT The new guidelines for determining whether patients should begin taking statins to prevent cardiovascular disease issued in 2013 by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association are more accurate and more efficient than an earlier set of guidelines in assigning treatment to adults at increased risk for cardiovascular events -- including heart attacks and strokes -- and identifying those whose low risk rules out the need to take statins.

Human hands may be more primitive than chimp's Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT Human hands may be more primitive than chimp's. Human hand proportions have changed little from those of the last common ancestor (LCA) of chimpanzees and humans. These findings indicate that the structure of the modern human hand is largely primitive in nature, rather than the result of selective pressures in the context of stone tool-making.

Closing the quality chasm in mental health and substance use care Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT A plan to ensure that evidence-based psychosocial interventions are routinely used in clinical practice and made a part of clinical training for mental health professionals was released today.

Few states in US require HPV vaccine Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT An examination of state vaccination requirements for adolescents finds that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is currently required in only two states, many fewer than another vaccine associated with sexual transmission (hepatitis B) and another primarily recommended for adolescents (meningococcal conjugate), according to a new study.

Investigational drug prevents life-threatening side effects of kidney disease treatment Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT The investigational drug patiromer quickly reduced elevated blood-potassium levels -- a common life-threatening side effect of treatment for chronic diabetic kidney disease. In this year-long study of more than 300 patients, patiromer kept potassium levels under control for the length of the trial.

More precise estimate of Avogadro's number to help redefine kilogram Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT An ongoing international effort to redefine the kilogram by 2018 has been helped by recent efforts from a team researchers from Italy, Japan and Germany to correlate two of the most precise measurements of Avogadro's number and obtain one averaged value that can be used for future calculations.

Gut microbes enable coffee pest to withstand extremely toxic concentrations of caffeine Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT Scientists discovered that coffee berry borers worldwide share 14 bacterial species in their digestive tracts that degrade and detoxify caffeine. They also found the most prevalent of these bacteria has a gene that helps break down caffeine. Their research sheds light on the ecology of the destructive bug and could lead to new ways to fight it.

Acoustical metamaterial with near-zero density Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:30 AM PDT When a sound wave hits an obstacle and is scattered, the signal may be lost or degraded. But what if you could guide the signal around that obstacle, as if the interfering barrier didn't even exist? Recently, researchers created a material from polyethylene membranes that does exactly that.

New classification system for brain tumors Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:28 AM PDT Despite modern chemoradiation therapy it is still very difficult to give reliable prognoses for malignant gliomas. Surgical removal of the glioma is still the preferred method of treatment. Doctors have now developed a new procedure for analyzing radiological imaging scans which makes it possible to predict the course of a disease relatively precisely.

Multiple, co-existing groups of gut bacteria keep Clostridium difficile infections at bay Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:28 AM PDT Multiple species of bacteria working together in healthy guts are responsible for keeping out nasty bacterial invader, Clostridium difficile, a hospital-acquired culprit responsible for 15,000 deaths each year. The study could lead to tests to predict which hospital patients are at highest risk of infection and better management of infections.

Could dissolvable microneedles replace injected vaccines? Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:24 AM PDT Flu vaccines delivered using microneedles that dissolve in the skin can protect people against infection even better than the standard needle-delivered vaccine, according to new research. The authors of the study say their dissolvable patch - the only vaccination system of its kind - could make vaccination easier, safer and less painful. According to the World Health Organization, immunization prevents an estimated 2-3 million deaths every year.

This is your brain on fried eggs: Brain, motivation and eating a high-fat diet Posted: 14 Jul 2015 08:24 AM PDT High-fat feeding can cause impairments in the functioning of the mesolimbic dopamine system, according to new research. This system is a critical brain pathway controlling motivation. These findings may have important health implications.

NASA's three-billion-mile journey to Pluto reaches historic encounter Posted: 14 Jul 2015 07:14 AM PDT NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is at Pluto. After a decade-long journey through our solar system, New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto Tuesday, about 7,750 miles above the surface -- roughly the same distance from New York to Mumbai, India -- making it the first-ever space mission to explore a world so far from Earth.

Bed bugs 'bite' the wallet of hotel owners Posted: 14 Jul 2015 07:11 AM PDT A new research study reveals some interesting findings about the economic impact of bed bugs on the hotel industry.

How big is Pluto? New Horizons settles decades-long debate Posted: 14 Jul 2015 07:11 AM PDT NASA's New Horizons mission has answered one of the most basic questions about Pluto -- its size. Mission scientists have found Pluto to be 1,473 miles (2,370 kilometers) in diameter, somewhat larger than many prior estimates. Images acquired with the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were used to make this determination. This result confirms what was already suspected: Pluto is larger than all other known solar system objects beyond the orbit of Neptune.

MRI studies point to brain connectivity changes in autism spectrum disorders Posted: 14 Jul 2015 07:10 AM PDT Studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are beginning to reveal differences in brain connectivity -- the ways that different parts of the brain are connected to each other and work together -- in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), reports a new review.

Visualizing RNA activity within brain tissues for efficient discovery of drugs Posted: 14 Jul 2015 07:10 AM PDT Scientists have successfully visualized RNA behavior and its response to drugs within the living tissue brain of live mice by labeling specific RNA molecules with fluorescent probes. Their study can potentially lead to faster, and more accurate screening processes for the discovery and development of new drugs.

Law governing anomalous heat conduction revealed Posted: 14 Jul 2015 07:10 AM PDT How heat travels, matters. Yet, there is still no consensus on the exact physical mechanism that causes anomalous heat conduction -- despite the existence of previous numerical simulation, theoretical predictions and experimental observations. Now, a team based in Asia has demonstrated that electron transport depends on temperature. It follows a scaling governed by a power law.

Stem cells might heal damaged lungs Posted: 14 Jul 2015 07:09 AM PDT Collectively, such diseases of the airways as emphysema, bronchitis, asthma and cystic fibrosis are the second leading cause of death worldwide. More than 35 million Americans alone suffer from chronic respiratory disease. Scientists have now proposed a new direction that could, in the future, lead to the development of a method for alleviating some of their suffering. The study's findings show how it might be possible to use embryonic stem cells to repair damaged lung tissue.

Chicago's Metra rail commuters are glued to tech, but Wi-Fi and outlets are scarce Posted: 14 Jul 2015 06:42 AM PDT A new study finds Chicago's train stations lags in amenities that commuters demand, including a place to plug in your phone. Despite this, Metra rail ridership is up, and commuters' dependence on tech might be the cause.

Laurel wilt disease likely to increase Florida avocado prices Posted: 14 Jul 2015 06:38 AM PDT Growers in Florida's $100 million-a-year avocado industry could see a rise in the price of avocados in the short term due to a reduction in domestic production, because of the deadly Laurel Wilt pathogen, a new study shows.

Family support more important than pre-school care in securing children's wellbeing Posted: 14 Jul 2015 06:38 AM PDT The government needs to focus as much on supporting deprived and disadvantaged families as it does on increasing the number of hours of free pre-school care if it is to secure the best outcomes for young children, according to new research.

Potential of blue LEDs as novel chemical-free food preservation technology Posted: 14 Jul 2015 06:38 AM PDT A team of scientists has found that blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) have strong antibacterial effect on major foodborne pathogens, and are most effective when in cold temperatures (between 4°C and 15°C) and mildly acidic conditions of around pH 4.5. This opens up novel possibilities of using blue LEDs as a chemical-free food preservation method.

Antidepressant trials exclude most 'real world' patients with depression Posted: 14 Jul 2015 06:38 AM PDT More than 80 percent of people with depression in the general population aren't eligible for clinical trials of antidepressant drugs, according to a new study.

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