ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Amazon fire risk differs across east-west divide in 2015
• Biology, not just physics, controls release of scent compounds from plants
• Feed supplement greatly reduces dairy cow methane emissions
• Sequential voting in presidential primaries best system to winnow candidates
• Giving robots a more nimble grasp
• Team advances therapy preventing addiction relapse by erasing drug-associated memories
• Atomic view of microtubules
• Ghostly remnants of galaxy interactions uncovered in a nearby galaxy group
• Projected benefits of high blood pressure treatment in China
• Spiders quickly learn eavesdropping to gain ground on the mating competition
• Seagrass thrives surprisingly well in toxic sediments, but still dies all over the world
• New Medicaid health care program for disabled adults improves aspects of patients' care, report says
• From pluripotency to totipotency
• New weapon in the fight against malnutrition
• A droplet's pancake bounce
• Mystery behind earthworm digestion solved
• Parents' preconception exposure to environmental stressors can disrupt early development
• Intervention to screen women for partner violence does not improve health outcomes
• Emergency department intervention does not reduce heavy drinking or partner violence
• Progress has been made in reducing rates of violence in US; overall numbers remain high
• Mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy decreases PTSD symptom severity among veterans
• Researcher calls for improved firearm safety counseling by physicians
• Cures for PTSD often remain elusive for war veterans
• Weight loss surgery benefits for gut microbiome last at least a decade
• How common white fat can be turned into energy-burning brown fat in humans
• Daily changes in mouse gut bacteria moves with internal clock, gender
• Brain infection study reveals how disease spreads from gut
• Crop pests outwit climate change predictions en route to new destinations
• Waiting for pleasure
• Novel fatigue syndrome in feedlot cattle discovered
• How new moms assess their partners' ability to parent
• Striking a gender balance among speakers at scientific conferences
• Trachoma risk tied to sleeping near cooking fires, lack of ventilation
• Mandatory life jackets could cut odds of recreational boating deaths 80 percent, experts say
• Perspectives on using pulse electric field to enhance biogas yield in anaerobic digestion
• Modelling the effect of vaccines on cholera transmission
• Social factors linked to heart disease for all
• Process concept for a zero-emission route to clean middle-distillate fuels from coal
• Scaffold-integrated microchips for end-to-end in vitro tumor cell attachment, xenograft formation
• Consortium of motile, cellulose degrading bacteria can be used for solid state cellulose hydrolysis
• Volcanic bacteria take minimalist approach to survival
• Employee health codes of conduct
• Understanding molecular mechanism leading to addiction in humans
• New biosensors for managing microbial 'workers'
• Researchers use wastewater treatment to capture carbon dioxide, produce energy
• Teen marijuana use not linked to later depression, lung cancer, other health problems, study finds
• Fish that have their own fish finders
• Seeing the sunnier side of life: Scientists bring a whole new meaning to winter blues
• How does being 'on-call' impact employee fatigue?
• Profit, people and planet: Balancing revenue vs. responsibility in fashion
• Protecting the environment by re-thinking death
• Studying scavenge hunting animals remaining worldwide
• Five billion light years across: The largest feature in the universe
• Missing piece surfaces in the puzzle of autism
• Super star takes on black holes in jet contest
• Cutting costs in aircraft turbine production
• Heating with the sun: Solar active houses put to the test
• Flexible solution for secure IT in cars
• Company triumphs with technology that tests and mass produces electronic devices
• Trauma experiences change the brain even in those without PTSD

Amazon fire risk differs across east-west divide in 2015 Posted: 04 Aug 2015 05:30 PM PDT Scientists project fire risk for South America's Amazon Basin in 2015 to fall along an east-west divide. According to their model, based on multiple satellite datasets, the forests of the western Amazon will experience average or below-average fire risk, while those in the eastern Amazon will see above-average risk.

Biology, not just physics, controls release of scent compounds from plants Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:09 PM PDT Active biological mechanisms transport scent and taste compounds known as volatiles from plant cells to the atmosphere, researchers report, a finding that could overturn the textbook model of volatile emission as a process that occurs solely by diffusion.

Feed supplement greatly reduces dairy cow methane emissions Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:09 PM PDT A supplement added to the feed of high-producing dairy cows reduced methane emissions by 30 percent and could have ramifications for global climate change, according to an international team of researchers.

Sequential voting in presidential primaries best system to winnow candidates Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:09 PM PDT The sequential election format of the US presidential primary is the best mechanism to select a candidate who would prevail in a head-to-head election against any one of the other candidates, says a new article.

Giving robots a more nimble grasp Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:08 PM PDT Engineers have now hit upon a way to impart more dexterity to simple robotic grippers: using the environment as a helping hand. The team has developed a model that predicts the force with which a robotic gripper needs to push against various fixtures in the environment in order to adjust its grasp on an object.

Team advances therapy preventing addiction relapse by erasing drug-associated memories Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:08 PM PDT Scientists have made a discovery that brings them closer to a new therapy based on selectively erasing dangerous and tenacious drug-associated memories. A new study demonstrates the effectiveness of a single injection of an early drug candidate called blebbistatin in preventing relapse in animal models of methamphetamine addiction.

Atomic view of microtubules Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:08 PM PDT An atomic view of microtubules has been produced that enabled researchers to identify the crucial role played by a family of end-binding proteins in regulating microtubule dynamic instability, the physical property that enables microtubules to play a crucial role in cell division.

Ghostly remnants of galaxy interactions uncovered in a nearby galaxy group Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:08 PM PDT Astronomers have observed the nearby large spiral galaxy M81, together with its two brightest neighbors. The team obtained deep and super wide-field images of the galaxies and discovered that the spatial distribution of the young stars around these galaxies follows very closely that of their distribution of neutral hydrogen. This is the first endeavor beyond the Local Group of galaxies to demonstrate the hierarchical galaxy assembly process on galactic scales.

Projected benefits of high blood pressure treatment in China Posted: 04 Aug 2015 01:08 PM PDT An expanded program of treatment for hypertension could prevent about 800,000 cardiovascular disease events every year in China, according to a modeling study. The predictions of this simulation indicate that such a program should also be borderline cost-effective, provided low cost essential anti-hypertensive drugs are used.

Spiders quickly learn eavesdropping to gain ground on the mating competition Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:32 AM PDT When it comes to courting, one common spider species is quick to learn, and that learning process involves eavesdropping on the visual cues of rivals to win their mate. Scientists report that when wolf spiders were shown videos of other leg-tapping, courting males paired with silk cues from females, they quickly learned to recognize the behavior as part of the courtship process -- in as little as four days.

Seagrass thrives surprisingly well in toxic sediments, but still dies all over the world Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:32 AM PDT Toxic is bad. Or is it? New studies of seagrasses reveal that they are surprisingly good at detoxifying themselves when growing in toxic seabed. But if seagrasses are stressed by their environment, they lose the ability and die. All over the world seagrasses are increasingly stressed and one factor contributing to this can be lack of detoxification.

New Medicaid health care program for disabled adults improves aspects of patients' care, report says Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:29 AM PDT Care linked to heart attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, among disabled adults covered by Medicaid has improved with the expansion of a new health care program in Texas over the last decade, researchers have found.

From pluripotency to totipotency Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:29 AM PDT While it is already possible to obtain in vitro pluripotent cells (i.e., cells capable of generating all tissues of an embryo) from any cell type, researchers have pushed the limits of science even further. They managed to obtain totipotent cells with the same characteristics as those of the earliest embryonic stages and with even more interesting properties.

New weapon in the fight against malnutrition Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:29 AM PDT Malnutrition affects millions of people worldwide and is responsible for one-fifth of deaths in children under the age of five. Children can also experience impaired cognitive development and stunted growth. Now scientists have opened the doors to new research into malnutrition by creating an animal model that replicates the imbalance of gut bacteria associated with the difficult-to-treat disease.

A droplet's pancake bounce Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:29 AM PDT New discovery about how surface gradients influence droplet behavior may enable novel surfaces with anti-icing capabilities for a tremendous range of applications.

Mystery behind earthworm digestion solved Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:29 AM PDT Scientists have discovered how earthworms can digest plant material, such as fallen leaves, that would defeat most other herbivores. Earthworms are responsible for returning the carbon locked inside dead plant material back into the ground. They drag fallen leaves and other plant material down from the surface and eat them, enriching the soil, and they do this in spite of toxic chemicals produced by plants to deter herbivores.

Parents' preconception exposure to environmental stressors can disrupt early development Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:29 AM PDT Even before a child is conceived, the parents' exposure to environmental stressors can alter the way genes are expressed and ultimately harm the child's health when those genes are passed down to the next generation, according to a new article.

Intervention to screen women for partner violence does not improve health outcomes Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT Screening women for partner violence and providing a resource list did not influence the number of hospitalizations, emergency department, or outpatient care visits compared with women only receiving a resource list or receiving no intervention over three years, according to a study.

Emergency department intervention does not reduce heavy drinking or partner violence Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT A brief motivational intervention delivered during an emergency department visit did not improve outcomes for women with heavy drinking involved in abusive relationships, according to a study.

Progress has been made in reducing rates of violence in US; overall numbers remain high Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT Even though homicide and assault rates have decreased in the US in recent years, the number of these and other types of violent acts remains high, according to a new report. The authors write that multiple strategies exist to improve interpersonal violence prevention efforts, and health care providers are an important part of this solution.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy decreases PTSD symptom severity among veterans Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT In a randomized trial that included veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those who received mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy showed greater improvement in self-reported PTSD symptom severity, although the average improvement appears to have been modest, according to a study.

Researcher calls for improved firearm safety counseling by physicians Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT Physicians should improve the way they discuss firearm safety with patients by showing more respect for the viewpoints of gun owners, according to a new article.

Cures for PTSD often remain elusive for war veterans Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT Our nation's veterans continue to suffer emotional and psychological effects of war -- some for decades. And while there has been greater attention directed recently toward post-traumatic stress disorder, and more veterans are seeking help, current psychotherapy treatments are less than optimal, according to a new narrative review.

Weight loss surgery benefits for gut microbiome last at least a decade Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT Two types of bariatric surgeries, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and vertical banded gastroplasty, result in similar microbiome remodeling changes that are maintained a decade later in a group of women, a new study shows. Transfer of the microbiota from the bariatric surgery patients was shown to decrease fat mass and increase carbohydrate use in mice.

How common white fat can be turned into energy-burning brown fat in humans Posted: 04 Aug 2015 11:27 AM PDT Researchers have discovered, for the first time in humans, that the widely reviled energy storing white fat can be turned into an energy burning brown fat that uses up excess calories.

Daily changes in mouse gut bacteria moves with internal clock, gender Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:36 AM PDT Researchers analyzed circadian rhythms in abundance and type of microbiota in the gut and feces of mice using genetic sequencing. They found that the absolute abundance of a large group of rod-shaped bacteria common in the gut and skin of animals, and relative species make-up of the microbiome, changed over a 24-hour cycle, and this rhythmicity was more pronounced in female mice.

Brain infection study reveals how disease spreads from gut Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:34 AM PDT Diagnosis of deadly brain conditions could be helped by new research that shows how infectious proteins that cause the disease spread. Research reveals how the proteins -- called prions -- spread from the gut to the brain after a person or animal has eaten contaminated meat.

Crop pests outwit climate change predictions en route to new destinations Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:34 AM PDT The dangers of relying on climate-based projections of future crop pest distributions have been highlighted by a new paper that suggests that rapid evolution can confound model results.

Waiting for pleasure Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:03 AM PDT Researchers have clearly identified, for the first time, the specific parts of the brain involved in decisions that call for delayed gratification. They demonstrated that the hippocampus (associated with memory) and the nucleus accumbens (associated with pleasure) work together in making critical decisions of this type, where time plays a role.

Novel fatigue syndrome in feedlot cattle discovered Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:03 AM PDT A novel fatigue syndrome affecting feedlot cattle has been discovered by researchers. The syndrome is similar to one affecting the swine industry. The study concludes it would be imperative for the beef industry and affiliated veterinarians to learn quickly as much as possible about fatigue cattle syndrome so measures can be implemented to prevent the condition, or at least minimize its impact on cattle welfare.

How new moms assess their partners' ability to parent Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:03 AM PDT New mothers take a close look at their personal relationship with their husband or partner when deciding how much they want him involved in parenting, new research finds.

Striking a gender balance among speakers at scientific conferences Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:02 AM PDT Increasing the number of female speakers at a scientific conference can be done relatively quickly by calling attention to gender disparities common to such meetings and getting more women involved in the conference planning process, suggests a researcher.

Trachoma risk tied to sleeping near cooking fires, lack of ventilation Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:02 AM PDT Children who sleep in unventilated rooms with cooking fires are at greater risk for severe trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness in developing countries, according to the findings of a recent study conducted in Tanzania.

Mandatory life jackets could cut odds of recreational boating deaths 80 percent, experts say Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:02 AM PDT Increasing life jacket wear by only 20 percent would have saved 1,721 out of 3,047 boaters involved in accidents between 2008 and 2011, scientists say, a finding that could be used to argue for regulations requiring use of the safety devices.

Perspectives on using pulse electric field to enhance biogas yield in anaerobic digestion Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:01 AM PDT The usage of pulsed electric field for conditioning substrates can significantly enhance biogas yield in commercial biogas plants, scientists say. Although the primary effect of the electric field is cracking cell structures for better availability of nutrition, other effects like shockwave, electrophoresis or influence on the metabolic condition of cells can play a role.

Modelling the effect of vaccines on cholera transmission Posted: 04 Aug 2015 07:01 AM PDT Cholera is a diarrheal disease that is caused by an intestinal bacterium, Vibrio cholerae. Recently an outbreak of cholera in Haiti brought public attention to this deadly disease. In this work, the goal of our differential equation model is to find an effective optimal vaccination strategy to minimize the disease related mortality and to reduce the associated costs.

Social factors linked to heart disease for all Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:39 AM PDT The social determinants of health are multi-dimensional and multi-level, yet we have few studies that examine the social determinants in large, diverse populations. More extensive research and new interventions are needed, an expert writes, if we are to reach the a goal of increasing the proportion of the population in ideal cardiovascular health by 2020.

Process concept for a zero-emission route to clean middle-distillate fuels from coal Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:38 AM PDT A novel process configuration has been developed for producing clean middle-distillate fuels from coal with minimal emissions.

Scaffold-integrated microchips for end-to-end in vitro tumor cell attachment, xenograft formation Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:38 AM PDT A new microchip has been developed that can retrieve microfluidically attached cancer cells for serial analysis by integrating a 3-D hydrogel scaffold into a fluidic device.

Consortium of motile, cellulose degrading bacteria can be used for solid state cellulose hydrolysis Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:37 AM PDT Cellulose hydrolysis has many industrial applications in such fields as biofuel production, food, paper, cosmetic, pharmaceutical industries and textile manufacture. A novel approach to cellulose hydrolysis using a consortium of motile bacteria moving on solid surfaces and carrying microbial luggage -- another bacteria that can efficiently hydrolyze cellulose -- has been demonstrated by scientists.

Volcanic bacteria take minimalist approach to survival Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:37 AM PDT New research is helping to solve the puzzle of how bacteria are able to live in nutrient-starved environments. It is well-established that the majority of bacteria in soil ecosystems live in dormant states due to nutrient deprivation, but the metabolic strategies that enable their survival have not yet been shown.

Employee health codes of conduct Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:37 AM PDT Workplace wellness can be a positive source of health and empowerment for employees. While many employers have found that wellness programs are ineffective at engaging employees, a new strategy may be just the solution.

Understanding molecular mechanism leading to addiction in humans Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:37 AM PDT A new study opens the field to new understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying addiction in humans. The team found that humans with mutation of a key gene for this co-transmission were 10 times more vulnerable to very severe forms of addiction.

New biosensors for managing microbial 'workers' Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:37 AM PDT New biosensors have been developed that could improve control and complexity of metabolically engineered microbes, bringing us one step closer to a future in which genetically engineered bacteria can produce valuable chemical commodities in an environmentally friendly way.

Researchers use wastewater treatment to capture carbon dioxide, produce energy Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:37 AM PDT Cleaning up municipal and industrial wastewater can be dirty business, but engineers have developed an innovative wastewater treatment process that not only mitigates carbon dioxide emissions, but actively captures greenhouse gases as well.

Teen marijuana use not linked to later depression, lung cancer, other health problems, study finds Posted: 04 Aug 2015 06:37 AM PDT Chronic marijuana use by teenage boys does not appear to be linked to later physical or mental health issues such as depression, psychotic symptoms or asthma, according to a new study.

Fish that have their own fish finders Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:42 AM PDT African fish called mormyrids communicate by means of electric signals. Fish in one group can glean detailed information from a signal's waveform, but fish in another group are insensitive to waveform variations. Research has uncovered the neurological basis for this difference in perception.

Seeing the sunnier side of life: Scientists bring a whole new meaning to winter blues Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:40 AM PDT Scientists have shed new light on how humans process color -- revealing that we see things differently in winter compared with summer. The researchers examined how our color perception changes between seasons and in particular how we process the color known as unique yellow.

How does being 'on-call' impact employee fatigue? Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:40 AM PDT With the growing demands of consumerism and the need to assist customers on the clock, today's employees are working anything but nine to five. One in five EU employees are working on-call, but how does this arrangement stack up for laborers? Recently published research monitors a group of 169 male Dutch distal on-call technicians and investigates the connections between high levels of work fatigue, need for recovery and the status of being on-call and off-call. The study suggests that the mere possibility of being called heightens the need for recovery among shift workers.

Profit, people and planet: Balancing revenue vs. responsibility in fashion Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:40 AM PDT Businesses within the fashion industry face many ethical decisions over the importance of profit vs. social responsibility. Exploitation is rife in developing countries where cheap, unregulated labor is readily available. Illegal environmental damage caused by clothing production can often have catastrophic effects on local communities.  Recent research explores teaching methods to educate fashion undergraduates on socially responsible practices in the fashion industry.

Protecting the environment by re-thinking death Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:40 AM PDT Scientists first had to re-think death before they could develop a way of testing the potential harm to the environment caused by thousands of chemicals humankind uses each day.

Studying scavenge hunting animals remaining worldwide Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:40 AM PDT Human activities such as livestock farming, fishing or hunting yearly waste tons of food into natural ecosystems. A large part of this anthropogenic food is provided as carrion and subsidizes a wide range of vertebrate species. Scientists have described for the first time the general structure of scavenger communities worldwide, which consist mainly of birds (66%) and mammals (34%).

Five billion light years across: The largest feature in the universe Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:40 AM PDT Astronomers have found what appears to be the largest feature in the observable universe: a ring of nine gamma ray bursts -- and hence galaxies - 5 billion light years across.

Missing piece surfaces in the puzzle of autism Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:40 AM PDT A new gene that plays a crucial role during early development in humans and whose under-expression may induce certain autistic traits has been uncovered by scientists. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which affect 7.6 million people is a major challenge. Characterized by heterogeneous symptoms and a multifactorial origin, this complex condition evolves during brain development. The scientists thus chose to study adult olfactory stem cells as indicators of the early stages of ontogenesis in order to determine new genes involved in this disease.

Super star takes on black holes in jet contest Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:39 AM PDT A super-dense star formed in the aftermath of a supernova explosion is shooting out powerful jets of material into space, research suggests. It was previously thought that the only objects in the Universe capable of forming such powerful jets were black holes.

Cutting costs in aircraft turbine production Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:39 AM PDT Compressor disks for aircraft turbines are milled from a single piece of material. During processing, the blades begin to vibrate. Now, a novel clamping system boosts vibration absorption for the blades by more than 400 times, and cuts manufacturing costs.

Heating with the sun: Solar active houses put to the test Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:39 AM PDT Solar-Active-Houses heat themselves using heat collectors and water tanks. However, no one had conducted an objective assessment of how efficiently they do so. Now researchers have put some of these solar houses to the test, and have identified where there was room for improvement and laid the scientific groundwork for this housing concept.

Flexible solution for secure IT in cars Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:39 AM PDT Today, almost everything in your car is managed by an electronic control unit (ECU). The problem is that these minicomputers are increasingly coming under attack. Researchers have now developed a platform that makes it possible to flexibly install secure devices in a way that is based on open and vendor-neutral hardware and software standards.

Company triumphs with technology that tests and mass produces electronic devices Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:39 AM PDT The Mexican company Testing House, designed a system to test electronics, programming of devices and microcircuits that are used in the automotive industry such as rain sensors, tire pressure, vehicle computers or temperature microcontrollers in the field of biomedicine. The company is housed in a technological institute, and half of its customers are foreigners, experts report.

Trauma experiences change the brain even in those without PTSD Posted: 04 Aug 2015 04:37 AM PDT Trauma may cause distinct and long-lasting effects even in people who do not develop PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), according to research. It is already known that stress affects brain function and may lead to PTSD, but until now the underlying brain networks have proven elusive.

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