ScienceDaily: Top News

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• CEO effect on firm performance mostly due to chance
• Astronomers peer inside stars, finding giant magnets
• Basic understanding of plants: Cellular damage control system helps plants tough it out
• New insights into REM sleep crack an enduring mystery
• First field observations of rare Omura's whales
• Slow emitters transformed into fast light sources
• Gene therapy treats all muscles in the body in muscular dystrophy dogs
• Deep-sea bacteria could help neutralize greenhouse gas
• Study reveals why malaria vaccine only partially protected children, infants
• Advocating for raising the smoking age to 21
• Unhealthy pregnancy weight gain tips the scales for mothers seven years later
• What you didn't know about naked mole-rats
• Research points way to more bat-friendly roads and railways
• Babies' babbles reflect their own involvement in language development
• Study combats 'anxiety' as barrier to breast cancer screening
• Reducing the sweetness to survive
• The power of two may help explain brain design
• C-section delivery does not decrease at-birth fracture rates in infants with rare bone disease
• Implant procedure helps patients with sacroiliac joint pain
• Biologists unravel drug-resistance mechanism in tumor cells
• Plague in humans 'twice as old' but didn't begin as flea-borne, ancient DNA reveals
• Zebrafish study offers insights into nerve cell repair mechanisms
• Racial differences in outcomes, costs of care in older men with prostate cancer
• Cardiac muscle cells as good as progenitors for heart repair
• Study finds key molecular mechanism regulating plant translational activity
• Calls vs. balls: Monkeys with more impressive roars produce less sperm
• New model helps zero in on harmful genetic mutations
• Scientists discover protein factories hidden in human jumping genes
• Thyroid function may be restored through patient-derived human cells
• Blocking differentiation is enough to give cells 'stemness'
• Study uses gene editing to take brakes off lab-based red blood cell production
• Vibrations tell bees where mates are from
• These social bees farm and eat fungus or die
• Biomarker for premature death
• Could a drug engineered from bananas fight many deadly viruses? New results show promise
• Some antibiotics work by stressing bacteria out (metabolically)
• Study finds migration strategy predicts stopover ecology in shorebirds
• Alzheimer's disease: Plaques impair memory formation during sleep
• Plastic litter taints the sea surface, even in the Arctic
• How a flying bat sees space
• For young patients with spina bifida, smartphone app improves self-management
• Virtual K-pop dance teacher developed to make dance learning easier
• Hubble spies Big Bang frontiers
• National contributions provide entry point for the low-carbon transformation
• Turbulences on the rise
• Robot adapts voice and gestures just to get attention from you
• Evaporation takes place differently than previously thought: Implications for global warming
• New gene a key to fighting sepsis
• Link between champion horses, offspring careers revealed
• When queuing in a supermarket, who do you let go first?
• Subliminal effect of facial color on fearful faces
• Measuring the impacts of severe wildfires in the Arctic
• New technique permits cell-specific examination of proteins in alzheimer's disease brain tissue
• New depression diagnosis and treatment
• Killing by metadata: How drone warfare threatens Europe's existence
• Music listening habits tell about mental health
• Antidepressants, Alzheimer's disease drugs might boost recovery in stroke patients
• Taking less asthma medicine can be done safely with guidance, study shows
• Up to 27 seconds of inattention after talking to your car or smartphone
• Middle schoolers may benefit academically from extracurricular activities

CEO effect on firm performance mostly due to chance Posted: 22 Oct 2015 04:23 PM PDT A researcher calls into question the common notion that CEOs have a large effect on firm performance. Instead, he suggests that most of the performance attributed to CEOs could actually be due to chance.

Astronomers peer inside stars, finding giant magnets Posted: 22 Oct 2015 01:12 PM PDT Astronomers have for the first time probed the magnetic fields in the mysterious inner regions of stars. Using a technique called asteroseismology, which uses sound waves generated by turbulence on the surface of stars to determine their inner properties, the scientists found that the fusion-powered cores of red giants, stars that are evolved versions of our sun, are strongly magnetized. The findings will help astronomers better understand the evolution of stars.

Basic understanding of plants: Cellular damage control system helps plants tough it out Posted: 22 Oct 2015 01:11 PM PDT As food demands rise to unprecedented levels, farmers are in a race against time to grow plants that can withstand environmental challenges--infestation, climate change and more. Now, new research reveals details into a fundamental mechanism of how plants manage their energy intake, which could potentially be harnessed to improve yield.

New insights into REM sleep crack an enduring mystery Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:18 AM PDT REM sleep -- the phase of night-time mammalian sleep physiology where dreams occur -- has long fascinated scientists, clinicians, philosophers, and artists alike, but the identity of the neurons that control REM sleep, and its function in sleep have been controversial due to a lack of precise genetic methods to study the sleeping brain. Now, in a remarkable demonstration of a recent brain technology, neuroscientists provide the first answers to both questions, identifying a neural circuit in the brain that regulates REM sleep, and showing that REM sleep controls the physiology of the other major sleep phase, called non-REM (NREM) sleep.

First field observations of rare Omura's whales Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT An international team of biologists has made the first-ever field observations of one of the least known species of whales in the world -- Omura's whales -- off the coast of Madagascar.

Slow emitters transformed into fast light sources Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT Phosphors are efficient light emitters but they're not optimal for high-speed communications because they turn on and off slowly. Researchers have now found a way to modulate light from phosphor emitters three orders of magnitude faster using phase-change materials, which could make phosphors useful in a range of new optoelectronic applications.

Gene therapy treats all muscles in the body in muscular dystrophy dogs Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT Muscular dystrophy, which affects approximately 250,000 people in the US, occurs when damaged muscle tissue is replaced with fibrous, fatty or bony tissue and loses function. For years, scientists have searched for a way to successfully treat the most common form of the disease, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), which primarily affects boys. Now, a team of researchers has successfully treated dogs with DMD and say that human clinical trials are being planned in the next few years.

Deep-sea bacteria could help neutralize greenhouse gas Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT A type of bacteria plucked from the bottom of the ocean could be put to work neutralizing large amounts of industrial carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, a group of researchers has found.

Study reveals why malaria vaccine only partially protected children, infants Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT Using new, highly sensitive genomic sequencing technology, an international team of researchers has found new biological evidence to help explain why the malaria vaccine candidate RTS,S/AS01 (called RTS,S) provided only moderate protection among vaccinated children during clinical testing. The researchers found that genetic variability in the surface protein targeted by the RTS,S vaccine likely played a significant role.

Advocating for raising the smoking age to 21 Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT A physician, who during his 31-year career in medicine has seen the harmful effects of smoking on his patients, advocates for raising the smoking age to 21. He says the move would help curb access to tobacco products at an early age and lead to reductions in smoking prevalence.

Unhealthy pregnancy weight gain tips the scales for mothers seven years later Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT For the first time, researchers studied the association between gestational weight gain and long-term weight retention among a multi-ethnic urban population. Results show that mothers with excessive weight gain during pregnancy weighed more and had greater body fat seven years after delivery if they began pregnancy at normal or at slight overweight and suggest that excessive gestational weight gain has long-term consequences for women who are normal weight or a little overweight before pregnancy.

What you didn't know about naked mole-rats Posted: 22 Oct 2015 11:17 AM PDT A mammal that has long been studied for its unusual social behavior is not inbred, as previously thought and is genetically more complex that people previously believed, a study shows.

Research points way to more bat-friendly roads and railways Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:57 AM PDT Scientists behind new research into the effects of transport infrastructure on biodiversity have developed much-needed approaches to protect wildlife. A study sets out best practice principles for assessing the impact of new roads and railways on bats, as well as the effectiveness of mitigation measures installed to help them cross safely.

Babies' babbles reflect their own involvement in language development Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:57 AM PDT Babies' repetitive babbles, such as 'dada' or 'baba,' primarily are motivated by infants' ability to hear themselves talk, say researchers. Infants with profound hearing loss who received cochlear implants to improve their hearing soon babbled as often as their hearing peers, allowing them to catch up developmentally.

Study combats 'anxiety' as barrier to breast cancer screening Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:57 AM PDT A new article describes a successful intervention to decrease anxiety accompanying breast cancer screening, lessening this barrier to mammography.

Reducing the sweetness to survive Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:47 AM PDT Plants produce toxic compounds in order fend off herbivores. To make sure that the toxicity of these toxins will not harm the plants themselves, many plants add a sugar molecule to these substances. Digestive enzymes called glycosidases in the insect gut usually cleave off this sugar to release the toxin with harmful effects on the insects. Scientists have now found the opposite mechanism.

The power of two may help explain brain design Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:47 AM PDT At its most basic level, the brain is about the power of two, says a neuroscientist. He postulates in his "Theory of Connectivity" that, not unlike high school, where a human clique includes your closest friends, a neural clique is typically comprised of a couple of similar neurons. But unlike most transient teenage cliques, neural cliques provide a basic, prewired framework for how neurons connect and function lifelong.

C-section delivery does not decrease at-birth fracture rates in infants with rare bone disease Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:47 AM PDT Cesarean delivery was not associated with decrease in the at-birth fracture rates in infants with osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare bone disorder, reports a consortium of researchers.

Implant procedure helps patients with sacroiliac joint pain Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:47 AM PDT A minimally invasive implant procedure is highly effective in reducing pain and disability for patients with sacroiliac joint dysfunction, reports a new clinical trial.

Biologists unravel drug-resistance mechanism in tumor cells Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Cancer biologists have discovered that targeting the RNA-binding protein that promotes drug-resistance could lead to better cancer therapies.

Plague in humans 'twice as old' but didn't begin as flea-borne, ancient DNA reveals Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT New research dates plague back to the early Bronze Age, showing it had been endemic in humans across Eurasia for millennia prior to first recorded global outbreak, and that ancestral plague mutated into its bubonic, flea-borne form between the 2nd and 1st millennium BC.

Zebrafish study offers insights into nerve cell repair mechanisms Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT A hormone called serotonin -- better known for its role as a mood booster -- can help zebrafish to recover from a spinal cord injury, scientists have found. The findings could aid research into motor neuron disease and paralysis caused by spinal cord injury.

Racial differences in outcomes, costs of care in older men with prostate cancer Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Older black men with localized prostate cancer were more likely to have poorer quality care, incur higher costs and have worse postoperative outcomes than white men but that did not translate to worse overall or cancer-specific survival, according to an article.

Cardiac muscle cells as good as progenitors for heart repair Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Stem cell therapies for post-heart attack tissue repair have had modest success at best. Clinical trials have primarily used bone marrow cells, which can promote the growth of new blood vessels, but many studies have shown no benefit. A better alternative may be to use human heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes), suggests a new study.

Study finds key molecular mechanism regulating plant translational activity Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Plants can't get up and run away when they're being attacked, so they need mechanisms to rapidly respond to a stressful event and then quickly transition back to normal conditions when the stress level subsides. Researchers now show how plants handle -- at the molecular level -- the release of ethylene, an important gaseous stress hormone that, among other functions, regulates plant growth and stimulates the fruit ripening process.

Calls vs. balls: Monkeys with more impressive roars produce less sperm Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Evolutionary 'trade-off' between size of throat and testes discovered in howler monkeys furthers Darwin's theory of sexual selection and corresponds to mating systems: males with larger throats often have exclusive access to females, while those with larger testes share mates.

New model helps zero in on harmful genetic mutations Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT A new model and publicly available Web tool can more accurately predict which genetic mutations significantly change how genes splice and warrant increased attention from disease researchers and drug developers.

Scientists discover protein factories hidden in human jumping genes Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a previously unknown wellspring of genetic diversity in humans, chimps and most other primates. This diversity arises from a new component of itinerant sections of genetic code known as jumping genes.

Thyroid function may be restored through patient-derived human cells Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:45 AM PDT A discovery has been made that could one day restore thyroid function in patients with cancer whose thyroids have been surgically removed or in children born with congenital hypothyroidism.

Blocking differentiation is enough to give cells 'stemness' Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT Researchers have found that in immune cells, simply blocking a transcription factor that leads to differentiation is sufficient to keep cells in a multipotent stem cell-like state where they can continue to proliferate and can later differentiate into various cell types.

Study uses gene editing to take brakes off lab-based red blood cell production Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT Turning off a single gene leads to a roughly three-to-five-fold gain in the yield of laboratory methods for producing red blood cells from stem cells, says a multi-institutional team. These findings suggest a way to cost-effectively manufacture red blood cells from stem cells; the patients who might benefit include those who cannot use blood currently available in blood banks.

Vibrations tell bees where mates are from Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT In choosing among potential suitors, red mason bee females pay attention to the specific way in which males of the species vibrate their bodies. Now, researchers have found that those vibrations carry important information about where their potential mates are from.

These social bees farm and eat fungus or die Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that a social, stingless bee from Brazil feeds its larvae on a special type of fungus grown in the nest. Without it, very few young survive.

Biomarker for premature death Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT A single blood test could reveal whether an otherwise healthy person is unusually likely to die of pneumonia or sepsis within the next 14 years. Based on an analysis of 10,000 individuals, researchers have identified a molecular byproduct of inflammation, called GlycA, which seems to predict premature death due to infections.The findings suggest that high GlycA levels in the blood indicate a state of chronic inflammation.

Could a drug engineered from bananas fight many deadly viruses? New results show promise Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT A banana a day may not keep the doctor away, but a substance originally found in bananas and carefully edited by scientists could someday fight off a wide range of viruses, new research suggests. And the process used to create the virus-fighting form may help scientists develop even more drugs, by harnessing the 'sugar code' that our cells use to communicate. That code gets hijacked by viruses and other invaders.

Some antibiotics work by stressing bacteria out (metabolically) Posted: 22 Oct 2015 09:43 AM PDT Learning how antibiotics actually work can help scientists and doctors use them more wisely -- an urgent need at a time of mounting resistance. A new study found that three different antibiotics killed somewhat subtly by disrupting bacterial metabolism and causing a buildup of oxidative stress.

Study finds migration strategy predicts stopover ecology in shorebirds Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:13 AM PDT Migration strategies reflect a complex interplay between time and condition, say researchers -- key metrics that determine the success of a migration event.

Alzheimer's disease: Plaques impair memory formation during sleep Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:13 AM PDT Alzheimer's patients frequently suffer from sleep disorders, mostly even before they become forgetful. Furthermore, it is known that sleep plays a very important role in memory formation. Researchers have now been able to show for the first time how the pathological changes in the brain act on the information-storing processes during sleep. Using animal models, they were able to decode the exact mechanism and alleviate the impairment with medicinal agents.

Plastic litter taints the sea surface, even in the Arctic Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:13 AM PDT For the first time, researchers show that marine litter can even be found at the sea surface of Arctic waters. Though it remains unclear how the litter made it so far north, it is likely to pose new problems for local marine life, the authors report.

How a flying bat sees space Posted: 22 Oct 2015 08:13 AM PDT By training bats to fly around obstacles in a room, and sit patiently on a platform, a research team were able to interpret how the animals use echolocation -- a high-frequency sound navigation system that bats use to hunt -- to sense their environment.

For young patients with spina bifida, smartphone app improves self-management Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:39 AM PDT A system incorporating a smartphone app may help adolescents and young adults with spina bifida to improve their daily self-management skills, suggests a new paper.

Virtual K-pop dance teacher developed to make dance learning easier Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:38 AM PDT A virtual dance teacher has been developed that can make learning famous K-Pop dances easier at home by precisely tracking 3-D body joints. The developers successfully created the precise 3-D tracking of 15 human body joints using big data of the human body and the relational information among human body joints.

Hubble spies Big Bang frontiers Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Observations have taken advantage of gravitational lensing to reveal the largest sample of the faintest and earliest known galaxies in the Universe. Some of these galaxies formed just 600 million years after the Big Bang and are fainter than any other galaxy yet uncovered by Hubble. The team has determined, for the first time with some confidence, that these small galaxies were vital to creating the Universe that we see today.

National contributions provide entry point for the low-carbon transformation Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT While the currently submitted national contributions to the new global climate agreement do not yet put the world on track to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius, they imply an unprecedented acceleration and consolidation of action against climate change in major economies around the world. Moreover, they can serve as an entry point for the deep low-carbon transformation, if the Paris Agreement includes a mechanism to strengthen and broaden policy commitments by 2020 at the latest.

Turbulences on the rise Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Turbulence not just affects our well-being during flights; it also plays a central role in nature and in technology: it influences how pollutants spread in the atmosphere, how efficiently fuel and air mix up in combustion motors, and it limits the transport of liquids in pipelines, to give just a few examples. As a result, researchers have been trying for over a hundred years to better understand how turbulence first arises. Scientists now describe, for the first time, how a fully turbulent flow arises in pipe and square duct flows.

Robot adapts voice and gestures just to get attention from you Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Researchers have developed Talking-Ally, the novel robot that dynamically generate appropriate utterance and gestures based on the person's attention as indicated by his or her actions. The experiments show that this new communicational approach significantly enhances the attention engagement with interactive user.

Evaporation takes place differently than previously thought: Implications for global warming Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT The process of evaporation, one of the most widespread on our planet, takes place differently than we once thought -- this has been shown by new computer simulations. The discovery has far-reaching consequences for, among others, current global climate models, where a key role is played by evaporation of the oceans.

New gene a key to fighting sepsis Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Scientists have identified a gene that could potentially open the door for the development of new treatments of the lethal disease sepsis. Sepsis is a severe whole-body infection that kills an estimated one million people in the United States alone each year. It occurs as a complication to an existing infection, and if not treated quickly can lead to septic shock and multiple organ failure, with death rates as high as 50 per cent.

Link between champion horses, offspring careers revealed Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT If a foal has race-winning parents it is more likely to have a champion career, research into complex traits shows. The research has not only focused on racing performance, but also for the first time considered a range of traits including career length and susceptibility to diseases.

When queuing in a supermarket, who do you let go first? Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Unlike cooperation among individuals that meet on a regular basis, one-shot interactions among strangers are not motivated by the prospect of receiving a favour in return. So why bother being helpful? In an attempt to shed light on the evolutionary puzzle of what factors result in cooperation among genetically unrelated individuals who meet only once, two German researchers examined a situation well-known to everyone: standing in line at the checkout of a supermarket.

Subliminal effect of facial color on fearful faces Posted: 22 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT Facial color affects early stage of subliminal processing of facial expression, say researchers, providing the first neurophysiological evidence showing the effects of facial color on emotional expression perception. This finding may contribute to promoting emotional interaction using avatars in virtual reality-world.

Measuring the impacts of severe wildfires in the Arctic Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:57 AM PDT Based on the number of acres burned, 2015 is shaping up to be the second most extreme fire year during the past decade in North America's boreal region. Historically, the area has had one or fewer extreme fire years per decade. A new project to measure effects of severe boreal wildfires and the loss of permafrost on ecosystems is now underway.

New technique permits cell-specific examination of proteins in alzheimer's disease brain tissue Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:54 AM PDT Using 10-year-old archival brain tissue from patients with Alzheimer's disease, a research team has developed a novel method to examine the structure and function of proteins at the cell level -- providing greater means to study protein changes found in Alzheimer's disease.

New depression diagnosis and treatment Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:52 AM PDT Major depression is now believed to be caused by abnormalities in immune cells of the brain. New research may be set to revolutionize next-generation psychiatric medication treatment, according to researchers.

Killing by metadata: How drone warfare threatens Europe's existence Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:50 AM PDT Are the traditional boundaries and borders of states and continents being subverted by drone warfare? In a new article, one expert takes the reader on a flight to a world of metadata collection, nodes and lethal violence.

Music listening habits tell about mental health Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:49 AM PDT Brain imaging reveals how neural responses to different types of music really affect the emotion regulation of individuals. The study proves that especially men who process negative feelings with music react negatively to aggressive and sad music.

Antidepressants, Alzheimer's disease drugs might boost recovery in stroke patients Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT Evidence is mounting that drugs used to treat depression and Alzheimer's disease also can help patients recover from strokes. Speech and physical therapies traditionally have been the mainstays of stroke rehabilitation programs, say researchers, but more than half of stroke survivors are left with some neurological impairment.

Taking less asthma medicine can be done safely with guidance, study shows Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT Stepping down asthma medicines can be done safely and at less cost for patients says a new study. The team studied more than 4,000 patients (adults and children) who were taking daily asthma medicines and focused their analysis on two groups: patients who had stable asthma for at least one year who stayed on their same daily asthma medicine and patients who had stable asthma for at least one year who stepped down their daily asthma medicine.

Up to 27 seconds of inattention after talking to your car or smartphone Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT If you think it is okay to talk to your car infotainment system or smartphone while driving or even when stopped at a red light, think again. It takes up to 27 seconds to regain full attention after issuing voice commands, researchers found in a pair of new studies. The research found most smartphone personal assistants and in-vehicle infotainment systems are highly distracting to drivers.

Middle schoolers may benefit academically from extracurricular activities Posted: 22 Oct 2015 06:45 AM PDT Activities outside the classroom -- especially community engagement and sports -- may help low-income, urban youth academically as they transition into middle school, according to a new study.

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