ScienceDaily: Top News

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• EEG recordings prove learning foreign languages can sharpen our minds
• Osteoporosis: Antibody crystallized
• Controlling amounts of heparan sulphate, a carbohydrate needed for fetal development
• Trauma patient deaths peak at two weeks
• Four-year-olds are not physically ready to start school
• Immune cells as biomarkers for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
• Memory for future wearable electronics
• Genetic cause of severe nerve damage in older adults with inability to walk deciphered
• X chromosome: The structure makes the difference
• Atlantic cod's sex gene has been revealed
• Important signalling pathway for leukemia cells discovered
• Unlocking the mystery on how plant leaves grow their teeth
• A new technique opens up advanced solar cells
• Extreme preemies must watch blood sugars and weight
• Renewable energy breakthrough: Solar-powered reaction 100 times faster
• Cannabis reduces short-term motivation to work for money
• Young children's antibiotic exposure associated with higher food allergy risk
• 'Gambling' wolves take more risks than dogs
• Ceres' geological activity, ice revealed in new research
• Clues in ancient mud hold answers to climate change
• Autism severity linked to genetics, ultrasound, data analysis finds
• Images from sun's edge reveal origins of solar wind
• Dengue vaccine could increase or worsen dengue in some settings
• Engineers develop a plastic clothing material that cools the skin
• New virus gets official name, influenza D
• Threat of group extinction proves a powerful motivator
• Wounds from childhood bullying may persist into college years, study finds
• Zika reference strain sequenced, will aid in diagnosis, screening
• Sign language may be helpful for children with rare speech disorder
• Organized poaching is decimating Madagascar's sea turtles
• Relationship between soil color and climate
• Time window for action to limit climate change is closing rapidly
• Life and death: Team finds hospital readmissions sometimes save lives
• Career advice for young allergy patients
• Parents' math skills 'rub off' on their children
• Scientists unearth centuries-old crocodile stone
• It's a boy: Controlling pest populations with modified males
• Induced labor after water breakage poses no harm to mothers or babies, research finds
• Team tricks solid into acting as liquid
• Vulnerabilities found in cars connected to smartphones
• Doctors: Beware of low diastolic blood pressure when treating hypertension
• Strain differences in Zika infection gene patterns
• Tight DNA packaging protects against 'jumping genes,' potential cellular destruction
• Safety net programs don't support high rates of trauma in participants
• Species conservation profile of a critically endangered endemic for the Azores spider
• Researchers take step toward eliminating cancer recurrence
• One more reason to swear off tobacco: The inflammatory trap induced by nicotine
• Why pneumococci affect primarily humans
• Serendipitous finding leads scientists to propose mechanism to explain benign prostatic hyperplasia
• Genome-wide Toxoplasma screen reveals mechanisms of parasitic infections
• Painful reality: Care providers tend to underestimate pain during pediatric burn dressing changes
• New study explores concerns of African American breast cancer survivors
• Immersion pulmonary edema may cause swimming deaths during triathlons
• 'Care chair' helps detect patients' movements, mental state
• Impact of cancer screening in California over past 15 years
• Genetic diversity of enzymes alters metabolic individuality
• New role of adenosine in the regulation of REM sleep discovered
• Freshening of the Southern Ocean
• Subantarctic seabed creatures shed new light on past climate
• When silencing phantom noises is a matter of science

EEG recordings prove learning foreign languages can sharpen our minds Posted: 02 Sep 2016 08:14 AM PDT Scientists say the more foreign languages we learn, the more effectively our brain reacts and processes the data accumulated in the course of learning.

Osteoporosis: Antibody crystallized Posted: 02 Sep 2016 08:14 AM PDT Inhibiting a protein called sclerostin could probably help treating the bone-loss disease osteoporosis.

Controlling amounts of heparan sulphate, a carbohydrate needed for fetal development Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:26 AM PDT Heparan sulphate occurs as carbohydrate chains which are very important for human body cells both for normal fetal development and during the course of various diseases. All new molecular knowledge concerning these chains is therefore important. Researchers can now show that the same enzyme which determines the charge pattern of the chains also determines their length.

Trauma patient deaths peak at two weeks Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:26 AM PDT Lower severity trauma patients could be more likely to die after two to three weeks, new research indicates. Using data from the largest trauma database in Europe, the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) database, researchers used 165,559 trauma cases to conduct the research, among them 19,289 cases with unknown outcome.

Four-year-olds are not physically ready to start school Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT New research from Loughborough University has revealed many four-year-olds are not physically ready to start school.

Immune cells as biomarkers for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that the number of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) is increased in the blood of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The higher the number of MDSC, the more limited the lung function, they note.

Memory for future wearable electronics Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT Stretchable, flexible, reliable memory device inspired by the brain is now under development for wearable electronics. Scientists have constructed a memory called two-terminal tunnelling random access memory (TRAM), where two electrodes, referred to as drain and source, resemble the two communicating neurons of the synapse. While mainstream mobile electronics, like digital cameras and mobile phones use the so-called three-terminal flash memory, the advantage of two-terminal memories like TRAM is that two-terminal memories do not need a thick and rigid oxide layer.

Genetic cause of severe nerve damage in older adults with inability to walk deciphered Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT Congenital gene mutations lead to afflicted persons of advanced age developing severe nerve damage (polyneuropathy) with paralysis, loss of sensation and pain. The illness can advance rapidly and lead up to the inability to walk with wheelchair dependency. The affected gene has now been identified by an international team of researchers.

X chromosome: The structure makes the difference Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT In male cells of the fruit fly Drosophila, the X chromosome is twice as active as in female cells. Researchers have now discovered how the enzyme responsible recognizes the chromosome.

Atlantic cod's sex gene has been revealed Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT Newly developed methods have made it possible to determine the Atlantic cod's gender genetically. This could increase profits on cod in aquaculture, say researchers.

Important signalling pathway for leukemia cells discovered Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive form of blood cancer. A research group has now uncovered a new mechanism that enhances the viability of cancerous T-cells and promotes their reproduction.

Unlocking the mystery on how plant leaves grow their teeth Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:25 AM PDT Plant biologists have discovered the key element, an EPFL2 peptide that is responsible for creating the teeth-like shapes on plant leaves. The zigzag edges of leaves, so-called leaf teeth, are important for making the characteristic shapes of each leaf. This study illustrates the unexplored mechanism of leaf teeth formation and will shed light on finding out how leaves have developed to become the shapes that they are today.

A new technique opens up advanced solar cells Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:24 AM PDT Using a novel spectroscopic technique, scientists have made a much-needed breakthrough in cutting-edge photovoltaics.

Extreme preemies must watch blood sugars and weight Posted: 02 Sep 2016 05:24 AM PDT Extremely low birth weight babies are four times more likely to develop dysglycemia, or abnormal blood glucose, than their normal birth weight (NBW) peers and more likely than their peer group to have higher body fat and lower lean mass in adulthood, although both groups have a similar (BMI), new research indicates.

Renewable energy breakthrough: Solar-powered reaction 100 times faster Posted: 01 Sep 2016 06:14 PM PDT Researchers have developed a tough new catalyst that carries out a solar-powered reaction 100 times faster than ever before, works better as time goes on and stands up to acid.

Cannabis reduces short-term motivation to work for money Posted: 01 Sep 2016 06:13 PM PDT Smoking the equivalent of a single 'spliff' of cannabis makes people less willing to work for money while 'high,' finds a new study. The research is the first to reliably demonstrate the short-term effects of cannabis on motivation in humans. The researchers also tested motivation in people who were addicted to cannabis but not high during the test, and found that their motivation levels were no different to volunteers in the control group.

Young children's antibiotic exposure associated with higher food allergy risk Posted: 01 Sep 2016 03:37 PM PDT Antibiotic treatment within the first year of life may wipe out more than an unwanted infection: exposure to the drugs is associated with an increase in food allergy diagnosis, new research suggests.

'Gambling' wolves take more risks than dogs Posted: 01 Sep 2016 03:37 PM PDT Wolves pursue a high-risk, all-or-nothing strategy when gambling for food, while dogs are more cautious, shows a new study. This difference is likely innate and adaptive, reflecting the hunter versus scavenger lifestyle of wolves versus dogs.

Ceres' geological activity, ice revealed in new research Posted: 01 Sep 2016 12:51 PM PDT A lonely 3-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) mountain on Ceres is likely volcanic in origin, and the dwarf planet may have a weak, temporary atmosphere. These are just two of many new insights about Ceres from NASA's Dawn mission published in six papers.

Clues in ancient mud hold answers to climate change Posted: 01 Sep 2016 12:24 PM PDT New research suggests that Africa has gradually become wetter over the past 1.3 million years -- instead of drier as was thought previously.

Autism severity linked to genetics, ultrasound, data analysis finds Posted: 01 Sep 2016 12:21 PM PDT For children with autism and a class of genetic disorders, exposure to diagnostic ultrasound in the first trimester of pregnancy is linked to increased autism severity, according to a new study.

Images from sun's edge reveal origins of solar wind Posted: 01 Sep 2016 12:21 PM PDT Ever since the 1950s discovery of the solar wind -- the constant flow of charged particles from the Sun -- there's been a stark disconnect between this outpouring and the sun itself. The details of the transition from defined rays in the corona, the sun's upper atmosphere, to the solar wind have been, until now, a mystery.

Dengue vaccine could increase or worsen dengue in some settings Posted: 01 Sep 2016 12:21 PM PDT The only approved vaccine for dengue may actually increase the incidence of dengue infections requiring hospitalization rather than preventing the disease if health officials aren't careful about where they vaccinate, new public health research suggests.

Engineers develop a plastic clothing material that cools the skin Posted: 01 Sep 2016 12:19 PM PDT Researchers have engineered a low-cost plastic material that could become the basis for clothing that cools the wearer, reducing the need for energy-consuming air conditioning.

New virus gets official name, influenza D Posted: 01 Sep 2016 11:04 AM PDT A new influenza virus that affects cattle has an official name. influenza D. The executive committee of the International Committee of Taxonomy of Virus announced a new genus, Orthomyxovirdae, with a single species, Influenza D virus, because of its distinctness from other influenza types -- A, B and C.

Threat of group extinction proves a powerful motivator Posted: 01 Sep 2016 10:55 AM PDT Charles Darwin was right: Groups that enjoy an advantage have members who are 'ready to aid one another and to sacrifice themselves for the common good.'

Wounds from childhood bullying may persist into college years, study finds Posted: 01 Sep 2016 10:55 AM PDT Childhood bullying inflicts the same long-term psychological trauma on girls as severe physical or sexual abuse, suggests a new survey of college students led by bullying researcher.

Zika reference strain sequenced, will aid in diagnosis, screening Posted: 01 Sep 2016 10:55 AM PDT An international team of researchers has sequenced a strain of the Zika virus that will be used as a World Health Organization reference strain to identify Zika virus infection in the blood, thus making it easier to diagnose the disease. While the reference material will undergo formal WHO review in October, the agency has given the go-ahead for the strain's use given the urgent need of medical products to diagnose and treat Zika.

Sign language may be helpful for children with rare speech disorder Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:59 AM PDT Using sign language with intensive speech therapy may be an effective treatment for children with a rare speech disorder called apraxia of speech, according researchers.

Organized poaching is decimating Madagascar's sea turtles Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:56 AM PDT The illegal hunting of Madagascar's sea turtles is reaching a crisis level as a result of organized trafficking networks says a team of conservationists. The team asserts that the recent spike in the exploitation of marine turtles is being driven by increasing demand for marine turtle meat and oil both on local markets and in Southeast Asia and the participation of local villagers in the illegal hunting for monetary gain.

Relationship between soil color and climate Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:56 AM PDT What is the first color that comes to mind when you envision soil? Is it brown, black, yellow, or red? How about white, gray, green, or blue? Experts now explain that all of these answers are correct depending on where you are from; soils come in an incredible range of colors.

Time window for action to limit climate change is closing rapidly Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:54 AM PDT The window of opportunity for limiting climate warming up to 2°C is closing rapidly. However, a reinforcing upward spiral of national government policy, non-state actions and transformative coalitions will be essential even after the Paris agreement, if dangerous climate change is to be avoided, says one expert.

Life and death: Team finds hospital readmissions sometimes save lives Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:54 AM PDT A group of physicians and researchers suggests that data on mortality and hospital readmission used by the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid suggest a potentially problematic relationship.

Career advice for young allergy patients Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:54 AM PDT Approximately one-third of apprentices in Germany are at elevated risk of occupational asthma, allergies, and dermatitis. A new study used a systematic search of the literature as the basis for investigating the advice doctors should give to young people with allergic sensitization or a manifest prior allergic disorder, regarding their future careers.

Parents' math skills 'rub off' on their children Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:54 AM PDT Parents who excel at math produce children who excel at math. This is according to a recent study that shows a distinct transfer of math skills from parent to child. The study specifically explored intergenerational transmission -- the concept of parental influence on an offspring's behavior or psychology -- in mathematic capabilities.

Scientists unearth centuries-old crocodile stone Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:53 AM PDT The discovery of a carved stone crocodile by archaeologists has provided a key to revising long-held ideas about the ruins of the ancient city of Lambityeco in what is now Oaxaca, Mexico.

It's a boy: Controlling pest populations with modified males Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:52 AM PDT Populations of New World screwworm flies -- devastating parasitic livestock pests in Western Hemisphere tropical regions -- could be greatly suppressed with the introduction of male flies that produce only males when they mate.

Induced labor after water breakage poses no harm to mothers or babies, research finds Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:52 AM PDT Natural, spontaneous deliveries and induced deliveries following the rupture of the amniotic sac in the mother share similar neonatal outcomes, contradicting common wisdom, new research suggests.

Team tricks solid into acting as liquid Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:52 AM PDT Two scientists have discovered how to get a solid material to act like a liquid without actually turning it into liquid, potentially opening a new world of possibilities for the electronic, optics and computing industries.

Vulnerabilities found in cars connected to smartphones Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:52 AM PDT Many of today's automobiles leave the factory with secret passengers: prototype software features that are disabled but that can be unlocked by clever drivers. Researchers found vulnerabilities in MirrorLink, a system of rules that allow vehicles to communicate with smartphones. They found that MirrorLink is relatively easy to enable, and when unlocked can allow hackers to use a linked smartphone as a stepping stone to control safety-critical components such as the vehicle's anti-lock braking system.

Doctors: Beware of low diastolic blood pressure when treating hypertension Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:52 AM PDT By analyzing medical records gathered over three decades on more than 11,000 Americans participating in a federally funded study, researchers say they have more evidence that driving diastolic blood pressure too low is associated with damage to heart tissue.

Strain differences in Zika infection gene patterns Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:50 AM PDT Scientists have revealed molecular differences between how the African and Asian strains of Zika virus infect neural progenitor cells. The results could provide insights into the Zika virus' recent emergence as a global health emergency, and also point to inhibitors of the protein p53 as potential leads for drugs that could protect brain cells from cell death.

Tight DNA packaging protects against 'jumping genes,' potential cellular destruction Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:50 AM PDT Scientists discovered that the major developmental function of heterochromatin -- a form of tight DNA packaging found in chromosomes -- is likely the suppression of virus-like DNA elements known as transposons or 'jumping genes,' which can otherwise copy and paste themselves throughout the genome, potentially destroying important genes, and causing cancers and other diseases.

Safety net programs don't support high rates of trauma in participants Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:50 AM PDT A recent study found that a high number of participants in a federal cash assistance program have suffered significant childhood adversity, exposure to violence as adults and other poverty-related stressors, highlighting the need to take participants' past trauma into account.

Species conservation profile of a critically endangered endemic for the Azores spider Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:50 AM PDT Subject to continuing population decline due to various factors, an endemic cave-dwelling spider from the Azores is considered as Critically Endangered. To provide a fast output potentially benefiting the arachnid's survival, scientists make use of a specialized novel publication type feature, called Species Conservation Profile.

Researchers take step toward eliminating cancer recurrence Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:50 AM PDT Scientists have made an important step toward eliminating cancer recurrence by combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy. Specifically, they found that chemotherapy alone leads to two types of dormant cancer cells that are not killed outright and become resistant to additional chemotherapy, but when combined with immunotherapy, a majority of dormant cells also is destroyed.

One more reason to swear off tobacco: The inflammatory trap induced by nicotine Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:48 AM PDT A new link between nicotine and inflammation has been revealed by researchers who report that nicotine strongly activates immune cells to release DNA fibers decorated with pro-inflammatory molecules, so called neutrophil extracellular traps. The continuous exposure to these NETs can harm the tissue and could explain the hazardous consequences of tobacco consumption for human health.

Why pneumococci affect primarily humans Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:48 AM PDT A special variant of a sugar molecule in the human nose might explain why pneumococcal infections are more common in humans than in other animals, researchers report. The discovery can help in the search for a broader vaccine able to protect against all types of pneumococci.

Serendipitous finding leads scientists to propose mechanism to explain benign prostatic hyperplasia Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:48 AM PDT Benign prostatic hyperplasia affects about half of men between 51 and 60 years of age, and nine out of 10 men older than 80. How BPH happens, however, is still open for debate. A new report outlines a new mechanism that can explain the development of BPH and suggest strategies to improve the response to androgen-targeting therapies.

Genome-wide Toxoplasma screen reveals mechanisms of parasitic infections Posted: 01 Sep 2016 09:48 AM PDT Researchers have conducted the first genome-wide screen in Apicomplexa, a phylum of single-celled parasites that cause diseases such as malaria and toxoplasmosis. The screen sheds light into the vast, unstudied reaches of parasite genomes, uncovering for instance a protein common to all apicomplexans.

Painful reality: Care providers tend to underestimate pain during pediatric burn dressing changes Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:35 AM PDT Pediatric burn pain assessment can vary not only based on patient pain intensity, but also nurse clinical experience, new research indicates.

New study explores concerns of African American breast cancer survivors Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:35 AM PDT Researchers have examined the biggest challenges for African American women after receiving breast cancer treatment. One of the main concerns was the problem of medical mistrust. Women expressed concern that the information they received was inferior to Caucasians leaving them less prepared to deal with survivor challenges after treatment completion.

Immersion pulmonary edema may cause swimming deaths during triathlons Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:34 AM PDT Heart abnormalities linked to immersion pulmonary edema were present in a greater-than-expected proportion of triathletes who died during the competition's swim portion, according to a study.

'Care chair' helps detect patients' movements, mental state Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:34 AM PDT Researchers have created a chair that detects daily behavior and mental state of elderly patients or those subject to dementia. It uses the same principle as law enforcement interrogators or customs agents who detect micro facial expressions that last only a fraction of a second but can reveal a person's true emotions.

Impact of cancer screening in California over past 15 years Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:27 AM PDT A new report shows the impact of cancer screening over the past 15 years, identifying areas where increased screening and other cancer-control efforts would save lives and significantly benefit population health.

Genetic diversity of enzymes alters metabolic individuality Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:27 AM PDT New research about genetic diversity and metabolome has been released by scientists. These findings are based on the analysis of blood samples from 512 healthy people.

New role of adenosine in the regulation of REM sleep discovered Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:27 AM PDT The regulation and function of sleep is one of the biggest black boxes of today's brain science. A new paper finds that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is suppressed by adenosine acting on a specific subtype of adenosine receptors, the A2A receptors, in the olfactory bulb.

Freshening of the Southern Ocean Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:27 AM PDT Over the past decades, the northward drift of sea ice surrounding Antarctica has strengthened. This not only has increased the extent of the sea ice, but also has freshened the sea water around the sea-ice edge -- with as yet indeterminate consequences for the global climate system and Antarctica's ecosystem.

Subantarctic seabed creatures shed new light on past climate Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:27 AM PDT It takes thousands of years for seabed communities to recover from major glaciation events, new research suggests. The study focused on the seas around South Georgia in the south Atlantic.

When silencing phantom noises is a matter of science Posted: 01 Sep 2016 07:27 AM PDT New study in mice proposes the first gene that could help prevent tinnitus, that ringing in the ears inside one's head when no external sound is present. This discovery is a first step to identify the molecules that could be targeted in treatments to silence the phantom noises, and help thousands of people.

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