ScienceDaily: Top News

---

• Snake venom composition could be related to hormones and diet
• Assessing the effects of human-caused activities on marine mammals
• New species of Jurassic reptile
• New tool for cancer patients measures the stress of expenses
• State of the art maritime archaeology expedition conducted in Black Sea
• What's really going on in PTSD brains? Experts suggest new theory
• Research uncovers a new disruption at the root of Parkinson's disease
• Link between heart and blood cells in early development
• Brewery wastewater transformed into energy storage
• High number of pesticides within colonies linked to honey bee deaths
• Ultimate sacrifice: Spider's post-sex cannibalism aids offspring
• Online social media use does not impair our ability to concentrate
• Different brain atrophy patterns may explain variability in Alzheimers disease symptoms
• Do you really need eight glasses a day?
• Physicists elucidate reactions underlying positive ion beams hitting molecular targets relevant in proton therapy
• Innovative molten silicon-based energy storage system
• Loner spiders prevail as pioneers
• Breast milk protein safely reduces hospital infections in preemies
• Metaphors bias perceptions of scientific discovery
• Researchers activate repair program for nerve fibers
• High response rate in phase I/II pediatric brain cancer trial sets stage for combination therapy with higher response, lower toxicity
• Neoadjuvant immunotherapy prior to surgery is safe, feasible in early lung cancer
• New method provides a tool to develop nematode-resistant soybean varieties
• Exotic property confirmed in natural material could lead to fundamental studies

Snake venom composition could be related to hormones and diet Posted: 07 Oct 2016 12:59 PM PDT Many people are afraid of snakes, but scientists are now revealing insights about their venoms that could give even ophidiophobes an appreciation for the animals. One team has found that the proteins from the venom gland can vary depending on age and gender. These findings suggest that hormonal and dietary influences are at play.

Assessing the effects of human-caused activities on marine mammals Posted: 07 Oct 2016 12:51 PM PDT Rising levels of noise in the ocean have been identified as a growing concern for the well-being of marine mammals, but other threats such as pollution, climate change, and prey depletion by fisheries may also harm marine mammals and influence their response to additional noise. Current knowledge and data are insufficient to determine what combination of factors cause the greatest concern, says a new report.

New species of Jurassic reptile Posted: 07 Oct 2016 12:48 PM PDT A new species of British ichthyosaur has been identified using skeletal remains which have been on display at the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences for many years.

New tool for cancer patients measures the stress of expenses Posted: 07 Oct 2016 09:34 AM PDT A team of cancer specialists and health economists have developed a tool that can measure a patient's risk for, and ability to tolerate, the financial stress associated with treatment.

State of the art maritime archaeology expedition conducted in Black Sea Posted: 07 Oct 2016 09:34 AM PDT An expedition mapping submerged ancient landscapes, the first of its kind in the Black Sea, is making exciting discoveries, report investigators.

What's really going on in PTSD brains? Experts suggest new theory Posted: 07 Oct 2016 09:34 AM PDT PTSD experts agree that the condition has its roots in very real, physical processes within the brain – and not some sort of psychological "weakness". But no clear consensus has emerged about what exactly has gone "wrong" in the brain. A new theory that integrates decades of research focuses on a key function called context processing.

Research uncovers a new disruption at the root of Parkinson's disease Posted: 07 Oct 2016 09:32 AM PDT Leading-edge research has shown for the first time that a malfunctioning stress-coping mechanism in the brain is at the root of Parkinson's disease. Genetic mutations that cause Parkinson's disease can prevent synapses – the junctions between neurons where electrical signals are transmitted – from coping with the stress of intense brain activity. This damages the synapses, which in turn disrupts the transmission of brain signals. Building on these findings, the scientists hope to correct the dysfunction and find strategies to re-establish normal synaptic communication.

Link between heart and blood cells in early development Posted: 07 Oct 2016 09:06 AM PDT New research reveals endoglin as a critical factor in determining the fate of early undifferentiated cells during development. Endoglin, a receptor involved in cell signaling, has previously been known mostly for its function in blood vessels and angiogenesis. Researchers showed endoglin modulates key signaling pathways to encourage early cells to develop into blood cells at the expense of the heart.

Brewery wastewater transformed into energy storage Posted: 07 Oct 2016 09:05 AM PDT Engineers have developed an innovative bio-manufacturing process that uses a biological organism cultivated in brewery wastewater to create the carbon-based materials needed to make energy storage cells. This unique pairing of breweries and batteries could set up a win-win opportunity by reducing expensive wastewater treatment costs for beer makers while providing manufacturers with a more cost-effective means of creating renewable, naturally-derived fuel cell technologies.

High number of pesticides within colonies linked to honey bee deaths Posted: 07 Oct 2016 08:59 AM PDT Honey bee colonies in the United States have been dying at high rates for over a decade, and agricultural pesticides -- including fungicides, herbicides and insecticides -- are often implicated as major culprits. Until now, most scientific studies have looked at pesticides one at a time, rather than investigating the effects of multiple real-world pesticide exposures within a colony.

Ultimate sacrifice: Spider's post-sex cannibalism aids offspring Posted: 07 Oct 2016 08:56 AM PDT The male dark fishing spider is just dying to father some children -- and this death wish probably evolved to benefit his offspring, according to new research.

Online social media use does not impair our ability to concentrate Posted: 07 Oct 2016 08:54 AM PDT Using online social media does not lead to long-term problems with our ability to concentrate, according to new research .

Different brain atrophy patterns may explain variability in Alzheimers disease symptoms Posted: 07 Oct 2016 08:35 AM PDT Mathematical modeling of the brain scans of patients with Alzheimer's disease and others at risk for the devastating neurodegenerative disorder has identified specific patterns of brain atrophy that appear to be related to the loss of particular cognitive abilities.

Do you really need eight glasses a day? Posted: 07 Oct 2016 08:10 AM PDT For the first time, the mechanism that regulates fluid intake in the human body and stops us from over-drinking has been revealed by researchers. Over-drinking can cause potentially fatal water intoxication. The study challenges the popular idea that we should drink eight glasses of water a day for health.

Physicists elucidate reactions underlying positive ion beams hitting molecular targets relevant in proton therapy Posted: 07 Oct 2016 08:08 AM PDT Ion-molecule reactions are ubiquitous. They are important in the emergence of primordial life as solar wind falls onto chemicals turning them into the prebiotic building blocks of life. Ion-molecule reactions are also the basic process underlying the proton-biomolecule collisions relevant in proton therapies in cancer. To better understand these mechanisms, a new study provides novel data on low-energy proton collisions with furan and its derivative molecules, which are models for the deoxyribose sugar unit found in biological processes.

Innovative molten silicon-based energy storage system Posted: 07 Oct 2016 07:07 AM PDT A novel system has been created that allows the storage energy in molten silicon which is the most abundant element in Earth's crust. The system has patent pending status in the United States, and aims to develop a new generation of low cost solar thermal stations and becoming a innovative storage system of electricity and cogeneration for urban centers.

Loner spiders prevail as pioneers Posted: 07 Oct 2016 06:00 AM PDT A spider looking to immigrate to a different environment is three to four times more likely to survive if it goes by itself, as opposed to as part of a group, new research shows.

Breast milk protein safely reduces hospital infections in preemies Posted: 07 Oct 2016 05:57 AM PDT Responding to a call from the American Academy of Pediatrics to reduce hospital-acquired infections in neonatal intensive care units across the country, researchers have found a protein in breast milk to be a safe and efficient solution.

Metaphors bias perceptions of scientific discovery Posted: 07 Oct 2016 05:53 AM PDT Whether ideas are "like a light bulb" or come forth as "nurtured seeds," how we describe discovery shapes people's perceptions of both inventions and inventors. Notably, investigators have shown that discovery metaphors influence our perceptions of the quality of an idea and of the ability of the idea's creator.

Researchers activate repair program for nerve fibers Posted: 07 Oct 2016 05:46 AM PDT Injuries to the spinal cord can cause paralysis and other permanent disabilities because severed nerve fibers do not regrow. Now, scientists have succeeded in releasing a molecular brake that prevents the regeneration of nerve connections. Treatment of mice with "Pregabalin", a drug that acts upon the growth inhibiting mechanism, caused damaged nerve connections to regenerate.

High response rate in phase I/II pediatric brain cancer trial sets stage for combination therapy with higher response, lower toxicity Posted: 07 Oct 2016 05:46 AM PDT A high response rate with a single drug in a phase I/II trial of pediatric brain tumor has set the stage for combination therapy with higher response and lower toxicity, researchers report.

Neoadjuvant immunotherapy prior to surgery is safe, feasible in early lung cancer Posted: 07 Oct 2016 05:46 AM PDT Neoadjuvant immunotherapy with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab is safe and feasible prior to surgery for early lung cancer, researchers report.

New method provides a tool to develop nematode-resistant soybean varieties Posted: 06 Oct 2016 03:12 PM PDT Many soybean varieties have a naturally occurring genetic resistance to the soybean cyst nematode, a major pest affecting the crop. The number of copies of the resistance gene varies among cultivars; a new method is able to efficiently quantify this variation for the first time. The new method has been tested in greenhouse trials to show that the more copies of the gene, the greater the resistance to soybean cyst nematode. Breeders can use this method to develop new soybean varieties with greater and more reliable resistance.

Exotic property confirmed in natural material could lead to fundamental studies Posted: 06 Oct 2016 12:16 PM PDT Researchers have confirmed the existence of a naturally occurring exotic property in which a material becomes thicker when stretched -- the opposite of most materials -- a discovery that could lead to new studies into the fundamental science of nano-materials behavior, say researchers.

You are subscribed to email updates from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States