From: Newsletter Phys.org <not-for-reply@physorg.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 2:12 AM
Subject: Phys.org Newsletter Monday, Jun 3
To: Pascal Alter <pascal.alter@gmail.com>
Dear Pascal Alter,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for June 3, 2013:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Optogenetic rendering of a whisker space holodrome with single spike precision- Melanin from Jurassic-era mollusk could lead to new tool for cancer diagnosis
- Enzyme from wood-eating gribble could help turn waste into biofuel
- New kind of antibiotic may be more effective at fighting tuberculosis, anthrax, and other diseases
- Fine-tuning emissions from quantum dots
- New biomolecular archaeological evidence points to the beginnings of viniculture in France
- Diet likely changed game for some hominids 3.5 million years ago
- Lightest exoplanet imaged so far?
- Researchers find epigenetic factor in monogamy for voles
- Researchers suggest gas cloud could reveal black holes near center of Milky Way galaxy
- Blood vessels in the eye linked with IQ, cognitive function
- Sunscreen slows skin aging, if used often enough
- Chimpanzees have five universal personality dimensions
- Experiment provides indications of an extragalactic component of cosmic rays
- Windows Phone gains amid Apple-Android clash
Space & Earth news
UK 'likely' to have 102 trln cubic feet of shale gas
British exploration company IGas Energy on Monday said it believed it was sitting on a far bigger amount of shale gas than thought, ahead of controversial drilling work to begin this year in northwest England.
Illegal logging 'ravaging DR Congo forests'
Multinational companies are profiting hand over fist from abusive forestry practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where illegal logging, mislabelled timber and false permits are widespread, according to several non-governmental organisations.
Climate change to affect liveability of remote Australia
People living in remote Australia are likely to be more severely affected by climate change than other sectors of the national population.
Carbon rise spurs 'urgent' call at UN climate talks
Negotiators on Monday launched a new round of UN climate talks to warnings that a newly breached threshold was a wakeup call to tackle surging carbon emissions.
Urban Indians 'growing concerned about pollution'
India's cities are becoming more polluted and unhealthy, according to a new survey published Monday showing growing concern about the impact of high economic growth on the environment.
Egypt says Ethiopia dam mustn't reduce Nile's flow
President Mohamed Morsi Monday warned that Egypt would not allow its share of the Nile to be diminished by "one drop" after Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile as part of a giant dam project.
NASA image: Powerhouse Fire, California
NASA's Terra satellite captured this natural-color satellite image of California's Powerhouse Fire with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on June 1, 2013. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red.
NASA image: Agricultural fires in Africa
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite detected dozens of fires burning in central Africa on June 03, 2013. The fires are outlined in red. Most of the fires burn in grass or cropland, which is brownish in this image.
NASA image: Thompson Ridge Fire, New Mexico
NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of a large light-brown colored plumes of smoke from two large fires burning in New Mexico: the Thompson Ridge Fire (left) and the Tres Lagunas Fire (right).
NASA image: Tres Lagunas Fire, New Mexico
NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of a large light-brown colored plume of smoke blowing east-southeast from the Tres Lagunas Fire burning in New Mexico. On June 3, the smoke is forecast to blow in a more northerly and easterly direction, affecting Las Vegas, I-25 and surrounding communities.
China to launch manned space mission in June
China will launch three astronauts into space this month to dock with an experimental space-module, state-media said Monday, marking the latest step towards the country's aim of building a space station.
Researchers model impact of aerosols over California: Findings may clarify effectiveness of regional pollution controls
Aerosols are microscopic particles—like dust, pollen and soot—that ubiquitously float around in our atmosphere. Despite their tiny stature, these particles can have a huge impact on human health, climate and the environment. So scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Colorado State University and the California Air Resources Board have set out to characterize the roles of various particles as atmospheric change agents on a regional scale.
Modeling galaxy mergers
(Phys.org) —Astronomers think that many galaxies, including our own Milky Way, have undergone similar collisions during their lifetimes. Although galaxy collisions are important and common, what happens during these encounters is not very well understood. For example, it seems likely that massive black hole(s) will form during the interactions, as the two galaxies' nuclei approach each other. Galaxy-galaxy interactions also stimulate vigorous star formation as gravitational effects during the encounters induce interstellar gas to condense into stars. The starbursts in turn light up the galaxies, especially at infrared wavelengths, making some systems hundreds or even thousands of times brighter than the Milky Way while the starbursts are underway. Studying these luminous galaxies not only sheds light on how galaxies evolve and form stars, since they act as lanterns over cosmological distances it also helps scientists study the early universe.
Hidden effects of climate change may threaten eelgrass meadows
Some research has shown that the effects of changes in the climate may be weak or even non-existent. This makes it easy to conclude that climate change will ultimately have less impact than previous warnings have predicted. But it could also be explained as direct and indirect effects cancelling each other out, as scientists from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, show in a paper recently published in PNAS, the esteemed scientific journal.
Basin instinct
Lake Eyre, some 100 kilometres North of Adelaide, Australia, could become a thriving centre of bio-saline agriculture and trade and industry if an ambitious macro-engineering project were to be implemented.
Mapping sea salt from orbit: Building better ocean and climate models with salinity data
(Phys.org) —Once a valuable commodity, salt is now more often a focus of scorn for unhealthy dietary overuse. A new respect is at hand, though – at least among scientists. New satellite data about the flow of salt through the world's oceans is providing the basis for more precise global ocean and climate models.
A ghostly 'ladder' in Saturn's F ring
Saturn's F ring is certainly a curious structure. Orbiting the giant planet 82,000 kilometers above its equatorial cloud tops, the F ring is a ropy, twisted belt of bright ice particles anywhere from 30-500 km wide. It can appear as a solid band or a series of braided cords surrounded by a misty haze, and often exhibits clumps and streamers created by the gravitational influence of embedded moonlets or passing shepherd moons.
Ten years at Mars: New global views plot the red planet's history
(Phys.org) —New global maps of Mars released on the 10th anniversary of the launch of ESA's Mars Express trace the history of water and volcanic activity on the Red Planet, and identify sites of special interest for the next generation of Mars explorers.
Research shows promise for reducing greenhouse gases
University of Calgary scientists are investigating how 'Alberta-grown' biomass – such as straw and wood left over from agricultural and forestry operations – could be used to clean up chemical contaminants in water from oilsands operations.
Europe set for record-breaking space launch
Nearly 40 years ago, European countries worried by US and Soviet dominance of space gave the green light to the first Ariane rocket, a wee launcher capable of hoisting a satellite payload of just 1.8 tonnes—the equivalent mass of two small cars.
Effects of interannual climate variability on tropical tree cover
Tree cover in the tropics will likely change in surprising ways as climate change increases the frequency of extreme rainfall events, according to a study by scientists from Wageningen University published today in Nature Climate Change.
Researchers document acceleration of ocean denitrification during deglaciation
As ice sheets melted during the deglaciation of the last ice age and global oceans warmed, oceanic oxygen levels decreased and "denitrification" accelerated by 30 to 120 percent, a new international study shows, creating oxygen-poor marine regions and throwing the oceanic nitrogen cycle off balance.
NASA prepares for 3-D manufacturing in space
(Phys.org) —In preparation for a future where parts and tools can be printed on demand in space, NASA and Made in Space Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., have joined to launch equipment for the the first 3-D microgravity printing experiment to the International Space Station.
A burst of stars 13 billion years ago
(Phys.org) —The universe immediately following the big bang contained mostly hydrogen and some helium. All the other elements needed to make galaxies, planets, and life were formed in stellar interiors or related processes. It is no wonder, then, that the epoch of star formation in the early universe, and the processes at work, are key cosmological questions. Astronomers think that stars started forming in earnest only a few hundred million years after the big bang, but the great bursts of star formation needed to shape the current universe have so far been detected occurring a few billion years later, in galaxies lit up at infrared wavelengths as their dust absorbs light from massive young stars. It has been proposed that similar bursts of activity might actually have happened at earlier times but just gone undetected. They are unnoticed no longer.
How common are earths around small stars?
(Phys.org) —The Kepler mission has revolutionized the study of exoplanet statistics by increasing the number of known extrasolar planets and planet candidates by a factor of five, and by discovering systems with longer orbital periods and smaller planet radii than any of the prior exoplanet surveys. There is of course considerable interest in locating Earth-sized planets residing in the habitable zones of their stars, that is, having orbits producing surface temperatures that allow water to remain liquid - a prerequisite for the development of life.
New study finds sea level rose 2.4 mm/year between 2005 and 2011
(Phys.org) —A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Texas' Center for Space Research, indicates that sea level rise between 2005 and 2011 was due primarily to glacial and polar ice shelf melting. In their paper published in Nature Geoscience, the team describes how they studied data from satellites and ocean surface sensors to measure changes in ocean mass and density which allowed them to calculate an average global sea level rise of nearly 2.4mm/year.
New explanation for slow earthquakes on San Andreas
(Phys.org) —New Zealand's geologic hazards agency reported this week an ongoing, "silent" earthquake that began in January is still going strong. Though it is releasing the energy equivalent of a 7.0 earthquake, New Zealanders can't feel it because its energy is being released over a long period of time, therefore slow, rather than a few short seconds.
New study predicts rising irrigation costs, reduced yields for US corn
If the climate continues to evolve as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United States stands little to no chance of satisfying its current biofuel goals, according to a new study by Rice University and the University of California at Davis.
Earth's Milky Way neighborhood gets more respect
(Phys.org) —Our Solar System's Milky Way neighborhood just went upscale. We reside between two major spiral arms of our home galaxy, in a structure called the Local Arm. New research using the ultra-sharp radio vision of the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) indicates that the Local Arm, previously thought to be only a small spur, instead is much more like the adjacent major arms, and is likely a significant branch of one of them.
Experiment provides indications of an extragalactic component of cosmic rays
It is obvious from the data of the KASCADE-Grande experiment at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) that the so-called "knee" of the cosmic rays, a bend in the energy spectrum at high energies, is located at different energies for light and heavy particles. As regards light particles, the scientists have now found that the energy spectrum flattens again beyond the knee and forms a type of "ankle". This structure indicates that cosmic radiation particles with energies beyond the knee are accelerated in galaxies other than the Milky Way.
Rare stellar alignment offers opportunity to hunt for planets
(Phys.org) —NASA's Hubble Space Telescope will have two opportunities in the next few years to hunt for Earth-sized planets around the red dwarf Proxima Centauri.
Kepler provides insights into unusual dwarf star
(Phys.org) —Astronomer John Gizis of the University of Delaware, working with data obtained by the Kepler mission, is studying a highly unusual dwarf star and its powerful flares that may hold clues to the likelihood of life on other planets as well as to the behavior of our Sun.
Swift satellite produces best ultraviolet maps of the nearest galaxies
(Phys.org) —Astronomers at NASA and Pennsylvania State University have used NASA's Swift satellite to create the most detailed ultraviolet light surveys ever of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the two closest major galaxies.
Lightest exoplanet imaged so far?
(Phys.org) —A team of astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope has imaged a faint object moving near a bright star. With an estimated mass of four to five times that of Jupiter, it would be the least massive planet to be directly observed outside the Solar System. The discovery is an important contribution to our understanding of the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
Medicine & Health news
Update on determination of death: Experts call for international consensus
The criteria used to diagnose both circulatory and brain death in a patient are subject to variability and as such can be controversial. Anaesthesiologists play an important role in procedures related to the determination of death, so should have specific knowledge about medical, ethical and legal criteria of brain death definition. Experts will call for international consensus in a presentation at Euroanaesthesia 2013, the annual congress of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA).
India says its drugs safe after generics fraud
India, known as the "pharmacy to the world", Monday defended its lucrative generic drug industry as safe and strongly regulated after the nation's biggest drug firm pleaded guilty to US charges of making adulterated medicines.
Study shows radiotherapy and surgery provide regional control for breast cancer patients
Final analysis of the EORTC 10981-22023 AMAROS (After Mapping of the Axilla: Radiotherapy Or Surgery?) trial has shown that both axillary lymph node dissection and axillary radiotherapy provide excellent regional control for breast cancer patients with a positive sentinel node biopsy. The AMAROS trial also found that axillary radiotherapy reduces the risk of short term and long-term lymphoedema as compared to axillary lymph node dissection.
Better support for state care leavers
A Victorian study examining the experiences of young people with a disability as they transition out of state care has detailed the lack of post-care accommodation and support.
Living with disability—and planning a good death
(Medical Xpress)—Australians have a poor track record of talking about death and dying. A recent survey of Australians who'd just lost a loved one to a terminal illness found just 15 per cent were told how their relative wanted to be cared for in their final days. Consequently, while most (70 per cent) people prefer to die at home, more than half (54 per cent) die in hospital and 32 per cent die in nursing homes.
Gender disparity in China
Researchers from USC, Peking University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a team of international partner institutions released on May 30 the first major report from a massive survey of Chinese adults over the age of 45, providing critical insights into the most rapidly aging population in the world.
Prevent MRSA in horse hospitals
Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics have become a serious threat to humans and animals. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an example of such a bacterium. MRSA infections in horses are difficult to treat, as there are so few effective antibiotics. By improving hygiene in hospital care for animals, the spread of resistant bacteria can be reduced. This is shown by Karin Bergström, Swedish National Veterinary Institute (SVA in Swedish), who will publicly defend her doctoral thesis in the subject at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU in Swedish) on June 5.
Less salt in our food
It is entirely possible to reduce the salt content in a range of foods by up to 30% without reducing the taste.
Doctor's advice for cancer patients: Not only medical aspects influence treatment recommendations
What treatment a doctor recommends for advanced cancer not only depends on medical aspects. His relationship to the individual patients and his own view of their life situation at their age play a role. This was found out by a research team led by Dr. Jan Schildmann of the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) together with colleagues from the University of Oxford. The RUB researchers also explored how patients perceive and evaluate the information they receive for clarification and decision making. The medical ethicists report in the journals The Oncologist and Annals of Oncology.
Health officials rule out Ebola outbreak in DR Congo
A senior health ministry official in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday ruled out an Ebola outbreak in the northeast of the country, after possible cases were reported by United Nations staff.
US weighs lifting safety restrictions on Avandia (Update)
A former blockbuster diabetes pill which was subjected to major U.S. safety restrictions in 2010 may not be as risky as once thought, according to the latest analysis of the much-debated GlaxoSmithKline drug Avandia.
Sanofi abandons two drugs after trial failures
Drugmaker Sanofi is abandoning two drugs in the late stages of development after trials revealed they weren't more effective than other therapies.
PET finds increased cognitive reserve levels in highly educated pre-Alzheimer's patients
Highly educated individuals with mild cognitive impairment that later progressed to Alzheimer's disease cope better with the disease than individuals with a lower level of education in the same situation, according to research published in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. In the study "Metabolic Networks Underlying Cognitive Reserve in Prodromal Alzheimer Disease: A European Alzheimer Disease Consortium Project," neural reserve and neural compensation were both shown to play a role in determining cognitive reserve, as evidenced by positron emission tomography (PET).
Conjoined twins with shared heart can't be split (Update)
Conjoined Palestinian twins with a shared heart and other vital organs returned home to the West Bank Monday after Israeli doctors determined they could not successfully separate them.
HPV a growing cause of upper throat cancer (Update)
Actor Michael Douglas' comments about throat cancer have thrown a spotlight on cancer risks from a sexually spread virus. The virus, HPV, is best known for causing cervical cancer. But experts say it also is a growing cause of certain types of oral cancer, those in the upper throat—specifically at the base of the tongue and in the tonsils. Studies suggest that HPV can be blamed for 60 to 80 percent of those cancers.
Oncologists are stressed and have difficulty discussing death with patients, study finds
A group of oncologists have revealed in a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers that communicating about death and dying with their patients is one of the most difficult and stressful parts of their work.
Expanding medicaid is best financial option for states, study finds
States that choose not to expand Medicaid under federal health care reform will leave millions of their residents without health insurance and increase spending, at least in the short term, on the cost of treating uninsured residents, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Use of flaxseed supplementation in the management of high cholesterol levels in children
A study by Helen Wong, R.D., of The Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues examined the safety and efficacy of dietary flaxseed supplementation in the management of hypercholesterolemia (high levels of cholesterol) in children.
10 test positive for SARS-like virus in Italy
Around 10 people in Italy have tested positive for a SARS-like virus but have presented no symptoms and have not been quarantined, an infectious diseases specialist told the ANSA news agency on Monday.
Emergency C-section rates are climbing, as is the need for accompanying emergency anesthesia
There is an increasing need for safe emergency anaesthesia as cases of emergency Caesarean section (CS) continue to rise, say experts speaking at Euroanaesthesia, the annual congress of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA).
Evidence mounts that four lifestyle changes will protect heart, reduce your risk of death
A large, multi-center study led by Johns Hopkins researchers has found a significant link between lifestyle factors and heart health, adding even more evidence in support of regular exercise, eating a Mediterranean-style diet, keeping a normal weight and, most importantly, not smoking.
Medical students may glimpse future in examining their genetic code
Most students read about genetics in a textbook. Stanford University students are reading something far more intimate: their own DNA code.
Clinicians often wait for 'red flags' before discussing elderly driving
Clinicians often wait too long before talking to elderly patients about giving up driving even though many may be open to those discussions earlier, according to a new study from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the CU College of Nursing.
Brain visualization prototype holds promise for precision medicine
The ability to combine all of a patient's neurological test results into one detailed, interactive "brain map" could help doctors diagnose and tailor treatment for a range of neurological disorders, from autism to epilepsy. But before this can happen, researchers need a suite of automated tools and techniques to manage and make sense of these massive complex datasets.
New direction for prostate cancer research a world first
Researchers at the University of Adelaide are spearheading a new direction in prostate cancer research, with the potential for new treatments of the disease.
Changes in brain structure found after childhood abuse
(Medical Xpress)—Different forms of childhood abuse increase the risk for mental illness as well as sexual dysfunction in adulthood, but little has been known about how that happens. An international team of researchers, including the Miller School's Charles B. Nemeroff, M.D., Ph.D., Leonard M. Miller Professor and Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has discovered a neural basis for this association. The study, published in the June 1 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, shows that sexually abused and emotionally mistreated children exhibit specific and differential changes in the architecture of their brain that reflect the nature of the mistreatment.
A rise in early diagnosis of prostate cancer
(Medical Xpress)—Over the last two decades, incremental gains have been made in the number of men given early diagnosis of prostate cancer, and the way they are treated, a Victorian study found.
Gender separation in psychiatry
(Medical Xpress)—Results in a study of Australia's first women-only psychiatry ward at The Alfred have been published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Spirometers have a built-in 'correction' for race
Lundy Braun studies racial health disparities and their history as a professor of both pathology and laboratory medicine and Africana studies and a member of the Science and Technology Studies Program.
More TV time equals higher consumption of sweetened beverages among children
More time in front of the TV set and higher exposure to TV adverts may lead to increased consumption of sweetened beverages among children. This is the conclusion of a new study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Study confirms long term benefits of tamoxifen
(Medical Xpress)—Taking tamoxifen for 10 rather than five years halves the risk of women dying from the most common kind of breast cancer, according to new research being presented at this year's ASCO conference.
Mother's education impacts depression in her children
(Medical Xpress)—Children of women who did not finish high school were twice as likely to experience a major episode of depression in early adulthood as children whose mothers obtained a high school diploma, according to a new study by researchers at McGill University.
Cancer drug shortages hit 83 percent of US oncologists
Eighty-three percent of cancer doctors report that they've faced oncology drug shortages, and of those, nearly all say that their patients' treatment has been impacted, according to a study from researchers at the Abramson Cancer Center and the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that will be presented today at the 2013 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Abstract #CRA6510). The results showed that shortages – which have hit especially hard among drugs to treat pediatric, gastrointestinal and blood cancers – have left physicians surveyed unable to prescribe standard chemotherapies for a range of cancers.
Researchers test safety of Nivolumab in kidney cancer
Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center will present a poster on a phase I clinical trial of Nivolumab, a PD-1 receptor blocking antibody, being used in combination with other drugs in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) at the ASCO Annual Meeting on June 3, 2013.
New drug extends advanced lung cancer survival
A new drug can help advanced lung cancer patients live longer and may aid in treating other kinds of cancer, researchers said Monday.
Anti-cholesterol drugs may do more harm than good for older people
The side effects of Australia's most commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs may outweigh the benefits in older people, a new clinical review has found.
Clear link between perceived stress and an increased incidence of psychosomatic symptoms
In four out of ten cases, long-term stress suffered by women leads to some form of physical complaint. This is shown by a study of 1,500 women carried out at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Living by the clock: The science of chronobiology
The clock never seems to stop. Every day, it seems, we're fighting it: rushing to get to work, getting errands done, catching whatever sleep we can. There's never enough time to do what we need or want to do, and just when we almost seem to get caught up on the weekends or our days off, the clock keeps going and the merry-go-round starts all over again.
What's the buzz on caffeine?
The most popular addictive drug available in Australia right now is 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine, or C₈H₁₀N₄O₂. Let's call it 137TX until we can come up with something catchier.
Alzheimer's disease research gains momentum
Research conducted by Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, an institute of the University of Tasmania, is shedding new light on the biology of Alzheimer's disease, in particular a protein in the brain that is indirectly responsible for causing Alzheimer's disease.
Songbirds may give insight to nature vs. nuture
On June 3rd, JoVE will publish a research technique that allows neural imaging of auditory stimuli in songbirds via MRI. The technique, developed by Dr. Annemie Van der Linden and her laboratory at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, will be one of the first published in JoVE Behavior, a new section of the video journal that focuses on observational and experimental techniques that seek to understand human and animal behavior through physiological, neurological, and genetic means.
Study links workplace daylight exposure to sleep, activity and quality of life
A new study demonstrates a strong relationship between workplace daylight exposure and office workers' sleep, activity and quality of life.
RET rearrangement a new oncogene and potential target in lung cancer
In results presented at ASCO 2013, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study provides important details for a recently identified driver and target in lung adenocarcinoma: rearrangement of the gene RET. The finding is an important step along a trajectory like that which led to FDA approval of the drug crizotinib, which targets a somewhat similar rearrangement in the ALK gene. By comparison, the ALK rearrangement is present in 3-5 percent of lung cancers whereas the present study found RET rearrangements present in 8 of 51 (15.7 percent) of an enriched cohort of patient samples that did not show evidence of other oncogene alterations.
Mutations in susceptibility genes common in younger African American women with breast cancer
A high percentage of African-American women with breast cancer who were evaluated at a university cancer-risk clinic were found to carry inherited genetic mutations that increase their risk for breast cancer.
Patients with type 2 diabetes or hypertension must be evaluated for sleep apnea
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is advising anyone with Type 2 diabetes or hypertension to be evaluated for sleep apnea by a board-certified sleep medicine physician. The recommendation comes as the group of international clinicians and researchers meets in Baltimore for SLEEP 2013, the foremost gathering of sleep experts annually.
Narcolepsy study finds surprising increase in neurons that produce histamine
A new study provides surprising evidence that people with narcolepsy have an increased number of neurons that produce histamine, suggesting that histamine signaling may be a novel therapeutic target for this potentially disabling sleep disorder.
Study suggests that night work may impair glucose tolerance
A new study suggests that night work may impair glucose tolerance, supporting a causal role of night work in the increased risk of Type 2 diabetes among shift workers.
'Back to sleep' does not affect baby's ability to roll
Baby, keep on rolling. A campaign to put babies to bed on their backs to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome has not impaired infants' rolling abilities, according to University of Alberta research.
Dogs help improve moods among teens in treatment
Lindsay Ellsworth is prescribing a new, mood-boosting therapy for teenagers in drug and alcohol treatment: shelter dogs.
Website all about child health—in Spanish
(HealthDay)—Language difficulties may prevent Hispanic parents living in the United States from learning all they can about child health. Now they have a new option: a Spanish-language website launched by a leading group of pediatricians.
Whooping cough cases rise as parents opt out of vaccine
(HealthDay)—Parents who opt out of vaccinating their children are putting their own kids and others around them at risk of serious illness, finds a study conducted in New York.
More kids being poisoned by prescription drugs, study finds
(HealthDay)—As the number of adults taking prescription drugs has grown, so has the number of children being accidentally poisoned by them, a new study finds.
Risk of kidney disease doubled with use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics
The risk of acute kidney disease is doubled for people taking oral fluoroquinolone antibiotics, according to a study of published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Researchers identify genetic signature of deadly brain cancer
A multi-institutional team of researchers have pinpointed the genetic traits of the cells that give rise to gliomas – the most common form of malignant brain cancer. The findings, which appear in the journal Cell Reports, provide scientists with rich new potential set of targets to treat the disease.
Rash decision? New UK coins increase nickel skin allergy risk fourfold
In a bid to save £10 million a year the British Treasury is replacing copper–nickel five and ten pence coins with new nickel-plated steel versions. However, while no UK health assessment has taken place, scientists in Sweden have analyzed the allergy risk after the Swedish state bank announced it will reduce traces of nickel in Swedish coinage.
American, Nepalese children disagree on social obligations with age
Preschoolers universally recognize that one's choices are not always free – that our decisions may be constrained by social obligations to be nice to others or follow rules set by parents or elders, even when wanting to do otherwise.
Large multi-generational family helps unlock genetic secrets to developmental dysplasia of the hip
Research from Thomas Jefferson University is laying the foundation for a genetic test to accurately identify hip dysplasia in newborns so that early intervention can be initiated to promote normal development. This research from Jefferson Orthopedics physician-scientists is currently available in the Journal of Bone and Mineralizing Research (JBMR) online.
Smoking, sugar, spirits and 'sin' taxes: Higher price would help health, doctors say
Go ye and sin no more—or pay for it, when it comes to junk food, smoking and consuming alcohol. That's the message from two Mayo Clinic physicians who say raising "sin" taxes on tobacco and alcoholic beverages and imposing them on sugary drinks and fatty foods would lead many people to cut back, improving public health. The article by Michael Joyner, M.D., and David Warner, M.D., appears in the June issue of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Time limits on welfare can lead to higher mortality rates
U.S. workfare programs have been praised by some for cutting welfare rolls and improving the economic well-being of families. But little is known about how these policies affected participants' health and mortality. Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health studied enrollees in Florida's Family Transition Program who were given a time limit for welfare benefits and exposed to job training. They were compared to a control group who received traditional welfare benefits. In this randomized controlled trial, the researchers found that participants in the Family Transition Program had a 16 percent higher mortality rate compared to recipients of traditional welfare. This translates to nine months of life expectancy lost for people in the experimental program. The study adds to a body of research on the nonmedical determinants of health that are showing a trend of adverse health effects associated with welfare time limits.
Despite good prognosis, some turn a blind eye to genetic screening
Even if Australians with newly diagnosed bowel cancer were routinely tested for a genetic predisposition to further cancers, one in three people would still not take the necessary steps to use that information to prevent further disease.
For some men, it's 'T' time—test or no test
Prescriptions for testosterone therapy have increased significantly during the last 10 years, according to a study in the current issue of JAMA Internal Medicine conducted by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Law dramatically reduced hospital prices for the uninsured, study says
To comply with a statewide "fair pricing" law, hospitals throughout California have significantly lowered prices to uninsured patients, with nearly all even going beyond the state mandate and offering free care to those below the poverty line.
Early-life risk factors account for racial and ethnic disparities in childhood obesity
most of which could be changed—appear to explain the recognized racial and ethnic disparities in the incidence of childhood overweight and obesity. In a report being published online in JAMA Pediatrics, a team of researchers report a prospective study finding that increased prevalence of obesity and overweight among black and Hispanic 7-year-olds could largely be explained by risk factors such as rapid infant weight gain, early introduction of solid foods and a lack of exclusive breast feeding.
Musculoskeletal conditions, injuries may be associated with statin use
Using cholesterol-lowering statins may be associated with musculoskeletal conditions, arthropathies (joint diseases) and injuries, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Vegetarian diets associated with lower risk of death
Vegetarian diets are associated with reduced death rates in a study of more than 70,000 Seventh-day Adventists with more favorable results for men than women, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Interleukin 17F level and interferon beta response in patients with multiple sclerosis
A study by Hans-Peter Hartung, M.D., of Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldoft, Germany, and colleagues examines the association between IL-17F and treatment response to interferon beta-1b among patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
Manipulating memory in the hippocampus: Protein modification may help control Alzheimer's and epilepsy
In the brain, cell-to-cell communication is dependent on neurotransmitters, chemicals that aid the transfer of information between neurons. Several proteins have the ability to modify the production of these chemicals by either increasing or decreasing their amount, or promoting or preventing their secretion. One example is tomosyn, which hinders the secretion of neurotransmitters in abnormal amounts.
Mosquitoes reared in cooler temperatures more susceptible to viruses that can affect human health
Urban epidemics resulting from viral diseases, such as West Nile fever and chikungunya fever, are transmitted by infected mosquitoes.
Despite living closer to better hospitals, black patients go to lower-quality hospitals
Black patients are more likely to have surgery performed at low-quality hospitals even though they frequently live closer to better facilities than white patients.
NTRK1: A new oncogene and target in lung cancer
To the list of oncogenic drivers of lung cancer that includes ALK, EGFR, ROS1 and RET, results of a University of Colorado Cancer Center study presented at ASCO 2013 show that mutations in the gene NTRK1 cause a subset of lung cancers.
Are smartphones disrupting your sleep?
Smartphones and tablets can make for sleep-disrupting bedfellows. One cause is believed to be the bright light-emitting diodes that allow the use of mobile devices in dimly lit rooms; the light exposure can interfere with melatonin, a hormone that helps control the natural sleep-wake cycle. But there may be a way to check your mobile device in bed and still get a good night's sleep. A Mayo Clinic study suggests dimming the smartphone or tablet brightness settings and holding the device at least 14 inches from your face while using it will reduce its potential to interfere with melatonin and impede sleep.
Lose weight between babies, study suggests
The time between pregnancies is a golden window for obese women to lose weight, a Saint Louis University study finds.
Companies pay almost $6,000 extra per year for each employee who smokes, study finds
A new study suggests that U.S. businesses pay almost $6,000 per year extra for each employee who smokes compared to the cost to employ a person who has never smoked cigarettes.
Scientists focus on brain protein and antibiotic to block cocaine craving
A new study conducted by a team of Indiana University neuroscientists demonstrates that GLT1, a protein that clears glutamate from the brain, plays a critical role in the craving for cocaine that develops after only several days of cocaine use.
An ear with the right look and feel
(Medical Xpress)—Like a fingerprint, their shape is so characteristic that one can identify us by them. The outer part of our ears has a complex structure that surgeons have a hard time replacing when disease or accident robs us of an ear. ETH researchers have found a way to produce an ear replacement with the right look and feel.
Researchers have found new role for mTOR in autism-related disorders
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers have found a novel role for a protein that has been implicated in an autism-related disorder known as tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).
Study supports role for skin sodium in blood pressure regulation
It's time to expand the models for blood pressure regulation, according to clinical pharmacologist Jens Titze, M.D. Titze and his colleagues have identified a new cast of cells and molecules that function in the skin to control sodium balance and blood pressure.
Scientists develop new technique to selectively dampen harmful immune responses
The human immune system is remarkably efficient, but sometimes its attack is misdirected, leading to allergies, autoimmune diseases and rejection of transplant organs and therapeutic drugs. Current immune suppressants have major drawbacks, but a team from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has demonstrated a new technique that may lead to a better way to selectively repress unwanted immune reactions without disabling the immune system as a whole.
Blood vessels in the eye linked with IQ, cognitive function
The width of blood vessels in the retina, located at the back of the eye, may indicate brain health years before the onset of dementia and other deficits, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Meeting online leads to happier, more enduring marriages, study finds
More than a third of marriages between 2005 and 2012 began online, according to new research at the University of Chicago, which also found that online couples have happier, longer marriages.
New strategy for defeating neuroblastoma found
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found a promising strategy for defeating neuroblastoma – a malignant form of cancer in children – that focuses on the so-called MYCN protein. A specific chemical molecule helps to break down MYCN, which either kills the cancer cell or makes it mature into a harmless neuron. The discovery, which is published in the scientific journal PNAS, raises hopes for new and more effective treatments in the future.
Potential new way to suppress tumor growth discovered
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center, have identified a new mechanism that appears to suppress tumor growth, opening the possibility of developing a new class of anti-cancer drugs.
Study identifies new drug target in deadly form of leukemia
A research team led by the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School (Duke-NUS) in Singapore has identified ways to inhibit the function of a key protein linked to stem cell-like behavior in terminal-stage chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), making it possible to develop drugs that may extend the survival of these patients.
Sunscreen slows skin aging, if used often enough
New research from sunny Australia provides some of the strongest evidence to date that near-daily sunscreen use can slow the aging of skin.
New kind of antibiotic may be more effective at fighting tuberculosis, anthrax, and other diseases
Diseases such as tuberculosis, anthrax, and shigellosis—a severe food-borne illness—eventually could be treated with an entirely new and more-effective kind of antibiotic, thanks to a team of scientists led by Kenneth Keiler, an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State University. In a research paper that will be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences during the week beginning 3 June 2013, the team describes 46 previously untested molecules that target and disrupt an important step in the process of protein synthesis in bacteria, thereby rendering bacteria incapable of replicating.
Optogenetic rendering of a whisker space holodrome with single spike precision
(Medical Xpress)—The constant refrain of the federal BRAIN Initiative can be summarized as the twin-towered call of "tools to codes." To that point, the latest issue of Nature methods is currently running an in-depth series of articles under the title, Focus on Mapping the Brain. The effort seeks to translate the raw numerics of neural structure into the more a satisfying description of "functional connectivity." In the emerging view, the spikes which run on this architecture are not only a language which codes sensory or motor signals, but commands which prescribe how neural circuits grow and change over time. A pioneer in developing tools for optogenetically mapping changes taking place at the synpatic level, is Howard Hughes Medical researcher Karel Svoboda. He was one of the first scientists to definitively reveal the extent of spine plasticity in dendrites. A new paper in Nature Neuroscience, of which Svoboda is corresponding author, seeks to use these new tools to ! explore the neural coding of somatosensation. To this end, Svoboda and his coworkers have created the highest-fidelity virtual reality system known to date—an illusory mouse whisker sensorium played out on a per spike basis at the millisecond timescale.
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