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Stroke disrupts how brain controls muscle synergies
First Evidence Discovered of Planet's Destruction by Its Star
Pan-fried meat increases risk of prostate cancer, new study finds
Has ‘Defensive Medicine’ Led to Overtesting?
Scientist finds new way to predict heat layer troublemaker
Patterning defect-free nanocrystal films with nanometer resolution
Spirituality Correlates to Better Mental Health Regardless of Religion
Researchers interview pro-anorexic bloggers for groundbreaking new study
Making Sense Out of the Biological Matrix of Bipolar Disorder
Can nature parks save biodiversity?

Stroke disrupts how brain controls muscle synergies

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 02:28 PM PDT

The simple act of picking up a pencil requires the coordination of dozens of muscles: The eyes and head must turn toward the object as the hand reaches forward and the fingers grasp it. To make this job more manageable, the brain’s motor cortex has implemented a system of shortcuts. Instead of controlling each muscle independently, the cortex is believed to activate muscles in groups, known as “muscle synergies.” These synergies can be combined in different ways to achieve a wide range of movements.

First Evidence Discovered of Planet's Destruction by Its Star

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 02:20 PM PDT

The first evidence of a planet's destruction by its aging star has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. The evidence indicates that the missing planet was devoured as the star began expanding into a "red giant" — the stellar equivalent of advanced age.

Pan-fried meat increases risk of prostate cancer, new study finds

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 11:58 AM PDT

Research from USC and the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC) found that cooking red meats at high temperatures, especially pan-fried red meats, may increase the risk of advanced prostate cancer by as much as 40 percent.

Mariana Stern, associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, led analyses for the study in the journal Carcinogenesis, which provides new evidence on how red meat and its cooking practices may increase the risk for prostate cancer.

Has ‘Defensive Medicine’ Led to Overtesting?

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 11:41 AM PDT

It’s become common practice for the roughly 6 million Americans per year who go to emergency rooms with chest pain: Get a stress test or cardiac CT (computed tomography) scan before discharge.

In 1981, US doctors performed 3 million CT scans, a medical imaging procedure that uses computer technology to generate cross-sectional X-ray images of certain areas of the body. Today that number has jumped to 70 million.

Scientist finds new way to predict heat layer troublemaker

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 11:35 AM PDT

Researchers at a recent worldwide conference on fusion power have confirmed the surprising accuracy of a new model for predicting the size of a key barrier to fusion that a top scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has developed. The model could serve as a starting point for overcoming the barrier.

Patterning defect-free nanocrystal films with nanometer resolution

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 10:40 AM PDT

Films made of semiconductor nanocrystals — tiny crystals measuring just a few billionths of a meter across — are seen as a promising new material for a wide range of applications. Nanocrystals could be used in electronic or photonic circuits, detectors for biomolecules, or the glowing pixels on high-resolution display screens. They also hold promise for more efficient solar cells.

Spirituality Correlates to Better Mental Health Regardless of Religion

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 09:29 AM PDT

Despite differences in rituals and beliefs among the world’s major religions, spirituality often enhances health regardless of a person’s faith, according to University of Missouri researchers. The MU researchers believe that health care providers could take advantage of this correlation between health – particularly mental health – and spirituality by tailoring treatments and rehabilitation programs to accommodate an individual’s spiritual inclinations.

Researchers interview pro-anorexic bloggers for groundbreaking new study

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 08:04 AM PDT

A groundbreaking new research study from Indiana University suggests there may be benefits to the controversial activities of "pro-ana" bloggers, the online community for people with eating disorders.

Most of the 33 bloggers from seven countries interviewed for the study, which has just been published in the journal Health Communication, said their writing activities provide a way to express themselves without judgment, which the authors believe can be crucial to their treatment.

Making Sense Out of the Biological Matrix of Bipolar Disorder

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 07:47 AM PDT

The more that we understand the brain, the more complex it becomes. The same can be said about the genetics and neurobiology of psychiatric disorders. For “Mendelian” disorders, like Huntington disease, mutation of a single gene predictably produces a single clinical disorder, following relatively simple genetic principals. Compared to Mendelian disorders, understanding bipolar disorder has been extremely challenging. Its biology is not well understood and its genetics are complex.

Can nature parks save biodiversity?

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 07:41 AM PDT

The 14 years of wildlife studies in and around Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park by Sarah Karpanty, associate professor of wildlife conservation at Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment, and her students are summarily part of a paper on biodiversity published July 25 by Nature’s Advanced Online Publication and coming out soon in print