ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Naked mole-rats may hold clues to pain relief
• First-ever imaging of cells growing on spherical surfaces
• Regular consumption of sugary beverages linked to increased genetic risk of obesity
• Providing non-caloric beverages to teens can help them avoid excessive weight gain, study shows
• Wildfires in Washington State
• Growing corn to treat rare disease
• Key immune cell may play role in lung cancer susceptibility
• Prehistoric rocks contain clues for future climate
• Brain: Protein that regulates key 'fate' decision in cortical progenitor cells identified
• How do we make moral judgments? Insights from Psychological Science
• Documenting women's experiences with chromosome abnormalities found in new prenatal test
• Virtual boundaries: How environmental cues affect motivation and task-oriented behavior
• Male infertility: 'Kick-starting' male fertility with missing protein
• Suicide leading cause of injury mortality in U. S.
• Diet high in total antioxidants associated with lower risk of myocardial infarction in women
• Horticultural hijacking: The dark side of beneficial soil bacteria
• Denosumab reduces burden of giant-cell tumor of the bone, study suggests
• Dangerous dreaming: Kicking, screaming and falling out of bed might be more common than reported
• Advancing the treatment of trauma
• New 'stamping' process to pattern biomolecules at high resolution developed
• New turtle tracking technique may aid efforts to save loggerhead
• Mosquito virus could lead to new vaccines and drugs
• Giving lithium to those who need it
• Ultra fast optical amplifier: Silicon and erbium on one chip for the first time
• Squeeze light 'till it hurts' on a quantum scale: Researchers push the boundaries on ultra-precise measurement
• Twenty-three nuclear power plants found to be in tsunami risk areas
• New challenges for ex-Olympians
• Brain: Multiple contacts are key to synapse formation
• 'Foreign' proteins are also implicated in Alzheimer's disease
• Unprecedented cancer 'Moon Shots Program': Effort sets new bar for eradicating cancer
• Nunavut's mysterious ancient life could return by 2100 as Arctic warms
• Double assault on tough types of leukemias
• New strategies needed to combat disease in developing countries
• Clinical trial reveals pterostilbene reduces blood pressure in adults
• Treating disease by the numbers

Naked mole-rats may hold clues to pain relief Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:07 PM PDT Naked mole-rats evolved to thrive in an acidic environment that other mammals, including humans, would find intolerable. Researchers report new findings as to how these rodents adapted, which may offer clues to relieving pain in other animals and humans.

First-ever imaging of cells growing on spherical surfaces Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:23 PM PDT The potential biomedical applications of the researchers' technique include new strategies and devices for the early detection and isolation of cancer cells, facilitating new methods of treating cancer tissues.

Regular consumption of sugary beverages linked to increased genetic risk of obesity Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:23 PM PDT Researchers have found that greater consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is linked with a greater genetic susceptibility to high body mass index (BMI) and increased risk of obesity. The study reinforces the view that environmental and genetic factors may act together to shape obesity risk.

Providing non-caloric beverages to teens can help them avoid excessive weight gain, study shows Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:23 PM PDT A new study on sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) and teens from pediatric obesity expert David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children's Hospital, published 9/21 in New England Journal of Medicine. Findings show adolescents who eliminated SSBs for one year gained less weight than those who didn't, shedding light on an effective intervention to help combat adolescent obesity.

Wildfires in Washington State Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:28 AM PDT The summer of 2012 will unfortunately be known as the "Summer of Devastating Western Wildfires" and practically not one state out west was spared. Washington State has been hardest hit of late. This satellite image shows a rash of wildfires currently burning in the middle of the state.

Growing corn to treat rare disease Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:03 AM PDT The seeds of greenhouse-grown corn could hold the key to treating a rare, life-threatening childhood genetic disease, according to researchers.

Key immune cell may play role in lung cancer susceptibility Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:01 AM PDT New research suggests a key immune cell may play a role in lung cancer susceptibility. Working in mice, they found evidence that the genetic diversity in natural killer cells contributes to whether or not the animals develop lung cancer. The scientists now are investigating whether the same phenomenon exists in humans.

Prehistoric rocks contain clues for future climate Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:01 AM PDT For most of the past decade, Dr. Wan Yang has spent his summers in the Bogda Mountains in northwest China, collecting rock samples that predate dinosaurs by millions of years in an effort to better understand the history of Earth's climate and perhaps gain clues about future climate change.

Brain: Protein that regulates key 'fate' decision in cortical progenitor cells identified Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:46 AM PDT Researchers have solved an important piece of one of neuroscience's outstanding puzzles: How progenitor cells in the developing mammalian brain reproduce themselves while also giving birth to neurons that will populate the emerging cerebral cortex, the seat of cognition and executive function in the mature brain.

How do we make moral judgments? Insights from Psychological Science Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:46 AM PDT New research provides intriguing insights into some of the factors that influence how we make moral judgments.

Documenting women's experiences with chromosome abnormalities found in new prenatal test Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:45 AM PDT Surveying a small group of women participating in a larger study investigating the use of DNA microarrays to identify the possibility of prenatal chromosomal abnormalities, researchers documented the women's reactions upon learning that their child's genetic material contained chromosomal abnormalities.

Virtual boundaries: How environmental cues affect motivation and task-oriented behavior Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:45 AM PDT Much of our daily lives are spent completing tasks that involve a degree of waiting, such as remaining on hold while scheduling a doctor's appointment or standing in line at an ATM. Faced with a wait, some people postpone, avoid, or abandon their task. Others endure the wait but feel dissatisfied and frustrated by the experience.

Male infertility: 'Kick-starting' male fertility with missing protein Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:45 AM PDT Adding a missing protein to infertile human sperm can "kick-start" its ability to fertilize an egg and dramatically increase the chances of a successful pregnancy, scientists have uncovered.

Suicide leading cause of injury mortality in U. S. Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:39 AM PDT Suicide has now passed motor vehicle traffic crashes as the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States. Additionally, the disease rate has been declining while the injury rate has been rising.

Diet high in total antioxidants associated with lower risk of myocardial infarction in women Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:10 AM PDT Coronary heart disease is a major cause of death in women. A new study has found that a diet rich in antioxidants, mainly from fruits and vegetables, can significantly reduce the risk of myocardial infarction.

Horticultural hijacking: The dark side of beneficial soil bacteria Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:10 AM PDT It's a battleground down there — in the soil where plants and bacteria dwell. Even though beneficial root bacteria come to the rescue when a plant is being attacked by pathogens, there's a "dark side" to the relationship between the plant and its white knight, according to new research.

Denosumab reduces burden of giant-cell tumor of the bone, study suggests Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:10 AM PDT Treatment with denosumab, a drug targeted against a protein that helps promote bone destruction, decreased the number of tumor giant cells in patients with giant-cell tumor of the bone, and increased new bone formation, according to the results of a phase II study.

Dangerous dreaming: Kicking, screaming and falling out of bed might be more common than reported Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:10 AM PDT A troubling sleep disorder that causes sleepers to physically act out their dreams by kicking, screaming or falling out of bed may be more common than reported, according to specialists.

Advancing the treatment of trauma Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:26 AM PDT With traumatic injuries claiming almost six million lives a year, improvements in care, including in the challenging areas of brain and bone injuries, and haemorrhage, are urgently needed.

New 'stamping' process to pattern biomolecules at high resolution developed Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:26 AM PDT Researchers have used rubber stamps to pattern biomolecules in a new way. Instead of using molecular "inks" transferred from the stamps to substrates, the new method removes molecules already in place on the surface, by having them react with the stamp surface. In the new "subtractive" printing process, the rubber stamps selectively remove patterns from molecular monolayers with much higher pattern fidelity than with conventional soft lithography and can be used over and over again.

New turtle tracking technique may aid efforts to save loggerhead Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:26 AM PDT The old adage "you are what you eat" is helping scientists better understand the threatened loggerhead turtle, which is the primary nester on Central Florida's beaches.

Mosquito virus could lead to new vaccines and drugs Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:26 AM PDT The newly discovered Eilat virus is closely related to some of the world's most dangerous pathogens but incapable of infecting non-insect hosts. This attribute could make the virus a uniquely useful tool for studying the viruses responsible for chikungunya, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, western equine encephalitis and eastern equine encephalitis. In addition, the researchers say, Eilat could also aid in the development of new vaccines, therapies and diagnostic techniques.

Giving lithium to those who need it Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:25 AM PDT Lithium is a 'gold standard' drug for treating bipolar disorder, however not everyone responds in the same way. New research finds that this is true at the levels of gene activation, especially in the activation or repression of genes which alter the level the apoptosis (programmed cell death). Most notably BCL2, known to be important for the therapeutic effects of lithium, did not increase in non-responders. This can be tested in the blood of patients within four weeks of treatment.

Ultra fast optical amplifier: Silicon and erbium on one chip for the first time Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:25 AM PDT Within optical microchips, light finds its way through channels, waveguides, made of silicon. Light from a glass fiber, for example, is led through a structure of optical channels with splitters and couplers. Silicon is the workhorse for this, but it is still passive conduction of light, with some losses as well. To be able to amplify the signal, or even to include a light source on the chip, extra steps are necessary. Other types of semiconductors, like Gallium Arsenide, are an option. But materials doped with the rare earth material erbium have good amplification properties as well.

Squeeze light 'till it hurts' on a quantum scale: Researchers push the boundaries on ultra-precise measurement Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:35 AM PDT Physicists has pushed the boundaries on ultra-precise measurement by harnessing quantum light waves in a new way. It is one thing to be able to measure spectacularly small distances using "squeezed" light, but it is now possible to do this even while the target is moving around.

Twenty-three nuclear power plants found to be in tsunami risk areas Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:32 AM PDT Tsunamis are synonymous with the destruction of cities, and homes and since the Japanese coast was devastated in March 2011 we now know that they cause nuclear disaster, endanger the safety of the population and pollute the environment. As such phenomena are still difficult to predict, a team of scientists has assessed "potentially dangerous" areas that are home to completed nuclear plants or those under construction.

New challenges for ex-Olympians Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:32 AM PDT When elite-level athletes retire, they often struggle to adapt to their new lives. When finding that the characteristics that were valuable in sport are not equally useful in 'ordinary' life, they often start experiencing disorientation, depression, self-doubt or even illness.

Brain: Multiple contacts are key to synapse formation Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:31 AM PDT Multiple synaptic contacts between nerve cells facilitate the creation of a new contact, as neuroscientists report. An integral mechanism of memory foundation is the formation of additional contacts between neurons in the brain. However, until now it was not known what conditions lead to the development of such synapses and how they are stabilized once created. By studying mathematical models, the scientists found a simple explanation for how and when synapses form -- or disappear -- in the brain.

'Foreign' proteins are also implicated in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:31 AM PDT Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's are characterised by the loss of nerve cells and the deposition of proteins in the brain tissue. Scientists have now demonstrated that Alzheimer's disease does not just – as previously believed – involve the proteins that are attributed to Alzheimer's, but instead the condition can involve a mixture of interacting proteins from different neurodegenerative diseases.

Unprecedented cancer 'Moon Shots Program': Effort sets new bar for eradicating cancer Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:28 AM PDT The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announces the launch of the Moon Shots Program, an unprecedented effort to dramatically accelerate the pace of converting scientific discoveries into clinical advances that reduce cancer deaths.

Nunavut's mysterious ancient life could return by 2100 as Arctic warms Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:28 AM PDT Global climate change means that recently discovered ancient forests in Canada's extreme north could one day return, research suggests.

Double assault on tough types of leukemias Posted: 20 Sep 2012 12:33 PM PDT Investigators have identified two promising therapies to treat patients with acute megakaryocytic leukemia, a rare form of leukemia where the number of cases is expected to increase with the aging population. One of the drugs, Alisertib, was potent against the proliferation of cancer cells and reversed the disease in mice. Clinical trials are slated for 2013.

New strategies needed to combat disease in developing countries Posted: 20 Sep 2012 11:11 AM PDT So-called lifestyle diseases are gaining ground with epidemic speed in low-income countries. The traditional health focus in these countries has been to combat communicable diseases such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. However, new research suggests that dividing campaigns into combating either non-communicable or communicable diseases is ineffective and expensive.

Clinical trial reveals pterostilbene reduces blood pressure in adults Posted: 20 Sep 2012 11:10 AM PDT A form of pterostilbene, a compound found naturally in blueberries, reduces blood pressure in adults, according to new results.

Treating disease by the numbers Posted: 20 Sep 2012 11:01 AM PDT Advances in mathematical modeling are allowing medical professionals to better understand the risk factors that lead to disease.

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