ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• New MRI method may help diagnose dementia
• Tigers roar back: Great news for big cats in key areas
• Ability to metabolize tamoxifen affects breast cancer outcomes
• New technique catalogs lymphoma-linked genetic variations
• Measurements hint why the universe is dominated by matter, not anti-matter
• Immune system changes may drive aggressiveness of recurrent tumors
• 94 percent of high school students used phones during class, Israeli study finds
• Eating asparagus may prevent a hangover, study suggests
• Deforestation in the Amazon equals net losses of diversity for microbial communities
• Blades and clades: Why some grasses got better photosynthesis
• Children with chronic conditions increasingly use available resources in children's hospitals
• Study examines overuse of ambulatory health care services in United States
• Elevated levels of C-reactive protein appear associated with psychological distress, depression
• Amazon deforestation brings loss of microbial communities
• Fluctuating environment may have driven human evolution
• Transfusions add risk in some heart attacks, finds study of patients with anemia
• Bumblebees do best where there is less pavement and more floral diversity
• Scientists sequence genome of pathogen responsible for pneumocystis pneumonia
• Powerful new tool is quantum analog of phase space flow
• Enzyme accelerates malignant stem cell cloning in chronic myeloid leukemia
• Biologists identify proteins vital to chromosome segregation
• Eyes may provide a look into multiple sclerosis progression
• Obesity may be declining among preschool-aged children living in low-income families
• Sustained virological response linked with improved survival for HCV patients
• Autopsy-based study examines prevalence of atherosclerosis among U.S. service members

New MRI method may help diagnose dementia Posted: 26 Dec 2012 01:41 PM PST A new way to use MRI scans may help determine whether dementia is Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia, according to new research.

Tigers roar back: Great news for big cats in key areas Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:30 PM PST Biologists have reported significant progress for tigers in three key landscapes across the big cat's range due to better law enforcement, protection of habitat, and strong government partnerships.

Ability to metabolize tamoxifen affects breast cancer outcomes Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:30 PM PST For nearly a decade, breast cancer researchers studying the hormone therapy tamoxifen have been divided as to whether genetic differences in a liver enzyme affect the drug's effectiveness and the likelihood breast cancer will recur. A new study provides evidence that genetic differences in the enzyme CYP2D6 play a key role in how well tamoxifen works.

New technique catalogs lymphoma-linked genetic variations Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:30 PM PST As anyone familiar with the X-Men knows, mutants can be either very good or very bad — or somewhere in between. The same appears true within cancer cells, which may harbor hundreds of mutations that set them apart from other cells in the body; the scientific challenge has been to figure out which mutations are culprits and which are innocent bystanders. Now, researchers have devised a novel approach to sorting them out: they generated random mutations in a gene associated with lymphoma, tested the proteins produced by the genes to see how they performed, and generated a catalog of mutants with cancer-causing potential.

Measurements hint why the universe is dominated by matter, not anti-matter Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:30 PM PST Physicists have made a precise measurement of elusive, nearly massless particles, and obtained a crucial hint as to why the universe is dominated by matter, not by its close relative, anti-matter.

Immune system changes may drive aggressiveness of recurrent tumors Posted: 26 Dec 2012 12:30 PM PST The traditional view of recurrent tumors is that they are resistant to therapy because they've acquired additional genetic mutations that make them more aggressive and impervious to drugs. Now, however, researchers show in an animal model that the enhanced aggressiveness of recurrent tumors may be due to changes in the body's immune response.

94 percent of high school students used phones during class, Israeli study finds Posted: 26 Dec 2012 08:12 AM PST A new study from Israel finds that 94 percent of high school students accessed social media on their phones during class over the past year, a new study reveals.

Eating asparagus may prevent a hangover, study suggests Posted: 26 Dec 2012 07:12 AM PST With New Year's Eve just around the corner, there is always plenty of good food and cheer. If you are drinking alcohol you may want to reach for some asparagus, according to a study that found asparagus may aid the body in accelerating the metabolism of alcohol.

Deforestation in the Amazon equals net losses of diversity for microbial communities Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:11 AM PST Research from an international team of microbiologists has revealed a new concern about deforestation in the Amazon rainforest -- a troubling net loss in the diversity among the microbial organisms responsible for a functioning ecosystem. Scientists worry that the loss of genetic variation in bacteria across a converted forest could reduce ecosystem resilience.

Blades and clades: Why some grasses got better photosynthesis Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:10 AM PST Two groups, or clades, of grasses that once had a common ancestry diverged, ultimately leaving the PACMAD clade more predisposed to evolve a more efficient, "C4" means of photosynthesis when CO2 is restricted than grasses in the BEP clade. In a new study, a research team pinpoints the anatomical differences between the clades that led to the PACMAD's tendency toward C4.

Children with chronic conditions increasingly use available resources in children's hospitals Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:10 AM PST Children with chronic conditions increasingly used more resources in a group of children's hospitals compared with patients without a chronic condition, according to a report that analyzed data from 28 U.S. children's hospitals between 2004 and 2009.

Study examines overuse of ambulatory health care services in United States Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:10 AM PST An analysis of nationally representative survey data found significant improvement in the delivery of underused care, but more limited changes in the reduction of inappropriate care in ambulatory health care settings between 1998 and 2009.

Elevated levels of C-reactive protein appear associated with psychological distress, depression Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:10 AM PST Elevated levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammatory disease, appear to be associated with increased risk of psychological distress and depression in the general population of adults in Denmark, according to a new study.

Amazon deforestation brings loss of microbial communities Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:09 AM PST An international team of microbiologists has found that a troubling net loss in diversity among the microbial organisms responsible for a functioning ecosystem is accompanying deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. This is important because the combination of lost forest species and the homogenization of pasture communities together signal that this ecosystem is now a lot less capable of dealing with additional outside stress.

Fluctuating environment may have driven human evolution Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:09 AM PST A series of rapid environmental changes in East Africa roughly 2 million years ago may be responsible for driving human evolution, according to researchers at Penn State and Rutgers University.

Transfusions add risk in some heart attacks, finds study of patients with anemia Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:09 AM PST A new study finds that while blood transfusions for heart attack patients with anemia are commonly performed in emergency rooms, the practice can increase the risk of death when the transfusions are too extensive. The authors, led by Saurav Chatterjee, a cardiology fellow at Brown University, compared evidence from 10 prior studies of more than 203,000 patients.

Bumblebees do best where there is less pavement and more floral diversity Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:09 AM PST Landscapes with large amounts of paved roads and impervious construction have lower numbers of ground-nesting bumblebees, which are important native pollinators, a new study shows.

Scientists sequence genome of pathogen responsible for pneumocystis pneumonia Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:09 AM PST Scientists have sequenced the genome of the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, an advancement that could help identify new targets for drugs to treat and prevent Pneumocystis pneumonia, a common and often deadly infection in immunocompromised patients.

Powerful new tool is quantum analog of phase space flow Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:04 AM PST Physicists have found that a new powerful tool they call 'Wigner flow' is the quantum analog of phase space flow. Wigner flow provides information for quantum dynamics similar to that gleaned from phase space trajectories in classical physics. Wigner flow can be used for the visualization of quantum dynamics. Additionally, Wigner flow helps with the abstract analysis of quantum dynamics using topological methods.

Enzyme accelerates malignant stem cell cloning in chronic myeloid leukemia Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST An international team has identified a key enzyme in the reprogramming process that promotes malignant stem cell cloning and the growth of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a cancer of the blood and marrow that experts say is increasing in prevalence.

Biologists identify proteins vital to chromosome segregation Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST Biologists have identified how a vital protein is loaded by others into the centromere, the part of the chromosome that plays a significant role in cell division. Their findings shed new light on genome replication and may offer insights into the factors behind the production of abnormal numbers of chromosomes.

Eyes may provide a look into multiple sclerosis progression Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST New research suggests that thinning of a layer of the retina in the eyes may show how fast multiple sclerosis (MS) is progressing in people with the disease.

Obesity may be declining among preschool-aged children living in low-income families Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST A new study finds that obesity may be declining among preschool-aged children living in low-income families in the United States.

Sustained virological response linked with improved survival for HCV patients Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST Among patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and advanced hepatic fibrosis (development of excess fibrous connective tissue), sustained virological response (SVR) to interferon-based treatment was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with patients without SVR, according to a new study.

Autopsy-based study examines prevalence of atherosclerosis among U.S. service members Posted: 26 Dec 2012 05:03 AM PST Among deployed U.S. service members who died of combat or unintentional injuries between 2001-2011 and underwent autopsies, the prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis was 8.5 percent, with factors associated with a higher prevalence of the disease including older age, lower educational level and prior diagnoses of dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity, according to a new study.

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