science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Παρασκευή 11 Οκτωβρίου 2013

Science News SciGuru.com

Researchers Identify Liver Cancer Progenitor Cells Before Tumors Become Visible
Ancient DNA Reveals Multiple Stages of Settlement in Europe, National Geographic’s Genographic Project Finds
A Silent Epidemic: Minor Traumatic Brain Injury
Brain development differs in children who stutter
The right supramarginal gyrus plays an important role in empathy
Scientists Find Potential New Targets for Anti-Inflammatory Therapies
Two newly detected celestial objects without host star
Printed electronics: A multi-touch sensor customizable with scissors

Researchers Identify Liver Cancer Progenitor Cells Before Tumors Become Visible

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 12:53 PM PDT

For the first time, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have isolated and characterized the progenitor cells that eventually give rise to malignant hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors – the most common form of liver cancer. The researchers found ways to identify and isolate the HCC progenitor cells (HcPC) long before actual tumors were apparent.

Ancient DNA Reveals Multiple Stages of Settlement in Europe, National Geographic’s Genographic Project Finds

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 12:40 PM PDT

Research conducted by the National Geographic Genographic Project, a multiyear global initiative that uses DNA to map the history of human migration, is helping unravel the timing and source of human settlement in central Europe.

A Silent Epidemic: Minor Traumatic Brain Injury

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:10 AM PDT

In the United States, approximately 1.4 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year. Of those injuries, three out of four are minor TBI (mTBI)—a head injury that causes a temporary change in mental status including confusion, an altered level of consciousness, or perceptual or behavioral impairments.

Brain development differs in children who stutter

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:05 AM PDT

A new study by a University of Alberta researcher shows that children who stutter have less grey matter in key regions of the brain responsible for speech production than children who do not stutter.

The right supramarginal gyrus plays an important role in empathy

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 08:50 AM PDT

Egoism and narcissism appear to be on the rise in our society, while empathy is on the decline. And yet, the ability to put ourselves in other people’s shoes is extremely important for our coexistence. A research team headed by Tania Singer from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences has discovered that our own feelings can distort our capacity for empathy. This emotionally driven egocentricity is recognised and corrected by the brain.

Scientists Find Potential New Targets for Anti-Inflammatory Therapies

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 07:35 AM PDT

A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified key signaling proteins in the inflammation process that contribute to the development of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, sepsis and inflammatory bowel diseases. The finding highlights possible new ways of treating these inflammation disorders, which sicken or kill millions of people around the world each year.

Two newly detected celestial objects without host star

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 07:28 AM PDT

Astronomers including Niall Deacon of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) captured an image of an unusual free-floating planet. As the object has no host star, it can be observed and examined much easier than planets orbiting stars, promising insight into the details of planetary atmospheres. Can an object with as low a mass as this have formed directly, in the same way that stars form?

Printed electronics: A multi-touch sensor customizable with scissors

Posted: 10 Oct 2013 07:20 AM PDT

If a pair of trousers is too long, it is cut shorter. A board that does not fit into a bookcase is sawed to the right length. People often customize the size and shape of materials like textiles and wood without turning to specialists like tailors or carpenters. In the future this should be possible with electronics, according to the vision of computer scientists from Saarbrücken. Together with researchers from the MIT Media Lab, they developed a printable multi-touch sensor whose shape and size everybody can alter.