Science News SciGuru.com

Arctic cyclones more common than previously thought
Higher vitamin D levels associated with better cognition and mood in Parkinson's Disease patients
Discovery could offer new way to treat prion diseases
When a Doctor’s Visit Is a Guilt Trip
ANDRILL team discovers ice-loving sea anemones in Antarctica
Unraveling Misfolded Molecules Using "Reprogrammed" Yeast Protein Could Lead to New Brain Disease Therapies
Head injury increases suicide risk
Drugs That Weaken Traumatic Memories Hold Promise for PTSD Treatment
Neuroscientists find the brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds
Self-control Is Not in Short Supply (Despite What It Looks Like)
Scientists identify factors that trigger ALT-ernative cancer cell growth
The way to a chimpanzee's heart is through its stomach
Scientists Develop Promising Drug Candidates for Pain, Addiction
New breast cancer stem cell findings explain how cancer spreads
Nature Study Discovers Chromosome Therapy to Correct a Severe Chromosome Defect
Simulation experts creating virtual house for healthcare training
Non-coding DNA implicated in type 2 diabetes
Study Demonstrates Need to Change Scoring System for Heart Disease
Scientists Solve 40-year Mystery of How Sodium Controls Opioid Brain Signaling
Women at Greater Risk of Angioplasty Complications, Yale Research Finds

Arctic cyclones more common than previously thought

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 08:01 PM PST

From 2000 to 2010, about 1,900 cyclones churned across the top of the world each year, leaving warm water and air in their wakes – and melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.

That’s about 40 percent more of these Arctic storms than previously thought, according to a new study of vast troves of weather data that previously were synthesized at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC).

Higher vitamin D levels associated with better cognition and mood in Parkinson's Disease patients

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:33 PM PST

A new study exploring vitamin D levels in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) opens up the possibility of a new avenue of early intervention that may delay or prevent the onset of cognitive impairment and depression. The findings are published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease.

Discovery could offer new way to treat prion diseases

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 01:08 PM PST

New research from the University of Alberta has uncovered a quality control mechanism in brain cells that may help keep deadly neurological diseases in check for months or years.

The new findings “present a breakthrough in understanding the secret life of prion molecules in the brain and may offer a new way to treat prion diseases,” said project leader David Westaway, director of the Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases and neurology professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the U of A.

When a Doctor’s Visit Is a Guilt Trip

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:53 AM PST

Have you ever left a doctor’s office feeling ashamed or guilty? Chances are one in two that you answered “yes,” according to research from the University of California, San Diego. And what happened next? Perhaps you were motivated to make changes in an unhealthy behavior. Or, did you just lie to that doctor on subsequent visits? Avoid him or her? Maybe even terminate treatment entirely?

ANDRILL team discovers ice-loving sea anemones in Antarctica

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:35 AM PST

Using a camera-equipped robot to explore beneath the Ross Ice Shelf off Antarctica, scientists and engineers with the Antarctic Geological Drilling (ANDRILL) Program made an astonishing discovery.

Thousands upon thousands of small sea anemones were burrowed into the underside of the ice shelf, their tentacles protruding into frigid water like flowers on a ceiling.

"The pictures blew my mind," said Marymegan Daly of Ohio State University, who studied the specimens retrieved by ANDRILL team members in Antarctica.

Unraveling Misfolded Molecules Using "Reprogrammed" Yeast Protein Could Lead to New Brain Disease Therapies

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:16 AM PST

At the heart of brain diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease is protein misfolding, in which distorted proteins are unable to perform their normal functions. At present, there is no known way to reverse protein misfolding.

Head injury increases suicide risk

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 10:04 AM PST

Survivors of traumatic brain injury are three times more likely to die prematurely than the general population, often from suicide or fatal injuries, finds a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Oxford. Concussion, a milder form of head injury, doubled the risk of premature death. The findings are published in the science journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Drugs That Weaken Traumatic Memories Hold Promise for PTSD Treatment

Posted: 16 Jan 2014 09:25 AM PST

Memories of traumatic events often last a lifetime because they are so difficult to treat through behavioral approaches. A preclinical study in mice published by Cell Press January 16th in the journal Cell reveals that drugs known as histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) can enhance the brain's ability to permanently replace old traumatic memories with new memories, opening promising avenues for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders.

Neuroscientists find the brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 09:26 AM PST

Imagine seeing a dozen pictures flash by in a fraction of a second. You might think it would be impossible to identify any images you see for such a short time. However, a team of neuroscientists from MIT has found that the human brain can process entire images that the eye sees for as little as 13 milliseconds — the first evidence of such rapid processing speed.

Self-control Is Not in Short Supply (Despite What It Looks Like)

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 09:18 AM PST

It might be true that people have a harder time controlling themselves when they are tired at the end of the day, but that doesn't mean that self-control is a limited resource, say authors in the Cell Press publication Trends in Cognitive Sciences on January 15th. The trick to fighting that couch potato urge is for you (or your kids) to find pleasure in productive activities.

Scientists identify factors that trigger ALT-ernative cancer cell growth

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:23 AM PST

Highly diverse cancers share one trait: the capacity for endless cell division. Unregulated growth is due in large part to the fact that tumor cells can rebuild protective ends of their chromosomes, which are made of repeated DNA sequences and proteins. Normally, cell division halts once these structures, called telomeres, wear down. But cancer cells keep on going by deploying one of two strategies to reconstruct telomeres.

The way to a chimpanzee's heart is through its stomach

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 07:12 AM PST

The ability to form long-term cooperative relationships between unrelated individuals is one of the main reasons for human’s extraordinary biological success, yet little is known about its evolution and mechanisms. The hormone oxytocin, however, plays a role in it. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, measured the urinary oxytocin levels in wild chimpanzees after food sharing and found them to be elevated in both donor and receiver compared to social feeding events without sharing.

Scientists Develop Promising Drug Candidates for Pain, Addiction

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:43 AM PST

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have described a pair of drug candidates that advance the search for new treatments for pain, addiction and other disorders.

New breast cancer stem cell findings explain how cancer spreads

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:36 AM PST

Breast cancer stem cells exist in two different states and each state plays a role in how cancer spreads, according to an international collaboration of researchers. Their finding sheds new light on the process that makes cancer a deadly disease.

Nature Study Discovers Chromosome Therapy to Correct a Severe Chromosome Defect

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:27 AM PST

Geneticists from Ohio, California and Japan joined forces in a quest to correct a faulty chromosome through cellular reprogramming. Their study, published online January 12, 2014 in Nature, used stem cells to correct a defective “ring chromosome” with a normal chromosome. Such therapy has the promise to correct chromosome abnormalities that give rise to birth defects, mental disabilities and growth limitations.

Simulation experts creating virtual house for healthcare training

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 08:24 AM PST

Simulation experts at the Ohio Supercomputer Center are developing a virtual environment in which health care professionals can safely learn about potential hazards they might encounter when providing in-home services.

Non-coding DNA implicated in type 2 diabetes

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 07:22 AM PST

Variations in non-coding sections of the genome might be important contributors to type 2 diabetes risk, according to a new study.

DNA sequences that don't encode proteins were once dismissed as "junk DNA", but scientists are increasingly discovering that some regions are important for controlling which genes are switched on.

The new study, published in Nature Genetics, is one of the first to show how such regions, called regulatory elements, can influence people's risk of disease.

Study Demonstrates Need to Change Scoring System for Heart Disease

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 12:26 PM PST

A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine shows that one of the most widely used systems for predicting risk of adverse heart events should be re-evaluated. A surprise finding was that coronary artery calcium (CAC) density may be protective against cardiovascular events. The study of CAC will be published in the January 15 issue of theJournal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Scientists Solve 40-year Mystery of How Sodium Controls Opioid Brain Signaling

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 09:33 AM PST

Scientists have discovered how the element sodium influences the signaling of a major class of brain cell receptors, known as opioid receptors. The discovery, from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and the University of North Carolina (UNC), suggests new therapeutic approaches to a host of brain-related medical conditions.

Women at Greater Risk of Angioplasty Complications, Yale Research Finds

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 07:59 AM PST

Women under the age of 55 have more complications after undergoing angioplasty, new research from the Yale schools of public health and medicine has found.

Use of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), more commonly known as angioplasty, has grown rapidly since 1990 among both men (43 percent) and women (63 percent). The nonsurgical procedure involves running a catheter through an artery to an area of blockage in the heart. A balloon is then inflated to open the artery and improve blood flow. Oftentimes, a stent is also inserted to keep the artery open.