ScienceDaily: Top Health News

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• New patient-friendly way to make stem cells for fight against heart disease
• Scientists identify key biological mechanism in multiple sclerosis
• Sneak peek at early course of bladder infection caused by widespread, understudied parasite
• Promising drug slows down advance of Parkinson's disease and improves symptoms
• Milk drinkers may yet get heart-healthy omega-3s by the glass
• Controversial treatment for autism may do more harm than good, researchers find
• Defining career paths in health systems improvement
• Proteins that work at the ends of DNA could provide cancer insight
• Chromatin remodeling: Activating ACL1 with a little help from 'friends'
• Autism severity may stem from fear
• Delayed treatment for advanced breast cancer has 'profound effect'
• Post-divorce journaling may hinder healing for some
• Precisely engineering 3-D brain tissues
• Body language, not facial expressions, broadcasts what's happening to us
• X-ray laser helps fight sleeping sickness: Exploiting parasite's weak spot may lead to new treatments
• Mild vibrations may provide exercise-like benefits for obese
• Roadmap to metabolic reprogramming for aging
• Biology behind brain development disorder: Mutations in the gene, UBE3B, cause a rare genetic disorder in children
• Resolving debate about how tumors spread
• Insects beware: The sea anemone is coming
• Bacteria hijack host cell process, create their own food supply to become infectious
• Children with higher intelligence less likely to report chronic widespread pain in adulthood
• Cancer drug shows promise in eradicating latent HIV infection
• Homicide spreads like infectious disease
• Newly created fly to study how a normal cell turns cancerous
• Testicular cancer risk tripled in boys whose testes fail to descend
• Findings support safety of whooping cough vaccine for older adults
• Relative length of adults' fingers indicator of verbal aggression: Prenatal exposure to testosterone linked
• Short-term exposure to essential oils lowers blood pressure and heart rate... but only when exposure is less than one hour
• Making music together connects brains
• Brain inflammation likely key initiator to Prion and Parkinson's disease
• Immune cells of the brain renew hopes for curing Alzheimer’s disease

New patient-friendly way to make stem cells for fight against heart disease Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:26 PM PST Scientists have developed a patient-friendly and efficient way to make stem cells out of blood, increasing the hope that scientists could one day use stem cells made from patients' own cells to treat cardiovascular disease.

Scientists identify key biological mechanism in multiple sclerosis Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:39 PM PST Scientists have defined for the first time a key underlying process implicated in multiple sclerosis -- a disease that causes progressive and irreversible damage to nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This discovery offers new hope for the millions who suffer from this debilitating disease for which there is no cure.

Sneak peek at early course of bladder infection caused by widespread, understudied parasite Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:39 PM PST Using standard tools of the molecular-biology trade and a new, much-improved animal model of a prevalent but poorly understood tropical parasitic disease called urogenital schistosomiasis, researchers were able to obtain "snapshots" of shifting gene activity levels during the early, acute phase of what for most becomes a chronic bladder infection.

Promising drug slows down advance of Parkinson's disease and improves symptoms Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:38 PM PST Treating Parkinson's disease patients with the experimental drug GM1 ganglioside improved symptoms and slowed their progression during a two and a half-year trial.

Milk drinkers may yet get heart-healthy omega-3s by the glass Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:38 PM PST Food science researchers may have reeled milk into the fish oil delivery system, showing it is possible to incorporate omega-3 fatty acids into milk and dairy-based beverages in amounts sufficient to promote heart health, without destroying the milk's taste. The innovation may be a way to help people who do not eat fish get some of the heart-healthy benefits of fish oil.

Controversial treatment for autism may do more harm than good, researchers find Posted: 29 Nov 2012 01:21 PM PST A controversial treatment for autism spectrum disorder is not only ineffective but may be harmful, according to a new study.

Defining career paths in health systems improvement Posted: 29 Nov 2012 12:20 PM PST Among numerous programs aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of the US health care system, training the next generation of experts needed to help lead these efforts has received inadequate, according to three physicians. They propose a framework for career development in what they call "health systems improvement."

Proteins that work at the ends of DNA could provide cancer insight Posted: 29 Nov 2012 12:20 PM PST New insights into a protein complex that regulates the very tips of chromosomes could improve methods of screening anti-cancer drugs. Researchers determined the binding mechanism of proteins that protect and regulate telomeres, segments of repeating DNA units that cap the ends of chromosomes and a key target of cancer researchers.

Chromatin remodeling: Activating ACL1 with a little help from 'friends' Posted: 29 Nov 2012 12:19 PM PST Chromatin remodeling —- the packaging and unpackaging of genomic DNA and its associated proteins —- regulates a host of fundamental cellular processes including gene transcription, DNA repair, programmed cell death as well as cell fate. In their latest study, scientists are continuing to unravel the finicky details of how these architectural alterations are controlled.

Autism severity may stem from fear Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:35 AM PST New research on autism shows that children with the diagnosis struggle to let go of old, outdated fears. Even more significantly, the study found that this rigid fearfulness is linked to the severity of classic symptoms of autism, such as repeated movements and resistance to change.

Delayed treatment for advanced breast cancer has 'profound effect' Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:35 AM PST Results from a recent study show women who wait more than 60 days to begin treatment for advanced breast cancer face significantly higher risks of dying than women who start therapy shortly after diagnosis.

Post-divorce journaling may hinder healing for some Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:35 AM PST Following a divorce or separation, many people are encouraged by loved ones or health-care professionals to keep journals about their feelings. But for some, writing in-depth about those feelings immediately after a split may do more harm than good, according to new research.

Precisely engineering 3-D brain tissues Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:34 AM PST Borrowing from microfabrication techniques used in the semiconductor industry, engineers have developed a simple and inexpensive way to create three-dimensional brain tissues in a lab dish.

Body language, not facial expressions, broadcasts what's happening to us Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:33 AM PST If you think that you can judge by examining someone's facial expressions if he has just hit the jackpot in the lottery or lost everything in the stock market -- think again. Researchers have discovered that -- despite what leading theoretical models and conventional wisdom might indicate -- it just doesn't work that way.

X-ray laser helps fight sleeping sickness: Exploiting parasite's weak spot may lead to new treatments Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:33 AM PST Scientists have mapped a weak spot in the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, pinpointing a promising new target for treating a disease that kills tens of thousands of people each year.

Mild vibrations may provide exercise-like benefits for obese Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:06 AM PST If you're looking to get some of the benefits of exercise without doing the work, here's some good news. A new research report shows that low-intensity vibrations led to improvements in the immune function of obese mice. If the same effect can be found in people, this could have clinical benefits for obese people suffering from a wide range of immune problems related to obesity.

Roadmap to metabolic reprogramming for aging Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:05 AM PST To survey previously uncharted territory, a team of researchers have created an "atlas" that maps more than 1,500 unique landmarks within mitochondria that could provide clues to the metabolic connections between caloric restriction and aging.

Biology behind brain development disorder: Mutations in the gene, UBE3B, cause a rare genetic disorder in children Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:04 AM PST A combination of sequencing and mouse models were used to identify the gene responsible for a brain developmental disorder seen in four patients. The study also shows that the biology uncovered in the mouse model helps to understand the symptoms in patients.

Resolving debate about how tumors spread Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:03 AM PST Scientists have shown for the first time how cancer cells control the ON/OFF switch of a program used by developing embryos to effectively metastasize in vivo, breaking free and spreading to other parts of the body, where they can proliferate and grow into secondary tumors.

Insects beware: The sea anemone is coming Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:18 AM PST Insects are becoming resistant to insecticides, presenting a growing need to develop novel ways of pest control. New research shows that the sea anemone's venom harbors toxins that could pose a new generation of environmentally friendly insecticides, which avoid insect resistance. These toxins disable ion channels that mediate pain and inflammation, and could also spur drug development aimed at pain, cardiac disorders, epilepsy and seizure disorders, and immunological diseases.

Bacteria hijack host cell process, create their own food supply to become infectious Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:18 AM PST Bacteria that cause the tick-borne disease anaplasmosis in humans create their own food supply by hijacking a process in host cells that normally should help kill the pathogenic bugs, scientists have found.

Children with higher intelligence less likely to report chronic widespread pain in adulthood Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:18 AM PST There is a correlation between childhood intelligence and chronic widespread pain (CWP) in adulthood, according to a new study. About 10-15 percent of adults report CWP, a common musculoskeletal complaint that tends to occur more frequently among women and those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. CWP is a core symptom of fibromyalgia and is one of the most common reasons for consulting a rheumatologist.

Cancer drug shows promise in eradicating latent HIV infection Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:35 AM PST Breakthrough drugs help people to live longer with HIV, but more research is needed for an actual cure. One challenge involves eradicating the virus when it is latent in the body. New research suggests the cancer drug, JQ1, may be useful in purging latent HIV infection by activating the virus in the presence of potent therapy -- essentially a dead end for the virus.

Homicide spreads like infectious disease Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:35 AM PST Homicide moves through a city in a process similar to infectious disease, according to a new study that may give police a new tool in tracking and ultimately preventing murders.

Newly created fly to study how a normal cell turns cancerous Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:35 AM PST The wing of a fruit fly may hold the key to unraveling the genetic and molecular events that transform a normal cell into a cancerous one. The study, conducted on Drosophila melanogaster has reproduced each of the steps known to take place when a healthy cell turns cancerous. The researchers have thus provided an inexpensive and effective model that will allow to scrutinize the genes and molecules involved in each step.

Testicular cancer risk tripled in boys whose testes fail to descend Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:39 AM PST Boys whose testes have not descended at birth -- a condition known as cryptorchidism -- are almost three times as likely to develop testicular cancer in later life, finds a new analysis.

Findings support safety of whooping cough vaccine for older adults Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:37 AM PST A new study of the safety of the tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine supports the recommendation that those 65 and older get the vaccine to protect themselves and others, particularly young babies, from pertussis. The findings come as reported US cases of the bacterial infection, also known as whopping cough, are at the highest level since the 1950s.

Relative length of adults' fingers indicator of verbal aggression: Prenatal exposure to testosterone linked Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:37 AM PST A new study links verbal aggression to prenatal testosterone exposure. Scientists used the 2D:4D measure to predict verbal aggression. This study is the first to use this method to examine prenatal testosterone exposure as a determinant of a communication trait.

Short-term exposure to essential oils lowers blood pressure and heart rate... but only when exposure is less than one hour Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:34 AM PST The scents which permeate our health spas from aromatic essential oils may provide more benefits than just a sense of rest and well-being.

Making music together connects brains Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:34 AM PST Anyone who has ever played in an orchestra will be familiar with the phenomenon: the impulse for one's own actions does not seem to come from one's own mind alone, but rather seems to be controlled by the coordinated activity of the group. And indeed, interbrain networks do emerge when making music together – this has now been demonstrated. Scientists used electrodes to trace the brain waves of guitarists playing in duets. They also observed substantial differences in the musicians' brain activity, depending upon whether musicians were leading or following their companion.

Brain inflammation likely key initiator to Prion and Parkinson's disease Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:33 AM PST Researchers have shown that neuro-inflammation plays a crucial role in initiating prion disease.

Immune cells of the brain renew hopes for curing Alzheimer’s disease Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:31 AM PST A new experimental study carried out in mice shows that microglia, immune cells of the brain, might play a key role in protecting the brain from Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is long believed that toxic sticky protein deposits in the brain called amyloid beta (Aβ) are responsible for loss of memory in AD patients. Earlier studies have shown that microglia can remove Aβ protein from the brain and therefore be vital for successful therapy. New research indicates that microglia may play a significant role irrespective of their capacity to remove brain Aβ deposits.

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ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

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• How, in the animal world, a daughter avoids mating with her father: Paternal 'voice' recognition
• First direct evidence linking TB infection in cattle to local badger populations
• New insights into mosquitoes' role as involuntary bioterrorists
• Garbage bug may help lower the cost of biofuel
• Human-caused climate change signal emerges from the noise
• Adapting fish defenses to block human infections: Antimicrobial peptide of fish gills inspire clean surfaces
• More solid measure of melting in polar ice sheets: Planet's two largest ice sheets losing ice fast
• X-ray laser helps fight sleeping sickness: Exploiting parasite's weak spot may lead to new treatments
• Grand Canyon as old as the dinosaurs: Dates for carving of western Grand Canyon pushed back 60 million years
• Oceanic crust breakthrough: Solving a magma mystery
• Sources of E. coli are not always what they seem
• New approach allows past data to be used to improve future climate projections
• Roadmap to metabolic reprogramming for aging
• Insects beware: The sea anemone is coming
• First-ever hyperspectral images of Earth's auroras: New camera provides tantalizing clues of new atmospheric phenomenon
• Camera trap photo of rare cat wins prize
• An ocean away: Two new encrusting anemones found in unexpected locations
• Travels in northeastern Brazil: Unfolding the reptile fauna of Lençóis Maranhenses
• Rules devised for building ideal protein molecules from scratch

How, in the animal world, a daughter avoids mating with her father: Paternal 'voice' recognition Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:26 PM PST Paternal recognition – being able to identify males from your father's line – is important for the avoidance of inbreeding, and one way that mammals can do this is through recognizing the calls of paternal kin. This was thought to occur only in large-brained animals with complex social groups, but a new study provides evidence in a tiny, solitary primate that challenges this theory.

First direct evidence linking TB infection in cattle to local badger populations Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:39 PM PST Transmission of tuberculosis between cattle and badgers has been tracked at a local scale for the first time, using a combination of bacterial whole genome DNA sequencing and mathematical modelling. The study highlights the potential for the use of next generation sequencing as a tool for disentangling the impact of badgers on TB outbreaks in cows at the farm level.

New insights into mosquitoes' role as involuntary bioterrorists Posted: 29 Nov 2012 02:37 PM PST Biologists have discovered mosquitoes possess a previously unknown mechanism for destroying pathogens that takes advantage of the peculiarities of the insect's circulatory system to increase its effectiveness.

Garbage bug may help lower the cost of biofuel Posted: 29 Nov 2012 01:21 PM PST One reason that biofuels are expensive to make is that the organisms used to ferment the biomass cannot make effective use of hemicellulose, the next most abundant cell wall component after cellulose. They convert only the glucose in the cellulose, thus using less than half of the available plant material. Researchers have been doing research on an organism that they think could be used to solve this problem.

Human-caused climate change signal emerges from the noise Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:35 AM PST By comparing simulations from 20 different computer models to satellite observations, climate scientists have found that tropospheric and stratospheric temperature changes are clearly related to human activities.

Adapting fish defenses to block human infections: Antimicrobial peptide of fish gills inspire clean surfaces Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:35 AM PST Living in an environment teaming with bacteria and fungi, fish have evolved powerful defenses, including antimicrobial peptides located in their gills. Undergraduate researchers are studying the biology and mechanics of one of those peptides with the aim of creating engineered surfaces that can kill bacteria responsible for foodborne illnesses and hospital-acquired infections.

More solid measure of melting in polar ice sheets: Planet's two largest ice sheets losing ice fast Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:33 AM PST Climatologists have reconciled their measurements of ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland over the past two decades. A second article looks at how to monitor and understand accelerating losses from the planet's two largest continental ice sheets.

X-ray laser helps fight sleeping sickness: Exploiting parasite's weak spot may lead to new treatments Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:33 AM PST Scientists have mapped a weak spot in the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, pinpointing a promising new target for treating a disease that kills tens of thousands of people each year.

Grand Canyon as old as the dinosaurs: Dates for carving of western Grand Canyon pushed back 60 million years Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:33 AM PST An analysis of mineral grains from the bottom of the western Grand Canyon indicates it was largely carved out by about 70 million years ago -- a time when dinosaurs were around and may have even peeked over the rim, says a new study.

Oceanic crust breakthrough: Solving a magma mystery Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:06 AM PST Oceanic crust covers two-thirds of Earth's solid surface, but scientists still don't entirely understand the process by which it is made. Analysis of more than 600 samples of oceanic crust reveals a systemic pattern that alters long-held beliefs about how this process works, explaining a crucial step in understanding Earth's geological deep processes.

Sources of E. coli are not always what they seem Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:06 AM PST Scientists have identified sources of Escherichia coli bacteria that could help restore the reputation of local livestock. Studies suggest that in some parts of California, pathogens in local waterways are more often carried there via runoff from urban areas, not from animal production facilities.

New approach allows past data to be used to improve future climate projections Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:06 AM PST Climate scientists are still grappling with one of the main questions of modern times: how high will global temperatures rise if the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide doubles. Many researchers are turning to the past because it holds clues to how nature reacted to climate change before the anthropogenic impact. The divergent results of this research, however, have made it difficult to make precise predictions about the impact of increased carbon dioxide on future warming.

Roadmap to metabolic reprogramming for aging Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:05 AM PST To survey previously uncharted territory, a team of researchers have created an "atlas" that maps more than 1,500 unique landmarks within mitochondria that could provide clues to the metabolic connections between caloric restriction and aging.

Insects beware: The sea anemone is coming Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:18 AM PST Insects are becoming resistant to insecticides, presenting a growing need to develop novel ways of pest control. New research shows that the sea anemone's venom harbors toxins that could pose a new generation of environmentally friendly insecticides, which avoid insect resistance. These toxins disable ion channels that mediate pain and inflammation, and could also spur drug development aimed at pain, cardiac disorders, epilepsy and seizure disorders, and immunological diseases.

First-ever hyperspectral images of Earth's auroras: New camera provides tantalizing clues of new atmospheric phenomenon Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:18 AM PST Hoping to expand our understanding of auroras and other fleeting atmospheric events, a team of space-weather researchers designed and built a new camera with unprecedented capabilities that can simultaneously image multiple spectral bands, in essence different wavelengths or colors, of light. The camera produced the first-ever hyperspectral images of auroras -- commonly referred to as "the Northern (or Southern) Lights"-- and may already have revealed a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon.

Camera trap photo of rare cat wins prize Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:17 AM PST A photo of a little known Bolivian cat species called an oncilla has been taken by a camera trap.

An ocean away: Two new encrusting anemones found in unexpected locations Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:35 AM PST A group of marine biologists from Japan has discovered two new species of encrusting anemone, thousands of kilometers away from the single other known species of the group. The first species from Madagascar was found in 1972 and never reported again, while the new species are from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and southern Japan.

Travels in northeastern Brazil: Unfolding the reptile fauna of Lençóis Maranhenses Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:35 AM PST Lençóis Maranhenses National Park contains a dune field measuring about 120,000 hectares in the Amazonian transition with Cerrado and Caatinga. In this peculiar Brazilian ecosystem, which reptiles would you expect to encounter most frequently? In order to answer a question like this, biologists spent 235 days in fieldwork, and eventually produced the first list of reptile species in the park.

Rules devised for building ideal protein molecules from scratch Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:39 AM PST By following certain rules, scientists can prepare architectural plans for building ideal protein molecules not found in the real world. Based on computer renditions, previously non-existent proteins can be produced from scratch in the lab. In our imperfect world, proteins can be beset by bulges, kinks, strains, and improperly buried parts, and many diseases arise from protein malformations. The researchers achieved a library of several ideal structures. The principles could aid in designing drugs, vaccines, industrial enzymes, fuels, and pollutant removers.

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