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• Dignity in dementia: New research reveals the challenges of providing good nutrition in care homes
• Iron-containing inflammatory cells seen in Alzheimer's brains
• New Pap smear schedule led to fewer chlamydia tests, new study suggests
• One-third of colorectal cancers diagnosed before 35 are hereditary, study finds
• Hereditary swellings caused by defective blood protein
• Technique may reveal the age of moon rocks during spaceflight
• Fossil fuel emissions will complicate radiocarbon dating
• New insights into biofilm formation could lead to better therapies, but mysteries remain
• Infants use expectations to shape their brains
• Novel monoclonal antibodies show promise for Alzheimer's disease treatment
• Football helmet tests may not account for concussion-prone actions, study suggests
• How music training alters the teenage brain
• Inflammatory link discovered between arthritis, heart valve disease
• New tool for investigating RNA gone awry
• Prawn solution to spread of deadly disease identified
• Lack of knowledge on animal disease leaves humans at risk
• New method to deliver glucose to cancer cells could prove key to defeating deadly cancers
• Michelangelo likely used mathematics when painting the Creation of Adam
• High cost of hydrogen pipelines calculated: Research shows how to reduce it
• Achieving equity in higher education
• Study uncovers key differences among ALS patients
• Celebrity influence on breast cancer screening
• Abundance of certain elements in Earth dictate whether plate tectonics can happen
• The New York Times can predict your future weight
• Changing climate lengthens forest fire season
• Is Facebook use always associated with poorer body image and risky dieting?
• Teens' overall substance use declining, but marijuana use rising
• HIV control through treatment durably prevents heterosexual transmission of virus
• Property of non-stick pans improves solar cell efficiency
• Perovskite solar technology shows quick energy returns
• NASA satellite camera provides 'EPIC' view of Earth
• For kids with injured ankles, less treatment may be more
• Ocean acidification may cause dramatic changes to phytoplankton
• Sustained benefit of early antiretroviral therapy
• Better off apart: Wasp genera Microplitis and Snellenius revised and proved separate
• Mouse model tests health risks of circadian disturbances
• Inhaled cannabis shown effective for diabetic neuropathy pain
• Poverty's most insidious damage is to a child's brain
• State regulations linked to late cancer diagnoses
• Life-saving breast cancer drugs going untaken in Appalachia
• Solar events unlikely to trigger birth defects on Earth
• Rare form: Novel structures built from DNA emerge
• A cause of mental retardation, autism discovered
• Novel glycoengineering technology gives qualitative leap for biologics drug research
• 'Pill on a string' could help spot early signs of cancer of the gullet
• Cool summer of 2013 boosted Arctic sea ice
• Gene expression, immune system linked with cancer survival rates
• T-cell receptor therapy achieves encouraging clinical responses in multiple myeloma
• Inflammatory bowel disease genetically similar in Europeans, non-Europeans
• Spintronics just got faster
• Why offspring cope better with climate change: It's all in the genes
• Study shows promise of precision medicine for most common type of lymphoma
• Child's home address predicts hospitalization risk for common respiratory diseases
• New adolescent friendship study confirms 'birds of a feather flock together - stay together'
• Scientists stopping small insects from doing big damage to corn
• Evidence for serotonergic dissociation between anxiety, fear
• How neurons remember
• Warming slow-down not the end of climate change
• Researchers beat untreatable eczema with arthritis drug
• First realization of invisible absorbers and sensors

Dignity in dementia: New research reveals the challenges of providing good nutrition in care homes Posted: 20 Jul 2015 06:21 PM PDT Unexplained weight loss is often seen in people with dementia, which can lead to further complications, including mental and physical deterioration. New research has revealed the challenges of providing good nutrition and hydration in people with dementia who live in care homes.

Iron-containing inflammatory cells seen in Alzheimer's brains Posted: 20 Jul 2015 02:58 PM PDT Examining post-mortem tissue from the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, investigators identified what appear to be iron-containing microglia in a particular part of the hippocampus, a key brain structure whose integrity is critical to memory formation.

New Pap smear schedule led to fewer chlamydia tests, new study suggests Posted: 20 Jul 2015 02:56 PM PDT It's a tale of two tests: one for early signs of cervical cancer, the other for the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia. But a change in the recommended schedule for one may have dramatically lowered the chances that young women would get the other, a new study finds.

One-third of colorectal cancers diagnosed before 35 are hereditary, study finds Posted: 20 Jul 2015 02:56 PM PDT Hereditary colorectal cancers, caused by inherited gene mutations, are relatively rare for most patients. However, researchers have discovered a particularly high prevalence of hereditary cancers among those diagnosed with the disease before the age of 35.

Hereditary swellings caused by defective blood protein Posted: 20 Jul 2015 01:18 PM PDT Hereditary angioedema type III is a rare, hereditary, and serious disorder, characterized by painful swellings in the skin and other organs. An international team of scientists has published a study in which they show that the disease is caused by a defective blood protein, the so-called coagulation factor XII. The results from this study may contribute to future treatment strategies for patients with the disease.

Technique may reveal the age of moon rocks during spaceflight Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:45 PM PDT Researchers are developing instruments and methods for measuring the ages of rocks encountered during space missions to the Moon or other planets. Many of the techniques used to date rocks on Earth are not practical in spaceflight, but a technique called laser ablation resonance ionization mass spectrometry can avoid the need for sophisticated sample preparation.

Fossil fuel emissions will complicate radiocarbon dating Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:45 PM PDT Fossil fuel emissions could soon make it impossible for radiocarbon dating to distinguish new materials from artefacts that are hundreds of years old.

New insights into biofilm formation could lead to better therapies, but mysteries remain Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT Biofilms are tough, opportunistic, highly antibiotic resistant bacterial coatings that form on catheters and on medical devices implanted within the body. Investigators have now shown that a 'messenger molecule' produced by the opportunistic human pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, encourages bacteria to colonize catheters in the bladders of laboratory mice, where they form biofilms.

Infants use expectations to shape their brains Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT Infants can use their expectations about the world to rapidly shape their developing brains, researchers have found. A series of experiments with infants ages 5 to 7 months has shown that portions of babies' brains responsible for visual processing respond not just to the presence of visual stimuli, but also to the mere expectation of visual stimuli.

Novel monoclonal antibodies show promise for Alzheimer's disease treatment Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT Scientists have evidence that monoclonal antibodies they developed may provide the blueprint for effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease.

Football helmet tests may not account for concussion-prone actions, study suggests Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT Concussions in football are caused by the sudden rotation of the skull, mounting evidence suggests. Researchers now have evidence that suggests current football helmet tests don't account for these movements.

How music training alters the teenage brain Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT Music training, begun as late as high school, may help improve the teenage brain's responses to sound and sharpen hearing and language skills, suggests a new study. The authors say that these results highlight music's place in the high school curriculum.

Inflammatory link discovered between arthritis, heart valve disease Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT Researchers have used models to identify a potential link between excess production of inflammatory proteins that cause rheumatoid arthritis and the development of heart valve disease. The research team discovered that a critical inflammatory protein involved in rheumatoid arthritis could also lead to inflammation and disease of the heart valves, including aneurysms. The research could lead to improved treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, and suggests investigating existing medicines that dampen inflammation to treat heart valve diseases, such as rheumatic heart disease.

New tool for investigating RNA gone awry Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT RNA is a fundamental ingredient in all known forms of life -- so when RNA goes awry, a lot can go wrong. A new technology offers the first real-time method to track and observe the dynamics of RNA distribution as it is transported inside living cells. 'Sticky-flares' have the potential to help scientists understand the complexities of RNA better than any analytical technique to date and observe and study the biological and medical significance of RNA misregulation.

Prawn solution to spread of deadly disease identified Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT A deadly disease may have met its match: a bug-eyed, pint-sized crustacean. The river prawn, a natural predator of parasite-carrying snails, proves effective at curbing the spread of schistosomiasis in West Africa, new research has found.

Lack of knowledge on animal disease leaves humans at risk Posted: 20 Jul 2015 12:42 PM PDT Researchers have painted the most detailed picture to date of major infectious diseases shared between wildlife and livestock, and found a huge gap in knowledge about diseases which could spread to humans.

New method to deliver glucose to cancer cells could prove key to defeating deadly cancers Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:53 AM PDT Scientists have, for the first time, demonstrated the importance of sodium-dependent glucose transporters (SGLTs) in delivering glucose to pancreatic and prostate cancer cells. Their study results show promising evidence that current SGLT inhibitor drugs (such as those commonly used to treat diabetes) could potentially be used to block glucose uptake and reduce tumor growth in these cancers. The researchers also utilized PET imaging to measure SGLT activity, suggesting the technology could be used to better diagnose pancreatic and prostate cancers. Pancreatic and prostate cancers are among the most deadly forms of cancer in men, and new therapies are urgently needed to combat these diseases.

Michelangelo likely used mathematics when painting the Creation of Adam Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:52 AM PDT New research provides mathematical evidence that Michelangelo used the Golden Ratio of 1.6 when painting The Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Golden Ratio is found when you divide a line into two parts so that the longer part divided by the smaller part is equal to the whole length divided by the longer part.

High cost of hydrogen pipelines calculated: Research shows how to reduce it Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:52 AM PDT Scientists have put firm numbers on the high costs of installing pipelines to transport hydrogen fuel and also found a way to reduce those costs. Researchers calculated that hydrogen-specific steel pipelines can cost as much as 68 percent more than natural gas pipelines. However, they say, hydrogen transport costs could be reduced safely for most pipeline sizes and pressures by modifying industry codes to allow the use of a higher-strength grade of steel alloy without requiring thicker pipe walls.

Achieving equity in higher education Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:13 AM PDT In a retrospective account of their scholarly work over the past 45 years, researchers show how the struggle to achieve greater equity in American higher education is intimately connected to issues of character development, leadership, civic responsibility, and spirituality. The authors advocate that colleges and universities focus greater attention on developing student values and other personal qualities that will produce a new generation of citizens who are committed to creating a more just and equitable society.

Study uncovers key differences among ALS patients Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:13 AM PDT Key differences between patients with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and those with the most common genetic form of ALS, a mutation in the C9orf72 gene have been identified by a group of researchers.

Celebrity influence on breast cancer screening Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:13 AM PDT Angelina Jolie received widespread media attention in 2013 when she told the public that she'd tested positive for BRCA1, a gene associated with an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers, and subsequently had a double mastectomy. Now research shows that this publicity did influence some women's intentions to seek out similar genetic testing.

Abundance of certain elements in Earth dictate whether plate tectonics can happen Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:13 AM PDT Planet Earth is situated in what astronomers call the Goldilocks Zone -- a sweet spot in a solar system where a planet's surface temperature is neither too hot nor too cold. An ideal distance from a home star -- in Earth's case, the sun -- this habitable zone, as it is also known, creates optimal conditions that prevent water from freezing and generating a global icehouse or evaporating into space and creating a runaway greenhouse.

The New York Times can predict your future weight Posted: 20 Jul 2015 11:13 AM PDT What you're reading now secretly tells you whether your country will be skinnier or fatter in three years. After analyzing 50 years of all the food words mentioned in major newspapers like the New York Times and London Times, a new study shows that the food words trending today in 2015 will predict a country's obesity level in three years -- in 2018.

Changing climate lengthens forest fire season Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:36 AM PDT Over a 35-year period, the length of forest fire seasons worldwide increased by 18.7 percent due to more rain-free days and hotter temperatures, according to research. The study examined weather data from 1979 through 2013 to determine how a changing climate impacts forest ecosystems.

Is Facebook use always associated with poorer body image and risky dieting? Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:33 AM PDT College women who are more emotionally invested in Facebook and have lots of Facebook friends are less concerned with body size and shape and less likely to engage in risky dieting behaviors. But that's only if they aren't using Facebook to compare their bodies to their friends' bodies, according to the authors of a surprising new study.

Teens' overall substance use declining, but marijuana use rising Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:33 AM PDT Marijuana use in teenagers is on the rise, while cigarette and alcohol use are stable or declining, according to health statistics researchers. In particular, black teens are using more marijuana than in recent decades.

HIV control through treatment durably prevents heterosexual transmission of virus Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:33 AM PDT Antiretroviral treatment that consistently suppresses HIV is highly effective at preventing sexual transmission of the virus in heterosexual couples where one person is HIV-infected and the other is not, investigators report.

Property of non-stick pans improves solar cell efficiency Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:33 AM PDT A new study shows that a 'non-wetting' surface, like those to create non-stick cookware, improves solar cell efficiency.

Perovskite solar technology shows quick energy returns Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:33 AM PDT In the solar power research community, a new class of materials called perovskites is causing quite a buzz, as scientists search for technology that has a better 'energy payback time' than the silicon-based solar panels currently dominating the market. Now, a new study reports that perovskite modules are better than any commercially available solar technology when products are compared on the basis of energy payback time.

NASA satellite camera provides 'EPIC' view of Earth Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:32 AM PDT A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite has returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away.

For kids with injured ankles, less treatment may be more Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:32 AM PDT Emergency physicians can safely reduce X-rays in children with hurt ankles by as much as 23 percent and save emergency patients both money and time. These results of a cost analysis of the Low Risk Ankle Rule were published recently by experts.

Ocean acidification may cause dramatic changes to phytoplankton Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:32 AM PDT Marine biologists have found that an increased ocean acidification will dramatically affect global populations of phytoplankton -- microorganisms on the ocean surface that make up the base of the marine food chain.

Sustained benefit of early antiretroviral therapy Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:32 AM PDT Antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection provides lasting protection against the sexual transmission of the virus from infected men and women to their HIV-uninfected sexual partners, investigators have reported.

Better off apart: Wasp genera Microplitis and Snellenius revised and proved separate Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:32 AM PDT An international team conducted a research into the two parasitoid wasp genera Microplitis and Snellenius, concluding that although sometimes indistinguishable in practice, the two taxa are actually separate ones. The scientists also added 28 new species between them. While slight morphological differences set the two genera apart, biological, ecological, and molecular differences are the key to separate many species.

Mouse model tests health risks of circadian disturbances Posted: 20 Jul 2015 10:32 AM PDT People who work outside of the normal 9-5 schedule or experience frequent jet lag have been found to be at an increased risk for everything from weight gain to cancer, but there are too many variables involved to conduct multi-decade, controlled studies in humans to confirm whether sleep pattern disruption is a correlation or the cause. Now, researchers present the next best thing: a model that subjects mice to human-relevant circadian rhythm disturbances.

Inhaled cannabis shown effective for diabetic neuropathy pain Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:51 AM PDT Inhaled cannabis reduces diabetic neuropathy and the analgesic effect is dose-dependent, new research suggests. Researchers conducted a randomized, double-blind study evaluating 16 subjects to assess the efficacy and tolerability of inhaled cannabis for treating pain caused by diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).

Poverty's most insidious damage is to a child's brain Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:51 AM PDT An alarming 22 percent of U.S. children live in poverty, which can have long-lasting negative consequences on brain development, emotional health and academic achievement. Now, even more compelling evidence has been provided suggesting that growing up in poverty has detrimental effects on the brain.

State regulations linked to late cancer diagnoses Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:50 AM PDT States' regulations of health insurance and practitioners significantly influence when patients receive colorectal or breast cancer diagnoses, especially among people younger than the Medicare-eligible age of 65, according to a new study.

Life-saving breast cancer drugs going untaken in Appalachia Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:50 AM PDT Nearly one-third of breast cancer survivors in Appalachia are not taking the critical, potentially life-saving follow-up treatment -- despite having insurance that would pay for it, a troubling new study has found.

Solar events unlikely to trigger birth defects on Earth Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:49 AM PDT A new investigation has found radiation from solar events is too weak to cause worry at ground level.

Rare form: Novel structures built from DNA emerge Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:49 AM PDT Scientists have worked for many years to refine the technique of DNA origami. His aim is to compose new sets of design rules, vastly expanding the range of nanoscale architectures generated by the method. In new research, a variety of innovative nanoforms are described, each displaying unprecedented design control.

A cause of mental retardation, autism discovered Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:49 AM PDT The term intellectual disability covers a large number of clinical entities, some with known cause and others of uncertain origin. For example Down syndrome is due to an extra copy of chromosome 21 and Rett syndrome is in part caused by a mutation in the control switch gene called MeCP2. In other cases the mechanisms by which they are produced are not clearly identified. Now a research team has discovered a mechanism that identifies a cause of intellectual disabilities in these puzzling cases.

Novel glycoengineering technology gives qualitative leap for biologics drug research Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:49 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a ground-breaking new technique of improving biotech drugs to offer better, cheaper and more effective drugs to combat cancer, arthritis and many other disorders.

'Pill on a string' could help spot early signs of cancer of the gullet Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:49 AM PDT A 'pill on a string' could help doctors detect esophageal cancer -- cancer of the gullet -- at an early stage, helping them overcome the problem of wide variation between biopsies.

Cool summer of 2013 boosted Arctic sea ice Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:49 AM PDT The volume of Arctic sea ice increased by a third after the summer of 2013 as the unusually cool air temperatures prevented the ice from melting, according to scientists. This suggests that the ice pack in the Northern hemisphere is more sensitive to changes in summer melting than it is to winter cooling, a finding which will help researchers to predict future changes in its volume.

Gene expression, immune system linked with cancer survival rates Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:47 AM PDT Physicians have long sought a way to accurately predict cancer patients' survival outcomes by looking at biological details of the specific cancers they have. But despite concerted efforts, no such clinical crystal ball exists for the majority of cancers. Now researchers have compiled a database that integrates gene expression patterns of 39 types of cancer from nearly 18,000 patients with data about how long those patients lived.

T-cell receptor therapy achieves encouraging clinical responses in multiple myeloma Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:47 AM PDT Results from a clinical trial investigating a new T cell receptor therapy that uses a person's own immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells demonstrated a clinical response in 80 percent of multiple myeloma patients with advanced disease after undergoing autologous stem cell transplants.

Inflammatory bowel disease genetically similar in Europeans, non-Europeans Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:47 AM PDT The first genetic study of inflammatory bowel disease across diverse populations has shown that the regions of the genome underlying the disease are consistent around the world. It suggests that the biology underlying disease is also consistent and that drugs developed from genetic studies in one population could be used worldwide. This study compared nearly 10,000 people of East Asian, Indian or Iranian descent with 86,640 people from Europe, North America and Oceania.

Spintronics just got faster Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:47 AM PDT In a tremendous boost for spintronic technologies, scientists have shown that electrons can jump through spins much faster than previously thought.

Why offspring cope better with climate change: It's all in the genes Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:47 AM PDT In a world first study, researchers have unlocked the genetic mystery of why some fish are able to adjust to warming oceans. Researchers examined how the fish's genes responded after several generations living at higher temperatures predicted under climate change.

Study shows promise of precision medicine for most common type of lymphoma Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:47 AM PDT Patients with a specific molecular subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma are more likely to respond to the drug ibrutinib (Imbruvica) than patients with another molecular subtype of the disease, a new study shows.

Child's home address predicts hospitalization risk for common respiratory diseases Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:47 AM PDT Children who require hospitalization for several common respiratory illnesses tend to live in inner-city neighborhoods with less than optimal socioeconomic conditions, according to researchers.

New adolescent friendship study confirms 'birds of a feather flock together - stay together' Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:06 AM PDT No one likes to lose a friend, especially adolescents. Adolescent friendships are fleeting. The majority dissolve after a year or two. But why do friendships end? Researchers sought to answer this question by examining whether adolescent friendships end because of undesirable characteristics of friends, because of differences between friends, or both. They tracked friendships over six years, measuring the effect of both dissimilarities and undesirable individual attributes in predicting when an adolescent friendship would end.

Scientists stopping small insects from doing big damage to corn Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT A cornfield can often be a far-from-optimal host for pests such as the corn earworm. New research is striving to keep it that way.

Evidence for serotonergic dissociation between anxiety, fear Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT What had been clustered as anxiety disorders is not homogenous in terms of functioning of the serotonergic system, an international team of researchers suggests. According to the authors, this distinction is important to the ongoing efforts in order to re-categorize psychiatric disorders based on etiological variables and may also help to give direction to the development of new treatments.

How neurons remember Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT Scientists have discovered mechanism at the level of the individual neurons that may play a role in the formation of memory. They have determined that back-propagating electrical impulses serve to activate a receptor inside the cell, thereby resulting in long-term changes in the calcium response in specificneuronal compartments.

Warming slow-down not the end of climate change Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT A slow-down in global warming is not a sign that climate change is ending, but a natural blip in an otherwise long-term upwards trend, research shows.

Researchers beat untreatable eczema with arthritis drug Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:05 AM PDT Researchers have successfully treated patients with moderate to severe eczema using a rheumatoid arthritis drug recently shown to reverse two other disfiguring skin conditions, vitiligo and alopecia areata. The study is evidence of a potential new era in eczema treatment, they report.

First realization of invisible absorbers and sensors Posted: 20 Jul 2015 08:04 AM PDT Devices consuming the energy of electromagnetic radiation, such as absorbers and sensors, play an essential role in the using and controlling of light. Researchers have now demonstrated the first realization of absorbers that do not reflect light over a wide range of frequencies. All previous absorbers at other frequencies were either fully reflective, as mirrors, or the range of low reflection was very narrow.

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