| Remote Italian village could harbor secrets of healthy aging Posted: 29 Mar 2016 03:53 PM PDT To understand how people can live longer throughout the world, researchers in the United States and Italy have teamed up to study a group of 300 citizens, all over 100 years old, living in a remote Italian village nestled between the ocean and mountains on the country's coast. |
| Separating charge and discharge in measuring next-generation car batteries Posted: 29 Mar 2016 12:34 PM PDT Lithium ion phosphate batteries are widely used to power the batteries in electric cars, but, unlike the amount of gas in a fuel tank, their state of charge can't be measured directly by a physical quantity. Instead, they use an algorithm based on measurements of battery voltage and current, which are in turn influenced by conditions such as weather, electrovoltaic state and traffic conditions. However, the algorithms currently used to measure state of charge each carry drawbacks when used in real-time applications. |
| Market reactions to sudden CEO deaths highlight CEOs' importance Posted: 29 Mar 2016 12:34 PM PDT Researchers examined 240 sudden and unexpected CEO deaths to determine how shareholders' perceptions of CEO significance have changed over time. |
| An up-close view of bacterial 'motors' Posted: 29 Mar 2016 12:34 PM PDT Over millennia, bacteria have evolved a variety of specialized mechanisms to move themselves through their particular environments. In two recent studies researchers used a state-of-the-art imaging technique to capture, for the first time, three-dimensional views of this tiny complicated machinery in bacteria. |
| Nanoparticles deliver anticancer cluster bombs Posted: 29 Mar 2016 12:34 PM PDT Scientists have devised a triple-stage 'cluster bomb' system for delivering the chemotherapy drug cisplatin, via tiny nanoparticles designed to break up when they reach a tumor. |
| Study explores carb-loading's effect on the heart Posted: 29 Mar 2016 12:34 PM PDT Drinking a high carbohydrate shake can have an acute and detrimental effect on heart function, a study has found. Researchers studied 33 individuals who were given an acute carbohydrate load in the form of a 264-kilocalorie shake. They studied the subjects' blood levels for six hours looking for a number of things, chief among them whether this acute metabolic challenge could alter the heart's production of atrial natriuretic peptide. |
| Researchers to look at pill to treat postmenopausal women with stress urinary incontinence Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:17 AM PDT Could a one-a-day pill be the answer for women with stress urinary incontinence – a condition resulting in leakage with coughing, sneezing and laughing? Urologists are beginning a study on postmenopausal women with stress urinary incontinence, to test a compound that may strengthen pelvic floor muscle and reduce the leakage of urine. |
| Researcher studies worms to reveal the fountain of youth Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:17 AM PDT The cellular mechanisms driving the aging process in worms has been identified by researchers, uncovering insights that could increase our own longevity. |
| Beach replenishment may have 'far reaching' impacts on ecosystems Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:15 AM PDT Biologists who examined the biological impact of replenishing eroded beaches with offshore sand found that such beach replenishment efforts could have long-term negative impacts on coastal ecosystems. |
| To keep or not to keep a hookworm Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:15 AM PDT Researchers have identified an immune protein in mice that is quickly triggered in the body following infection and serves to protect the body's tissues. Called 'RELMalpha,' this protein (homologue in humans is 'resistin') is responsible more for protecting the body than attacking the parasite -- important evidence that mammals have regulatory systems in place not to kill pathogens, but instead to dampen the immune response. |
| Scientists unlock genetic secret that could help fight malaria Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:14 AM PDT A group of scientists has discovered a long-hypothesized male determining gene in the mosquito species that carries malaria, laying the groundwork for the development of strategies that could help control the disease. |
| Training with unpredictability improves memory recall, study finds Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:14 AM PDT Memory training with unpredictable components could be more effective in enhancing episodic memory than training with predictable elements, according to new findings. |
| Earth-space telescope produces hot surprise Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:14 AM PDT Combining an orbiting radio telescope with telescopes on Earth made a system capable of the highest resolution of any observation ever made in astronomy. The super sharp radio 'vision' produced a pair of surprises. |
| One crop breeding cycle from starvation Posted: 29 Mar 2016 11:14 AM PDT Global population growth, urbanization, and a changing climate mean staple food crops will need to achieve much higher yields in the near future. New research proposes genetic engineering solutions to improve photosynthetic efficiency of food crops, boosting yield under higher temperatures and carbon dioxide levels. Because it can take 20 to 30 years of breeding and product development efforts before new crops are available to farmers, those efforts must start now. |
| Better global ocean management Posted: 29 Mar 2016 10:22 AM PDT Rights-based approaches could double fish biomass and make 77 percent of world's fisheries biologically healthy within a decade, report experts. |
| How to make metal alloys that stand up to hydrogen Posted: 29 Mar 2016 10:22 AM PDT Researchers have found a new approach to preventing embrittlement that could be useful in nuclear reactors. High-tech metal alloys are widely used in important materials such as the cladding that protects the fuel inside a nuclear reactor. |
| How diet shaped human evolution Posted: 29 Mar 2016 10:22 AM PDT A new study finds that the Ice-Age diet -- a high-protein intake of large animals -- triggered physical changes in Neanderthals, namely a larger ribcage and a wider pelvis. |
| Screening tools to identify developmental delay in healthy young children not beneficial Posted: 29 Mar 2016 10:22 AM PDT The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recommends against using a screening tool to identify developmental delay in children aged 1 to 4 years who have no apparent signs or parental concerns, according to a new guideline. |
| Infradian oscillation of circadian genes in a mouse model of bipolar disorder Posted: 29 Mar 2016 10:22 AM PDT Molecular basis of changes in mood and mood-associated behaviors are unknown. Researchers in Japan have succeeded in predicting states of mood-change-like behavior by studying the gene expression patterns in the brain in a bipolar disorder mouse model. They found that expressions of circadian rhythm-associated genes concomitantly change with mood-change-like behaviors in these mice. The current results also provide a novel insight into the molecular basis of bipolar disorder in the brain. |
| Study finds cessation program delivered on Twitter to be twice as effective as other methods for helping smokers quit Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:34 AM PDT Subjects in one of the first real-time, fully automated, Twitter-based smoking intervention programs -- Tweet2Quit -- were twice as successful at kicking the habit as those using traditional methods, new research has found. |
| Are stem-cell therapies for parkinson's disease ready for clinical trials? Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT As stem cell-based therapies are moving rapidly towards clinical trials, treatments for Parkinson's Disease (PD), an incurable condition, may be on the horizon. A recent announcement of a Phase I/IIa clinical trial involving transplantation of stem cells into the first human subjects has raised hope among patients and sparked discussions in the research community. |
| Anthropologists reconstruct mitogenomes from prehistoric dental calculus Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT Using advanced sequencing technologies, anthropologists demonstrate that human DNA can be significantly enriched from dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) enabling the reconstruction of whole mitochondrial genomes for maternal ancestry analysis -- an alternative to skeletal remains in ancient DNA investigations of human ancestry. |
| Nonpathogenic viruses transferred during fecal transplants Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT Communities of viruses can be transferred during fecal transplants, according to a study. Fortunately for patients who use this procedure, the viruses found to be transmitted in this study appear to be harmless to humans. |
| Statement published on pairing smoking cessation with lung cancer screening Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT Smokers who are screened for lung cancer should be encouraged to quit smoking during their visit, according to experts. Citing a recent recommendation that heavy smokers undergo a yearly screening for lung cancer, the authors note that it does not provide specifics for how smoking-cessation treatment should be offered in conjunction with screenings. |
| Big data-driven method could save money, increase efficiency in pharmaceutical management Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT An optimized approach for determining prescribed medication associations within a high-volume pharmacy environment has been developed, which experts say could save money and time. |
| Longer-term weather, environmental forecasts will provide enormous benefit Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT Weather and environmental forecasts made several weeks to months in advance can someday be as widely used and essential as current predictions of tomorrow's weather are, but first more research and sustained investment are needed, says a new report. |
| Mimicking a blood vessel to create a 'bridge' to better medicine and precision treatment Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT A technique has been developed to observe cell to cell interaction at the nanoscale under micro-fluid conditions. They have successfully applied the technique to the study of blood vessel inflammation, a condition that sets the stage for heart disease, the number one cause of death in the US and globally. |
| Individualized treatment duration of blood thinning drugs after heart stent procedures Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:33 AM PDT Nearly 1 million people in the United States receive coronary artery stents each year. Nearly all stent patients are expected to take dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) using the combination of aspirin and a second antiplatelet medication to prevent the formation of blood clots. Exactly how long patients should receive DAPT has been debatable. |
| Unraveling a geological mystery using lasers from space Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:28 AM PDT Drumlins and megaridges are all part of a single family of landforms formed by erosion, new research concludes. Shaped like an upturned boat, drumlin hills are found clustered together in their hundreds and thousands in distinct fields called swarms. They are the most common landform across large areas of northern North America and Europe, marking the footprint of great sheets that formed during past ice ages. |
| Text in lost language may reveal god or goddess worshipped by Etruscans at ancient temple Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:28 AM PDT Archaeologists in Italy have discovered what may be a rare Etruscan sacred text likely to yield rich details about Etruscan worship and early beliefs of a lost culture fundamental to western traditions. The lengthy text is on a large 6th century sandstone slab uncovered from an Etruscan temple, say investigators. |
| Study of enzymatic chemical reactions may indicate how the first cells formed colonies Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:28 AM PDT A novel investigation of how enzymatic reactions can direct the motion and organization of microcapsules may point toward a new theory of how protocells -- the earliest biological cells -- could have organized into colonies and thus, could have ultimately formed larger, differentiated structures. |
| Another reason to break the habit: Smoking alters bacterial balance in mouth Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:28 AM PDT Smoking drastically alters the oral microbiome, the mix of roughly 600 bacterial species that live in people's mouths, a new study has found. The researchers say their analysis is the most comprehensive to date to examine the effects of smoking on the make-up and action of bacterial species in the human mouth based on precise genetic testing. |
| Effective graphene doping depends on substrate material Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:28 AM PDT Physicists have discovered unexpected effects in doped graphene. They investigated samples of the carbon compound enriched with the foreign atom nitrogen on various substrate materials. Unwanted interactions with these substrates can influence the electric properties of graphene. The researchers have now shown that effective doping depends on the choice of substrate material. |
| Sweet, tasty and healthy: The new essence of juice? Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:26 AM PDT A cocktail consisting of lime, stevia and beta-glucans can help make a tasty fruit beverage that is both low in sugar and high in fiber, according to a study, adding nutritional value and promote the sensory experience of the juice. |
| Decoding sugar molecules offers new key for combating muscular dystrophy Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:26 AM PDT Scientists have succeeded in decoding a sugar molecule and clarifying a mechanism linked to muscular dystrophy. Their discovery has potential implications for muscular dystrophy treatment. |
| Synthesizing real-life tweets Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:26 AM PDT Scientists in Brazil are using a genetic algorithm to create a realistic soundscape of birdsong that can be triggered by updates from the micro-blogging service, Twitter, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Details of the computer model which mimics the behavior of a bird's songbox, its 'syrinx,' to create realistic sounds have now been published. |
| Take-home naloxone should be an additional standard of care for prevention of heroin overdose death Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:26 AM PDT Take-home naloxone should be an additional standard of care for prevention of heroin overdose death, say scientists. The study estimates that naloxone successfully reversed heroin overdose in 96 to 99% of cases. |
| Gene study could help heart patients cut craving for salt Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:25 AM PDT Scientists have shed light on why some people crave salty food, even when they know it can seriously damage their health. The findings suggest it could soon be possible to offer heart disease patients a medicine that helps them manage their salt intake and curb the adverse effects of high blood pressure. |
| Psychotherapy for depressed rats shows genes aren't destiny Posted: 29 Mar 2016 08:24 AM PDT Genes are not destiny in determining whether a person will suffer from depression, reports a new study. Nurture can override nature. When rats genetically bred for depression received the equivalent of rat 'psychotherapy,' their depressed behavior was alleviated. And, after the depressed rats had the therapy, some of their blood biomarkers for depression changed to non-depressed levels. |
| How child prodigies teach us about autism Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:31 AM PDT Scientists may learn a lot about autism from studying a group of people who don't have the disorder. Researchers report that they have uncovered a link between prodigy and autism. |
| New flu vaccine protects against multiple strains including H1N1 Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:17 AM PDT Researchers have announced the development of a vaccine that protects against multiple strains of both seasonal and pandemic H1N1 influenza in mouse models. |
| Securing connected industry Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:15 AM PDT The Industrial Data Space gives companies security and control over their data. Now experts show how it all works in practice. Sample applications include an air freight container that organizes and monitors itself. |
| Predators drive social complexity Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:15 AM PDT Variation in social organization and behavior of highly social animals like cichlids is primarily explained by predation risk and related ecological factors. This stresses the significance of predation for social evolution, report scientists. |
| Breeding humans: Utopias from the early modern period Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:15 AM PDT The idea to improve humans and to optimise procreation emerged long before genetic engineering. As far back as the 18th century, concepts did exist that appear unthinkable from the modern perspective. |
| Simulations show how helmets would have protected bike crash victims' brains Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:15 AM PDT Bicycle helmets can reduce the risk of concussions by 54 percent, and drastically cut the risk of skull fractures, according to a study. To assess the impact on the brain, the researchers compared results of simulations with CT images, in which bleeding was evident in the brains of the crash victims. Then, they conducted simulations with and without helmets to see what would happen. |
| Ancient quarry proves human impact on landscape Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:15 AM PDT Archaeologists have uncovered in central Israel the earliest known Neolithic quarry in the southern Levant, dating back 11,000 years. Findings from the site indicate large-scale quarrying activities to extract flint and limestone for the purpose of manufacturing working tools. |
| Knowledge of bacteria's origin, spread can prevent disease Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:15 AM PDT Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 is an aggressive type of bacteria, which is particularly problematic because it has developed resistance to a number of antimicrobials and has been able to quickly spread throughout the world. Using new technology, a research team has been able to trace the bacteria back to its origin and work out when it developed resistance. The technology can likely be used to monitor new bacterial strains, prevent and not least understand infectious diseases. |
| New clue to fighting acute myeloid leukemia found Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:15 AM PDT A new clue has been found that may help fight acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common form of cancer of the blood and bone marrow, and an aggressive type of cancer. The findings open a new door to treating the disease more effectively. |
| Multiple sclerosis: Plant peptide could prevent onset of the disease Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:12 AM PDT A crucial development has been made in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). A research team has demonstrated in an animal model that, following treatment with a specially synthesized plant peptide (cyclotide), there is no further progression of the usual clinical signs of multiple sclerosis. |
| Transmissibility of Alzheimer's: No clinical symptoms Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:12 AM PDT Researchers have published the results of a clarifying research study on the potential transmissibility of Alzheimer's disease. Although the protein associated with Alzheimer's disease, amyloid-?, might be transmissible under very unusual circumstances, this does not go along with a transmission of the clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease. The affected persons develop no clinical symptoms of the disease. |
| New scrolling technique accelerates skim reading Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:12 AM PDT Documents can be skimmed 60% faster than presently and with higher recall, using a newly developed technique. |
| Perfecting a viral pack mule Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:12 AM PDT Viruses aren't always bad. In fact, scientists can harness the capabilities of some viruses for good—modifying the viruses to carry drug molecules, for example. |
| Revealing the ion transport at nanoscale Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:11 AM PDT A law of physics having to do with electron transport at nanoscale can also be analogously applied to the ion transport, new research shows. This discovery provides insight into a key aspect of how ion channels function within our living cells. |
| Is HUD housing affordable? New study says not when you factor in costs to commute Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:10 AM PDT Where to live can be a dilemma for many Americans. Do you pay more for housing located near work and other destinations or do you pay less for housing that requires extensive driving? What about families with housing subsidies? Does this tradeoff on housing and transportation expenses hold true for them? |
| For prostate cancer, more radiation may not improve survival Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:10 AM PDT Increasing the total dose of radiation to patients with non-metastatic prostate cancer does not improve their long-term outcomes, according to a new study. |
| Researchers developed manufacturing method for batteries with organic electrode materials Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:10 AM PDT With people wanting to use smaller electronic devices, smaller energy storage systems are needed. Researchers have demonstrated the fabrication of electrochemically active organic lithium electrode thin films, which help make microbatteries more efficient than before. Researchers used a combined atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) technique, to prepare lithium terephthalate, a recently found anode material for a lithium-ion battery. |
| Children with Cushing syndrome may have higher suicide risk Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:10 AM PDT Children with Cushing syndrome may be at higher risk for suicide as well as for depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions long after their disease has been successfully treated, according to a study. |
| 'I care for you,' says the autistic moral brain Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:10 AM PDT "Autistic people are cold and feel no empathy." True? It is a pervasive stereotype, but when analyzed through the lens of science, reality turns out to be quite different. According to a study, when autistic people are placed in 'moral dilemma' situations, they show an empathic response similar to the general population. The myth of coldness in autism is likely due to the presence of the subclinical trait of alexithymia. |
| Uncertainty can cause more stress than inevitable pain Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:10 AM PDT Knowing that there is a small chance of getting a painful electric shock can lead to significantly more stress than knowing that you will definitely be shocked. A new study found that situations in which subjects had a 50 percent chance of receiving a shock were the most stressful while 0 percent and 100 percent chances were the least stressful. People whose stress levels tracked uncertainty more closely were better at guessing whether or not they would receive a shock, suggesting that stress may inform judgments of risk. |
| Early-stage embryos with abnormalities may still develop into healthy babies, study shows Posted: 29 Mar 2016 07:10 AM PDT Abnormal cells in the early embryo are not necessarily a sign that a baby will be born with a birth defect such as Down's syndrome, suggests new research carried out in mice. Scientists show that abnormal cells are eliminated and replaced by healthy cells, repairing -- and in many cases completely fixing -- the embryo. |
