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• Disease-carrying fleas abound on New York City's rats
• BPA exposure linked to autism spectrum disorder, study reports
• Perfect NCAA bracket? Near impossible: Mathematician says
• New research aims to refine increasingly popular plastic surgery procedures: Buttock augmentation and vaginal rejuvenation surgery
• Is 'the dress' white and gold or blue and black? Visual perception expert weighs in
• Colon + septic tank = unique, at times stinky, study
• New assessment tool can predict successful teachers
• Pens filled with high-tech inks for do-it-yourself sensors
• Reducing animal testing for skin allergies
• Freeze! Watching alloys change from liquid to solid could lead to better metals
• Forbidden atomic transitions: Controlling matter 1,000 times more precisely using high-resolution spectroscopy
• OSIRIS-REx mission successfully completes system integration review
• Genetically speaking, mammals are more like their fathers
• Scientists override body's inflammatory response
• Low sugar uptake in brain appears to exacerbate Alzheimer's disease
• Core work: Iron vapor gives clues to formation of Earth and moon
• Scientists crack piece of neural code for learning, memory
• Minors easily able to purchase electronic cigarettes online
• Survey of teen dating violence among US high school students
• Cerebral blood flow as a possible marker for concussion outcomes
• Swarmies shuffle through field tests
• Growth screening could help detect celiac disease in kids
• Healthy-looking prostate cells mask cancer-causing mutations
• Old-looking galaxy in a young universe: Astronomers find dust in the early universe
• NASA spacecraft nears historic dwarf planet arrival
• How the altered intestinal bacterial community worsens health in HIV-infected patients
• Case study: Nebraska's Ebola isolation and decontamination approach
• Important step towards quantum computing: Metals at atomic scale
• Breakthrough in organic light emitting diodes technology
• New care model enhances psychological, cognitive and physical recovery of ICU survivors
• Basal cell carcinoma drug encourages both cancer regression and loss of taste in patients
• Peanut consumption associated with decreased total mortality and mortality from cardiovascular diseases
• Results challenge conventional wisdom about where the brain begins processing visual information
• Key to tuberculosis resistance found
• New genetic syndrome found, arising from errors in 'master switch' during early development
• Munching bugs thwart eager trees, reducing the carbon sink
• Guidelines suggest blood thinners for more women, seniors with AFib
• Sleep-walking neurons: Brain's GPS never stops working -- even during sleep
• Study on adolescent bariatric surgery safety concludes
• Movement of cancer cells, tumor cell detection to be studied
• Insulin resistance in the brain, behavioral disorders: Direct link found
• Lycopene may ward off kidney cancer in older women
• Clever application of magnetic force enhances laparoscopic surgery
• Soft drink tax could improve health of the nation, Australian study says
• Conservation organizations need to keep up with nature, experts say
• Smart crystallization
• Conservative treatment normalizes head shape in most infants with skull flattening, reports article
• Use of new systemic adjuvant therapy in gastrointestinal tumors increasing
• Infection control experts outline guidance for animal visitations in hospitals
• Mutation may cause early loss of sperm supply
• Scientists trick the light fantastic
• Blend of polymers could one day make solar power lighter, cheaper and more efficient
• Environment may change, but microbiome of queen bees does not
• Why nitrate supplementation may increase athletic performance
• Aerogel catalyst shows promise for fuel cells: Unzipped nanotubes turned into possible alternative for platinum
• Preventing metabolic disease may start in the womb... of your grandmother
• Mitochondrial 'shield' that helps cancer cells survive identified
• First ever photograph of light as a particle and a wave
• Anticholinergic drugs linked to risk for pneumonia in elderly
• Psychology has important role in changing cancer landscape

Disease-carrying fleas abound on New York City's rats Posted: 02 Mar 2015 12:08 PM PST In the first study of its kind since the 1920s, rats in New York City were found to carry a flea species capable of transmitting plague pathogens. Among them: 500-plus Oriental rat fleas, notorious for their role in transmitting the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death.

BPA exposure linked to autism spectrum disorder, study reports Posted: 02 Mar 2015 12:07 PM PST A newly published study is the first to report an association between bisphenol-A (BPA), a common plasticizer used in a variety of consumer food and beverage containers, with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.

Perfect NCAA bracket? Near impossible: Mathematician says Posted: 02 Mar 2015 11:10 AM PST The odds of picking a perfect bracket for the NCAA men's basketball March Madness championship tournament are a staggering less than one in 9.2 quintillion (that's 9,223,372,036,854,775,808), according to a mathematics professor.

New research aims to refine increasingly popular plastic surgery procedures: Buttock augmentation and vaginal rejuvenation surgery Posted: 02 Mar 2015 11:10 AM PST Two of the fastest-growing plastic surgery procedures are gluteoplasty or "butt augmentation," to improve the appearance of the buttocks; and labiaplasty to address cosmetic and functional concerns with the vagina. New insights into the use and outcomes of these procedures are presented in a new article.

Is 'the dress' white and gold or blue and black? Visual perception expert weighs in Posted: 02 Mar 2015 10:42 AM PST On Feb. 26, a picture of a cocktail dress originally uploaded to the blog Tumblr swept the Internet and managed to divide the population over a simple question: What color is the dress? Some viewers saw gold and white while others insisted the dress is blue and black. Some people claimed they could see either interpretation, but only one of them at a time. It made people stop and ask, "What exactly is going on with this image?"

Colon + septic tank = unique, at times stinky, study Posted: 02 Mar 2015 10:08 AM PST What do a human colon, septic tank, copper nanoparticles and zebrafish have in common? They were the key components used by researchers to study the impact copper nanoparticles, which are found in everything from paint to cosmetics, have on organisms inadvertently exposed to them.

New assessment tool can predict successful teachers Posted: 02 Mar 2015 10:08 AM PST A new video assessment tool that can inform teacher selection and hiring has implications for education reform, a new study concludes. The researchers say there is a growing focus as part of education reform and accountability efforts to improve mechanisms for selecting individuals into teacher preparation and eventually into the field who will be successful.

Pens filled with high-tech inks for do-it-yourself sensors Posted: 02 Mar 2015 10:07 AM PST A new simple tool developed by nanoengineers is opening the door to an era when anyone will be able to build sensors, anywhere, including physicians in the clinic, patients in their home and soldiers in the field. Scientists have developed high-tech inks that react with several chemicals, including glucose. They tested the sensors to measure glucose and pollution.

Reducing animal testing for skin allergies Posted: 02 Mar 2015 10:06 AM PST The JRC has validated and recommended a new method which is not based on animal testing, to identify chemicals that can trigger skin allergies, estimated to affect already 20% of the population in Europe.

Freeze! Watching alloys change from liquid to solid could lead to better metals Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST If you put a camera in the ice machine and watched water turn into ice, the process would look simple. But the mechanism behind liquids turning to solids is actually quite complex, and understanding it better could improve design and production of metals. A recent investigation aboard the International Space Station contributed to that understanding.

Forbidden atomic transitions: Controlling matter 1,000 times more precisely using high-resolution spectroscopy Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:33 AM PST A new twist on an old tool lets scientists use light to study and control matter with 1,000 times better resolution and precision than previously possible. Physicists have demonstrated "ponderomotive spectroscopy," which allows researchers to peer more deeply into the structure of atoms and direct their behavior at a much finer scale. The new technique could have applications in quantum computing.

OSIRIS-REx mission successfully completes system integration review Posted: 27 Feb 2015 08:11 AM PST This week marked the completion of an important step on the path to spacecraft assembly, test, and launch operations for the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer or OSIRIS-REx mission.

Genetically speaking, mammals are more like their fathers Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:32 AM PST You might resemble or act more like your mother, but a novel research study reveals that mammals are genetically more like their dads. Specifically, the research shows that although we inherit equal amounts of genetic mutations from our parents -- the mutations that make us who we are and not some other person -- we actually 'use' more of the DNA that we inherit from our dads.

Scientists override body's inflammatory response Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:32 AM PST Scientists who have discovered the mechanism of a protein that suppresses inflammation in the body, say the information could potentially be used to develop new drugs to control inflammation. The study is universally applicable to all types of inflammation in patients of all ages, in conditions ranging from the common cold to serious life-threatening illnesses, authors noted.

Low sugar uptake in brain appears to exacerbate Alzheimer's disease Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PST A deficiency in the protein responsible for moving glucose across the brain's protective blood-brain barrier appears to intensify the neurodegenerative effects of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new mouse study. The research suggests that targeting the protein called GLUT1 could help prevent or slow the effects of Alzheimer's, especially among those at risk for the disease.

Core work: Iron vapor gives clues to formation of Earth and moon Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PST One of the world's most powerful radiation sources provides scientists clues about Earth's formation and how iron vaporizes.

Scientists crack piece of neural code for learning, memory Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PST Researchers describe how postmortem brain slices can be 'read' to determine how a rat was trained to behave in response to specific sounds, a new article suggests. The work provides one of the first examples of how specific changes in the activity of individual neurons encode particular acts of learning and memory in the brain.

Minors easily able to purchase electronic cigarettes online Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PST Teenagers in North Carolina were easily able to buy electronic cigarettes online because both Internet vendors and shipping companies failed to verifying ages in a study that assessed compliance with North Carolina's 2013 e-cigarette age-verification law, according to an article.

Survey of teen dating violence among US high school students Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PST A survey of US high school students suggests that 1 in 5 female students and 1 in 10 male students who date have experienced some form of teen dating violence (TDV) during the past 12 months. "These results present broader implications for TDV prevention efforts. Although female students have a higher prevalence than male students, male and female students are both impacted by TDV, and prevention efforts may be more effective if they include content for both sexes," the study concludes.

Cerebral blood flow as a possible marker for concussion outcomes Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:31 AM PST Cerebral blood flow recovery in the brain could be a biomarker of outcomes in patients following concussion, a new imaging study suggests. Most of the 3.8 million sports-related traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) that occur annually are concussions. Developing methods to diagnose the presence and severity of concussions is imperative, the authors say.

Swarmies shuffle through field tests Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:30 AM PST Months of lab work has led to this chilly day -- by Florida standards -- with four small, wheeled robots moving around the parking lot outside the Launch Control Center while their leader, Kurt Leucht, keeps electronic tabs on them using a laptop. He carries the laptop around as he tracks each of the four machines, occasionally tapping one off an obstacle or looking at the vehicle's line of sight to figure out what its sensors are seeing.

Growth screening could help detect celiac disease in kids Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:29 AM PST Screening for five growth parameters helped detect celiac disease (CD) with good accuracy in both boys and girls because growth falters in most children with CD, according to a new article. CD is an immune-mediated disorder brought on by gluten and characterized by a variety of nonspecific symptoms including poor growth, short stature and poor weight gain.

Healthy-looking prostate cells mask cancer-causing mutations Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:29 AM PST Prostate cells that look normal under the microscope may be hiding genetic mutations that could develop into cancer, prompting new ways to improve treatment for the disease, according to research. "We're finding new ways to detect precancerous cells, and this will give us the tools to prevent them becoming a threat in the future. This latest research provides powerful new insights into prostate cancer that we hope will help more men beat the disease," an author noted.

Old-looking galaxy in a young universe: Astronomers find dust in the early universe Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:29 AM PST Dust plays an extremely important role in the universe -- both in the formation of planets and new stars. But the earliest galaxies had no dust, only gas. Now an international team of astronomers has discovered a dust-filled galaxy from the very early universe. The discovery demonstrates that galaxies were very quickly enriched with dust particles containing elements such as carbon and oxygen, which could form planets.

NASA spacecraft nears historic dwarf planet arrival Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:27 AM PST NASA's Dawn spacecraft has returned new images captured on approach to its historic orbit insertion at the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn will be the first mission to successfully visit a dwarf planet when it enters orbit around Ceres on Friday, March 6.

How the altered intestinal bacterial community worsens health in HIV-infected patients Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:25 AM PST An investigation shows how the altered metabolism of gut microbiota contributes to worsen health in HIV-infected patients. The study was conducted with a cohort of HIV-infected patients with a positive response to antiretroviral therapy and with control individuals of the same age and gender as those infected.

Case study: Nebraska's Ebola isolation and decontamination approach Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:25 AM PST The Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU), located at the Nebraska Medical Center, has shared its protocol for Ebola patient discharge, handling a patient's body after death and environmental disinfection in a new article.

Important step towards quantum computing: Metals at atomic scale Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:25 AM PST Scientists report that they could observe experimentally the current flow along channels at the crystal surfaces of topological insulators. The channels are less than one nanometer wide and extend along atomic steps of the crystal lattice. The scientists demonstrated also how these steps can be introduced in any arrangement.

Breakthrough in organic light emitting diodes technology Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:24 AM PST Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), which are made from carbon-containing materials, have the potential to revolutionize future display technologies, making low-power displays so thin they'll wrap or fold around other structures, for instance.

New care model enhances psychological, cognitive and physical recovery of ICU survivors Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:16 AM PST The Critical Care Recovery Center care model -- the nation's first collaborative care concept focusing on the extensive cognitive, physical and psychological recovery needs of intensive care unit survivors -- decreases the likelihood of serious illness after discharge from an ICU, investigators report.

Basal cell carcinoma drug encourages both cancer regression and loss of taste in patients Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:16 AM PST Many patients undergoing chemotherapy experience severe taste disruptions that make eating a challenge at a time when maintaining good nutrition is extremely important. Now, researchers report that they have identified the pathway responsible for taste changes among users of chemotherapy drugs that treat basal cell carcinoma.

Peanut consumption associated with decreased total mortality and mortality from cardiovascular diseases Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:16 AM PST Researchers have examined the association of nut and peanut consumption with mortality among low-income and racially diverse populations and found that intake of peanuts was associated with fewer deaths, especially from heart disease.

Results challenge conventional wisdom about where the brain begins processing visual information Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:16 AM PST Neuroscientists generally think of the front end of the human visual system as a simple light detection system: The patterns produced when light falls on the retina are relayed to the visual cortex at the rear of the brain, where all of the "magic" happens that transforms these patterns into the three-dimensional world view that we perceive with our mind's eye. Now, however, a brain imaging study challenges this basic assumption.

Key to tuberculosis resistance found Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:16 AM PST The cascade of events leading to bacterial infection and the immune response is mostly understood. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the immune response to the bacteria that causes tuberculosis have remained a mystery -- until now. Researchers have uncovered how a bacterial molecule controls the body's response to TB infection and suggest that adjusting the level of this of this molecule may be a new way to treat the disease.

New genetic syndrome found, arising from errors in 'master switch' during early development Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:16 AM PST Analyzing a puzzling multisystem disorder in three children, genetic experts have identified a new syndrome, shedding light on key biological processes during human development. The investigators named the disorder CHOPS syndrome, with the acronym representing a group of symptoms seen in the affected children: cognitive impairment and coarse facies (facial features), heart defects, obesity, pulmonary involvement, short stature and skeletal dysplasia (abnormal bone development).

Munching bugs thwart eager trees, reducing the carbon sink Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:16 AM PST Hungry, plant-eating insects may limit the ability of forests to take up elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reducing their capacity to slow human-driven climate change, a new study suggests.

Guidelines suggest blood thinners for more women, seniors with AFib Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:15 AM PST Nearly all women and people over 65 in the U.S. with atrial fibrillation are advised to take blood thinners under new guidelines. Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. It affects about 2.7 million people in the U.S. Anticoagulant drugs help prevent blood from clotting and potentially causing stroke.

Sleep-walking neurons: Brain's GPS never stops working -- even during sleep Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:15 AM PST Navigational brain cells that help sense direction are as electrically active during deep sleep as they are during wake time, scientists have discovered. Such information could be useful in treating navigational problems associated with Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

Study on adolescent bariatric surgery safety concludes Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:15 AM PST Cardiovascular risks of severe pediatric obesity, assessed among a recent study, have been recently published. The authors found that severely obese adolescents carry not only excess weight, but also have much higher risk for CVD than previously realized. Of the 242 participants in the cohort, 95 percent had at least one CVD risk factor. Seventy-five percent had elevated blood pressure (including hypertension and pre-hypertension), 50 percent had unhealthy cholesterol levels, and nearly three-quarters of the group were insulin resistant. Importantly, the study also confirmed that increasing weight in teenagers is associated with increases in blood sugar and blood pressure.

Movement of cancer cells, tumor cell detection to be studied Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:15 AM PST Two grants will aid development of new methods and tools to better understand cancer metastasis and tumor cell detection. Metastasis is the process in which cells from a primary tumor break-off, enter the blood stream and create new tumors elsewhere in the body. The metastasis of tumor cells is what causes death in about 70 percent of cancer patients. The basic understanding of a tumor is that once the cells enter the body's highway system (blood flow), the cancer threat becomes increasingly dangerous. Previous research has led scientists to believe the most aggressive cells are soft and deformable so they can speed through the blood stream, squeezing through spaces of various sizes and shapes. The question is why.

Insulin resistance in the brain, behavioral disorders: Direct link found Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:15 AM PST People with diabetes are more prone to anxiety and depression than those with other chronic diseases that require similar levels of management. Genetically modifying mice to make their brains resistant to insulin, scientists first found that the animals exhibited behaviors that suggest anxiety and depression, and then pinpointed a mechanism that lowers levels of the key neurotransmitter dopamine in areas of the brain associated with those conditions.

Lycopene may ward off kidney cancer in older women Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:15 AM PST A higher intake by postmenopausal women of the natural antioxidant lycopene, found in foods like tomatoes, watermelon and papaya, may lower the risk of renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer, scientists report.

Clever application of magnetic force enhances laparoscopic surgery Posted: 02 Mar 2015 09:15 AM PST A team of engineers is using magnetic force to design new and improved instruments for minimally invasive surgery. The use of magnetic actuation allows them to create tools that are more flexible and more powerful than conventional designs, which place the instruments on the end of long sticks.

Soft drink tax could improve health of the nation, Australian study says Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:53 AM PST An excise tax on sugar-sweetened drinks would be an effective way to improve the health of heavy consumers, new research shows. Australian researchers compared the impact that a 20 per cent sales tax and a 20 cents per litre excise tax on beverages such as carbonated non-diet soft drinks, cordials and fruit drinks would have on moderate and high consumers.

Conservation organizations need to keep up with nature, experts say Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:53 AM PST In order to cope, conservation organizations need to adapt like the organisms they seek to protect, a new paper suggests, arguing that conservation organizations need to be bolder in their adaptation efforts given the rate and extent of the ecological changes that are coming.

Smart crystallization Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:53 AM PST The first semi-liquid, non-protein nucleating agent for automated protein crystallization trials is described. This 'smart material' is demonstrated to induce crystal growth and will provide a simple, cost-effective tool for scientists in academia and industry.

Conservative treatment normalizes head shape in most infants with skull flattening, reports article Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:52 AM PST More than three-fourths of infants with skull flattening related to sleep position achieve normal head shape with conservative treatment -- without the need for helmet therapy, reports a new study.

Use of new systemic adjuvant therapy in gastrointestinal tumors increasing Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:52 AM PST The use of adjuvant systemic therapy for localized gastrointestinal stromal tumors has significantly increased over time, a new study has found, and patients treated with the therapy have better survival than those treated with surgery alone, researchers say.

Infection control experts outline guidance for animal visitations in hospitals Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:52 AM PST New expert guidance outlines recommendations for developing policies regarding the use of animals in healthcare facilities, including animal-assisted activities, service animals, research animals and personal pet visitation in acute care hospitals.

Mutation may cause early loss of sperm supply Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:52 AM PST Problems in a gene responsible for producing the protein TAF4b leave mice -- and maybe men -- unable to sustain sperm production. As embryos, mice lacking the protein failed to develop an adequate number of key cells in the sperm production process and as adults they quickly lost their initial fertility.

Scientists trick the light fantastic Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:52 AM PST What if one day, your computer, TV or smart phone could process data with light waves instead of an electrical current, making those devices faster, cheaper and more sustainable through less heat and power consumption? That's just one possibility that could one day result from an international research collaboration that's exploring how to improve the performance of plasmonic devices. The manipulation of light through tiny technology could lead to big benefits for everything from TVs to microscopes.

Blend of polymers could one day make solar power lighter, cheaper and more efficient Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:52 AM PST Scientists are reporting advances on how to one day make solar cells stronger, lighter, more flexible and less expensive when compared with the current silicon or germanium technology on the market.

Environment may change, but microbiome of queen bees does not Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:50 AM PST Researchers have characterized the gut microbiome of honey bee queens. This is the first thorough census of the gut microbiome -- which consists of all the microorganisms that live in the gut of the organism -- in queen bees.

Why nitrate supplementation may increase athletic performance Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:50 AM PST Walk down the aisles of any food supplement store and you'll see that the use of nitrate supplements by athletes and fitness buffs has been popular for years. The hope is that these supplements will increase endurance, and possibly other performance/health benefits, by improving the efficiency at which muscles use oxygen. Now, a research study helps explain how some of these supplements may work.

Aerogel catalyst shows promise for fuel cells: Unzipped nanotubes turned into possible alternative for platinum Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:50 AM PST Aerogels made of graphene nanoribbons and modified with boron and nitrogen are more efficient catalysts for fuel cells and air-metal batteries than expensive platinum is, according to researchers.

Preventing metabolic disease may start in the womb... of your grandmother Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:50 AM PST No one wants to have child who is born underweight, but for numerous reasons, this may be unavoidable. An intriguing research report involving rats suggests that helping fetuses achieve optimal weight before birth is of even greater importance than currently believed.

Mitochondrial 'shield' that helps cancer cells survive identified Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:50 AM PST Scientists have moved closer to understanding why cancer cells can be so resilient, even when faced with the onslaught of nearly toxic drug cocktails, radiation, and even our own immune systems. A new research report shows that intermediate filaments formed by a protein called 'vimentin' or VIF, effectively 'insulate' the mitochondria in cancer cells from any attempt to destroy the cell.

First ever photograph of light as a particle and a wave Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:47 AM PST Light behaves both as a particle and as a wave. Since the days of Einstein, scientists have been trying to directly observe both of these aspects of light at the same time. Now, scientists have succeeded in capturing the first-ever snapshot of this dual behavior.

Anticholinergic drugs linked to risk for pneumonia in elderly Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:47 AM PST Taking commonly used medications with anticholinergic effects is associated with a significantly higher risk for developing pneumonia in a study of more than 3,000 olde patients living in the community -- not in nursing homes.

Psychology has important role in changing cancer landscape Posted: 02 Mar 2015 07:45 AM PST Psychology has played, and will continue to play, a critical role in cancer prevention, treatment and control, according to newly published research.

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