From: Newsletter Phys.org <not-for-reply@physorg.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 9, 2013 at 1:58 AM
Subject: Phys.org Newsletter Thursday, Aug 8
To: Pascal Alter <pascal.alter@gmail.com>
Dear Pascal Alter,
Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for August 8, 2013:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Muscle health depends on sugar superstructure- New physics in a copper-iridium compound
- Physicists discover atomic clock can simulate quantum magnetism
- Researchers find caffeine during pregnancy negatively impacts mice brains
- Little Elongation Complex: Study reveals key piece of RNA-splicing machinery
- 'Digging up' 4-billion-year-old fossil protein structures to reveal how they evolved
- Scientists seek silicon's successor
- Scientists devise innovative method to profile and predict the behavior of proteins
- Genetic evidence shows recent population mixture in India
- Latino genomes point way to hidden DNA: 20 million missing base pairs mapped
- Scientists watch live brain cell circuits spark and fire (w/ Video)
- New NASA mission to help us learn how to mine asteroids
- Views you can use? How online ratings affect your judgment
- Following Higgs discovery, physicists offer vision to unravel mysteries of universe
- Researchers extend human epigenomic map
Space & Earth news
Greenpeace warns Spain about building on coast
Greenpeace accused Spain Thursday of overdeveloping its coastline and warned the problem will only get worse due to a new law which it said makes it easier for new projects close to the shore to get approval.
A reality show with depth: Live ocean exploration
(AP)—Vicious fights! Stunning beauties! Surprises around every corner! Yes, it's reality TV but with a lot more depth—as much as 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). It's live coverage of deep-sea exploration off Nantucket and tens of thousands of people are tuning in.
Climate change is impacting California, report says
Coastal waters off California are getting more acidic. Fall-run chinook salmon populations to the Sacramento River are on the decline. Conifer forests on the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada have moved to higher elevations over the past half century.
Coastal research community suggests ways to deal with severe storms, coastal erosion and climate change
(Phys.org) —Global sea level is rising at an accelerated rate in response to climate change, and to ensure a sustainable future, society must learn to anticipate and adapt to the dynamics of a rapidly evolving coastal system, according to a new article from the international coastal research community.
Study predicts an ice-free Arctic by the 2050s
(Phys.org) —Accelerated climate warming propelled by greenhouse gas emissions could bring an ice-free September to the Arctic by 2054, a University at Albany scientist predicts.
Three-decade decline in reflectivity of Arctic sea ice
The reflectivity of Arctic sea ice, or albedo, regulates the solar radiation balance. A diminishing albedo affects the melt rate of Arctic sea ice.
Africa's ups and downs
The East African Rift is an area where two tectonic plates are moving apart, making it a region of high geological activity, home to a number of volcanoes.
Lake Tahoe clarity improves, outlook not so clear
While clarity improved at Lake Tahoe for a second straight year in 2012, long-term trends show that climate change is impacting the Lake Tahoe Basin with drier years, less precipitation, higher lake temperatures and projected lower lake levels.
Researcher finds human activity muddies causes of Texas floods
Periodic flooding in Texas—one the most flood-prone states in the nation—cannot be firmly linked to climate change due to numerous dams and other manmade structures introduced over the years, according to a University of Iowa study.
NOAA reports discovery of table coral, Acropora cytherea, off O'ahu
NOAA scientists report the discovery of the first known colony of table coral off of the south shore of O'ahu in Hawai'i. A report on the discovery was published last month in the Bulletin of Marine Science.
NOAA trims forecast for busy hurricane season
This Atlantic hurricane season may not be quite as busy as U.S. forecasters once thought, but they still warn of an unusually active and potentially dangerous few months to come.
ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X CubeSats launched into space
(Phys.org) —Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully launched an H-2B cargo rocket into space—a portion of which is bound for a rendezvous with the International Space Station. After it docks, two CubeSats—ArduSat-1 and ArduSat-X—held in its cargo module will be deployed into an orbit above the Earth.
Hubble finds source of Magellanic Stream
(Phys.org) —Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have solved the 40-year-old mystery of the origin of the Magellanic Stream, a long ribbon of gas stretching nearly halfway around the Milky Way. New Hubble observations reveal that most of this stream was stripped from the Small Magellanic Cloud some two billion years ago, with a smaller portion originating more recently from its larger neighbour.
Ozone hole might slightly warm planet
A lot of people mix up the ozone hole and global warming, believing the hole is a major cause of the world's increasing average temperature. Scientists, on the other hand, have long attributed a small cooling effect to the ozone shortage in the hole.
New NASA mission to help us learn how to mine asteroids
Over the last hundred years, the human population has exploded from about 1.5 billion to more than seven billion, driving an ever-increasing demand for resources. To satisfy civilization's appetite, communities have expanded recycling efforts while mine operators must explore forbidding frontiers to seek out new deposits, opening mines miles underground or even at the bottom of the ocean.
Medicine & Health news
S. Korea to tax lip jobs and priests
The South Korean government plans to exploit the country's obsession with plastic surgery by extending taxes to popular procedures like lip jobs to help fund spiralling social welfare costs.
Engineered rice protects against rotavirus infection
For children and immune compromised adults in developing countries, diarrheal disease induced by rotavirus can be life threatening. Current rotaviral vaccines are highly effective in the Western world, but are not as effective in developing countries. Additionally, these vaccines are not appropriate for use outside of a very narrow age window or in immune compromised individuals.
Glue ear mystery solved—and researcher hears applause
The sleepless nights families face when painful ear infections strike kids may be over if a researcher associated with The University of Western Australia has her way.
Food app to fight nation's killers
A revolutionary smartphone app launched today will empower New Zealand shoppers to make healthier food choices - reducing their risk of dying early from two of the nation's biggest killers, heart attack and stroke.
More evidence needed to determine if in-work tax credits provide health benefits for parents
A just-published international systematic review has found a small and methodologically limited body of evidence which suggests that in-work tax credits such as the one applied in New Zealand since 2006, may have no discernible effects on the health of parents.
Horrific war injuries spawn radical plastic surgery techniques
Reconstructing Faces: The Art and Wartime Surgery of Gillies, Pickerill, McIndoe and Mowlem tells the story of the four pioneering surgeons involved in ground-breaking work in facial reconstruction during the two world wars.
Researchers develop new process to make healthy fruit-based snacks
UiTM food researchers Noriham Abdullah, Marina Zulkifli, Mohd Hilmi Hassan, Wan Nur Zahidah Wan Zainon and Nur Ilmiah Alimin have developed a new process for the formulation of fruit peel based snacks to bridge the gap between fast, on-the-go snacking and meeting consumer health concerns.
Early intervention needed on mental health and crime
People with mental health disorders are up to nine times more likely to end up in prison and early intervention could save millions of dollars, a new report shows.
Dialysis patients may live longer if their kidney specialist sees fewer patients
Dialysis patients receiving treatment from kidney specialists with a higher patient caseload have a greater risk of dying prematurely than those receiving care from specialists with a lower caseload, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The study is the first of its kind to examine the association between nephrologist caseload and mortality risk in a large urban US setting.
Immigration bill offers big economic boost but no major health benefits
A landmark immigration bill passed by the Senate would create new pathways to citizenship and provide a much-needed boost to the U.S. economy but would do little to ease immigration-related disparities in health care, according to a new report.
UNC-Malawi cancer pathology laboratory is a model for Sub-Saharan Africa
Since 2011, the University of North Carolina has partnered with the government of Malawi to establish a pathology laboratory in the nation's capital, building on an existing decades-long collaboration. The laboratory has provided an invaluable service to patients and has also built capacity at a national teaching hospital, according to an analysis of the first 20 months of operation published online by PLOS ONE.
Game on: Tobacco-Free Teens app goes live on iTunes
An app to prevent teens from smoking and encourage them to quit if they've started is now just a few taps away and available free on the Apple iTunes Store.
Argentina begins doling out free 'Viagra'
Argentina has begun distributing a free state-produced version of the erection-boosting drug Viagra for the first time, in a move intended to curb its misuse, health authorities announced Thursday.
Probiotic supplements do not prevent antibiotic-associated diarrhea in elderly patients
Some previous research has suggested that probiotic preparations—similar to those available in popular probiotic yoghurt drinks—might reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (AAD), and prescribing probiotics for elderly patients on antibiotics has become routine practice in some institutions. This is the largest trial ever to assess the effect of such supplements on AAD in a real-life setting.
Tackling disruptive behavior in early childhood 'could prevent substance use in adolescence'
Delivering a two-year intervention programme to disruptive kindergarten children could help prevent substance use in adolescence, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Neurocognitive testing more accurate than self-reporting of cheerleaders' concussion recovery
Concussions have become a major public health issue, with both short- and long-term side effects. In sports, cheerleading has the highest rate of catastrophic injury, with some studies reporting approximately 6% of total injuries as concussions. Return-to-play guidelines have relied on athletes' self-reports; however, this has led to concerns about the ability of athletes to truly recognize their own symptoms and recovery. In a new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers evaluate the accuracy of neurocognitive testing compared with self-reported symptoms of concussions in cheerleaders.
An extra hour of TV beyond recommendations diminishes toddlers' kindergarten chances
Every hourly increase in daily television watching at 29 months of age is associated with diminished vocabulary and math skills, classroom engagement (which is largely determined by attention skills), victimization by classmates, and physical prowess at kindergarten, according to Professor Linda Pagani of the University of Montreal and the CHU Sainte-Justine children's hospital.
New drug improves walking performance for Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients
Results from a clinical trial of eteplirsen, a drug designed to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, suggest that the therapy allows participants to walk farther than people treated with placebo and dramatically increases production of a protein vital to muscle growth and health. The study, led by a team in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, is the first of its kind to show these results from an exon-skipping drug—a class of therapeutics that allows cells to skip over missing parts of the gene and produce protein naturally.
Cell maturity pathway is deleted or weak in glioblastoma multiforme
A program that pushes immature cells to grow up and fulfill their destiny as useful, dedicated cells is short-circuited in the most common and deadly form of brain tumor, scientists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
New study shows people react differently when speaking to someone with a mental illness
New research by graduate student Michael Best (Psychology) and Christopher Bowie (Psychology) has shown that the brain processes communication from a person with schizophrenia differently when the listener is aware of speaker's illness.
Kids born small should get moving
Female mice who were growth restricted in the womb were born at a lower birth weight, but were less active and prone to obesity as adults, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) at BCM and Texas Children's Hospital in a report that appears online in the International Journal of Obesity.
Discovery points to a way to reverse suffering of diabetic nerve pain
For people with diabetes who suffer from peripheral neuropathy, a gentle touch can be agony. A warm shower can be torture. New research at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, however, has shed light on the causes of this common diabetes complication – and may ultimately offer a way to reverse it.
Brain damage control: Scientists make big steps toward blocking the detrimental aftermath of stroke
Scientists have used a new imaging approach that utilizes powerful synchrotron-generated light to reveal aspects of the brain that had never before been seen. This discovery has uncovered a new method for better understanding how stroke damages the brain. In the future, knowledge gained from applying this novel imaging technique could be used to develop new therapies for minimizing the detrimental aftermath of stroke.
Nearby daughter most likely to be mom's caregiver
Among adult siblings, who is the most likely to become the caregiver when their mother experiences health problems? The daughter who lives closest, reports Cornell's Karl Pillemer, who has co-authored the first longitudinal study to predict which sibling will become mom's caregiver.
New approach in the treatment of breast cancer
Scientists at the MedUni Vienna, in collaboration with a working group led by Nancy Hynes at the University of Basel, have discovered a new approach in the treatment of breast cancer: an international team involving the Clinical Institute of Pathology at the MedUni Vienna has been able to demonstrate the activation of a receptor, the Ret protein (Rearranged during transfection), on the surface of breast cancer cells. Increased levels of this protein are associated with a lower likelihood of survival for breast cancer patients.
What is family? Study explores how children of gay parents overcome stigma
How do children of gay and lesbian parents create a positive family identity in a culture where negative messages can drown others out and tell them their family dynamic is wrong?
Rescuing neuroscience from its data deluge
Before the digital age, neuroscientists got their information in the library like the rest of us. But the field's explosion has created nearly 2 million papers—more data than any researcher can read and absorb in a lifetime.
Researcher hits high note with language study
Fernanda Ferreira's family emigrated from Portugal to Canada when she was very young. There, like most Canadian children, she learned French in school.
Scientists 'grow' new cartilage with help of 3-D printing technology
A partnership between scientists at the University of Wollongong and St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne has led to a breakthrough in tissue engineering, with researchers growing cartilage from stem cells to treat cancers, osteoarthritis and traumatic injury.
Cesareans weaken gut microbiota and increase risk of allergies
Children who came into the world by Caesarean section are more often affected by allergies than those born in the natural way. The reason for this may be that they have a less diverse gut microbiota, according to a study by universities in Sweden and Scotland.
US anti-smoking battle moves outdoors; more bans
The U.S. battle against smoking has moved outdoors. City parks, public beaches, college campuses and other outdoor venues are putting up signs telling smokers they can't light up. Outdoor smoking bans have nearly doubled in the last five years to nearly 2,600.
Robotic intubation prototype crawls to the lungs in difficult situations
Intubation is the placement of a plastic tube into the lungs that allows anesthetized or critically ill patients to breathe. The current procedure requires the physician to see the trachea and choose between two very similar holes, one leading to the lungs, the other to the stomach.
Study shows who survives Burkitt lymphoma
A new study in the journal Cancer that tracked survival of more than 2,200 adults over the last decade with a highly aggressive form of lymphoma finds that with notable exceptions, medicine has made substantial progress in treating them successfully. To help doctors and researchers better understand who responds well to treatment and who doesn't, the study authors used their findings to create a stratified risk score of patient prognosis.
Italian study shows gender disparity in diabetes care
(HealthDay)—Compared to Italian men, women in Italy receive a poorer quality of diabetes care, and although difficulty attaining an ideal low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level appears to be mostly related to pathophysiological factors, patient and physician attitudes play an important role in other process measures and outcomes, according to a study published online July 8 in Diabetes Care.
Cumulative metformin linked to mortality post-prostate cancer
(HealthDay)—Among elderly men with diabetes, increased cumulative duration of metformin following a prostate cancer (PC) diagnosis correlates with decreased all-cause and PC-specific mortality, according to a study published online Aug. 5 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Multidisciplinary plan needed to meet breastfeeding goals
(HealthDay)—The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is calling for continuing education efforts to improve continuation of breastfeeding, particularly among underserved populations, according to a Committee Opinion published in the August issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Obesity down for low-income preschoolers in many states
(HealthDay)—From 2008 to 2011, the prevalence of obesity decreased significantly among low-income young children in 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to a study published in the Aug. 6 early-release issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Novel bacterium linked to cord colitis syndrome
(HealthDay)—A novel bacterium is associated with cord colitis syndrome, a complication of umbilical-cord hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, according to a study published in the Aug. 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Extreme workouts part of a growing trend in gyms
The 15 women and one man are all steadily focused on the task at hand: survival. This HIT - high-intensity training - class at FIT Studio in Lexington, Ky., is part of a national exercise trend.
Researchers investigate 59 tumor cell lines
In what is the biggest study of its kind to date, researchers from Technische Universität München (TUM) have identified over 10,000 different proteins in cancer cells. "Nearly all anti-tumor drugs are targeted against cellular proteins," says Prof. Bernhard Küster, Head of the TUM Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics. "Identifying the proteome the protein portfolio of tumor cells increases our chances of finding new targets for drugs."
How to achieve a well-balanced gut
Creating an environment that nurtures the trillions of beneficial microbes in our gut and, at the same time, protects us against invasion by food-borne pathogens is a challenge. A study published on August 8 in PLOS Pathogens reveals the role of a key player in this balancing act.
Telemedicine consultations significantly improve pediatric care in rural emergency rooms
Telemedicine consultations with pediatric critical-care medicine physicians significantly improve the quality of care for seriously ill and injured children treated in remote rural emergency rooms, where pediatricians and pediatric specialists are scarce, a study by researchers at UC Davis Children's Hospital has found.
Signs of MERS coronavirus found in dromedary camels
Researchers searching for signs of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in livestock animals have found antibodies specific to the new virus in dromedary camels. The research, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, suggests that these animals have encountered MERS-CoV, or a closely related virus, and may be one reservoir of the virus that is causing MERS in humans.
Study shows elementary and middle schools can get students moving, not just thinking
Despite widespread cuts to physical education classes and recess, an Indiana University study has shown that schools can play an important role in helping their students live healthier lives. Schools that implemented coordinated school health programs saw increases in students' physical activity.
Capturing live tumor cells in the blood
Tumor cells circulating within a patient's bloodstream can carry cancer from a primary tumor site to distant sites of the body, spreading the disease.
Our brains can (unconsciously) save us from temptation
Inhibitory self control – not picking up a cigarette, not having a second drink, not spending when we should be saving – can operate without our awareness or intention.
Robot treats brain clots with steerable needles (w/ Video)
Surgery to relieve the damaging pressure caused by hemorrhaging in the brain is a perfect job for a robot.
Study suggests way to fight therapy resistant leukemia by blocking DNA repair
New research posted online by the Nature journal Leukemia suggests blocking part of a DNA repair complex that helps some types of leukemia resist treatment can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and enhance survival.
Study shows microRNAs can trigger lymphomas
A small group of immune-regulating molecules, when overproduced even moderately, can trigger the blood cancers known as lymphomas, according to a new study led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).
Black infants in US twice as likely to die as whites, CDC reports
(HealthDay)—Survival odds for black American infants are considerably worse than for white babies, a new U.S. study finds.
Updated guidelines available for lumbar spinal stenosis
(HealthDay)—Updated evidence-based guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis are now available, according to report published in the July issue of The Spine Journal.
Impaired sleep ups risk of relapse in Crohn's disease
(HealthDay)—For patients with Crohn's disease (CD), but not ulcerative colitis, sleep impairment is associated with increased risk of relapse, according to a study published in the August issue Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Stomach bug outbreak cases top 500
(HealthDay)—As U.S. health officials continue to try to track down the source of a widespread stomach bug outbreak, the number of confirmed illnesses keeps climbing.
Many kids with asthma live with secondhand smoke, CDC says
(HealthDay)—Children with asthma who are exposed to secondhand smoke have more severe symptoms and more frequent outbreaks than other kids with asthma.
Scientists identify key protein that modulates organismal aging
Scientists at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have identified a key factor that regulates the autophagy process, a kind of cleansing mechanism for cells in which waste material and cellular debris is gobbled up to protect cells from damage, and in turn, modulates aging. The findings, published in Nature Communications today, could lead to the development of new therapies for age-related disorders that are characterized by a breakdown in this process.
Latino genomes point way to hidden DNA: 20 million missing base pairs mapped
Hidden in the tangled, repetitious folds of DNA structures called centromeres, researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute have discovered the hiding place of 20 million base pairs of genetic sequence, finding a home for 10 percent of the DNA that is thought to be missing from the standard reference map of the human genome.
Genetic evidence shows recent population mixture in India
Scientists from Harvard Medical School and the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, India, provide evidence that modern-day India is the result of recent population mixture among divergent demographic groups.
Scientists watch live brain cell circuits spark and fire (w/ Video)
Scientists used fruit flies to show for the first time that a new class of genetically engineered proteins can be used to watch nerve cell electrical activity in live brains. The results, published in Cell, suggest these proteins may be a promising new tool for mapping brain cell activity in multiple animals and for studying how neurological disorders disrupt normal nerve cell signaling. Understanding brain cell activity is a high priority of the President's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative.
Gene regulator is key to healthy retinal development and good vision in adulthood
Scientists are developing a clearer picture of how visual systems develop in mammals. The findings offer important clues to the origin of retinal disorders later in life.
Investigational malaria vaccine found safe and protective
An investigational malaria vaccine has been found to be safe, to generate an immune system response, and to offer protection against malaria infection in healthy adults, according to the results of an early-stage clinical trial published Aug. 8 in the journal Science.
Researchers extend human epigenomic map
Ten years ago, scientists announced the end of the Human Genome Project, the international attempt to learn which combination of four nucleotides—adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine—is unique to homo sapien DNA. This biological alphabet helped researchers identify the approximately 25,000 genes coded in the human genome, but as time went on, questions arose about how all of these genes are controlled.
Researchers find caffeine during pregnancy negatively impacts mice brains
(Medical Xpress)—A team of European researchers has found that mice who consume caffeine while pregnant give birth to pups with negative changes to their brains. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the team reports on their findings after examining the brains of mice pups whose mothers were given caffeine during pregnancy.
Muscle health depends on sugar superstructure
For many inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington disease, the disease-causing genetic mutation damages or removes a protein that has an essential role in the body. This protein defect is the root cause of the disease symptoms.
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