Fwd: Science X Newsletter Monday, Dec 8

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Newsletter Phys.org <not-for-reply@physorg.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 2:31 AM
Subject: Science X Newsletter Monday, Dec 8
To: Pascal Alter <pascal.alter@gmail.com>

Dear Pascal Alter,

Here is your customized Phys.org Newsletter for December 8, 2014:

Spotlight Stories Headlines

- Rotating nanotube motors offer glimpse of future nanodevices
- New cheap NFC sensor can transmit information on hazardous chemicals, food spoilage to smartphone
- Best of Last Week – Replacing wires with light, physics mystery solved and link between vitamin D and depression
- World record for compact 'tabletop' particle accelerator
- Hybrid chemical / genetic therapy restores light sensitivity to retina in blind mice, dogs
- Researchers looking to 4-D printing to create biosensors from edible gels
- Curiosity rover finds clues to how water helped shape Martian landscape
- Scientists re-create what may be life's first spark
- Health checks will be seated by Sharp
- New technique allows low-cost creation of 3-D nanostructures
- Unusual electronic state found in new class of unconventional superconductors
- Study offers explanation for Titan dune puzzle
- Commentary calls for new 'science of climate diversity'
- Is natural gas a 'bridge' to a hotter future?
- Solid-state proteins maximize the intensity of fluorescent-protein-based lasers

Astronomy & Space news

	Study offers explanation for Titan dune puzzle Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a peculiar place. Unlike any other moon, it has a dense atmosphere. It has rivers and lakes made up of components of natural gas, such as ethane and methane. It also has windswept dunes that are hundreds of yards high, more than a mile wide and hundreds of miles long—despite data suggesting the body to have only light breezes.
	Curiosity rover finds clues to how water helped shape Martian landscape (Phys.org)—Observations by NASA's Curiosity Rover indicate Mars' Mount Sharp was built by sediments deposited in a large lake bed over tens of millions of years.
	Warm gas pours 'cold water' on galaxy's star-making Some like it hot, but for creating new stars, a cool cosmic environment is ideal. As a new study suggests, a surge of warm gas into a nearby galaxy—left over from the devouring of a separate galaxy—has extinguished star formation by agitating the available chilled gas.
	The dark fingers of the solar atmosphere The Sun is bubbling, forming mysterious finger-like plasma structures in its gaseous envelope, the corona. A German-American team headed by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research has now succeeded in explaining these filigree-like forms. In their new theory, the scientists make use of a long-known natural phenomenon which can be observed in very different situations – in the distant cosmos as well as in a cup of tea at home.
	Effects of accretion disks around newborn stars Stars are born in dense, cool clouds of molecular gas and dust. When the local density is high enough, the matter can gravitationally collapse to form a new star, a so-called young stellar object (YSO). In its early phases, a thick envelope dominates the infrared emission from the YSO, hiding what is going on within, but eventually the envelope flattens out into a warm circumstellar accretion disk. The disk emits more infrared than does the young star, and that excess radiation can be used to distinguish young stars from more mature stars whose disks and envelopes have disappeared. In recent years it has become possible to investigate these envelopes and disks in more detail, and astronomers have been building on these studies to address how planetary systems develop.
	Physicist presents new observational solar weather model Scientists now have an observational framework to help predict solar weather and how it will affect Earth.
China develops new rocket for manned moon mission: media China is developing a huge rocket that will be used for its first manned mission to the moon, state media said Monday, underscoring Beijing's increasingly ambitious space programme.
	Sixth launch for Ariane 5 this year An Ariane 5 has lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana and delivered two telecom satellites into their planned orbits.
	Orion test sets stage for ESA service module Today's flight and splashdown of NASA's first Orion spacecraft paves the way for future human exploration beyond low orbit powered by ESA's European Service Module.
	Image: Jupiter's bands of bronze This Cassini image shows Jupiter from an unusual perspective. If you were to float just beneath the giant planet and look directly up, you would be greeted with this striking sight: red, bronze and white bands encircling a hazy south pole. The multicoloured concentric layers are broken in places by prominent weather systems such as Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot, visible towards the upper left, chaotic patches of cloud and pale white dots. Many of these lighter patches contain lightning-filled thunderstorms.
	On Pluto's doorstep, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft awakens for encounter After a voyage of nearly nine years and three billion miles—the farthest any space mission has ever traveled to reach its primary target—NASA's New Horizons spacecraft came out of hibernation on Dec. 6 for its long-awaited 2015 encounter with the Pluto system.
	FOXSI to observe X-rays from Sun An enormous spectrum of light streams from the sun. We're most familiar with the conventional visible white light we see with our eyes from Earth, but that's just a fraction of what our closest star emits. NASA regularly watches the sun in numerous wavelengths because different wavelengths provide information about different temperatures and processes in space. Looking at all the wavelengths together helps to provide a complete picture of what's occurring on the sun over 92 million miles away - but no one has been able to focus on high energy X-rays from the sun until recently.
Navy bringing back NASA's Orion after test flight A U.S. Navy ship carrying NASA's new Orion spacecraft is making its way to San Diego after retrieving the capsule from its Pacific Ocean splashdown point about 600 miles (965.56 kilometers) southwest of San Diego last week.

Medicine & Health news

	Hybrid chemical / genetic therapy restores light sensitivity to retina in blind mice, dogs A new genetic therapy helped blind mice and dogs regain some sensitivity to light - enough for the mice to distinguish flashing from non-flashing lights - setting the stage for future clinical trials in humans.
	Scientists pinpoint a new line of defence used by cancer cells Cancer Research UK scientists have discovered a new line of defence used by cancer cells to evade cell death, according to research published in Nature Communications today.
	Cell division induces tissue ordering Nature's ingenious systems: A layer of cells called endothelial cells lines the interior of blood vessels. When blood flows through the vessels, such cells only divide to replace dead cells. However, if there is a blood clot preventing blood from flowing across the endothelial cells, they begin to divide more actively. New research from the Niels Bohr Institute demonstrates that cell division is very ordered. The new cells move away from each other and create a dynamic movement with eddies in a large area. This presumably helps to widen the vessel around the blockage. The results are published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.
	Scientists identify hormone that reduces calorie burning, contributes to obesity Researchers from McMaster University have identified an important hormone that is elevated in obese people and contributes to obesity and diabetes by inhibiting brown fat activity.
	Rule of three: Hormone triplet offers hope for obesity and diabetes A new substance that unifies the action profiles of three gastrointestinal hormones lowers the blood sugar level and reduces body fat considerably beyond existing drugs. With the discovery and validation of such novel molecules, scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technische Universität München, in collaboration with Indiana University, USA, have again added a new dimension to innovating treatment approaches for type 2 diabetes and obesity. The results have been published in the journal Nature Medicine.
	Genetic errors linked to aging underlie leukemia that develops after cancer treatment For a small percentage of cancer patients, treatment aimed at curing the disease leads to a form of leukemia with a poor prognosis. Conventional thinking goes that chemotherapy and radiation therapy induce a barrage of damaging genetic mutations that kill cancer cells yet inadvertently spur the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a blood cancer.
	DNA paired with light could help guide drugs to their targets You have a drug. You know what you want it to do and where in the body you need it to go. But when you inject it into a patient, how can you make sure your drug does what you want, where you want, when you want it to?
	Study proves high heels do have power over men The well-heeled Marilyn Monroe reportedly once said if you give a girl the right shoes, she can conquer the world.
	Vaccine holds hope of preventing antibiotic resistant skin infections In the U.S. and around the globe, skin and soft tissue infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continue to endanger the health and lives of patients and otherwise healthy individuals.
	Study sheds new light on the formation of emotional fear memories Everyday events are easy to forget, but unpleasant ones can remain engraved in the brain. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences identifies a neural mechanism through which unpleasant experiences are translated into signals that trigger fear memories by changing neural connections in a part of the brain called the amygdala. The findings show that a long-standing theory on how the brain forms memories, called Hebbian plasticity, is partially correct, but not as simple as was originally proposed.
	Heat-shock protein enables tumor evolution and drug resistance in breast cancer Long known for its ability to help organisms successfully adapt to environmentally stressful conditions, the highly conserved molecular chaperone heat-shock protein 90 (HSP90) also enables estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers to develop resistance to hormonal therapy.
	Genes that cause pancreatic cancer identified by new tool A technique that can identify causes of cancer invisible to genetic sequencing has uncovered large sets of previously unknown pancreatic cancer genes. It is hoped that this study will boost research into a disease that is still poorly understood and for which five-year survival rates have stood at around 5 per cent for the past four decades.
	Research findings shed light on brain's storage capacity and how memories are kept separate Researchers have long wondered if there is an upper limit to our capacity to store memories and how we manage to remember so many events without mixing up events that are very similar.
Narrow subset of cells is responsible for metastasis in multiple myeloma, study finds Although it is among the most highly metastatic of all cancers, multiple myeloma is driven to spread by only a subset of the myeloma cells within a patient's body, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have found in a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).
Researchers announce latest results of investigational cellular therapy The latest results of clinical trials of more than 125 patients testing an investigational personalized cellular therapy known as CTL019 will be presented by a University of Pennsylvania research team at the 56th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition. Highlights of the new trial results will include a response rate of more than 90 percent among pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients, and results from the first lymphoma trials testing the approach, including a 100 percent response rate among follicular lymphoma patients and 45 percent response rate among those with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
Combination therapy shown as effective for higher-risk MDS/AML patients A phase two study that investigated the potential of the drugs azacitidine (AZA) and lenalidomide (LEN), demonstrated that the two therapies in combination may be an effective frontline treatment regimen for patients with higher-risk forms of myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia.
Correcting myths about the flu vaccine December 8, 2014 - With health systems in the U.S., U.K., and around the world trying to increase vaccination levels, it is critical to understand how to address vaccine hesitancy and counter myths about vaccine safety. A new article in the journal "Vaccine" concludes, however, that correcting myths about vaccines may not be the most effective approach to promoting immunization among vaccine skeptics. The study, which was co-authored by Brendan Nyhan, an assistant professor of government at Dartmouth College, and Jason Reifler, a senior lecturer of politics at the University of Exeter, found that debunking the myth that the seasonal influenza vaccine can give you the flu actually reduced intent to vaccinate among people who are most concerned about vaccine side effects.
New study identifies first gene associated with familial glioma An international consortium of researchers led by Baylor College of Medicine has identified for the first time a gene associated with familial glioma (brain tumors that appear in two or more members of the same family) providing new support that certain people may be genetically predisposed to the disease.
Correcting metabolic abnormalities may help lessen urinary problems Metabolic syndrome is linked with an increased frequency and severity of lower urinary tract symptoms, but weight loss surgery may lessen these symptoms. The findings, which come from two studies published in BJU International, indicate that urinary problems may be added to the list of issues that can improve with efforts that address altered metabolism.
Oral inhibitor shows clinical activity in poor-prognosis AML An oral targeted drug has shown encouraging activity and tolerable side effects in patients with treatment-resistant or relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) - a poor-prognosis group with few options - report investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
	E-cigarette tech takes off as regulation looms Just a few years ago, early adopters of e-cigarettes got their fix by clumsily screwing together a small battery and a plastic cartridge containing cotton soaked with nicotine.
	Drawing lessons from Philadelphia's large-scale ob unit closures What does it mean for expectant mothers and hospitals when there are large-scale closures of maternity units? A new study led by researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia provides an inside view from hospital staff members in Philadelphia, where 13 out of 19 obstetric units closed in a 15-year period.
	Macrophages chase neutrophils away from wounds to resolve inflammation Macrophages are best known for their Pac Man-like ability to gobble up cellular debris and pathogens in order to thwart infection. A new study in The Journal of Cell Biology describes how these immune cells also help resolve inflammation by inducing white blood cells called neutrophils to leave wounded tissue.
Two papers expose gaps in health coverage for children, recommend solutions Despite the promise of health reform, millions of U.S. children still lack quality health coverage or have trouble getting the services they need to stay healthy or to develop properly, according to two articles published in the December issue of Health Affairs. To address these gaps in coverage, broad reforms aimed at improving the quality of coverage for all children are needed, according to the authors.
San Francisco public housing type a strong predictor of kids' use of emergency rooms San Francisco children living in non-redeveloped public housing are 39 percent more likely to repeatedly visit emergency rooms, according to new research from UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley.
	Experimental gene therapy successful in certain lymphomas and leukemia Study results of CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy using the Sleeping Beauty non-viral transduction system to modify T cells has demonstrated further promise in patients with advanced hematologic malignancies.
	Brief: A pill for obesity? Stem cell scientists convert white fat to brown fat Harvard Stem Cell Institute researchers at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital have taken what they are describing as "the first step toward a pill that can replace the treadmill" for the control of obesity - though it of course would not provide all the additional benefits of exercise.
Seasonal flu vaccines boost immunity to many types of flu viruses Seasonal flu vaccines may protect individuals not only against the strains of flu they contain but also against many additional types, according to a study published this week in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The work, directed by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., found that some study participants who reported receiving flu vaccines had a strong immune response not only against the seasonal H3N2 flu strain from 2010, when blood samples were collected for analysis, but also against flu subtypes never included in any vaccine formulation.
	Fruitcake – will it last forever? I've always thought that, in the event of a nuclear apocalypse, the Earth will be populated solely by cockroaches, those Styrofoam hamburger containers that fast-food joints used in the 1980s, and fruitcakes. Since this is the season for loved ones to inflict fruitcakes on one another, I decided to get to the bottom of this mystery: will fruitcakes really last forever?
	Human trials show drug success for treatment of genetic bone disease Scientists at the University of Liverpool and the Royal Liverpool University Hospital have completed human trials on a drug that has proved successful in preventing the development of a rare bone disease.
Surprising new leads uncovered in global obesity epidemic Researchers have uncovered surprising new leads in the worldwide obesity epidemic by examining the combination of our rapidly changing environment with our overwhelming appetite for protein.
Urgent demand for better designed programs to halt Gen Y's growing waistlines The most comprehensive worldwide review ever conducted of programs designed to prevent young people becoming overweight has identified serious flaws with their design and implementation.
	Gaming safer sex UConn interactive digital media expert John Christensen has brought to life a virtual world with artificially intelligent characters so realistic, engaging, and compassionate, they have accomplished something that, to date, in-person health behavior-change interventions have not.
	Bigger bodies bringing more cancers Growing obesity levels are increasing the burden of cancers throughout the world, say University of Queensland researchers.
	Possible link between air pollution and breast cancer A new study of over 3,400 Canadian women provides further evidence that exposure to air-pollution may increase the risk of developing breast cancer, especially among women who have not yet had their menopause.
Vitamin C may help people who suffer from airway obstruction or respiratory symptoms after exercise Vitamin C may reduce bronchoconstriction and respiratory symptoms caused by exercise according to a study published in Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology.
Unexpected outcome of SYMPLICITY HTN-3 trial of renal denervation to lower blood pressure A new analysis of an important trial of the blood pressure-lowering procedure, renal denervation, shows that the main results may have been affected by a number of confounding factors that partially explain the unexpected blood pressure responses in patients.
	Breakthrough in fibrosis research Researchers from the Departments of Pharmacy & Pharmacology and Biology & Biochemistry have made an important discovery that might lead to novel therapies to combat chronic fibrotic diseases.
	Childhood brain tumours linked to parental solvent use Children born to parents who work with paints, glues and other industrial solvents are more likely to develop brain tumours, WA researchers have found.
	Heart attack treatments ineffective for some Victoria University of Wellington research has identified reasons why a significant portion of heart attack patients do not respond to commonly used treatments.
Can a genetic test help predict which antidepressant will be most effective? Depression is the most commonly diagnosed mental illness, and antidepressants are the most frequently prescribed treatments for it. But with dozens of medications to choose from, and with individuals responding better to some drugs than to others—possibly due to genetic differences that affect how the medications are metabolized and how they act on the brain—patients must often try several medications before finding one that is most effective.
	Is Ebola diverting resources from other neglected diseases? Thanks in part to the Ebola crisis, neglected diseases have grabbed the world's attention. These diseases predominantly affect developing nations with limited resources to fund research, pay for treatments, and support public health infrastructure. The commercial prospects for drugs and treatments targeting neglected diseases are also limited, which in turn means that there is little research and development.
	Study offers future hope for tackling signs of ageing A new advance in biomedical research at the University of Leicester could have potential in the future to assist with tackling diseases and conditions associated with ageing – as well as in treating cancer.
New research shows fewer deaths related to RSV than previously thought It's a virus that has long been characterized as dangerous and even deadly, but new research shows infant deaths from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are actually quite uncommon in the 21st century.
Researchers explore new approach for treating Alzheimer's disease It is estimated that about 35 million people worldwide currently suffer from dementia and it is expected that the number will increase to 135 million by the year 2050. The disease is already one of the most common health problems in the elderly, which is why experts predict that the numbers of people affected will increase over time. Researchers at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have recently gained new insights into how it may in future be possible to treat patients with the currently most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease. It seems that a drug that is actually approved for treatment of the dermal disorder psoriasis stimulates the activity of the enzyme ADAM10 in the brain of Alzheimer's patients. There is already good evidence from basic research that this enzyme should be capable of suppressing Alzheimer's disease-related ef! fects such as impaired cerebral function and that it thus might improve learning and memory capacity in patients.
Enzyme identified which could lead to targeted treatment for PMS Low doses of fluoxetine - better known as the anti-depressant Prozac - could hold the key to preventing PMS symptoms, an international team of researchers has found.
Animal research sheds light on harmful mood disorders in new mothers In the days shortly after giving birth, most mothers experience a period of increased calmness and decreased stress responses, but around 20% of mothers experience anxiety. Some women may become depressed, and around one in a thousand can develop psychosis. The latest evidence indicates that these distressing responses to motherhood are still poorly understood, but that animal research could provide valuable clues to their causes.
Half of US kids exposed to traumatic social or family experiences during childhood Nearly half of all children in the United States are exposed to at least one social or family experience that can lead to traumatic stress and impact their healthy development - be it having their parents divorce, a parent die or living with someone who abuses alcohol or drugs - increasing the risk of negative long-term health consequences or of falling behind in school, suggests new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
	New agent causes small cell lung tumors to shrink in pre-clinical testing Small cell lung cancer - a disease for which no new drugs have been approved for many years - has shown itself vulnerable to an agent that disables part of tumor cells' basic survival machinery, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported.
	Disorder in gene-control system is a defining characteristic of cancer, study finds The genetic tumult within cancerous tumors is more than matched by the disorder in one of the mechanisms for switching cells' genes on and off, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard report in a new study. Their findings, published online today in the journal Cancer Cell, indicate that the disarray in the on-off mechanism - known as methylation - is one of the defining characteristics of cancer and helps tumors adapt to changing circumstances.
	Preeclampsia during mother's pregnancy associated with greater autism risk Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were more than twice as likely to have been exposed in utero to preeclampsia, and the likelihood of an autism diagnosis was even greater if the mother experienced more severe disease, a large study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found.
Cans lined with Bisphenol A may increase blood pressure Drinking or eating from cans or bottles lined with Bisphenol A (BPA) could raise your blood pressure, according to new research reported in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.
Primary care doctors report prescribing fewer opioids for pain Nine in 10 primary care physicians say that prescription drug abuse is a moderate or big problem in their communities and nearly half say they are less likely to prescribe opioids to treat pain compared to a year ago, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.
Impossible? Can researchers develop 100 drugs in ten years? Develop 100 drugs in 10 years. That's the ambitious goal set by a group of scientists and engineers at the University of Utah, founders of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, a start-up company that is able to quickly and affordably identify unexpected ways a drug could be used by testing it on diseased cells.
Hookah pipes, smokeless tobacco snus associated with smoking onset Smoking water pipe tobacco from hookahs and using the smokeless tobacco snus were associated with initiating cigarette smoking and smoking cigarettes in the past 30 days among previously nonsmoking teenagers and young adults, according to a study published online by JAMA Pediatrics.
Tramadol associated with increased risk of hospitalization for hypoglycemia The opioid pain-reliever tramadol appears to be associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for hypoglycemia, a potentially fatal condition caused by low blood sugar, according to a report published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
	Hard hit to chest triggered irregular heartbeat in teen football player (HealthDay)—A hard hit to the chest during a football game resulted in three days of an irregular heart rhythm for a 16-year-old player, researchers report in a new case study.
	Premature ejaculation linked to hypoglycemic variability in T1DM (HealthDay)—Higher glycemic variability in the hypoglycemic domain is associated with premature ejaculation (PE) in young males with type 1 diabetes (T1DM), although prevalence of PE is similar for young males with and without T1DM, according to a study published online Nov. 26 in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
	Antifungal prophylaxis regimens in liver transplant found equal (HealthDay)—Antifungal prophylaxis is associated with reductions in invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in liver transplant recipients, according to research published in the December issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.
	Patients urged to make the most of open enrollment season (HealthDay)—Open enrollment season for health care plans provides an opportunity for reconsidering health plans and switching plans to save money, add services, or enroll in a better plan, according to a report published by Vitals.
	ASH: Reducing factor XI cuts clots after knee arthroplasty (HealthDay)—Reducing factor XI levels with a second-generation antisense oligonucleotide (FXI-ASO) is effective for preventing venous thromboembolism after total knee arthroplasty, according to a study published online Dec. 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The findings were released to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology, held from Dec. 6 to 9 in San Francisco.
	AES: Studies explore epilepsy, driving regulations (HealthDay)—Three studies address the impact of epilepsy, subclinical epileptiform discharges (SEDs), and "seizure-like" non-epileptic events (NEEs) on driving. The studies are scheduled to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, held from Dec. 5 to 9 in Seattle.
Scientists discover brain mechanism that drives us to eat glucose Glucose is a component of carbohydrates, and the main energy source used by brain cells.
Major complications after abortion are extremely rare, study shows In the most comprehensive look yet at the safety of abortion, researchers at UC San Francisco have concluded that major complications are rare, occurring less than a quarter of a percent of the time, about the same frequency as colonoscopies.
	Blocking receptor in brain's immune cells counters Alzheimer's in mice The mass die-off of nerve cells in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease may largely occur because an entirely different class of brain cells, called microglia, begin to fall down on the job, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Targeting microRNA may benefit some ovarian and breast cancer patients A genetic misfire called the 3q26.2 amplicon can cause real havoc. In fact, it is among the most frequent chromosomal aberrations seen in many cancers, including ovarian and breast cancers.
A yardstick to measure the malignancy of prostate cancer A protein that influences the epigenetic characteristics of tumor cells is directly linked to the grade of malignancy of prostate cancer. This key discovery has been made by a team of scientists from the German Cancer Research Center, the University of Zurich, Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital, Heidelberg University, and other institutes. The detection of this biomarker may serve as an indicator of the likelihood that the disease may take an aggressive course, and may thus be helpful in choosing an appropriate treatment.
	Toughest breast cancer may have met its match Triple-negative breast cancer is as bad as it sounds. The cells that form these tumors lack three proteins that would make the cancer respond to powerful, customized treatments. Instead, doctors are left with treating these patients with traditional chemotherapy drugs that only show long-term effectiveness in 20 percent of women with triple-negative breast cancer. Now, researchers at The Johns Hopkins University have discovered a way that breast cancer cells are able to resist the effects of chemotherapy—and they have found a way to reverse that process.
Each dollar spent on kids' nutrition can yield more than $100 later There are strong economic incentives for governments to invest in early childhood nutrition, reports a new paper from the University of Waterloo and Cornell University. Published for the Copenhagen Consensus Centre, the paper reveals that every dollar spent on nutrition during the first 1,000 days of a child's life can provide a country up to $166 in future earnings.
	Researchers find link between sleep deprivation and cell damage Scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) have discovered a link between sleep loss and cell injury. Results of a new study find sleep deprivation causes the damage to cells, especially in the liver, lung, and small intestine. Recovery sleep following deprivation heals the damage.
	Punishing kids for lying just doesn't work If you want your child to tell the truth, it's best not to threaten to punish them if they lie. That's what researchers discovered through a simple experiment involving 372 children between the ages of 4 and 8.
Testing for drug-resistant bacteria before prostate biopsy can reduce infections Some infections after prostate biopsy due to drug-resistant Escherichia coli can be thwarted by simple rectal swab cultures prior to the procedure. The cultures test for antibiotic-resistant E. coli, and the findings are used to direct the selection of antimicrobial prophylaxis used for the procedure, according to Rhode Island Hospital researchers. The study was recently published in Urology.
	HPV vaccine, riskier sexual activity not linked Sexual behaviour of teenage girls does not appear to be impacted by the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine, according to Queen's researchers Drs. Leah Smith and Linda Lévesque.
	Does smoking hamper treatment for alcohol abuse? A new study has shown that smoking can inhibit the success of treatment for alcohol abuse, putting people who are addicted to both tobacco and alcohol in a double bind.
	Asbestos: An ongoing challenge to global health Challenges to global health can evolve from policies and decisions that take years or decades to unfold. An article in the current issue of the Annals of Global Health describes the current state of asbestos use worldwide, a story that began over 100 years ago, and the real and contrived controversies regarding asbestos.
Low-crime, walkable neighborhoods promote mental health in older Latinos Older Latinos living in the U.S. who perceive their neighborhoods as safer and more walkable are less likely to develop severe depressive symptoms, and the effect may be long term, a new study suggests.
	Walgreen tests virtual doctor visits through app Walgreen is testing a new telemedicine service that lets patients see a doctor without leaving home or visiting any of the drugstore chain's clinics.
	Next steps uncertain for women with dense breasts More women are learning their breasts are so dense that it's more difficult for mammograms to spot cancer. But new research suggests automatically giving them an extra test isn't necessarily the solution.
Microsoft's Paul Allen gives $100 million to disease research Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen on Monday announced he was giving $100 million to create a disease research institute in Seattle, Washington.
Experience counts with radiation therapy for head and neck cancer, study shows When it comes to specialized cancer surgery, it's generally true that the more experienced the surgeon, the better the outcome. The same might hold true for radiation therapy used to treat head and neck cancer, according to a new study led by researchers Evan Wuthrick, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James), and Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the OSUCCC - James.
Most elderly women with early stage breast cancer receive a treatment that may not be as effective A new analysis has found that while clinical trial data support omitting radiation treatments in elderly women with early stage breast cancer, nearly two-thirds of these women continue to receive it. The findings are published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Older breast cancer patients still get radiation despite limited benefit Women over the age of 70 who have certain early-stage breast cancers overwhelmingly receive radiation therapy despite published evidence that the treatment has limited benefit, researchers at Duke Medicine report.
Archbishop of Canterbury warns over hunger in Britain The Archbishop of Canterbury was launching a report Monday urging Britain's government to do more to eliminate hunger among people who struggle to afford food.
Norovirus sickens 200 people on New Zealand cruise (AP)—Health authorities in New Zealand said Monday that about 200 passengers on a cruise ship have been sickened by an outbreak of norovirus.
	Better communication between caregivers reduces medical errors, study finds A method of handing off information about pediatric patients when residents change shifts reduced preventable adverse events by 30 percent, a new study has found.
	Merck dives into 'superbug' chase with Cubist Merck will spend $8.4 billion to buy Cubist Pharmaceuticals and move deeper into treating so-called "superbugs" that have drawn dire warnings from global health organizations.
	In Ebola outbreak, bad data adds another problem As health officials struggle to contain the world's biggest-ever Ebola outbreak, their efforts are being complicated by another problem: bad data.
Saudi names new health minister to combat MERS virus King Abdullah named a new health minister Monday to lead the fight against the MERS virus that has cost more than 350 lives in Saudi Arabia, after his predecessor was sacked.
	Rapid Ebola test is focus of NIH grant to Rutgers scientist Rutgers researcher David Alland, working with the California biotechnology company Cepheid, has received a grant of nearly $640,000 from the National Institutes of Health to develop a rapid test to diagnose Ebola as well as other viruses that can cause symptoms similar to Ebola.
Dutch ship set for new mission to Ebola-hit countries Dutch navy transport ship Karel Doorman will on Friday return to West Africa to deliver dozens of vehicles, food and medical kit in the fight against Ebola, officials said Monday.
Mexican boy fighting massive tumor is out of ICU An 11-year-old Mexican boy who had portions of a massive tumor removed in New Mexico is out of intensive care.
EU announces 61 million-euro Ebola package for west Africa The European Union on Monday said it had given an extra 61 million euros in aid to help fight the Ebola crisis raging in west Africa.
Doctors strike at main hospital in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone Junior doctors at Sierra Leone's main hospital went on strike on Monday in protest over inadequate equipment to fight the Ebola epidemic ravaging the impoverished nation.
Ebola death toll rises to 6,331 as S.Leone overtakes Liberia cases More than 6,300 people have now died from Ebola in the three hardest hit nations in west Africa, the World Health Organization said Monday, as Sierra Leone overtook Liberia as the country with the highest number of cases.
Modified heat shock protein identified as plasma cell dyscrasis risk factor Patients with plasma cell dyscrasis have high amounts of an abnormal immunoglobulin, called a paraprotein, in their blood. While many patients have no outward symptoms, paraproteins can impair immune function, thicken blood, and damage organs. Plasma cell dyscrasis may be inherited, but risk factors for this disease are poorly understood.

---

This email is a free service of Phys.org
You received this email because you subscribed to our list.
(....)
You are subscribed as pascal.alter@gmail.com