Rabu, 10 Agustus 2011

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Wednesday, August 10, 2011

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Wednesday, August 10, 2011

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Polar dinosaur tracks open new trail to past (August 10, 2011) -- Paleontologists have discovered a group of more than 20 polar dinosaur tracks on the coast of Victoria, Australia, offering a rare glimpse into animal behavior during the last period of pronounced global warming, about 105 million years ago. ... > full story

A protein may help treat obesity, diabetes (August 10, 2011) -- A newly-identified protein may hold the key to keeping appetite and blood sugar in check, according to a new study. Researchers found that rats administered with nesfatin-1 ate less, used more stored fat and became more active. In addition, the protein stimulated insulin secretion from the pancreatic beta cells of both rats and mice. ... > full story

Mosquitoes can't spot a spermless mate (August 10, 2011) -- A female mosquito cannot tell if the male that she has mated with is fertile or 'spermless' and unable to fertilize her eggs, according to a new study. The research could help scientists in their mission to prevent the spread of malaria by interfering with the mosquitoes' ability to reproduce. ... > full story

No strong evidence to support aspirin use for IVF (August 10, 2011) -- A systematic review did not find compelling evidence to support the routine use of aspirin in women being treated for IVF. The researchers reported that taking aspirin during an IVF cycle did not seem to increase a woman's chances of becoming pregnant. ... > full story

Waging war on invasive plant species: Effects of invasives persist even after removal (August 10, 2011) -- Invasive species cost an estimated .4 trillion annually in their environmental and economic impacts worldwide and are second only to habitat loss as a threat to biodiversity. As scientists struggle with the challenge of controlling invasive species, the question of why some species are so successful continually arises. ... > full story

Suicide risk high for war veterans in college, study finds (August 10, 2011) -- Nearly half of college students who are U.S. military veterans reported thinking of suicide and 20 percent said they had planned to kill themselves -- rates significantly higher than among college students in general, according to a new study. ... > full story

Hybrid solar system makes rooftop hydrogen (August 10, 2011) -- While roofs across the world sport photovoltaic solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity, an engineer believes a novel hybrid system can wring even more useful energy out of the sun's rays. Instead of systems based on standard solar panels, an engineer proposes a hybrid option in which sunlight heats a combination of water and methanol in a maze of glass tubes on a rooftop. After two catalytic reactions, the system produces hydrogen much more efficiently than current technology without significant impurities. The resulting hydrogen can be stored and used on demand in fuel cells. ... > full story

Sleep-disordered breathing may increase risk of cognitive impairment, dementia among older women (August 10, 2011) -- Older women with sleep-disordered breathing, as indicated by measures of hypoxia (oxygen deficiency), were more likely to develop cognitive impairment or dementia than women without this disorder, according to a new study. ... > full story

Leaky heart valves: First in vitro study of tricuspid valve mechanics uncovers causes for leakage (August 10, 2011) -- An estimated 1.6 million Americans suffer moderate to severe leakage through their heart's tricuspid valve, but what causes the problem is not well understood. A new study found that either dilating the tricuspid valve opening or displacing the papillary muscles that control its operation can cause the valve to leak. A combination of the two actions can increase the severity of the leakage, which is called tricuspid regurgitation. ... > full story

Antibiotic useful for localized treatment of bone wear (August 10, 2011) -- Total joint replacement surgeries can help relieve joint pain common in people with conditions like osteoarthritis. But sometimes, the debris from prosthetic joints leads to aseptic loosening, or disintegration of surrounding bones. In 2009, a researcher determined that the anti-inflammatory antibiotic erythromycin can prevent and treat such disintegration. There was one caveat, however: there are side effects associated with long-term usage of erythromycin. Now a biomedical engineer has found a solution. ... > full story

Rising barriers to primary care send many Americans to the emergency department (August 10, 2011) -- A shortage in the number and availability of primary care physicians in the U.S. may continue to mean rising numbers of emergency department visits, despite the expanded health insurance coverage required by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. ... > full story

Solar flares: What does it take to be X-class? Sun emits an X-Class flare on August 9, 2011 (August 9, 2011) -- Solar flares are giant explosions on the sun that send energy, light and high speed particles into space. These flares are often associated with solar magnetic storms known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The number of solar flares increases approximately every 11 years, and the sun is currently moving towards another solar maximum, likely in 2013. That means more flares will be coming, some small and some big enough to send their radiation all the way to Earth. ... > full story

Tests that use DNA from mother’s blood to determine sex of fetus often effective (August 9, 2011) -- As a noninvasive method of determining the sex of a fetus, tests using cell-free fetal DNA obtained from the mother's blood after 7 weeks gestation performed well, while urine-based tests appear to be unreliable, according to a review and analysis of previous studies. ... > full story

New insights into biology of germ cells: Machinery for recombination is part of chromosome structure (August 9, 2011) -- During the development of gametes, such as egg and sperm cells in humans, chromosomes are broken and rearranged at many positions. Using state of the art technology, researchers in Austria have analyzed this process at high resolution. The surprising observations regarding the mechanism of meiosis are now published in a new article. ... > full story

Young black patients on kidney dialysis do much worse -- not better -- than white counterparts, study finds (August 9, 2011) -- For years, medical studies have reached the same conclusion: African-American patients do better on kidney dialysis than their white counterparts. But new research shows that younger blacks -- those under the age of 50 -- actually do much worse on dialysis than equally sick whites who undergo the same blood-filtering process. ... > full story

New way to manage energy in the smart grid (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a mechanism which uses smart computerized agents to control energy storage devices in the home, resulting in energy savings of up to 16 per cent. ... > full story

Study of abalone yields new insights into sexual reproduction (August 9, 2011) -- In new research that could have implications for increasing fertilization in humans and other mammals, life scientists have studied interactions between individual sperm and individual eggs in the natural habitats of abalone -- a large marine snail -- and made precise chemical measurements and developed physical models of these interactions. They are the first scientists to do so. ... > full story

Flaxseed may be effective in protecting against harmful effects of radiation (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers have discovered that flax might have a new use for the 21st century: protecting healthy tissues and organs from the harmful effects of radiation. Researchers have found that a diet of flaxseed given to mice not only protects lung tissues before exposure to radiation, but can also significantly reduce damage after exposure occurs. ... > full story

Archaeologists uncover 3,000-year-old lion adorning citadel gate complex in Turkey (August 9, 2011) -- Archaeologists in southeastern Turkey have unearthed the remains of a monumental gate complex adorned with stone sculptures, including a magnificently carved lion. The gate complex provided access to the citadel of Kunulua, capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 950-725 BCE), and is reminiscent of the citadel gate excavated by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in 1911 at the royal Hittite city of Carchemish. ... > full story

Connecting the dots: Dental medicine team describes how enamel forms (August 9, 2011) -- Dental medicine researchers are piecing together the process of tooth enamel biomineralization, which could lead to novel nanoscale approaches to developing biomaterials. ... > full story

Scientists pioneer new method for nanoribbon production (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers are pioneering a new method of studying and making molecules. The work could pave the way for the production of nanomaterials for use in a new generation of computers and data storage devices that are faster, smaller and more powerful. ... > full story

When and how to toilet train children (August 9, 2011) -- Parents often ask their doctors for advice on toilet training young children, and a new article summarizes current approaches and evidence to help physicians respond to these queries. ... > full story

Japan's Tohoku tsunami created icebergs in Antarctica (August 9, 2011) -- A NASA scientist and her colleagues were able to observe for the first time the power of an earthquake and tsunami to break off large icebergs a hemisphere away. The researchers were able to link the calving of icebergs from the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in Antarctica following the Tohoku Tsunami, which originated with an earthquake off the coast of Japan in March 2011. The finding marks the first direct observation of such a connection between tsunamis and icebergs. ... > full story

Why the human heart can't regenerate itself (August 9, 2011) -- Stem cell researchers have uncovered for the first time why adult human cardiac myocytes have lost their ability to proliferate, perhaps explaining why the human heart has little regenerative capacity. ... > full story

Curry spice could offer treatment hope for tendinitis (August 9, 2011) -- A derivative of a common culinary spice found in Indian curries could offer a new treatment hope for sufferers of the painful condition tendinitis, researchers have shown. The researchers have shown that curcumin, which also gives the spice turmeric its trademark bright yellow coloring, can be used to suppress biological mechanisms that spark inflammation in tendon diseases. ... > full story

Molecular pathway that leads to inflammation in asthma identified (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a molecular pathway that helps explain how an enzyme elevated in asthma patients can lead to increased mucus production and inflammation that is characteristic of the lung condition. Their findings reveal unique interactions between biological molecules that could be targeted to develop new asthma treatments. ... > full story

When atoms are surfing on optical waves (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers are working on a next-generation computer: They made cold atoms interact with miniature gold wires as small as a thousandth of a millimeter. Illuminating the wires with laser light in a special way, the physicists concentrated the light field at the surface of the wires and, by that, generated so-called surface plasmons. These are bound light fields which might enable the construction of devices for optical computing and for quantum information. Circuits based on these devices would be much faster and more efficient than present technologies. ... > full story

Schizophrenia study finds cognitive deficits significantly impair decision-making capacity (August 9, 2011) -- Concern about the capacity of individuals with schizophrenia to consent to clinical research studies has largely focused on impairment due to psychotic symptoms associated with the disorder. Less attention has been given to the cognitive errors that prospective participants make when undergoing a formal assessment of decisional capacity. A new study has found that errors due to cognitive difficulties were common. ... > full story

DNA building blocks can be made in space, NASA evidence suggests (August 9, 2011) -- NASA-funded researchers have evidence that some building blocks of DNA, the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for life, found in meteorites were likely created in space. The research gives support to the theory that a "kit" of ready-made parts created in space and delivered to Earth by meteorite and comet impacts assisted the origin of life. ... > full story

'Good' prion-like proteins boost immune response, scientists report (August 9, 2011) -- A person's ability to battle viruses at the cellular level remarkably resembles the way deadly infectious agents called prions misfold and cluster native proteins to cause disease, researchers report. ... > full story

Research outlines math framework that could help convert 'junk' energy into useful power (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers have developed a mathematical framework that could one day form the basis of technologies that turn road vibrations, airport runway noise and other "junk" energy into useful power. ... > full story

Buyer beware: Herbal products missing key safety information (August 9, 2011) -- Many herbal remedies available over-the-counter in pharmacies and health food shops are still lacking important information needed for safe use, according to researchers. ... > full story

Body-mounted cameras turn motion capture inside out (August 9, 2011) -- Traditional motion capture techniques use cameras to meticulously record the movements of actors inside studios, enabling those movements to be translated into digital models. But by turning the cameras around -- mounting almost two dozen, outward-facing cameras on the actors themselves -- scientists have shown that motion capture can occur almost anywhere -- in natural environments, over large areas and outdoors. ... > full story

Hang out at the water cooler, live longer: Getting along with co-workers can significantly increase your lifespan, says researcher (August 9, 2011) -- A new study statistically demonstrates the positive health consequences of an emotionally supportive workplace. ... > full story

Like superman's X-Ray vision, new microscope reveals nanoscale details (August 9, 2011) -- Physicists have developed a new kind of X-ray microscope that can penetrate deep within materials like Superman's fabled X-ray vision and see minute details at the scale of a single nanometer, or one billionth of a meter. ... > full story

Technique to stimulate heart cells may lead to light-controlled pacemakers (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers used light to control the electrical activity of heart muscle cells. The research raises the possibility of light-controlled pacemakers to treat heart rhythm problems. ... > full story

Key to 'bifocals' in mangrove fish species: 'Four-eyed fish' shows how gene expression enables adaptation (August 9, 2011) -- A "four-eyed" fish that sees simultaneously above and below the water line has offered up a dramatic example of how gene expression allows organisms to adapt to their environment. ... > full story

Genetic analysis of amniotic fluid shows promise for monitoring fetal development (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of focused fetal gene expression analysis of target genes found in amniotic fluid using Standardized NanoArray PCR (SNAP) technology. This analysis could be used to monitor fetal development, enabling clinicians to determine very early in pregnancy whether fetal organ systems are developing normally. ... > full story

NASA Mars rover Opportunity approaches long-term goal (August 9, 2011) -- The NASA Mars rover Opportunity has gained a view of Endeavour crater from barely more than a football-field's distance away from the rim. The rim of Endeavour has been the mission's long-term goal since mid-2008. ... > full story

Social class as culture (August 9, 2011) -- Social class is more than just how much money you have. It's also the clothes you wear, the music you like, the school you go to -- and has a strong influence on how you interact with others, according to new research. ... > full story

Chimpanzees are spontaneously generous after all, study shows (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers have shown chimpanzees have a significant bias for prosocial behavior. This, the study authors report, is in contrast to previous studies that positioned chimpanzees as reluctant altruists and led to the widely held belief that human altruism evolved in the last six million years only after humans split from apes. ... > full story

Fine-tuning the flu vaccine for broader protection (August 9, 2011) -- An antibody that mimics features of the influenza virus's entry point into human cells could help researchers understand how to fine-tune the flu vaccine to protect against a broad range of virus strains. Such protection could potentially reduce the need to develop, produce, and distribute a new vaccine for each flu season. ... > full story

Modified metals change color in the presence of particular gases (August 9, 2011) -- Modified metals that change color in the presence of particular gases could warn consumers if packaged food has been exposed to air or if there's a carbon monoxide leak at home. ... > full story

Age and severity of heart failure associated with impairment in verbal memory (August 9, 2011) -- Older patients with lower rates of left ventricular ejection fraction (a measure of how well the left ventricle of the heart pumps with each contraction) appear more likely than younger patients to have significantly reduced verbal memory function, according to a new study. ... > full story

Biology, materials science get a boost from robust imaging tool: Collaborators give a new view of macromolecular systems (August 9, 2011) -- Shape and alignment are everything. How nanometer-sized pieces fit together into a whole structure determines how well a living cell or an artificially fabricated device performs. A new method to help understand and predict such structure has arrived with the successful use a new imaging tool. ... > full story

Even science Nobel Laureates find acceptance isn't a given, study finds (August 9, 2011) -- The path of success for Nobel Prize laureates in the sciences isn't a straight shot from obscurity to never-ending scientific superstardom, a new study reveals. Instead, many laureates see their Nobel-winning idea grow in acceptance from their first related scientific article to their most successful publication. But their later work related to the Nobel idea gains less acceptance, and many times is no more accepted by the scientific community than their very first efforts. ... > full story

'Endurance gene' for Olympic-level athletes: Genetic basis for muscle endurance discovered in animal study (August 9, 2011) -- Researchers have identified a gene for endurance, or more precisely, its negative regulator. Not having the gene relates to greater endurance in the knockout mice that were studied. The investigators also showed that the gene is linked to Olympic-level athletes in endurance sports such as swimming compared to athletes in sprint sports such as the 100-meter dash. The work has implications for improving muscle performance in disease states including metabolic disorders, obesity, and aging. ... > full story

Deep brain stimulation effects may last for 10 years in patients with Parkinson's disease (August 9, 2011) -- One decade after receiving implants that stimulate areas of their brains, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) appear to sustain improvement in motor function, although part of the initial benefit wore off mainly because of progressive loss of benefit in other functions, according to a new study. ... > full story


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