ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Researchers develop new way to predict heart transplant survival
• Firewood movement leading cause of oak infestation in San Diego County, researchers find
• Hiding objects with a terahertz invisibility cloak
• New insight in how cells' powerhouse divides
• People think the 'typical' member of a group looks like them
• Engaging land-use stakeholders is model behavior
• Engineers test effects of fire on steel structures, nuclear plant design
• Study linking gut microbe type with diet has implications for fighting GI disorders
• Low-dose naltrexone (LDN): Tricking the body to heal itself
• Distinct features of autistic brain revealed in novel analysis of MRI scans
• Researchers investigate new mechanism for predicting how diseases spread
• Powerful antioxidant resveratrol prevents metabolic syndrome in lab tests, study finds
• Zero-gravity experiments
• Simulation training in obstetric clerkship improves medical students' examination scores
• To treat rare immune deficiency disease, scientists repurpose bone marrow transplant drug
• Giving social workers tools to strengthen relationships, marriages
• How 'railways' within cells are built in order to transport essential cargos
• Sexual orientation unconsciously affects our impressions of others, Canadian study suggests
• Why cancer cells change their appearance?
• NASA's Mars rover Opportunity begins study of Martian crater
• Aquarius makes first ocean salt measurements
• Rare Martian lake delta spotted by Mars Express
• Research for frost-resistant strawberry plants
• Endogenous approach to the prevention of allergies: How the immune system can develop tolerance to allergens
• Growth hormone helps repair the zebrafish ear
• Abdomen of a fish reveals the future of the stock
• New research finding will protect vital global crops
• Glucocorticoid treatment may prevent long term damage to joints, study shows
• Treating epilepsy in cats

Researchers develop new way to predict heart transplant survival Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:10 PM PDT Researchers say they have developed a formula to predict which heart transplant patients are at greatest risk of death in the year following their surgeries, information that could help medical teams figure out who would benefit most from the small number of available organs.

Firewood movement leading cause of oak infestation in San Diego County, researchers find Posted: 02 Sep 2011 12:16 PM PDT A catastrophic infestation of the goldspotted oak borer, which has killed more than 80,000 oak trees in San Diego County in the last decade, might be contained by controlling the movement of oak firewood from that region, according to researchers in California.

Hiding objects with a terahertz invisibility cloak Posted: 02 Sep 2011 11:20 AM PDT Researchers have created a new kind of cloaking material that can render objects invisible in the terahertz range. Though this design can't translate into an invisibility cloak for the visible spectrum, it could have implications in diagnostics, security, and communication.

New insight in how cells' powerhouse divides Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:31 AM PDT New research puts an unexpected twist on how mitochondria, the energy-generating structures within cells, divide. The work could have implications for a wide range of diseases and conditions.

People think the 'typical' member of a group looks like them Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:31 AM PDT What does a typical European face look like according to Europeans? It all depends on which European you ask. Germans think the typical European looks more German; Portuguese people think the typical European looks more Portuguese, according to a new study.

Engaging land-use stakeholders is model behavior Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT Taking land-use models out of the lab for a test drive with the people who live the models gives scientists a new way to develop possible future scenarios.

Engineers test effects of fire on steel structures, nuclear plant design Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT Ten years after Sept. 11, researchers are continuing work that could lead to safer steel structures such as buildings and bridges and also an emerging type of nuclear power plant design.

Study linking gut microbe type with diet has implications for fighting GI disorders Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT "You are what you eat" is familiar enough, but how deep do the implications go? An interdisciplinary group of investigators has found an association between long-term dietary patterns and the bacteria of the human gut.

Low-dose naltrexone (LDN): Tricking the body to heal itself Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT Researchers have discovered the mechanism by which a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN) can suppress cell proliferative-related disorders such as cancer and autoimmune diseases. LDN causes a compensatory increase in an endogenous opioid, the opioid growth factor (OGF, [Met5]-enkephalin), and the OGF receptor (OGFr).

Distinct features of autistic brain revealed in novel analysis of MRI scans Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT Researchers have used a novel method for analyzing brain-scan data to distinguish children with autism from typically developing children. Their discovery reveals that the gray matter in a network of brain regions known to affect social communication and self-related thoughts has a distinct organization in people with autism.

Researchers investigate new mechanism for predicting how diseases spread Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT Researchers have investigated the outcomes of a previously ignored mechanism in modeling how humans travel. By challenging a long-held assumption, they hope to create models that can more accurately predict the spread of disease and the spread of human-mediated bioinvasions.

Powerful antioxidant resveratrol prevents metabolic syndrome in lab tests, study finds Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:30 AM PDT Researchers in Canada have discovered that resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant found in common foods, prevents a syndrome in some offspring that could lead to later health issues such as diabetes. Resveratrol is found in fruits, nuts and red wine, and has been shown to extend the lifespan of many species.

Zero-gravity experiments Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:03 AM PDT Researchers will be floating high above the Gulf of Mexico this month to conduct zero-gravity testing of an experimental DNA analysis instrument that could benefit future NASA astronauts.

Simulation training in obstetric clerkship improves medical students' examination scores Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:02 AM PDT Medical students who practiced on a high-fidelity patient simulator before assisting in real-life vaginal deliveries scored significantly higher on their final obstetric clerkship examinations than did students receiving a lecture only, a new study reports.

To treat rare immune deficiency disease, scientists repurpose bone marrow transplant drug Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:02 AM PDT A new study reports that a drug already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in patients undergoing a bone marrow transplant may also have promise for treating people who have a rare immune deficiency known as WHIM syndrome. People with the syndrome are more susceptible to potentially life-threatening bacterial and viral infections, particularly human papillomavirus infections, which cause skin and genital warts and can lead to cancer.

Giving social workers tools to strengthen relationships, marriages Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:02 AM PDT Child welfare professionals know that children are safer and healthier when the adults in their lives have healthy relationships, but most social workers are not trained to educate couples about strong relationships and marriages. Researchers are working to train child welfare professionals and future social workers to help individuals and families strengthen their relationships.

How 'railways' within cells are built in order to transport essential cargos Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:02 AM PDT Every cell in the human body contains a complex system to transport critical material such as proteins and membrane vesicles from one point to another. Researchers have now come one step closer to understanding the elusive mechanics of this process.

Sexual orientation unconsciously affects our impressions of others, Canadian study suggests Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:01 AM PDT Studies by psychologists in Canada reveal that when it comes to white men, being straight may make you more likable but in the case of black men, gays have a likability edge.

Why cancer cells change their appearance? Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:01 AM PDT Like snakes, tumor cells shed their skin. Cancer is not a static disease but during its development the disease accumulates changes to evade natural defenses adapting to new environmental circumstances, protecting against chemotherapy and radiotherapy and invading neighboring organs, eventually causing metastasis.

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity begins study of Martian crater Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:57 AM PDT The initial work of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity at its new location on Mars shows surface compositional differences from anything the robot has studied in its first 7.5 years of exploration.

Aquarius makes first ocean salt measurements Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:54 AM PDT NASA's Aquarius instrument has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now "tasting" the saltiness of Earth's ocean surface, making measurements from its perch in near-polar orbit.

Rare Martian lake delta spotted by Mars Express Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:47 AM PDT The European Space Agency's Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars' past, wetter climate.

Research for frost-resistant strawberry plants Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:47 AM PDT Soon it will be possible to grow strawberries that withstand frost. This will lengthen their growing season in countries that must cope with cooler climates.

Endogenous approach to the prevention of allergies: How the immune system can develop tolerance to allergens Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:37 AM PDT Scientists in Germany have clarified an endogenous mechanism that can prevent the development of allergies. They were able to show that certain cells of the immune system, so-called killer dendritic cells, are capable of eliminating allergy cells. The results of the study open up new perspectives for strategies to protect against allergies.

Growth hormone helps repair the zebrafish ear Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:37 AM PDT Loud noise, especially repeated loud noise, is known to cause irreversible damage to the hair cells inside the cochlea and eventually lead to deafness. In mammals this is irreversible. However, both birds and fish are able to re-grow the damaged hair cells and restore hearing. New research shows that growth hormone is involved in this regeneration in zebrafish.

Abdomen of a fish reveals the future of the stock Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:17 AM PDT A glance at the sex organs in the body cavity of a fish reveals both its sex and maturity. Maturity staging is used to estimate the size of the spawning fraction of a fish stock and advice on fishing quotas. In order to standardize guidelines for maturity determination among countries, and thus increase the accuracy of fish stock assessments, researchers in Denmark gathered biologists from 15 different countries with the aim to make common guidelines for maturity staging of sprat and herring.

New research finding will protect vital global crops Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:16 AM PDT A team of researchers has found a new form of resistance to the damaging pathogen that causes light leaf spot in oilseed rape – one of the world's most important crops.

Glucocorticoid treatment may prevent long term damage to joints, study shows Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:16 AM PDT Joint injury can result in irreversible damage of cartilage which, despite treatment and surgery, often eventually leads to osteoarthritis (OA) in later life. New research demonstrates that short term treatment of damaged cartilage with glucocorticoids can reduce long term degenerative changes and may provide hope for prevention of OA after injury.

Treating epilepsy in cats Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:16 AM PDT Cats are known to have types of epileptic seizures in which consciousness is usually impaired although not all of the body is affected. Researchers in Austria now show that cats that suffer in this way have changes in the hippocampus, the part of the brain most commonly affected in human epilepsy.

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