ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Whole exome sequencing identifies cause of metabolic disease
• Discovery of extremely long-lived proteins may provide insight into cell aging and neurodegenerative diseases
• The complex relationship between memory and silence
• Placebo effect: New study shows how to boost the power of pain relief, without drugs
• Warfarin and aspirin are similar in heart failure treatment, study suggests
• Coughing and other respiratory symptoms improve within weeks of smoking cessation
• Preference for fatty foods may have genetic roots
• Lower levels of sunlight exposure link to allergy and eczema in children, study suggests
• Global extinction: Gradual doom is just as bad as abrupt
• A battle of the vampires, 20 million years ago?
• To make a social robot, key is satisfying the human mind
• New procedure repairs severed nerves in minutes, restoring limb use in days or weeks
• Classic portrait of a barred spiral galaxy
• Schizophrenia: When hallucinatory voices suppress real ones, new electronic application may help
• Surface of Mars an unlikely place for life after 600-million-year drought, say scientists
• Collective action: Occupied genetic switches hold clues to cells' history
• Can immune cells from healthy people pulverize cancer?
• Parasites or not? Transposable elements in DNA of fruit flies may be beneficial
• Breastfeeding linked to improved lung function at school-age, especially with asthmatic mothers
• Malaria kills nearly twice as many people than previously thought, but deaths declining rapidly
• Triglyceride levels predict stroke risk in postmenopausal women
• Food poisoning: Understanding how bacteria come back from the 'dead'
• Gene regulator in brain's executive hub tracked across lifespan
• Graphene electronics moves into a third dimension
• Heat and cold damage corals in their own ways
• Biosolar breakthrough promises cheap, easy green electricity
• Massage is promising for muscle recovery: Researchers find 10 minutes reduces inflammation

Whole exome sequencing identifies cause of metabolic disease Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:26 PM PST Sequencing a patient's entire genome to discover the source of his or her disease is not routine, but geneticists are getting close. A case report shows how researchers can combine a simple blood test with an "executive summary" scan of the genome to diagnose a severe glycosylation disorder.

Discovery of extremely long-lived proteins may provide insight into cell aging and neurodegenerative diseases Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:09 PM PST One of the big mysteries in biology is why cells age. Now scientists report that they have discovered a weakness in a component of brain cells that may explain how the aging process occurs in the brain.

The complex relationship between memory and silence Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:15 AM PST People who suffer a traumatic experience often don't talk about it, and many forget it over time. But not talking about something doesn't always mean you'll forget it; if you try to force yourself not to think about white bears, soon you'll be imagining polar bears doing the polka. A group of psychological scientists explore the relationship between silence and memories.

Placebo effect: New study shows how to boost the power of pain relief, without drugs Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:15 AM PST Placebos reduce pain by creating an expectation of relief. Distraction -- say, doing a puzzle -- relieves it by keeping the brain busy. But do they use the same brain processes? Neuromaging suggests they do. When applying a placebo, scientists see activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. That's the part of the brain that controls high-level cognitive functions like working memory and attention -- which is what you use to do that distracting puzzle.

Warfarin and aspirin are similar in heart failure treatment, study suggests Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:14 AM PST In the largest and longest head-to-head comparison of two anti-clotting medications, warfarin and aspirin were similar in preventing deaths and strokes in heart failure patients with normal heart rhythm, according to new research.

Coughing and other respiratory symptoms improve within weeks of smoking cessation Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:11 AM PST If the proven long-term benefits of smoking cessation are not enough to motivate young adults to stop smoking, a new study shows that 18- to 24-year olds who stop smoking for at least two weeks report substantially fewer respiratory symptoms, especially coughing.

Preference for fatty foods may have genetic roots Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:33 AM PST A preference for fatty foods has a genetic basis, according to researchers, who discovered that people with certain forms of the CD36 gene may like high-fat foods more than those who have other forms of this gene.

Lower levels of sunlight exposure link to allergy and eczema in children, study suggests Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:33 AM PST Increased exposure to sunlight may reduce the risk of both food allergies and eczema in children, according to a new scientific study.

Global extinction: Gradual doom is just as bad as abrupt Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:33 AM PST Around 250 million years ago, most life on Earth was wiped out in an extinction known as the "Great Dying." Geologists have learned that the end came slowly from thousands of centuries of volcanic activity.

A battle of the vampires, 20 million years ago? Posted: 03 Feb 2012 07:24 AM PST They are tiny, ugly, disease-carrying little blood-suckers that most people have never seen or heard of, but a new discovery in a one-of-a-kind fossil shows that "bat flies" have been doing their noxious business with bats for at least 20 million years.

To make a social robot, key is satisfying the human mind Posted: 03 Feb 2012 07:11 AM PST Understanding the human mind is the key to social robotics, and researchers describe what we can expect from this field in the future.

New procedure repairs severed nerves in minutes, restoring limb use in days or weeks Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:24 AM PST Scientists believe a new procedure to repair severed nerves could result in patients recovering in days or weeks, rather than months or years. The team used a cellular mechanism similar to that used by many invertebrates to repair damage to nerve axons.

Classic portrait of a barred spiral galaxy Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:24 AM PST The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1073, which is found in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster). Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is a similar barred spiral, and the study of galaxies such as NGC 1073 helps astronomers learn more about our celestial home.

Schizophrenia: When hallucinatory voices suppress real ones, new electronic application may help Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:20 AM PST When a patient afflicted with schizophrenia hears inner voices something is taking place inside the brain that prevents the individual from perceiving real voices. A simple electronic application may help the patient learn to shift focus.

Surface of Mars an unlikely place for life after 600-million-year drought, say scientists Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:20 AM PST Mars may have been arid for more than 600 million years, making it too hostile for any life to survive on the planet's surface, according to researchers who have been carrying out the painstaking task of analyzing individual particles of Martian soil.

Collective action: Occupied genetic switches hold clues to cells' history Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:20 AM PST If you wanted to draw your family tree, you could start by searching for people who share your surname. Cells, of course, don't have surnames, but scientists have found that genetic switches called enhancers, and the molecules that activate those switches – transcription factors – can be used in a similar way, as clues to a cell's developmental history. The study also unveils a new model for how enhancers function.

Can immune cells from healthy people pulverize cancer? Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:18 AM PST Immune cells from healthy individuals can be the new immune cure for cancer. This treatment can kill cancer cells without destroying neighboring cells. The hope is to eradicate cancer for ever.

Parasites or not? Transposable elements in DNA of fruit flies may be beneficial Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:18 AM PST Many living organisms suffer from parasites, which use the hosts' resources for their own purposes. The problem of parasitism occurs at all levels right down to the DNA scale. Genomes may contain up to 80% "foreign" DNA but details of the mechanisms by which this enters the host genome and how hosts attempt to combat its spread are still the subject of conjecture. Nearly all organisms contain pieces of DNA that do not really belong to them.

Breastfeeding linked to improved lung function at school-age, especially with asthmatic mothers Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:14 AM PST Breastfeeding is associated with improved lung function at school age, particularly in children of asthmatic mothers, according to a new study.

Malaria kills nearly twice as many people than previously thought, but deaths declining rapidly Posted: 02 Feb 2012 05:17 PM PST Malaria is killing more people worldwide than previously thought -- 1.2 million -- but the number of deaths has fallen rapidly as efforts to combat the disease have ramped up, according to new research. Researchers say that deaths from malaria have been missed by previous studies because of the assumption that the disease mainly kills children under age five.

Triglyceride levels predict stroke risk in postmenopausal women Posted: 02 Feb 2012 01:45 PM PST The traditional risk factors for stroke – such as high cholesterol – are not as accurate at predicting risk in postmenopausal women as previously thought. Instead, researchers say doctors should refocus their attention on triglyceride levels to determine which women are at highest risk of suffering a devastating and potentially fatal cardiovascular event.

Food poisoning: Understanding how bacteria come back from the 'dead' Posted: 02 Feb 2012 12:12 PM PST Salmonella remains a serious cause of food poisoning, in part due to its ability to thrive and quickly adapt to the different environments in which it can grow. New research has taken a detailed look at what Salmonella does when it enters a new environment, which could provide clues to finding new ways of reducing transmission through the food chain and preventing human illness.

Gene regulator in brain's executive hub tracked across lifespan Posted: 02 Feb 2012 12:11 PM PST Scientists have tracked the activity, across the lifespan, of an environmentally responsive regulatory mechanism that turns genes on and off in the brain's executive hub. Genes implicated in schizophrenia and autism are among those in which regulatory activity peaks during an environmentally-sensitive critical period in development. The mechanism, called DNA methylation, abruptly switches from off to on within the human brain's prefrontal cortex during this pivotal transition from fetal to postnatal life.

Graphene electronics moves into a third dimension Posted: 02 Feb 2012 12:10 PM PST Wonder material graphene has been touted as the next silicon, with one major problem – it is too conductive to be used in computer chips. Now scientists have given its prospects a new lifeline. Scientists have now literally opened a third dimension in graphene research. Their research shows a transistor that may prove the missing link for graphene to become the next silicon.

Heat and cold damage corals in their own ways Posted: 02 Feb 2012 06:46 AM PST Around the world coral reefs are facing threats brought by climate change and dramatic shifts in sea temperatures. While warming has been the primary focus for scientists and ocean policy managers, cold can also cause significant damage. Scientists have shown that cool temperatures can inflict more damage in the short term, but heat is more destructive in the long run.

Biosolar breakthrough promises cheap, easy green electricity Posted: 02 Feb 2012 06:22 AM PST Scientists have developed a system that taps into photosynthetic processes to produce efficient and inexpensive energy.

Massage is promising for muscle recovery: Researchers find 10 minutes reduces inflammation Posted: 01 Feb 2012 02:32 PM PST Researchers have discovered a brief 10-minute massage helps reduce inflammation in muscle. As a non-drug therapy, massage holds the potential to help not just bone-weary athletes but those with inflammation-related chronic conditions, such as arthritis or muscular dystrophy. While massage is well accepted as a therapy for relieving muscle tension and pain, the researchers delved deeper to find it also triggers biochemical sensors that can send inflammation-reducing signals to muscle cells.

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