ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Higher risk of birth defects from assisted reproduction, study suggests
• Slaughtering animals without prior stunning should be curbed, if not banned, professor urges
• A single stem cell mutation triggers fibroid tumors: Mutated stem cell 'goes wild' in frenzied tumor expansion
• Means to detect low-level exposure to seafood toxin in marine animals developed
• Can minor vibrations replaces batteries in power sensors, radio transmitters and GPS modules?
• 'Game-powered machine learning' opens door to Google for music
• Hip implant for long-term use
• Synesthesia may explain healers claims of seeing people's 'aura'
• Sloppy shipping of human retina leads researchers to discover new treatment path for eye disease

Higher risk of birth defects from assisted reproduction, study suggests Posted: 05 May 2012 10:09 AM PDT A new study has identified the risk of major birth defects associated with different types of assisted reproductive technology. In the most comprehensive study of its kind in the world, researchers compared the risk of major birth defects for each of the reproductive therapies commonly available internationally, such as: IVF (in vitro fertilization), ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) and ovulation induction. They also compared the risk of birth defects after fresh and frozen embryo transfer.

Slaughtering animals without prior stunning should be curbed, if not banned, professor urges Posted: 05 May 2012 10:09 AM PDT The slaughter of animals for commercial meat supply without stunning them first should at the very least be curbed, if not banned, concludes a former president of the British Veterinary Association in an opinion piece in this week's Veterinary Record.

A single stem cell mutation triggers fibroid tumors: Mutated stem cell 'goes wild' in frenzied tumor expansion Posted: 04 May 2012 02:21 PM PDT Fibroid uterine tumors affect an estimated 15 million women in the United States, causing irregular bleeding, anemia, pain and infertility. Despite the high prevalence of the tumors, the molecular cause has been unknown. Scientists for the first time have identified the molecular trigger of the tumor -- a single stem cell that develops a mutation, starts to grow uncontrollably and activates other cells to join its frenzied expansion.

Means to detect low-level exposure to seafood toxin in marine animals developed Posted: 04 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a biological marker in the blood of laboratory zebrafish and marine mammals that shows when they have been repeatedly exposed to low levels of domoic acid, which is potentially toxic at high levels.

Can minor vibrations replaces batteries in power sensors, radio transmitters and GPS modules? Posted: 04 May 2012 10:59 AM PDT Sensors, radio transmitters and GPS modules all feature low power consumption. All it takes is a few milliwatts to run them. Energy from the environment -- from sources such as light or vibrations -- may be enough to meet these requirements. A new measurement device can determine whether or not the energy potential is high enough.

'Game-powered machine learning' opens door to Google for music Posted: 04 May 2012 10:59 AM PDT Engineers have shown that a computer can be taught to automatically label every song on the Internet using sets of examples provided by unpaid music fans. The researchers report that their solution, "game-powered machine learning," would enable music lovers to search every song on the web.

Hip implant for long-term use Posted: 04 May 2012 10:58 AM PDT Hip replacement is one of the most frequent operations carried out in Germany. Each year, doctors implant some 200,000 artificial hip joints. Often the artificial hips need to be replaced just ten years later. In the future, a new implant currently being developed using high technology materials could help prevent premature revision surgeries.

Synesthesia may explain healers claims of seeing people's 'aura' Posted: 04 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT University of Granada researchers affirm that healers present synesthesia, a neuropsychological phenomenon involving a "mingling" of the senses. The results of this study have been published in the prestigious journal Consciousness and Cognition. The authors remark the significant "placebo effect" that healers have on ill people.

Sloppy shipping of human retina leads researchers to discover new treatment path for eye disease Posted: 04 May 2012 07:58 AM PDT Sloppy shipping of a donated human retina to a researcher studying a leading cause of vision loss has inadvertently helped uncover a previously undetected mechanism causing the disease. The discovery has led researchers to urge review of how millions of dollars are spent investigating the cause of a type of age-related macular degeneration called choroidal neovascularization.

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