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Saturday, January 26, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top News

ScienceDaily: Top News


Qigong improves quality of life for breast cancer patients, study suggests

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 11:22 AM PST

Researchers have found qigong, an ancient mind-body practice, reduces depressive symptoms and improves quality of life in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Evolution inspires more efficient solar cell design: Geometric pattern maximizes time light is trapped in solar cell

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 08:13 AM PST

Using a mathematical model based on natural evolution, researchers have developed an organic solar cell design that could pave the way for more efficient, less expensive solar energy.

DNA and quantum dots: All that glitters is not gold

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 08:13 AM PST

Scientists have shown that by bringing gold nanoparticles close to the dots and using a DNA template to control the distances, the intensity of a quantum dot's fluorescence can be predictably increased or decreased. This breakthrough opens a potential path to using quantum dots as a component in better photodetectors, chemical sensors, and nanoscale lasers.

Diet, parental behavior and preschool can boost children's IQ

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 08:13 AM PST

Supplementing children's diets with fish oil, enrolling them in quality preschool, and engaging them in interactive reading all turn out to be effective ways to raise a young child's intelligence, according to a new report.

'Nanotubes on a chip' may simplify optical power measurements

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 08:13 AM PST

A novel chip-scale instrument made of carbon nanotubes may simplify absolute measurements of laser power, especially the light signals transmitted by optical fibers in telecommunications networks.

P53 mutation hinders cancer treatment response

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 08:13 AM PST

Scientists have discovered the workings of the gene that has been hindering treatment response in cancer patients. This discovery was made after five years of studying the mutant form of the p53 gene, the major tumor suppressor in humans, which is generally found mutated in over 50 percent of all type of human cancers.

A boost to your mobile signal

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 08:12 AM PST

When using your mobile phone, it doesn't take much to lose that precious signal - just turning a corner or riding on a train can be enough. New research is developing new technologies to eradicate those annoying 'black holes' in wireless coverage, while freeing up some mobile network capacity at the same time.

Tumor cells engineer acidity to drive cell invasion

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 08:11 AM PST

Researchers have investigated the acidity in solid tumors to determine if pH levels play a role in cancer cell invasion in surrounding tissues. They found that an acidic microenvironment can drive cancer cells to spread and propose that neutralizing pH would inhibit further invasion, providing a therapeutic opportunity to slow the progression of cancers.

Depression-era drainage ditches emerge as sleeping threat to Cape Cod salt marshes

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:42 AM PST

Cape Cod, Massachusetts has a problem. The iconic salt marshes of the famous summer retreat are melting away at the edges, dying back from the most popular recreational areas. The erosion is a consequence of an unexpected synergy between recreational over-fishing and Great Depression-era ditches constructed by Works Progress Administration in an effort to control mosquitoes.

Spotting fetal growth problems early could cut UK stillbirths by 600 a year

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:42 AM PST

Growth restriction in an unborn child is the single largest risk factor for stillbirth, especially when it goes unrecognized before birth, finds a new study. Yet it is currently missed in most pregnancies.

Science needs a second opinion: Researchers find flaws in study of patients in 'vegetative state'

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:42 AM PST

A team of researchers is calling into question the published statistics, methods and findings of a highly publicized research study that claimed bedside electroencephalography identified evidence of awareness in three patients diagnosed to be in a vegetative state.

New control strategies for 'bipolar' bark beetles

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:42 AM PST

Population explosions of destructive pine beetles may be prevented by boosting competitor and predator beetle populations, a new study suggests. The study confirmed, for the first time, that the abundance of an animal species -- in this case the southern pine beetle -- fluctuates innately between extremes, with no middle ground.

New method identifies genes that can predict prognoses of cancer patients

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:42 AM PST

Scientists report that a new algorithm can more accurately identify gene sets that could more closely predict prognoses of cancer patients.

Gene mutation immortalizes malignant melanoma

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:42 AM PST

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown genetic cause of malignant melanoma: A gene mutation that leads to overactive telomerase, the so-called 'immortality enzyme.'

Do common painkillers cause kidney failure in children?

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:41 AM PST

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen and naproxen, are commonly used to treat pain and reduce fever in children. However, the use of NSAIDs has been shown to cause acute kidney injury (AKI) in some children. A new study reports the findings on the number of children diagnosed with AKI caused by NSAIDs in one hospital over an 11.5 year span.

No link found between facial shape and aggression

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:41 AM PST

There is not significant evidence to support the association between facial shape and aggression in men, according to a new study.

At least one in five were infected in flu pandemic, international study suggests

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:40 AM PST

At least one in five people in countries for which data are available were infected with influenza during the first year of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, according to a new study.

Quantum communication: Each photon counts

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:40 AM PST

Ultrafast, efficient, and reliable single-photon detectors are among the most sought-after components in photonics and quantum communication, which have not yet reached maturity for practical application. Physicist have now, however, achieved a decisive breakthrough by integrating single-photon detectors with nanophotonic chips. The detector combines near-unity detection efficiency with high timing resolution and has a very low error rate.

More than one brain behind Einstein's famous equation: E=mc2

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:39 AM PST

A new study reveals the contribution of a little known Austrian physicist, Friedrich Hasenöhrl, to uncovering a precursor to Einstein's famous equation. Two American physicists outline the role played by Austrian physicist Friedrich Hasenöhrl in establishing the proportionality between the energy (E) of a quantity of matter with its mass (m) in a cavity filled with radiation.

Almost 500 new species discovered at Senckenberg: Newly discovered species in 2011 and 2012

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:39 AM PST

In the last two years scientists at the Senckenberg research institutes have discovered and described almost 500 new species.

Global warming less extreme than feared? New estimates from a Norwegian project on climate calculations

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:39 AM PST

Policymakers are attempting to contain global warming at less than 2°C. New estimates from a Norwegian project on climate calculations indicate this target may be more attainable than many experts have feared.

Origin and maintenance of a retrograde exoplanet

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:39 AM PST

Astronomers have shown that the HAT-P-7 planetary system, which is about 1040 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus, includes at least two giant planets and one companion star. The discovery of a previously unknown companion (HAT-P-7B) to the central star (HAT-P-7) as well as confirmation of another giant planet (HAT-P-7c) orbiting outside of the retrograde planet HAT-P-7b, offer new insights into how retrograde planets may form and endure.

Video game controllers affect hostility during game play

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 07:39 AM PST

When selecting a video game to play, opting to turn on your Wii may provide a different experience than playing your Xbox, according to a new study.

Thawing 'dry ice' drives groovy action on Mars

Posted: 25 Jan 2013 06:53 AM PST

Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter see seasonal changes on far-northern Martian sand dunes caused by warming of a winter blanket of frozen carbon dioxide.

Magnetic levitation tissues could speed toxicity tests

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:36 PM PST

In a development that could lead to faster and more effective toxicity tests for airborne chemicals, scientists have used magnetic levitation to grow some of the most realistic lung tissue ever produced in a laboratory.

Chronic fatigue syndrome patients need an effective therapeutic

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST

Ampligen, the first drug ever seeking approval to treat chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), recently hit another roadblock with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In its long quest to treat 1 million Americans suffering from this debilitating illness, the FDA advisory panel did not recommend the drug to be sold on the market, largely because CFS/ME doesn't have clear biomarkers such as blood tests to define patients who most likely to respond to the drug.

ICUS for newborns in nine states see sharp drop in bloodstream infections

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST

Central line associated bloodstream infections in newborns were reduced by 58 percent in less than a year in hospital neonatal intensive care units participating in a new patient safety program.

Kidney disease accounts for most of the increased risk of dying early among diabetics

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 03:34 PM PST

One in every 10 Americans has diabetes, and a third or more of those with the condition will develop kidney disease. It may be possible to live a long and healthy life with diabetes, but once kidney disease develops, the risk of dying prematurely increases significantly, according to a new study.

Fast, low-cost device uses the cloud to speed up diagnostic testing for HIV and more

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 01:33 PM PST

Biomedical engineering professors have taken their innovative lab-on-a-chip and developed a way to not only check a patient's HIV status anywhere in the world with just a finger prick, but also synchronize the results automatically and instantaneously with central health-care records -- 10 times faster than the benchtop ELISA.

Computer scientists develop new way to study molecular networks

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 11:07 AM PST

Computer scientists have developed a new approach to address the shortcomings in the computational analysis of the multiple ways interactions can occur within cells.

A scanner for hereditary defects: New possibilities in genetic damage recognition for improving cancer treatment

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 10:39 AM PST

Our DNA is constantly under attack from UV light, toxins and metabolic processes. Proteins and enzymes continually repair the damaged DNA. Unrecognized and therefore unrepaired damage to the genetic material, however, accelerates aging and causes cancer and genetic disorders. Researchers have now discovered that the protein XPD plays a key role in locating damaged DNA.

Gene sequencing project mines data once considered ’junk’ for clues about cancer

Posted: 24 Jan 2013 10:39 AM PST

Genome sequencing data once regarded as junk is now being used to gain important clues to help understand disease. Scientists have developed an approach to mine the repetitive segments of DNA at the ends of chromosomes for insights into cancer.

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