ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Medical researchers design variant of main painkiller receptor
• Stress test and brain scans pinpoint two distinct forms of Gulf War illness
• Medications to prevent clots not reaching some patients
• Sugar overload can damage heart
• Why are there so many youth baseball-throwing injuries?
• Memory-boosting chemical identified in mice: Cell biologists find molecule targets a key biological pathway
• New poll finds few Massachusetts residents worried about future terror attacks
• Mystery of X-ray light from black holes solved
• Bioenergy potential unearthed in leaf-cutter ant communities
• Scientists identify neurons that control feeding behavior in Drosophila
• Secrets of biological soil crusts uncovered
• New findings regarding DNA damage checkpoint mechanism in oxidative stress
• Study of oceans' past raises worries about their future
• Scientists explode the myth about running injuries
• Predicting collective online behavior
• Detecting homemade explosives, not toothpaste
• Wild cheetah accelerate fast and reach speeds of up to 58 miles per hour during a hunt
• Testing method promising for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis
• Metabolic molecule drives growth of aggressive brain cancer
• Depression in postmenopausal women may increase diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk
• Severe maternal complications less common during home births, study suggests
• Menopause may be an unintended outcome of men's preference for younger mates
• Can you feel me now? New array measures vibrations across skin, may help engineers design tactile displays
• Geneticists solve mystery of EEC Syndrome's variable severity in children
• Using math to kill cancer cells
• High prevalence of NSAID prescription in those at risk of heart attack/death in primary care
• Nanoparticles helping to recover more oil
• From the mouths of babes: Toddlers' speech is far more advanced than previously thought
• Current affairs make life hard for stickleback dads
• A turbocharger for nerve cells: Key mechanism boosts the signaling function of neurons in brain
• Flare star WX UMa becomes 15 times brighter in less than 3 minutes
• Smoking in the entrances to bars increases the presence of nicotine inside
• Developmental protein plays role in spread of cancer
• Could novel drug target autism and fetal alcohol disorder?
• Chronic drinking and exposure to particulate matter dramatically decreases lung function
• Finasteride, medication for male pattern hair loss, may also decrease drinking
• Tobacco laws for youth may reduce adult smoking

Medical researchers design variant of main painkiller receptor Posted: 14 Jun 2013 08:04 PM PDT Scientists have developed a variant of the mu opioid receptor that has several advantages when it comes to experimentation. This variant can be grown in large quantities in bacteria and is also water-soluble, enabling experiments and applications that had previously been very challenging or impossible.

Stress test and brain scans pinpoint two distinct forms of Gulf War illness Posted: 14 Jun 2013 08:04 PM PDT New research suggests that Gulf War illness may have two distinct forms depending on which brain regions have atrophied. In a study of Gulf War veterans, researchers say their findings help explain why clinicians have consistently encountered veterans with different symptoms and complaints.

Medications to prevent clots not reaching some patients Posted: 14 Jun 2013 08:03 PM PDT Researchers report that hospitalized patients do not receive more than one in 10 doses of doctor-ordered blood thinners prescribed to prevent potentially lethal or disabling blood clots, a decision they say may be fueled by misguided concern by patients and their caregivers.

Sugar overload can damage heart Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:51 PM PDT Too much sugar can set people down a pathway to heart failure, according to a new study.

Why are there so many youth baseball-throwing injuries? Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:51 PM PDT Surgeons and sports medicine specialists may have some answers as to why youth baseball pitching injuries continue to rise despite the implementation of nationally recommended pitching limits.

Memory-boosting chemical identified in mice: Cell biologists find molecule targets a key biological pathway Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:48 PM PDT Memory improved in mice injected with a small, drug-like molecule discovered by researchers studying how cells respond to biological stress.

New poll finds few Massachusetts residents worried about future terror attacks Posted: 14 Jun 2013 01:48 PM PDT Approaching the two-month anniversary of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing, a new poll shows that only one-in-eight Massachusetts residents are very concerned about a terrorist attack where they live. The poll also indicated distinct party-line divisions regarding which government officials and agencies were to blame for failing to prevent the attack.

Mystery of X-ray light from black holes solved Posted: 14 Jun 2013 11:05 AM PDT Astrophysicists using high-powered computer simulartions demonstrate that gas spiraling toward a black hole inevitably results in X-ray emissions.

Bioenergy potential unearthed in leaf-cutter ant communities Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT As spring warms up Wisconsin, humans aren't the only ones tending their gardens. Colonies of leaf-cutter ants cultivate thriving communities of fungi and bacteria using freshly cut plant material.

Scientists identify neurons that control feeding behavior in Drosophila Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT Scientists have developed a novel transgenic system which allows them to remotely activate individual brain cells in the model organism Drosophila using ambient temperature. This powerful new tool for identifying and characterizing neural circuitry has lead to the identification of a pair of neurons-– now called Fdg neurons-- in the fruit fly that decide when to eat and initiate the subsequent feeding action.

Secrets of biological soil crusts uncovered Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT Biologists have performed a molecular level analysis of desert biological soil crusts -- living ground cover formed by microbial communities -- to reveal how long-dormant cyanobacteria become activated by rainfall then resume dormancy when the precipitation stops.

New findings regarding DNA damage checkpoint mechanism in oxidative stress Posted: 14 Jun 2013 09:56 AM PDT Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown surveillance mechanism, known as a DNA damage checkpoint, used by cells to monitor oxidatively damaged DNA. DNA repair takes place approximately 10,000 times per cell, per day, through processes that are still only partially understood because of their complexity, speed, and the difficulty of studying complex interactions within living cells.

Study of oceans' past raises worries about their future Posted: 14 Jun 2013 08:16 AM PDT Scientists have now completed the first global study of changes that occurred in a crucial component of ocean chemistry, the nitrogen cycle, at the end of the last ice age. The results of their study confirm that oceans are good at balancing the nitrogen cycle on a global scale. But the data also shows that it is a slow process that may take many centuries, or even millennia, raising worries about the effects of the scale and speed of current changes in the ocean.

Scientists explode the myth about running injuries Posted: 14 Jun 2013 07:08 AM PDT Ordinary running shoes function perfectly well for new runners regardless of how they pronate, according to new research. Healthy newcomers to running who overpronate/underpronate do not actually suffer more running injuries than other runners if their first pair of running shoes do not have any special support.

Predicting collective online behavior Posted: 14 Jun 2013 07:07 AM PDT Scientists are evaluating the impact of a website based on the interaction between its users with the entire Web.

Detecting homemade explosives, not toothpaste Posted: 14 Jun 2013 07:07 AM PDT Researchers want airports, border checkpoints and others to detect homemade explosives made with hydrogen peroxide without nabbing people whose toothpaste happens to contain peroxide.

Wild cheetah accelerate fast and reach speeds of up to 58 miles per hour during a hunt Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:29 AM PDT Researchers have captured the first detailed information on the hunting dynamics of the wild cheetah in its natural habitat. Using an innovative GPS and motion sensing collar that they designed, biologists were able to record remarkable speeds of up to 58 miles per hour.

Testing method promising for spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:28 AM PDT A medical test previously developed to measure a toxin found in tobacco smokers has been adapted to measure the same toxin in people suffering from spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, offering a potential tool to reduce symptoms.

Metabolic molecule drives growth of aggressive brain cancer Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:28 AM PDT A new study has identified an abnormal metabolic pathway that drives cancer-cell growth in a particular subtype of glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer. The finding could lead to new therapies for a subset of patients with glioblastoma.

Depression in postmenopausal women may increase diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:28 AM PDT Postmenopausal women who use antidepressant medication or suffer from depression might be more likely to have a higher body mass index, larger waist circumference and inflammation -- all associated with increased risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.

Severe maternal complications less common during home births, study suggests Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:28 AM PDT Women with low risk pregnancies who choose to give birth at home have a lower risk of severe complications than women who plan a hospital birth, finds a new study.

Menopause may be an unintended outcome of men's preference for younger mates Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:26 AM PDT After decades of laboring under other theories that never seemed to add up, biologists have concluded that menopause is actually an unintended outcome of natural selection generated by men's historical preference for younger mates.

Can you feel me now? New array measures vibrations across skin, may help engineers design tactile displays Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:26 AM PDT A new array measures vibrations across skin may help engineers design tactile displays.

Geneticists solve mystery of EEC Syndrome's variable severity in children Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:26 AM PDT By identifying a protein that acts as a genetic modifier, scientists have solved the mystery of why some infants are born with a grave syndrome consisting of cleft palate and major deformities of the skin and limbs, while other infants with the same predisposing genetic mutation bear little or no sign of the illness, called EEC.

Using math to kill cancer cells Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:26 AM PDT Scientists have outlined how advanced mathematical modelling can be used in the fight against cancer. The technique predicts how different treatments and genetic modifications might allow cancer-killing, oncolytic viruses to overcome the natural defences that cancer cells use to stave off viral infection.

High prevalence of NSAID prescription in those at risk of heart attack/death in primary care Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:26 AM PDT A new study demonstrates a high prevalence of NSAID prescriptions in patients at risk of ischaemic heart disease.

Nanoparticles helping to recover more oil Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:25 AM PDT When petroleum companies abandon an oil well, more than half the reservoir's oil is usually left behind as too difficult to recover. Now, however, much of the residual oil can be recovered with the help of nanoparticles and a simple law of physics.

From the mouths of babes: Toddlers' speech is far more advanced than previously thought Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:25 AM PDT The sound of small children chattering away as they learn to talk has always been considered cute -- but not particularly sophisticated. However, new research has shown that toddlers' speech is far more advanced than previously understood.

Current affairs make life hard for stickleback dads Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:25 AM PDT This Father's Day, spare a thought for three-spined stickleback fish – who may have been having a tough time this year, according to biologists.

A turbocharger for nerve cells: Key mechanism boosts the signaling function of neurons in brain Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:25 AM PDT Locating a car that's blowing its horn in heavy traffic, channel-hopping between football and a thriller on TV without losing the plot, and not forgetting the start of a sentence by the time we have read to the end -- we consider all of these to be normal everyday functions. They enable us to react to fast-changing circumstances and to carry out even complex activities correctly. For this to work, the neuron circuits in our brain have to be very flexible. Scientists have now discovered an important molecular mechanism that turns neurons into true masters of adaptation.

Flare star WX UMa becomes 15 times brighter in less than 3 minutes Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:22 AM PDT Astrophysicists have detected a star of low luminosity which within a matter of moments gave off a flare so strong that it became almost 15 times brighter. The star in question is the flare star WX UMa.

Smoking in the entrances to bars increases the presence of nicotine inside Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:22 AM PDT The protection provided by the smoking ban decreases when people can still smoke outside the venue. For the first time, a study has analyzed the effects of the modification to the Spanish tobacco control law, implemented in 2011 in hospitality venues in Spain. The findings show that smoking on terraces and in the entrances to bars and restaurants increases the concentration of nicotine and particulate matter, which affects clients and hospitality professionals alike.

Developmental protein plays role in spread of cancer Posted: 14 Jun 2013 05:17 AM PDT A protein used by embryo cells during early development, and recently found in many different types of cancer, apparently serves as a switch regulating the spread of cancer, known as metastasis, report researchers.

Could novel drug target autism and fetal alcohol disorder? Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:18 PM PDT A surprising new study reveals a common molecular vulnerability in autism and fetal alcohol disorder. Both have social impairment symptoms and originate during brain development. The study found male offspring of rat mothers given alcohol during pregnancy have social impairment and altered levels of autism-related genes found in humans. But the damage was reversed with a thyroid hormone given to the mothers during pregnancy.

Chronic drinking and exposure to particulate matter dramatically decreases lung function Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:18 PM PDT Alveolar macrophage (AM) function plays a critical role in protecting the lungs by removing particulates. Chronic drinking causes persistent oxidative stress in the lungs, leading to impaired AM function. A new rodent study shows that chronic drinking appears to intensify lung damage caused by particulate matter.

Finasteride, medication for male pattern hair loss, may also decrease drinking Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:18 PM PDT Finasteride is a synthetic drug for the treatment of male pattern hair loss and an enlarged prostate. Rodent research has shown that finasteride can reduce alcohol intake. A preliminary study of men with finasteride-related sexual side effects indicates that finasteride may decrease drinking.

Tobacco laws for youth may reduce adult smoking Posted: 13 Jun 2013 01:17 PM PDT States that want to reduce rates of adult smoking may consider implementing stringent tobacco restrictions on teens. Scientists discovered that states with more restrictive limits on teens purchasing tobacco also have lower adult smoking rates, especially among women.

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