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Friday, November 29, 2013

ScienceDaily: Top News

ScienceDaily: Top News


Iron-based process promises greener, cheaper, safer drug, perfume production

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:14 AM PST

Researchers have developed a series of techniques to create a variety of very active iron-based catalysts necessary to produce the alcohols and amines used in the drug and perfume industry. The new synthetic methods promise to be safer and more economical and environmentally friendly than traditional industrial processes.

Quantitative approaches provide new perspective on development of antibiotic resistance

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:14 AM PST

Using quantitative models of bacterial growth, a team biophysicists has discovered the bizarre way by which antibiotic resistance allows bacteria to multiply in the presence of antibiotics, a growing health problem in hospitals and nursing homes across the United States.

Researchers find missing component in effort to create primitive, synthetic cells

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:14 AM PST

A team of investigators working to create "protocells" -- primitive synthetic cells consisting of a nucleic acid strand encased within a membrane-bound compartment -- have found a solution to what could have been a critical problem, the potential incompatibility between a chemical requirement of RNA copying and the stability of the protocell membrane.

Scientists stitch up photosynthetic megacomplex

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:13 AM PST

Scientists report on a new technique that allowed them to extract a photosynthetic megacomplex consisting of light antenna and two reaction centers from the membrane of a cynaobacterium. This is the first time an entire complex has been isolated and studied as a functioning whole.

High cholesterol fuels growth, spread of breast cancer

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:13 AM PST

A byproduct of cholesterol functions like the hormone estrogen to fuel the growth and spread of the most common types of breast cancers, researchers report.

Follow your gut down the aisle, new study says

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:13 AM PST

Although newlyweds may not be completely aware of it, they may know whether their march down the aisle will result in wedded bliss or an unhappy marriage, according to new study.

Scientists achieve most detailed picture ever of key part of hepatitis C virus

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:13 AM PST

Scientists have determined the most detailed picture yet of a crucial part of the hepatitis C virus, which the virus uses to infect liver cells. The new data reveal unexpected structural features of this protein.

Fruit flies with better sex lives live longer

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 11:12 AM PST

Sex may in fact be one of the secrets to good health, youth and a longer life – at least for fruit flies – suggests a new study. Sexually frustrated fruit flies in this lab lived shorter lives.

Gene found responsible for susceptibility to panic disorder

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 10:39 AM PST

A study published points, for the first time, to the gene trkC as a factor in susceptibility to a panic disorder. The researchers define the specific mechanism for the formation of fear memories which will help in the development of new pharmacological and cognitive treatments.

Pushing limits of light microscopy

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 10:39 AM PST

A team of researchers established a new microscopy technique which greatly enhances resolution in the third dimension. In a simple set-up, the scientists used the translation of position information of fluorescent markers into color information. Overcoming the need for scanning the depth of a sample, they were able to generate the precise 3D information at the same speed as it would take to acquire a 2D image.

Mediterranean diet without breakfast best choice for diabetics

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 07:38 AM PST

For patients with diabetes, it is better to eat a single large meal than several smaller meals throughout the day. This is the result of a current dietary study.

Eat crow if you think I'm a bird-brain

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 07:38 AM PST

Scientists have long suspected that corvids – the family of birds including ravens, crows and magpies – are highly intelligent. Now, neurobiologists have demonstrated how the brains of crows produce intelligent behavior when the birds have to make strategic decisions.

Mutations in mantled howler provoked by disturbances in habitat

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 07:38 AM PST

The disturbances of the habitat could be affecting the populations of the mantled howler, or golden-mantled howling monkey, (Alouatta palliate Mexicana) who in an extreme case could be developing mutations that make them less resistant to diseases and climate events.

Using moving cars to measure rainfall

Posted: 28 Nov 2013 07:38 AM PST

Drivers on a rainy day regulate the speed of their windshield wipers according to rain intensity: faster in heavy rain and slower in light rain. This simple observation has inspired researchers to come up with 'RainCars', an initiative that aims to use GPS-equipped moving cars as devices to measure rainfall.

EU fishing fleets reap profits while taxpayers foot the bill

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:54 PM PST

The European Union's taxpayers are paving the way for fishing fleets to reel in valuable catch in developing countries while fishing companies pocket the profits, according to researchers.

Pre-existing diabetes in pregnancy increases risk of fetal, infant death

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:54 PM PST

New research shows that pre-existing diabetes in pregnant women greatly increases the risk of death of their unborn fetus by around 4.5 times compared with pregnant women without diabetes, and also almost doubles the risk of death of infants after birth.

Physicists study coldest objects in universe

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:54 PM PST

In a new study, a group of researchers has come up with a new way of measuring BECs by using a filter to cancel out the damage caused by the streams of light that are typically used to measure them. Some of these BECs are the coldest objects in the universe, and are so fragile that even a single photon can heat and destroy them.

Public health data to help fight deadly contagious diseases

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:54 PM PST

In an unprecedented windfall for public access to health data, researchers have digitized all weekly surveillance reports for reportable diseases in the US going back 125 years. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, the project's goal is to aid in the eradication of devastating diseases.

Simulating new treatment for retinal degeneration

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:53 PM PST

For a few years, optogenetics has been seen as a very promising therapy for progressive blindness, for example when it is a result of retinal degeneration. In order to further develop this therapeutic approach, researchers have developed a computer model that simulates optogenetic vision.

Untreated cancer pain a 'scandal of global proportions,' survey shows

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:53 PM PST

A new global study reveals a pandemic of intolerable pain affecting billions, caused by over-regulation of pain medicines.

Are you carrying adrenal Cushing’s syndrome without knowing it?

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:53 PM PST

Genetic research suggests that clinicians' understanding and treatment of a form of Cushing's syndrome affecting both adrenal glands will be fundamentally changed, and that moreover, it might be appropriate to begin screening for the genetic mutations that cause this form of the disease.

Good news on the Alzheimer's epidemic: Risk for older adults declining

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 07:53 PM PST

Improvements in education levels, health care and lifestyle credited for decline in dementia risk.

Destroying greenhouse gases in environmentally-friendly way

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 08:03 AM PST

Researchers have developed a new catalyst for the "activation" of carbon-fluorine bonds. This process has many industrial applications, among which stands out the possibility to be used to reduce existing stocks of CFCs (chloro-fluoro-carbonated compounds), known as "greenhouse gases". CFCs experienced a huge boom in the 80s, but later they were found to destroy the ozone layer because of their photochemical decomposition when they reached the upper layers of the atmosphere.

New aggressive HIV strain leads to faster AIDS development

Posted: 27 Nov 2013 08:03 AM PST

A recently discovered HIV strain leads to significantly faster development of AIDS than currently prevalent forms, according to new research.

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