ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Diabetes drug shows promise in treatment of neurodegenerative disease
• Large-scale biodiversity is vital to maintain ecosystem health
• New framework for understanding the energetics of ionic liquids
• Parkinson's disease-like sleep and motor problems observed in alpha-synuclein mutant mice
• Amazon forest fire risk to increase in 2013
• A Hubble view of NGC 1579: The Trifid of the North
• Climate conditions determine Amazon fire risk
• Mars rover opportunity trekking toward more layers
• Radar movies highlight asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon
• Magpies make decisions faster when humans look at them
• Making sense of patterns in the Twitterverse
• Common genetic disease linked to father's age
• Stranded orcas hold critical clues for scientists
• Optogenetics is proving to be highly promising in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Findings on onset of uterine fibroids provide potential for novel treatments
• Clinical sequencing technology identifies new targets in diverse cancers
• How do immune cells detect infections?
• Vaccinating children against HPV?
• Whispering light hears liquids talk
• Detection of apple juices and cereals which exceed permitted levels of mycotoxins
• 'Long-awaited explanation' for mysterious effects in high-temperature superconductors
• Better screens made of organic light diodes: OLED brings out the shine
• Glove shows its true colors: Identifies poisons on contact
• Oh brother, where art thou? Sticklebacks prefer to be with relatives
• Non-invasive first trimester blood test reliably detects Down's syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities
• Re-analysis of diabetes drug finds no higher heart attack risk
• The face of success: Top UK male business leaders show dominant traits in their faces
• The protein profile of restless leg syndrome
• Very berry study aims to improve wine quality
• Herpes virus exploits immune response to bolster infection
• Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism now have new research tool: Mature brain cells derived from skin cells
• 2011 Draconid meteor shower deposited a ton of meteoritic material on Earth

Diabetes drug shows promise in treatment of neurodegenerative disease Posted: 07 Jun 2013 07:25 PM PDT Researchers have found that a drug used to control Type II diabetes can help repair the spinal cords of mice suffering from the inherited disease adrenoleukodystrophy which, untreated, leads eventually to a paralysis, a vegetative state and death. They believe that their findings may be relevant to other neurodegenerative diseases.  A Phase II trial will be starting shortly.

Large-scale biodiversity is vital to maintain ecosystem health Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:03 PM PDT Over the years ecologists have shown how biological diversity benefits the health of small, natural communities. New analysis by ecologists demonstrates that even higher levels of biological diversity are necessary to maintain ecosystem health in larger landscapes over long periods of time.

New framework for understanding the energetics of ionic liquids Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:03 PM PDT A new study provides clues into the understanding of the behavior of the charged molecules or particles in ionic liquids. The new framework may lead to the creation of cleaner, more sustainable, and nontoxic batteries, and other sources of chemical power.

Parkinson's disease-like sleep and motor problems observed in alpha-synuclein mutant mice Posted: 07 Jun 2013 01:03 PM PDT In the quest for an animal model of Parkinson's disease that mimics motor and non-motor symptoms of human Parkinson's disease (PD), scientists have developed strains of mice that overexpress alpha-synuclein. By studying a strain of mice bred to overexpress alpha-synuclein via the Thy-1 promoter, scientists have found these mice develop many of the age-related progressive motor symptoms of PD and demonstrate changes in sleep and anxiety.

Amazon forest fire risk to increase in 2013 Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:39 PM PDT University and NASA researchers predict that the severity of the 2013 fire season will be considerably higher than in 2011 and 2012 for many Amazon forests in the Southern Hemisphere. The outlook is based on a fire severity model that produced a successful first forecast in 2012.

A Hubble view of NGC 1579: The Trifid of the North Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:36 PM PDT Unlike the venomous fictional plants that share its name, the Trifid of the North, otherwise known as the Northern Trifid or NGC 1579, poses no threat to your vision. The nebula's moniker is inspired by the better-known Messier 20, the Trifid Nebula, which lies very much further south in the sky and displays strikingly similar swirling clouds of gas and dust.

Climate conditions determine Amazon fire risk Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:35 PM PDT Using an innovative satellite technique, NASA scientists have determined that a previously unmapped type of wildfire in the Amazon rainforest is responsible for destroying several times more forest than has been lost through deforestation in recent years.

Mars rover opportunity trekking toward more layers Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:32 PM PDT Approaching its 10th anniversary of leaving Earth, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is on the move again, trekking to a new study area still many weeks away. The destination, called "Solander Point," offers Opportunity access to a much taller stack of geological layering than the area where the rover has worked for the past 20 months, called "Cape York." Both areas are raised segments of the western rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter.

Radar movies highlight asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:30 PM PDT Scientists working with NASA's 230-foot-wide (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., have released a second, longer, more refined movie clip of asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon. The 55 individual images used in the movie were generated from data collected at Goldstone on June 1, 2013.

Magpies make decisions faster when humans look at them Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:10 AM PDT Researchers have found that wild birds appear to "think faster" when humans, and possibly predators in general, are directly looking at them.

Making sense of patterns in the Twitterverse Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:10 AM PDT If you think keeping up with what's happening via Twitter, Facebook and other social media is like drinking from a fire hose, multiply that by seven billion -- and you'll have a sense of what Court Corley wakes up to every morning. Corley has created a powerful digital system, dubbed SALSA, capable of analyzing billions of tweets and other messages in just seconds, in an effort to discover patterns and make sense of all the information.

Common genetic disease linked to father's age Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:10 AM PDT Scientists have unlocked the mystery of why new cases of the genetic disease Noonan syndrome are so common; a mutation that causes the disease disproportionately increases a normal father's production of sperm carrying the disease trait.

Stranded orcas hold critical clues for scientists Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:10 AM PDT The development of a standardized killer-whale necropsy system has boosted the complete data from killer-whale strandings from two percent to about 33 percent, according to a recent study.

Optogenetics is proving to be highly promising in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:09 AM PDT Researchers have succeeded in reducing the compulsive behavior of mice using optogenetics, a technique that combines light stimulation with genetic engineering.

Findings on onset of uterine fibroids provide potential for novel treatments Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:09 AM PDT Uterine leiomyomata, or fibroids, are benign tumors that nevertheless affect the health of millions of women. They may cause, for instance, pain, bleeding and infertility. Fibroids are also the most common reason for a hysterectomy. Now, scientists in Finland have identified the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset of common leiomyomata.

Clinical sequencing technology identifies new targets in diverse cancers Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:06 AM PDT Novel abnormalities in the FGFR gene were identified in a spectrum of cancers, and preliminary results with cancer cells harboring FGFR fusions suggested that some patients with these cancers may benefit from treatment with FGFR inhibitor drugs.

How do immune cells detect infections? Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:05 AM PDT Researchers are using computer simulations to shed light on how immune cells may identify foreign antigens.

Vaccinating children against HPV? Posted: 07 Jun 2013 10:05 AM PDT The Human papillomavirus, or HPV, and its link to certain cancers has been in the headlines recently, reigniting the debate whether it is appropriate to vaccinate children against the virus.

Whispering light hears liquids talk Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:53 AM PDT Researchers have developed optomechanical sensors in which extremely minute forces exerted by light are used to generate and control high-frequency mechanical vibrations of microscale and nanoscale devices that will help unlock vibrational secrets of chemical and biological samples at the nanoscale.

Detection of apple juices and cereals which exceed permitted levels of mycotoxins Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:53 AM PDT Researchers in Spain have analyzed the presence of patulin, a type of toxin produced by fungi, in several commercial apple juices. The results show that more than 50 percent of the samples analyzed exceed the maximum limits laid down by law. They have also discovered a sample of rice with more mycotoxins than permitted. For their part, researchers have also found these harmful substances in beers, cereals and products made from them, such as gofio flour.

'Long-awaited explanation' for mysterious effects in high-temperature superconductors Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:53 AM PDT A German-French research team has constructed a new model that explains how the so-called pseudogap state forms in high-temperature superconductors. The calculations predict two coexisting electron orders. Below a certain temperature, superconductors lose their electrical resistance and can conduct electricity without loss.

Better screens made of organic light diodes: OLED brings out the shine Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:52 AM PDT Screens made of organic light diodes promise unfathomable possibilities. Yet high production costs often prevent their widespread use. A new kind of production saves not only costs, but also improves the radiance of the OLED.

Glove shows its true colors: Identifies poisons on contact Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:52 AM PDT Security takes top priority in laboratories and in production. In the future, employees exposed to risks will only have to put on a glove in order to receive a toxic substance warning: This textile identifies poisonous substances, and points them out immediately.

Oh brother, where art thou? Sticklebacks prefer to be with relatives Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:52 AM PDT Many animals are able to discriminate between related and unrelated individuals but how they do so has proven remarkably difficult to understand. Researchers in Austria have investigated the issue using the three-spined stickleback and its shoaling preferences as a model system. It turns out that the fish prefer kin to unrelated conspecifics, regardless of how familiar they are with individual shoal members. The results indicate that level of familiarity does not affect the stickleback's ability to recognize kin. Recognition based on phenotype matching or innate recognition thus seems to be the overruling mechanism when it comes to choosing members of a peer group.

Non-invasive first trimester blood test reliably detects Down's syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:52 AM PDT New research has found that routine screening using a non-invasive test that analyzes fetal DNA in a pregnant woman's blood can accurately detect Down's syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities in the first trimester. The results suggest that the test is superior to currently available screening strategies and could reshape standards in prenatal testing.

Re-analysis of diabetes drug finds no higher heart attack risk Posted: 07 Jun 2013 05:51 AM PDT A re-analysis of the data from a pivotal study of rosiglitazone found no increased risk of cardiovascular events associated with the controversial diabetes drug, according to researchers.

The face of success: Top UK male business leaders show dominant traits in their faces Posted: 06 Jun 2013 07:32 PM PDT Top UK male business leaders show dominant traits in their faces, according to new research. The study focused on the link between the facial width-to-height ratio (FWH) and dominance in men. Participants were asked to rate different aspects of the personalities of 100 men using a single photograph.

The protein profile of restless leg syndrome Posted: 06 Jun 2013 07:32 PM PDT A protein profile of people with restless leg syndrome (RLS) identifies factors behind disrupted sleep, cardiovascular dysfunction and pain, according to new research. The research gives insights into the disorder, and could be useful in the development of new treatments.

Very berry study aims to improve wine quality Posted: 06 Jun 2013 07:32 PM PDT A gene expression study of grapevine berries grown in different Italian vineyards has highlighted genes that help buffer the plants against environmental change and may explain the different quality performances of grapevine when grown in different "terroirs." The research could be used to help identify and breed grapevine varieties better suited to climate change and improve berry and wine quality.

Herpes virus exploits immune response to bolster infection Posted: 06 Jun 2013 11:11 AM PDT Researchers report that the herpes simplex virus type-1, which affects an estimated 50 to 80 percent of all American adults, exploits an immune system receptor to boost its infectiousness and ability to cause disease.

Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism now have new research tool: Mature brain cells derived from skin cells Posted: 06 Jun 2013 11:11 AM PDT Difficult-to-study diseases such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and autism now can be probed more safely and effectively thanks to an innovative new method for obtaining mature brain cells called neurons from reprogrammed skin cells. The research offers the promise of direct disease modeling, allowing for the creation, in a Petri dish, of mature human neurons that behave a lot like neurons that grow naturally in the human brain.

2011 Draconid meteor shower deposited a ton of meteoritic material on Earth Posted: 06 Jun 2013 11:10 AM PDT About a ton of material coming from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner was deposited in the Earth's atmosphere on October 8th and 9th, 2011 during one of the most intense showers of shooting starts in the last decade, which registered an activity of more than 400 meteors per hour.

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