ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Gemini Planet Imager produces stunning observations in its first year
• RSV infection may be associated with higher risk for bacterial pneumonia
• Computer model explains how animals select actions with rewarding outcomes
• Hot showers, lower power bills with heat pump water heaters: how water heaters are installed impacts total home energy use
• Novel imaging technique improves prostate cancer detection
• Unraveling controls for plant root growth
• Eight new planets found in 'Goldilocks' zone: Two are most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets
• Study casts doubt on mammoth-killing cosmic impact
• Study quantifies effect of depressive thoughts on memory
• Potential option for treating chronic kidney disease
• Drug stimulates brown fat, boosts metabolism
• Surgery for obesity linked to longer survival
• 'Iron Sun' is not a rock band, but a key to how stars transmit energy
• Study rules out spiders as common cause of bacterial infections in humans
• Study finds low rate of complications with assisted reproductive technology procedures
• HPV vaccination not associated with increased risk of multiple sclerosis
• Study finds substantially shorter life expectancy for patients with type 1 diabetes
• Intensive treatment for type 1 diabetes associated with decreased risk of death
• Peat fires: Legacy of carbon up in smoke
• Positive personality traits may protect police at high risk for PTSD
• The Berlin patient, first and only person 'cured' of HIV, speaks out
• Pharmaceuticals, personal care products could taint swimming pools
• Seed beetle diversity in Xinjiang, China
• Marine litter education boosts children's understanding, actions
• Extreme obesity calls for individualized medication
• 12-year study confirms overall safety of measles vaccines
• Unveiling how the children's tummy bug, rotavirus, causes infection
• Planet-hunting satellite observes supermassive black hole
• Researchers map direct gut-brain connection
• Of flies and ants: New ant decapitation behavior of Dohrniphora flies
• When DNA gets sent to time-out: New details revealed in the coordinated regulation of large stretches of DNA
• New treatment offers hope for headshaking in horses
• New technology enables ultra-fast steering and shaping of light beams
• Has car manufacturer taken the corner too fast with boxfish design? Design based on incorrect interpretation of characteristics of the fish
• International research effort gives neuroscientists better feeling about sense of touch
• Pneumonia risk far higher for HIV-positive children, study shows
• 'Flying carpet' technique uses graphene to deliver one-two punch of anticancer drugs
• New drug design enhances brain signaling by a factor of 1,000
• Black widow spider venom unveiled: The fast evolution of a potent toxin
• Blind students learn to think like scientists with revolutionary traveling toolboxes
• Small change in blood acidity could prove detrimental to kidney disease patients
• Major depression in the national comorbidity survey
• New study challenges link between HLA class I hyperexpression in pancreas, type 1 diabetes
• Entrepreneurs design automated cutting equipment applicable to various industries
• Men's diets are related to local offerings, unlike women's
• Exercise allows you to age optimally
• Despite resolutions, people buy more food after new year
• Bipolar disorder: New MRI imaging provides new picture, new insight
• Poor vitamin D status linked to longer respiratory support in ICU patients, study finds
• Ischemic micro-lesions associated with flow-diverting stents for aneurysms
• Record-breaking black hole outburst detected
• Milky Way core drives wind at 2 million miles per hour
• Hubble's high-definition panoramic view of Andromeda galaxy
• Hubble goes high def to revisit the iconic ‘Pillars of Creation'
• Fracking in Ohio confirmed as cause of rare earthquake strong enough to be felt
• First clinical trial in U. S. of procedure to relieve pain from cancer that has spread to spine
• Exploring the significance of 'sacred moments' in therapy
• New highly effective, eco-friendly flame retardant
• Radiation plus hormone therapy prolongs survival for older men with prostate cancer
• Nutrition education may help prevent breast cancer reoccurrence

Gemini Planet Imager produces stunning observations in its first year Posted: 06 Jan 2015 11:48 AM PST The Gemini Planet Imager GPI is an advanced instrument designed to observe the environments close to bright stars to detect and study Jupiter-like exoplanets (planets around other stars) and see protostellar material (disk, rings) that might be lurking next to the star.

RSV infection may be associated with higher risk for bacterial pneumonia Posted: 06 Jan 2015 11:48 AM PST Two common and sometimes dangerous respiratory diseases, a viral one caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and a bacterial one caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae may be linked, suggests a new study. Scientists analyzed hospitalization data to investigate a possible association between RSV and pneumonia in young children, and found that infection with RSV may increase the risk of pneumonia.

Computer model explains how animals select actions with rewarding outcomes Posted: 06 Jan 2015 11:07 AM PST A computer model charting what happens in the brain when an action is chosen that leads to a reward has been developed by researchers. The model could provide new insights into the mechanisms behind motor disorders such as Parkinson's Disease. It may also shed light on conditions involving abnormal learning, such as addiction.

Hot showers, lower power bills with heat pump water heaters: how water heaters are installed impacts total home energy use Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:46 AM PST Heat pump water heaters are an energy-efficient alternative to conventional electric resistance water heaters. Now research shows heat pump water heaters can also reduce an entire home's energy use – if they're connected to the appropriate ducting.

Novel imaging technique improves prostate cancer detection Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:46 AM PST In 2014, prostate cancer was the leading cause of newly diagnosed cancers in men and the second leading cause of cancer death in men. A team of scientists and physicians now describe a novel imaging technique that measurably improves upon current prostate imaging -- and may have significant implications for how patients with prostate cancer are ultimately treated.

Unraveling controls for plant root growth Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:46 AM PST Green shoots are a sign of spring, but growing those shoots and roots is a complicated process. Now researchers have for the first time described part of the network of genetic controls that allows a plant to grow.

Eight new planets found in 'Goldilocks' zone: Two are most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:46 AM PST Astronomers announced today that they have found eight new planets in the 'Goldilocks' zone of their stars, orbiting at a distance where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. This doubles the number of small planets (less than twice the diameter of Earth) believed to be in the habitable zone of their parent stars. Among these eight, the team identified two that are the most similar to Earth of any known exoplanets to date.

Study casts doubt on mammoth-killing cosmic impact Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:05 AM PST Rock soil droplets formed by heating most likely came from Stone Age house fires and not from a disastrous cosmic impact 12,900 years ago, according to new research. The study, of soil from Syria, is the latest to discredit the controversial theory that a cosmic impact triggered the Younger Dryas cold period.

Study quantifies effect of depressive thoughts on memory Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:05 AM PST For people with depressed mood, memory and concentration difficulties are often a day-to-day reality. While those with the disorder report that these cognitive problems are some of the most deeply troubling, previous studies have been unable to observe this phenomenon in a laboratory setting. In a new study, researchers are the first to substantiate these memory deficits.

Potential option for treating chronic kidney disease Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:05 AM PST New clinical research indicates the drug tetrahydrobiopterin may be able to dial back over-activation of the sympathetic nervous system in chronic kidney disease. New clinical research indicates the drug tetrahydrobiopterin may be able to dial back this overactivation, leading to positive effects on the sympathetic nervous system and some measures of arterial stiffness.

Drug stimulates brown fat, boosts metabolism Posted: 06 Jan 2015 10:05 AM PST A drug FDA-approved to treat overactive bladder may boost brown fat's metabolic powers, making it a promising candidate for combatting obesity, new research indicates. Unlike energy-storing white fat, brown fat burns energy to generate heat, which can help maintain body weight and prevent obesity in rodents.

Surgery for obesity linked to longer survival Posted: 06 Jan 2015 09:22 AM PST Obese people seem likely to live longer if they have bariatric surgery (for obesity) than if they don't -- with 53 percent lower risk of dying from any cause at five to 14 years after the procedure. So concluded a study involving 2,500 obese patients and nearly 7,500 matched controls.

'Iron Sun' is not a rock band, but a key to how stars transmit energy Posted: 06 Jan 2015 09:15 AM PST Creating the conditions of the sun, researchers for the first time have been able to experimentally revise figures used by theorists to define iron's key role in passing sunlight from the sun's core to its radiative surface.

Study rules out spiders as common cause of bacterial infections in humans Posted: 06 Jan 2015 09:14 AM PST Can spiders be carriers of human pathogens? Can they provoke infection through a break in the skin? A team of scientists has data-mined the history of publications on spider envenomations to conclude that the evidence for spider-vectored infection is scanty. Although spider bite may be an attractive and tenable causative agent of a bacterial infection, the data show this is highly improbable, says the study's lead author.

Study finds low rate of complications with assisted reproductive technology procedures Posted: 06 Jan 2015 09:14 AM PST In the United States from 2000-2011, autologous -- woman uses her own egg -- and donor assisted reproductive technology procedures were associated with low complication risks, according to a study.

HPV vaccination not associated with increased risk of multiple sclerosis Posted: 06 Jan 2015 09:14 AM PST Although some reports have suggested a link between human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and development of multiple sclerosis or other demyelinating diseases -- a group of central nervous system disorders -- a follow-up of girls and women in Denmark and Sweden who received this vaccination found no increased risk for these disorders, according to a study.

Study finds substantially shorter life expectancy for patients with type 1 diabetes Posted: 06 Jan 2015 09:14 AM PST For patients with type 1 diabetes in Scotland, at age 20 years, the average man has an estimated life expectancy loss of about 11 years; for women, it is 13 years, compared with the general Scottish population without type 1 diabetes, according to a study.

Intensive treatment for type 1 diabetes associated with decreased risk of death Posted: 06 Jan 2015 09:14 AM PST After an average of 27 years' follow-up of patients with type 1 diabetes, six and one-half years of initial intensive diabetes therapy was associated with a modestly lower all-cause rate of death, compared with conventional therapy, according to a study.

Peat fires: Legacy of carbon up in smoke Posted: 06 Jan 2015 08:25 AM PST It reads like a movie script -- ash falling from the sky, thick smoke shutting down airports and businesses, road closures trapping remote northern villages. But this is not from a script; rather, it is study of what could happen through peat burning.

Positive personality traits may protect police at high risk for PTSD Posted: 06 Jan 2015 07:41 AM PST A new study looked at police officers in the New Orleans area during and after Hurricane Katrina. The results suggested that they were shielded from PTSD by the protective qualities not only in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, but years later as well.

The Berlin patient, first and only person 'cured' of HIV, speaks out Posted: 06 Jan 2015 07:39 AM PST Timothy Ray Brown, long known only as the "Berlin Patient" had HIV for 12 years before he became the first person in the world to be cured of the infection following a stem cell transplant in 2007. He recalls his many years of illness, a series of difficult decisions, and his long road to recovery in a new first-person account.

Pharmaceuticals, personal care products could taint swimming pools Posted: 06 Jan 2015 07:27 AM PST A new study suggests pharmaceuticals and chemicals from personal care products end up in swimming pools, possibly interacting with chlorine to produce disinfection byproducts with unknown properties and health effects. Researchers detected DEET, the active ingredient in insect repellants; caffeine; and tri(2-chloroethyl)-phosphate (TCEP), a flame retardant in some swimming pools. Some chemicals are volatile, which means they can escape into the air to be inhaled. Others can be ingested or absorbed through the skin.

Seed beetle diversity in Xinjiang, China Posted: 06 Jan 2015 07:27 AM PST Scientists have looked into the diminutive world of seed beetles in Xinjiang, China, to reveal a diversity of 19 species for the region, four of which are new records for the area.

Marine litter education boosts children's understanding, actions Posted: 06 Jan 2015 07:27 AM PST Children could play an important role in solutions to reduce marine litter with some already helping to educate parents and peers about the scale of the issue, experts suggest.

Extreme obesity calls for individualized medication Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:52 AM PST Doctors and pharmacists often do not take obesity into account when prescribing medication. For this, more insight into the influence of obesity on the distribution and elimination of drugs is of the utmost importance, experts say.

12-year study confirms overall safety of measles vaccines Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:52 AM PST A 12-year study of two measles-containing vaccines found that seven main adverse outcomes were unlikely after either vaccine. "This level of safety monitoring for vaccines can give the public confidence that vaccine surveillance is ongoing and that if a safety problem existed, it would be detected," said the first author of the study.

Unveiling how the children's tummy bug, rotavirus, causes infection Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:51 AM PST Researchers have significantly advanced understanding of a virus that kills up to half a million children each year. Rotaviruses are considered the most important cause of severe diarrhea in children, with all being infected by the time they reach the age of five.

Planet-hunting satellite observes supermassive black hole Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:51 AM PST Astrophysicists combined ground observations with those from NASA's planet-hunting satellite. The study looked at a black hole more than 100 million light years away. They estimate KA 1858 to have 8 million times the mass of our sun.

Researchers map direct gut-brain connection Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:51 AM PST Scientists have mapped a cell-to-cell connection between the gut and the nervous system that may be a more direct route to signaling satiety than the release of hormones in the blood. The new system may change researchers' understanding of how we sense being full, and how that sensation might be affected by gastric bypass surgery.

Of flies and ants: New ant decapitation behavior of Dohrniphora flies Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST While watching tiny flies in tropical forests in Brazil, Giar-Ann Kung puzzledly remarked to Brian Brown 'they are cutting the ant heads off!' This unexpected find led to the discovery of a grisly new type of behavior.

When DNA gets sent to time-out: New details revealed in the coordinated regulation of large stretches of DNA Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST For a skin cell to do its job, it must turn on a completely different set of genes than a liver cell -- and keep genes it doesn't need switched off. One way of turning off large groups of genes at once is to send them to 'time-out' at the edge of the nucleus. New research shows how DNA gets sent to the nucleus' far edge, a process critical to controlling genes and determining cell fate.

New treatment offers hope for headshaking in horses Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST A new study has found a treatment called percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation could reduce signs of the condition in horses. The same percutaneous electrical nerve therapy is used in people to manage neuropathic pain.

New technology enables ultra-fast steering and shaping of light beams Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST A team of engineers has developed a new acousto-optic device that can shape and steer beams of light at speeds never before achieved.

Has car manufacturer taken the corner too fast with boxfish design? Design based on incorrect interpretation of characteristics of the fish Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST Billions of years of evolution have provided solutions for countless technical problems, while teaching designers and engineers a thing or two along the way. But now a car manufacturer has designed a concept model based on the supposed characteristics of the boxfish. Researchers have shown that their design is actually based on an incorrect interpretation of the characteristics of this fish.

International research effort gives neuroscientists better feeling about sense of touch Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST Our sense of touch is one we often take for granted, until our leg falls asleep and we aren't able to stand, or when we experience acute pain. The sense of touch also has been taken for granted in neuroscience, where it's the sense scientists know the least about. For the first time, researchers have linked a group of neurons to a specific type of somatosensation, a finding that can open the door for a heightened understanding about our sense of touch.

Pneumonia risk far higher for HIV-positive children, study shows Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:50 AM PST HIV-positive children in developing countries are six times more likely to die from pneumonia than children without the virus, research suggests. The first global study into pneumonia deaths in children with HIV has found that, in one year, pneumonia affected 1.4 million children and led to a further 88,000 deaths.

'Flying carpet' technique uses graphene to deliver one-two punch of anticancer drugs Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:17 AM PST A drug delivery technique has been developed by an international team of scientists that utilizes graphene strips as "flying carpets" to deliver two anticancer drugs sequentially to cancer cells, with each drug targeting the distinct part of the cell where it will be most effective.

New drug design enhances brain signaling by a factor of 1,000 Posted: 06 Jan 2015 06:17 AM PST Chemical-biological research sheds light on important communication processes in the brain by means of new effective molecules that improve the starting point provided by nature by more than 1,000 times. In the long term, this new knowledge may lead to psychopharmacological drugs with fewer side effects, researchers say.

Black widow spider venom unveiled: The fast evolution of a potent toxin Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:16 AM PST New research shows rapid evolution has helped to make the venom of black widow spiders so toxic.

Blind students learn to think like scientists with revolutionary traveling toolboxes Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:16 AM PST Hands-on, innovative educational material is being developed to help blind students learn about evolution.

Small change in blood acidity could prove detrimental to kidney disease patients Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST Very small changes in the level of acidity in blood may have a detrimental impact on the health of patients with kidney disease, a scientist has discovered. The research focussed on the high level of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in patients suffering from chronic kidney disease. This causes the body to release calcium and phosphate from the bones which can then damage their blood vessels.

Major depression in the national comorbidity survey Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST A recent study underscores the important public health significance of depression among U.S. adolescents. Mental disorders are the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide with 40.5% of this burden attributable to major depression. In adolescence, rates of depression increase substantially between 13 and 18 years of age, and the estimated cumulative incidence in this population approximates the adult lifetime prevalence rate, experts report.

New study challenges link between HLA class I hyperexpression in pancreas, type 1 diabetes Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST The cause of type 1 diabetes remains unknown. Several studies using immunohistochemistry (IHC) have independently reported hyperexpression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I on pancreatic islet cells in young patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Investigators have therefore suggested that HLA hyperexpression may be an important first step in the development of type 1 diabetes. However, a new study challenges these findings .

Entrepreneurs design automated cutting equipment applicable to various industries Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:15 AM PST The "OpeCNC" system, consists of software and hardware for machine control. It can be applied from ornamental ironwork, cutting spare parts, pipes to advertisements.

Men's diets are related to local offerings, unlike women's Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:12 AM PST Canadian men's eating habits are associated with the availability of healthy food sources in their residential neighborhood but women's are not, according to researchers. Why men and not women? "This may be because women, who are in general more nutritionally knowledgeable, may engage in different food shopping strategies than men, and rely on other aspects of the food environment than the proportion of food stores locally available," suggested the study's leader.

Exercise allows you to age optimally Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:12 AM PST Staying active allows you to age optimally, according to a study. The study of amateur older cyclists found that many had levels of physiological function that would place them at a much younger age compared to the general population; debunking the common assumption that aging automatically makes you more frail.

Despite resolutions, people buy more food after new year Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:12 AM PST Despite resolutions to eat better, people buy the greatest amount of food after New Year. Shoppers continue buying elevated holiday-levels of junk food, and then start adding healthier items on top. As a result, people take home 9 percent more calories after New Year than they do over the heavy-eating holidays.

Bipolar disorder: New MRI imaging provides new picture, new insight Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:12 AM PST Using a different type of MRI imaging, researchers have discovered previously unrecognized differences in the brains of patients with bipolar disorder. In particular, the study revealed differences in the white matter of patients' brains and in the cerebellum, an area of the brain not previously linked with the disorder.

Poor vitamin D status linked to longer respiratory support in ICU patients, study finds Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:12 AM PST Vitamin D status may influence the duration of respiratory support needed for surgical intensive care patients, according to a new cohort study. The study demonstrated that plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels on admission to the surgical ICU were inversely associated with the need for mechanical ventilation in critically ill surgical patients.

Ischemic micro-lesions associated with flow-diverting stents for aneurysms Posted: 06 Jan 2015 05:12 AM PST The use of flow-diverting stents to treat intracranial aneurysms appears safe and highly successful. Ischemic complications occur in brain territories supplied by the parent artery in which the stent is placed and in brain regions fed by small arterial branches whose ostia are covered by the stent. Most of these complications are asymptomatic.

Record-breaking black hole outburst detected Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST Last September, after years of watching, astronomers observed and recorded the largest-ever flare in X-rays from a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

Milky Way core drives wind at 2 million miles per hour Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST At a time when our earliest human ancestors had recently mastered walking upright, the heart of our Milky Way galaxy underwent a titanic eruption, driving gases and other material outward at 2 million miles per hour. Now, at least 2 million years later, astronomers are witnessing the aftermath of the explosion: billowing clouds of gas towering about 30,000 light-years above and below the plane of our galaxy.

Hubble's high-definition panoramic view of Andromeda galaxy Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST The largest NASA Hubble Space Telescope image ever assembled, this sweeping view of the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is the sharpest large composite image ever taken of our galactic neighbor. Though the galaxy is over 2 million light-years away, the Hubble telescope is powerful enough to resolve individual stars in a 61,000-light-year-long section of the galaxy's pancake-shaped disk.

Hubble goes high def to revisit the iconic ‘Pillars of Creation' Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:25 PM PST In celebration of its 25th anniversary, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has revisited the famous "Pillars of Creation" region of the Eagle Nebula (M16), providing astronomers with a sharper and wider view. As a bonus, the pillars have been photographed in near-infrared light, as well as visible light.

Fracking in Ohio confirmed as cause of rare earthquake strong enough to be felt Posted: 05 Jan 2015 03:24 PM PST A new study links the March 2014 earthquakes in Poland Township, Ohio, to hydraulic fracturing that activated a previously unknown fault. The induced seismic sequence included a rare felt earthquake of magnitude 3.0, according to new research.

First clinical trial in U. S. of procedure to relieve pain from cancer that has spread to spine Posted: 05 Jan 2015 02:02 PM PST The first clinical trial in the United States of a minimally invasive treatment designed to help relieve pain, heal spinal fractures and prevent new fractures in patients with metastatic cancer that has spread to the spine is being launched.

Exploring the significance of 'sacred moments' in therapy Posted: 05 Jan 2015 02:02 PM PST "My client said I was different than all other therapists in the sense that I was genuinely caring about him and paying attention to what he was saying and also to what he was not saying. It was like time had stopped and we were two vulnerable human beings connected at a very deep level--a 'sacred' moment." New new research shows that these kinds of "sacred moments" between therapists and their clients lead to improved well- being for both sides, demonstrating the value of paying close attention to the spiritual dimension between providers and their patients. New research shows that these kinds of "sacred moments" between therapists and their clients lead to improved well- being for both sides, demonstrating the value of paying close attention to the spiritual dimension between providers and their patients.

New highly effective, eco-friendly flame retardant Posted: 05 Jan 2015 02:02 PM PST Fire consumes wood ferociously, in a deadly blaze—but the substances used to treat wood to resist burning can also be noxious and toxic. A professor guided an undergraduate and two high school students as they developed a patent-pending, environmentally sustainable way to render the wood used in construction flame retardant—and 5x stronger—using natural materials.

Radiation plus hormone therapy prolongs survival for older men with prostate cancer Posted: 05 Jan 2015 02:02 PM PST Adding radiation treatment to hormone therapy saves more lives among older men with locally advanced prostate therapy than hormone therapy alone, according to a new study. The researchers found that hormone therapy plus radiation reduced cancer deaths by nearly 50 percent in men aged 76 to 85 compared to men who only received hormone therapy.

Nutrition education may help prevent breast cancer reoccurrence Posted: 05 Jan 2015 02:00 PM PST Breast cancer is the most frequent cause of death among women worldwide, and five-year survival rates are just 58.4% in Brazil, lower than in many other regions. In a new study, however, researchers provided Brazilian breast cancer patients with nutrition education and found it could benefit patients and may help prevent reoccurrence of the cancer.

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