Monday, February 08, 2010

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Bees recognize human faces using feature configuration

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

Bees can be trained to recognize human faces, so long as the insects are tricked into thinking that the faces are oddly shaped flowers, new research shows. The insects use the arrangement of facial features to recognize and distinguish one face from another.

Industrial cleaner linked to increased risk of Parkinson's disease

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

Workers exposed to tricholorethylene, a chemical once widely used to clean metal such as auto parts, may be at a significantly higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, according to a new study.

'Starving' fat suppresses appetite

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

Peptides that target blood vessels in fat and cause them to go into programmed cell death (termed apoptosis) could become a model for future weight-loss therapies, say researchers.

Older female cancer survivors have added health issues compared to their counterparts

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

As cancer survivors live longer, questions arise about what kind of care long-term survivors require. A recently study found 245 older married women who survived cancer had more health problems as compared to a sample of 245 married women without cancer.

Argonautes: A big turn-off for proteins

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

Scientists believe they may have figured out how genetic snippets called microRNAs are able to shut down the production of some proteins.

Hackers at the movies

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 PM PST

Researchers in Ireland have analyzed 50 non-documentary movies from the last four decades featuring hackers and come to some intriguing conclusions about the hacker stereotype with implications for policy makers and education.

Scientists identify first genetic variant linked to biological aging in humans

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 11:00 AM PST

Scientists announced they have identified for the first time definitive variants associated with biological ageing in humans. The new discovery has important implications for the understanding of cancer and age-associated diseases.

Transforming human fat into stem cells using virus-free technique

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 11:00 AM PST

Tiny circles of DNA are the key to a new and easier way to transform stem cells from human fat into induced pluripotent stem cells for use in regenerative medicine, say scientists. Unlike other commonly used techniques, the method, which is based on standard molecular biology practices, does not use viruses to introduce genes into the cells or permanently alter a cell's genome.

Virology: Some viruses use fats to penetrate a cell

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 11:00 AM PST

SV40 viruses use an amazing means of communication, in order to be able to penetrate into a cell: fats, whose structure must fit like a key in a lock.

Promising results shown for kidney cancer drug

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 11:00 AM PST

The drug pazopanib (Votrient) slowed the progression of advanced renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer, in patients by 54 percent, according to a new study.

Carbonate veins reveal chemistry of ancient seawater

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 11:00 AM PST

The chemical composition of our oceans is not constant but has varied significantly over geological time. In a new study, researchers describe a novel method for reconstructing past ocean chemistry using calcium carbonate veins that precipitate from seawater-derived fluids in rocks beneath the seafloor.

Soft intelligence for hard decisions: Soft metrics improve homeland security and other critical decisions

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 11:00 AM PST

An approach to decision making based on soft metrics could allow problems to be solved where no definitive "yes-no" answer is possible in fields as diverse as health care, defense, economics, engineering, public utilities and science.

Did bacteria developed into more complex cells much earlier in evolution than thought?

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST

Biochemists have described the process by which bacteria developed into more complex cells and found this crucial step happened much earlier in the evolutionary timeline than previously thought.

Inhibiting serotonin in gut could cure osteoporosis

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST

An investigational drug that inhibits serotonin in the gut, administered orally once daily, effectively cured osteoporosis in mice and rats, reports a new article. Serotonin in the gut has been shown in recent research to stall bone formation. The finding could lead to new therapies that build new bone; most osteoporosis drugs only prevent the breakdown of old bone.

Cells send dirty laundry home to mom

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST

Understanding how aged and damaged mother cells manage to form new and undamaged daughter cells is one of the toughest riddles of aging, but scientists now know how yeast cells do it. In a groundbreaking study, researchers in Sweden show how the daughter cell uses a mechanical "conveyor belt" to dump damaged proteins in the mother cell.

Discovery may expand availability of bone marrow transplants by stopping fatal complications

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST

Scientists explain how an anti-inflammatory agent called "ATL146e" may significantly improve the likelihood of success for bone marrow transplants by preventing or halting the progression of graft-versus-host disease, a complication of bone marrow transplants in which the donor marrow attacks the host.

Biofilms: Discovery of a new mechanism of virus propagation

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST

Researchers have shown for the first time that certain viruses are capable of forming complex biofilm-like assemblies, similar to bacterial biofilms. These extracellular infectious structures may protect viruses from the immune system and enable them to spread efficiently from cell to cell. "Viral biofilms" would appear to be a major mechanism of propagation for certain viruses. They are therefore emerging as new and particularly attractive therapeutic targets.

Winning the war on weight

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 08:00 AM PST

An Australian study into the health beliefs and behaviors of obese people has found that the more severely obese a person is, the less likely they feel they can reduce their weight.

Growing cartilage: bioactive nanomaterial promotes growth of new cartilage

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST

Researchers have designed a bioactive nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo and without the use of expensive growth factors. The therapy is minimally invasive, utilizes bone marrow stem cells and produces natural cartilage. Unlike bone, cartilage does not grow back, and it cannot effectively be replaced. Countless people learn this all too well when they bring their bad knees, shoulders and elbows to an orthopedic surgeon.

Road mapping could be key to curing TB

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST

The complex chain of metabolic events in bacteria that lead to fatal diseases such as tuberculosis may be better understood using mathematical models, according to a new article.

Targeting cancer stem cells in the lab

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST

Understanding of the particular cancer cells within a tumour that drive its growth could now advance more rapidly, thanks to new research. Scientisist now show how a crucial class of cancer cell, called cancer stem cells, can be investigated in the lab in ways that should greatly speed their study, and allow the development of drugs targeted against them.

Important advance in imaging of cell death

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST

Scientists have made progress in using a synthetic probe to target dead and dying cells in mammary and prostate tumors in living animals.

Novel theory for mammalian stem cell regulation

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST

Researchers propose a model of mammalian adult stem cell regulation that may explain how the coexistence of two disparate stem cell states regulates both stem cell maintenance and simultaneously supports rapid tissue regeneration.

Moms influence how children develop advanced cognitive functions

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 05:00 AM PST

Executive functioning is a set of advanced cognitive functions -- such as the ability to control impulses, remember things, and show mental flexibility -- that help us plan and monitor what we do to reach goals. A new study of 80 infant-mother pairs finds that the ways moms act when they're playing and solving puzzles with their babies can explain some of the differences in children's development of executive functioning.

Second 'quantum logic clock' based on aluminum ion is now world's most precise clock

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 AM PST

Physicists have built an enhanced version of an experimental atomic clock based on a single aluminum atom that is now the world's most precise clock, more than twice as precise as the previous pacesetter based on a mercury atom. The new aluminum clock would neither gain nor lose one second in about 3.7 billion years.

Gene that improves quality of reprogrammed stem cells identified

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 AM PST

Scientists report that Tbx3 significantly improves quality of induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem cells reprogrammed from differentiated cells are known as induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells.

New way to study how enzymes repair DNA damage

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 AM PST

Researchers have found a new way to study how enzymes move as they repair DNA sun damage -- and that discovery could one day lead to new therapies for healing sunburned skin. Ultraviolet (UV) light damages skin by causing chemical bonds to form in the wrong places along the DNA molecules in our cells.

Screening for spinal muscular atrophy not cost effective, study finds

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 AM PST

New findings suggest that it is not cost effective to screen for spinal muscular atrophy. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the most common genetic cause of infant mortality and the second most common inherited autosomal recessive disorder. There is controversy about whether prenatal carrier detection should be routinely offered to couples.

Genetic analysis helps spot sugarcane rusts

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 AM PST

Scientists have analyzed rust fungi from more than 160 sugarcane samples from 25 countries to provide a valuable resource for plant breeders and pathologists who are searching for genetic resistance to the deadly orange and brown rusts.

Fingers account for majority of pediatric amputations, new study finds

Posted: 08 Feb 2010 02:00 AM PST

According to a new study, there were more than 950 cases of traumatic amputations among children aged 17 years and younger in the United States in 2003. Of these cases, finger and thumb amputations accounted for the majority of the injuries.

Migrating insects fly in the fast lane

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST

Scientists shed new light on the flight behaviors that enable insects to undertake long-distance migrations, and highlights the remarkable abilities of these insect migrants.

Estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy may increase risk of asthma after menopause

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST

Estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy may increase the risk of developing asthma after the menopause, suggests a large scale study.

Uncorrelated activity in the brain

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST

Interconnected networks of neurons process information and give rise to perception by communicating with one another via small electrical impulses known as action potentials. In the past, scientists believed that adjacent neurons synchronized their action potentials. However, researchers now show that this synchronization does not happen.

Preventing pancreatic islet loss after transplantation

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST

Although transplantation of pancreatic islets is an attractive way to treat type 1 diabetes, early islet loss soon after transplantation has limited its clinical use. By studying islet transplantation in a mouse model of diabetes, researchers have now identified a potential new set of targets to improve the efficiency of pancreatic islet transplantation.

Characteristics of Earthquakes that Have Caused Exceptional Ground Accelerations and Velocities

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST

A new study identifies earthquakes through July 2007 that have produced 100 of the strongest peak accelerations and 100 of the strongest peak velocities ever recorded.

Many surgeons suffer injuries from minimally invasive techniques

Posted: 07 Feb 2010 11:00 PM PST

Surgeons who engage in minimally invasive, laparoscopic surgery are providing great benefits to their patients, but possibly to their own detriment. That's the finding of the largest survey ever conducted of surgeons in North America who perform laparoscopic procedures. The survey found that 87 percent of laparoscopic surgeons have experienced physical symptoms or discomfort. This was especially true among those with high case volumes.
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