ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Traces of early Native Americans -- in sunflower genes
• Weak link in Alzheimer's drug candidates: Some may cause further neural degeneration
• Marathon runners should pick cherries for speedy recovery
• Treatment checklists may cut hospital deaths
• Electronic medical records may accelerate genome-driven diagnoses and treatments
• Study points out risks of nonromantic sexual relationships
• Plastic electronics could slash the cost of solar panels
• Anti-HIV drugs inhibit emerging virus linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome
• Mars rover Spirit may have begun months-long hibernation
• Metabolic disease: Differential drug response in lean and obese patients explained
• Second plant pathway could improve nutrition, biofuel production
• Neuroscientists show how brain stores memories of specific fears
• Imaging life as it happens: researchers capture video of embryonic heart before it begins to beat
• Combinatorial therapy allows viruses to destroy tumors
• NASA Mars spacecraft snaps photos chosen by public
• Lymphatic system: Regulator of lymph vessel growth uncovered
• How are droplets displaced by ultrasounds?
• Attitude toward everyday activity important for healthy lifestyle

Traces of early Native Americans -- in sunflower genes Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 PM PDT New information about early Native Americans' horticultural practices comes not from hieroglyphs or other artifacts, but from a suite of four gene duplicates found in wild and domesticated sunflowers. Scientists learned duplications of the gene flowering locus T, or FT, could have evolved and interacted to prolong a flower's time to grow. A longer flower growth period means a bigger sunflower -- presumably an attribute of value to the plant's first breeders.

Weak link in Alzheimer's drug candidates: Some may cause further neural degeneration Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 PM PDT Some current therapies being investigated for Alzheimer's disease may cause further neural degeneration and cell death, according to a breakthrough discovery.

Marathon runners should pick cherries for speedy recovery Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 PM PDT Scientists examined the properties of Montmorency cherries in a study that found that athletes who drank the juice recovered faster after Marathon running than a placebo controlled group.

Treatment checklists may cut hospital deaths Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 PM PDT Patient deaths at three London hospitals have been cut by almost 15 percent after introducing treatment checklists (known as care bundles), a new study finds.

Electronic medical records may accelerate genome-driven diagnoses and treatments Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 PM PDT A new study reveals an exciting potential benefit of the rapidly accumulating databases of health care information, the ability to make unprecedented links between genomic data and clinical medicine. The research supports the idea that large scale DNA databanks linked to electronic medical record (EMR) systems provide a valuable platform for discovering, assessing and validating associations between genes and diseases.

Study points out risks of nonromantic sexual relationships Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 PM PDT A study has found that one-third of sexual relationships in the Chicago area lack exclusivity. One in 10 men and women reported that both they and their partner had slept with other people. Lovers in "friends with benefits" situations or those "hooking up" with a stranger or acquaintance proved much more likely to have multiple partners.

Plastic electronics could slash the cost of solar panels Posted: 03 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT By producing plastics that are translucent, malleable and able to conduct electricity, researchers have opened the door to broader use of the materials in a wide range of electrical devices.

Anti-HIV drugs inhibit emerging virus linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome Posted: 03 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT Four drugs used to treat HIV infection can inhibit a retrovirus recently linked to prostate cancer and chronic fatigue syndrome, researchers have shown. The findings suggest that if XMRV (xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus) is proven to be a cause for prostate cancer or chronic fatigue syndrome, those illnesses may be treatable with drugs already approved for treating HIV.

Mars rover Spirit may have begun months-long hibernation Posted: 03 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT The most powerful camera aboard a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars has returned the first pictures of locations on the Red Planet suggested by the public.

Metabolic disease: Differential drug response in lean and obese patients explained Posted: 03 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT One thing that predisposes individuals who are obese to type 2 diabetes is the persistent, low-level inflammation that results, in part, from dysregulation of the function of white fat tissue in the abdominal cavity between the internal organs (visceral white fat tissue). New insight into the signaling pathways that contribute to visceral white fat tissue dysregulation has now been provided by researchers who determined that the PPAR-gamma signaling pathway operates differently in the visceral white fat tissue of lean and obese mice and humans.

Second plant pathway could improve nutrition, biofuel production Posted: 03 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT Scientists have defined a hidden second option plants have for making an essential amino acid that could be the first step in boosting plants' nutritional value and improving biofuel production potential.

Neuroscientists show how brain stores memories of specific fears Posted: 03 Apr 2010 08:00 AM PDT The brain is capable of holding and retrieving memories for specific fears, revealing a more sophisticated storage and recall capacity than previously thought, neuroscientists have found.

Imaging life as it happens: researchers capture video of embryonic heart before it begins to beat Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 AM PDT Researchers are imaging life as it happens by capturing video of the embryonic heart before it begins beating. They are documenting the formation of the mammalian heart through a high-resolution, noninvasive imaging device, providing perhaps the best live imagery taken of the vital organ.

Combinatorial therapy allows viruses to destroy tumors Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 AM PDT For several years, researchers have been developing a new approach to treating cancer that uses viruses to infect and kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed. New research indicates that this approach, which is known as oncolytic virotherapy, can be combined with a standard clinical therapy to provide substantial regression and cure of tumors in mice, leading to the suggestion that this combinatorial approach could be of tremendous benefit in the clinic.

NASA Mars spacecraft snaps photos chosen by public Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 AM PDT The most powerful camera aboard a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars has returned the first pictures of locations on the Red Planet suggested by the public.

Lymphatic system: Regulator of lymph vessel growth uncovered Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 AM PDT In addition to our network of blood vessels, humans have a network of vessels known as lymphatic vessels. These vessels have a role in many processes in the body, including regulating fluid levels in tissues and immune surveillance. Although dysfunction in the lymphatic system contributes to human diseases such as the spread of cancer to other sites and lymphademas (localized fluid retention and tissue swelling), little is known about the molecules that regulate the formation of new lymphatic vessels, a process known as lymphangiogenesis. However, a team of researchers has now identified a role for the gene regulatory protein COUP-TFII in lymphangiogenesis in mouse embryonic development and tumor lymphangiogenesis in adult mice.

How are droplets displaced by ultrasounds? Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 AM PDT Understanding the physical mechanisms that enable a droplet to be displaced by propagating an acoustic wave along the substrate on which it lies is the hurdle that has just been overcome by researchers. They have succeeded in detailing the structure of the ultrasounds that propagate in a droplet and which lead to its oscillation and then its displacement.

Attitude toward everyday activity important for healthy lifestyle Posted: 03 Apr 2010 02:00 AM PDT Exploring underlying attitudes toward everyday physical activity -- for example, walking to a nearby co-worker's office rather than sending an email -- may open new opportunities for promoting healthier, more active lifestyles.

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