ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• X-ray diffraction microscope reveals 3-D internal structure of whole cell
• CPAP therapy restores brain tissue in adults with sleep apnea, study finds
• Scientists uncover protein that thwarts tumor invasion
• Neuroscientists identify synaptic defect in brain area involved in Fragile X syndrome
• Detecting tumors faster
• Alcohol use and smoking are associated with headaches in high schoolers
• Artificial aurora created to help predict space weather
• Prismatic eyeglasses for headaches and dizziness caused by traumatic brain injury appears promising, study finds
• First images of sub-nano pore structures captured
• New myeloma drug shows promise in early testing
• Self-healing air mattresses based on plant wound healing?
• Sleep problems are common in US soldiers returning from wartime deployment
• Computational model sheds light on how the brain recognizes objects
• Antibody therapy lengthens survival of metastatic melanoma patients in large clinical trial
• Genetic secrets that allow Tibetans to thrive in thin air discovered
• Acute toxicity predicts overall survival in high-grade gliomas
• 'Nanocoax' solves solar cell 'thick and thin' dilemma
• Getting extra sleep improves the athletic performance of collegiate football players
• Molecular link between diabetes and schizophrenia connects food and mood
• Side effects explained: Why common drugs can lead to broken bones
• Follow the money: Wealth, population are key drivers of invasive species
• Blood-sugar lowering medications may increase risk for false positive results in cancer screenings
• 'Baby Bubbler': Student invention helps infants with respiratory ailments
• More adults report excessive sleepiness in the US than in Europe
• Climate change linked to major vegetation shifts worldwide
• New use for old drugs in treating hepatitis C
• Working toward the next battery breakthrough: Scientist brings fresh perspective to the nation's electrical grid
• Experimental targeted therapy shows early promise against medulloblastomas, type of childhood brain cancer
• Applying tomographics to the quantum world
• Regular bedtimes linked to better language, reading and math skills in preschool children
• Some like it hot: Site of human evolution was scorching
• Vacuum cleaner sucks up strokes
• Will the new World Cup soccer ball bend?
• Harnessing the immune system's diagnostic power
• Radioactive optical imaging and 'quantum dot' nano-imaging at the forefront of molecular medicine
• Personality can predict fertility

X-ray diffraction microscope reveals 3-D internal structure of whole cell Posted: 09 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Three-dimensional imaging is dramatically expanding our ability to examine biological specimens enabling a peek into internal structures. Recent advance in X-ray diffraction method has greatly extended the limit of this approach. Method can be applied to organelles, viruses and cells and could impact treatment of human diseases.

CPAP therapy restores brain tissue in adults with sleep apnea, study finds Posted: 09 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Obstructive sleep apnea patients had reductions of grey-matter volume at baseline but showed significant grey-matter volume increase after three months of CPAP therapy, according to new research.

Scientists uncover protein that thwarts tumor invasion Posted: 09 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have determined that cancer cells lacking a key protein are more invasive and more likely to metastasize, providing a possible drug target to combat certain tumor types.

Neuroscientists identify synaptic defect in brain area involved in Fragile X syndrome Posted: 09 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Researchers have identified novel synaptic defects in an area of the brain that is involved in the debilitating emotional symptoms of Fragile X syndrome.

Detecting tumors faster Posted: 09 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT To diagnose cancer reliably, doctors usually conduct a biopsy including tissue analysis, which is a time-consuming process. A microscopic image sensor, fitted in an endoscope, is being developed for in vivo cancer diagnosis, to speed up the detection of tumors.

Alcohol use and smoking are associated with headaches in high schoolers Posted: 09 Jun 2010 11:00 AM PDT Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking were associated with increased migraines and tension-type headaches in high school students, according to new research. Coffee drinking and physical inactivity were associated specifically with migraines.

Artificial aurora created to help predict space weather Posted: 09 Jun 2010 08:00 AM PDT For more than 25 years, our understanding of terrestrial space weather has been partly based on incorrect assumptions about how nitrogen, the most abundant gas in our atmosphere, reacts when it collides with electrons produced by energetic ultraviolet sunlight and solar wind. Now scientists have fired electrons of differing energies through a cloud of nitrogen gas to measure the ultraviolet light emitted by this collision.

Prismatic eyeglasses for headaches and dizziness caused by traumatic brain injury appears promising, study finds Posted: 09 Jun 2010 08:00 AM PDT A recent retrospective study shows strong evidence that symptoms of headache, dizziness and anxiety in some patients with traumatic brain injury potentially could be alleviated or even eliminated with specialized eyeglass lenses containing prisms. These lenses resulted in 71.8 percent reduction of symptoms.

First images of sub-nano pore structures captured Posted: 09 Jun 2010 08:00 AM PDT Moore's law marches on: In the quest for faster and cheaper computers, scientists have imaged pore structures in insulation material at sub-nanometer scale for the first time. Understanding these structures could substantially enhance computer performance and power usage of integrated circuits, say scientists.

New myeloma drug shows promise in early testing Posted: 09 Jun 2010 08:00 AM PDT A drug designed to target cancerous plasma cells appears promising in treating multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.

Self-healing air mattresses based on plant wound healing? Posted: 09 Jun 2010 08:00 AM PDT No living organism is better at healing wounds than plants. Researchers have now succeeded in using the healing process of the woody climbing plant liana as a model to create self-healing membranes.

Sleep problems are common in US soldiers returning from wartime deployment Posted: 09 Jun 2010 08:00 AM PDT Study shows that 86 percent of participants had sleep disturbances upon return from deployment and 45 days later even though the majority of them had no signs of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. Soldiers were more likely to have sleep disturbances if they had a personal history of sleep problems, symptoms of physical illness or mild traumatic brain injury. The study involved 58 US soldiers between the ages of 23 and 58 years.

Computational model sheds light on how the brain recognizes objects Posted: 09 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new mathematical model to describe how the human brain visually identifies objects. The model accurately predicts human performance on certain visual-perception tasks, which suggests that it's a good indication of what actually happens in the brain, and it could also help improve computer object-recognition systems.

Antibody therapy lengthens survival of metastatic melanoma patients in large clinical trial Posted: 09 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT A therapy that multiplies the effect of a natural disease-fighting antibody has extended the lives of patients with metastatic melanoma in a large, international clinical trial.

Genetic secrets that allow Tibetans to thrive in thin air discovered Posted: 09 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Scientists have identified a gene that enables Tibetans to thrive at altitudes where others get sick. A previous study published May 13 in Science reported that Tibetans are genetically adapted to high altitude. Now, a second study by a different team pinpoints a particular site within the human genome -- a genetic variant linked to hemoglobin -- that helps explain how Tibetans cope with low-oxygen conditions.

Acute toxicity predicts overall survival in high-grade gliomas Posted: 09 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Patients with high-grade gliomas who experience acute (early) neurological toxicity during their treatment were more likely to experience chronic (late) neurological toxicity and shortened overall survival, according to researchers in a new study.

'Nanocoax' solves solar cell 'thick and thin' dilemma Posted: 09 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Researchers report developing a "nanocoax" technology that can support a highly efficient thin film solar cells. The nanocoax structures prove to be thick enough to absorb a sufficient amount of light, yet thin enough to extract current with increased efficiency.

Getting extra sleep improves the athletic performance of collegiate football players Posted: 09 Jun 2010 05:00 AM PDT Football players' sprint times improved significantly after seven to eight weeks of sleep extension. Average sprint time in the 20-yard shuttle improved from 4.71 seconds to 4.61 seconds, and average 40-yard dash time decreased from 4.99 seconds to 4.89 seconds. Daytime sleepiness and fatigue also decreased significantly, while vigor scores significantly improved. Participants were seven healthy students on the Stanford football team. Results support previous research involving students who compete in other sports.

Molecular link between diabetes and schizophrenia connects food and mood Posted: 09 Jun 2010 02:00 AM PDT Defects in insulin function -- which occur in diabetes and obesity -- could directly contribute to psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. Researchers have discovered a molecular link between impaired insulin signaling in the brain and schizophrenia-like behaviors in mice. The findings offer a new perspective on the psychiatric and cognitive disorders that affect patients with diabetes and suggest new strategies for treating these conditions.

Side effects explained: Why common drugs can lead to broken bones Posted: 09 Jun 2010 02:00 AM PDT New research helps to explain why some commonly used drugs come with a serious downside: They up your odds of breaking a bone. The drugs in question, glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisone and prednisone) and the insulin sensitizer rosiglitazone work through entirely different mechanisms as therapies for inflammatory diseases and diabetes respectively, and two new studies now show that they lead to bone loss in different ways too.

Follow the money: Wealth, population are key drivers of invasive species Posted: 09 Jun 2010 02:00 AM PDT A new study of biological invasions in Europe found they were linked not so much to changes in climate or land cover, but to two dominant factors -- more money and more people.

Blood-sugar lowering medications may increase risk for false positive results in cancer screenings Posted: 09 Jun 2010 02:00 AM PDT A study suggests that medication ingested to control blood-sugar levels can skew the results of cancer screenings using positron emission tomography (PET), a molecular imaging technique, by increasing absorption in the gut of the PET imaging agent called fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), which mimics sugar inside the body.

'Baby Bubbler': Student invention helps infants with respiratory ailments Posted: 09 Jun 2010 02:00 AM PDT Undergraduates have developed a device that could save babies' lives. The Baby Bubbler -- or in its more technical guise, the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device -- helps children with acute respiratory infections breathe naturally as they recover.

More adults report excessive sleepiness in the US than in Europe Posted: 09 Jun 2010 02:00 AM PDT Results indicate that 19.5 percent of US adults reported having moderate to excessive sleepiness, which was comparable between men and women. Furthermore, 11 percent of participants reported severe sleepiness, which was more prevalent in women (13 percent) than in men (8.6 percent). The cross-sectional study involved a representative sample of 8,937 adults. In a previous study the author reported that the prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness in five European countries was 15 percent.

Climate change linked to major vegetation shifts worldwide Posted: 08 Jun 2010 11:00 PM PDT Vegetation around the world is on the move, and climate change is the culprit, according to a new analysis of global vegetation shifts.

New use for old drugs in treating hepatitis C Posted: 08 Jun 2010 11:00 PM PDT Common drugs used to treat conditions such as diabetes and obesity could be used to successfully treat hepatitis C virus infection.

Working toward the next battery breakthrough: Scientist brings fresh perspective to the nation's electrical grid Posted: 08 Jun 2010 11:00 PM PDT If battery-making is an art, then University at Buffalo scientist Esther Takeuchi is among its most prolific masters, with more than 140 US patents, all in energy storage. Takeuchi developed the battery that made possible the first implantable cardiac defibrillators, a feat that was recognized last fall with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Obama. Millions of heart patients worldwide have benefited from the implantable cardiac defibrillators powered by Takeuchi's silver vanadium oxide battery. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, she is developing new cathode materials for improved implantable cardiac defibrillator batteries.

Experimental targeted therapy shows early promise against medulloblastomas, type of childhood brain cancer Posted: 08 Jun 2010 11:00 PM PDT Researchers have presented findings of a pediatric brain tumor study using an experimental drug that targets the underlying genetic makeup of the tumor. The research focused on a new way to attack the tumors by blocking the Hedgehog pathway that is linked to approximately 20 percent of medulloblastomas.

Applying tomographics to the quantum world Posted: 08 Jun 2010 11:00 PM PDT Scientists in Spain have demonstrated the validity of tomographic representation of quantum states, which can help quantum technologies transmit information more safely and efficiently.

Regular bedtimes linked to better language, reading and math skills in preschool children Posted: 08 Jun 2010 11:00 PM PDT Children in households with bedtime rules and children who get adequate sleep scored higher on a range of developmental assessments, according to new research.

Some like it hot: Site of human evolution was scorching Posted: 08 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT If you think summer in your hometown is hot, consider the Turkana Basin of Kenya, where the average daily temperature has reached the mid-90s or higher, year-round, for the past 4 million years. Could the climate have influenced the way humans evolved in that region?

Vacuum cleaner sucks up strokes Posted: 08 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT A clot vacuum cleaner that sucks out stroke-producing blockages from blood vessels in the brain may sound like science fiction. But this potentially paradigm-shifting procedure may successfully salvage brain cells for more than just the first three hours following a major stroke, with fewer risks.

Will the new World Cup soccer ball bend? Posted: 08 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Physics experts believe the new ball created for the 2010 World Cup, called the Jabulani, will play "harder and faster," bending more unpredictably than its predecessor.

Harnessing the immune system's diagnostic power Posted: 08 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT A new method has been pioneered to track an individual's state of health by profiling the immune system. The technique, known as immunosignaturing, could provide rapid, pre-symptomatic diagnosis for a broad range of ailments, from infectious diseases to chronic afflictions to varied forms of cancer, offering the best hope for successful treatment.

Radioactive optical imaging and 'quantum dot' nano-imaging at the forefront of molecular medicine Posted: 08 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT Researchers have presented the results of a multidisciplinary study involving the capture of radiation luminescence and radioactive-excited nanoparticles to help detect subtle signs of disease. Currently, nuclear medicine agents and imaging technology image the behavior of particles at the cellular, molecular and atomic levels, but radioactive materials also emit barely visible light that can be detected with highly sensitive optical imaging technology. This discovery could lead to new, state-of-the-art imaging techniques.

Personality can predict fertility Posted: 08 Jun 2010 02:00 PM PDT The reproductive success of both men and women is influenced by our personality traits, according to new research.

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