ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

---

• Scientist studies frogs and fish for answers to human hearing
• Electricity sparks interest in new technologies and cosmeceuticals for aging skin
• Colored light sources lighting the way for new in-office and at-home skin therapies
• New process cleanly extracts oil from tar sands and fouled beaches
• Americans like their drinks 'sickeningly sweet' but new labeling may make a difference
• Heart and cardiovascular disease deaths drop dramatically in Norway
• Japanese tsunami underscores need for elder disaster preparedness
• Terminology matters in parents' willingness to enroll their children in research
• How to help heal an injured joint
• Economics and evolution help scientists identify new strategy to control antibiotic resistance
• Spintronics: Enhancing the magnetism
• Kidney cancer patients who have only partial organ removal are healthier, study suggests
• Sad dads spank more, read less, study finds
• Human gender roles influence research on animals, Swedish biologists argue
• Prognosis for brain damage
• Masked fears: Are fears that are seemingly overcome only hidden?
• Electronic medical records improve quality of care in resource-limited countries, study suggests
• Hospital infections: Unique antibody from llamas provide weapon against Clostridium difficile
• Fairy wrens are accountants of the animal kingdom, not altruistic as previously thought
• Epilepsy and coordination disorders: Important role for the cerebellum
• Doctors should evaluate liver disease patients for cognitive impairment, address driving safety, experts urge
• Can biochar help suppress greenhouse gases?
• New blood analysis chip could lead to disease diagnosis in minutes
• Allergies? Pollen also appears outside flowering season
• An icy gaze into the big bang: Quantum physicists investigate new states of matter in ultracold atom mixtures
• Record-breaking 2010 Eastern European/Russian heatwave
• Personal music selections change when they can be viewed by the public
• Enzyme can steer cells or possibly stop them in their tracks
• 'Bilingual' neurons may reveal the secrets of brain disease
• New insight into the brain's ability to reorganize itself
• Ecologists use 70-year-old pressed plants to chart city's vanishing native flora
• Transmissible treatment proposed for HIV could target superspreaders to curb epidemic

Scientist studies frogs and fish for answers to human hearing Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:48 PM PDT Scientists are exploring the molecules and tissues necessary for normal inner ear development in two different species that are model organisms for developmental biological studies: the African clawed frog and the zebrafish.

Electricity sparks interest in new technologies and cosmeceuticals for aging skin Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:44 PM PDT It may seem as if new developments to combat aging skin are being introduced faster than the speed of light. At the forefront of the research, dermatologists are underpinning these advancements, refining the basic understanding of how the skin ages in order to develop more effective non-invasive cosmetic procedures and products. Now, as an alternative to laser light -- used successfully for years to make skin appear younger -- dermatologists are investigating electricity.

Colored light sources lighting the way for new in-office and at-home skin therapies Posted: 18 Mar 2011 05:42 PM PDT While dermatologists have used lasers successfully for years to treat common skin conditions such as acne, rosacea and aging skin, it now appears that even non-laser lights may provide some of the same benefits. In fact, lights of different colors are being used in several in-office and at-home therapies that offer consumers an alternative to more expensive laser treatments, but all may not be equally effective.

New process cleanly extracts oil from tar sands and fouled beaches Posted: 18 Mar 2011 02:49 PM PDT An environmentally friendlier method of separating oil from tar sands has now been developed. The method, which utilizes ionic liquids to separate the heavy viscous oil from sand, is also capable of cleaning oil spills from beaches and separating oil from drill cuttings, the solid particles that must be removed from drilling fluids in oil and gas wells.

Americans like their drinks 'sickeningly sweet' but new labeling may make a difference Posted: 18 Mar 2011 02:46 PM PDT Americans may like their drinks "sickeningly sweet" but a new labeling initiative may discourage us from pouring on the unnecessary calories, said a medical weight-loss specialist.

Heart and cardiovascular disease deaths drop dramatically in Norway Posted: 18 Mar 2011 01:09 PM PDT Life was hard in occupied Norway during WWII, but the occupation had one surprising result: deaths from heart attacks dropped precipitously, because Norwegians ate less fat, smoked less and were more physically active. Now, in the last half of the 20th century, Norway has seen a similar precipitous drop in heart attack deaths, but this time due to focused prevention programs and improved treatment, according to new research.

Japanese tsunami underscores need for elder disaster preparedness Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:33 PM PDT The oldest segment of Japan's population will likely be the hardest hit as a result of the recent earthquake and subsequent tsunami, based on data from previous catastrophic events. Approximately 23 percent of Japanese citizens currently are age 65 and above.

Terminology matters in parents' willingness to enroll their children in research Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:33 PM PDT When presented with different terms to describe a clinical trial, parents were far more likely to consent to enroll their child if it was called a "research study" than if it was called a "medical experiment" or a "research project," in large part because they perceived the former as safer, even though that was not necessarily the case, according to a new report.

How to help heal an injured joint Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:33 PM PDT Knee patients need patience: injuries to these joints take weeks to heal. Researchers have now developed a system that documents the healing process in detail. This motivates patients and at the same time helps doctors to fine-tune the course of treatment.

Economics and evolution help scientists identify new strategy to control antibiotic resistance Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:33 PM PDT Scientists have taken lessons from Adam Smith and Charles Darwin to devise a new strategy that could one day slow, possibly even prevent, the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. The scientists show that bacterial gene mutations that lead to drug resistance come at a biological cost not borne by nonresistant strains.

Spintronics: Enhancing the magnetism Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:33 PM PDT Researchers have enhanced the spontaneous magnetization in a special form of the popular multiferroic bismuth ferrite. What's more, they can turn this magnetization "on/off" through the application of an external electric field, a critical ability for the advancement of spintronic technology.

Kidney cancer patients who have only partial organ removal are healthier, study suggests Posted: 18 Mar 2011 12:33 PM PDT Patients with kidney cancer who had their entire organ removed were more likely to have more renal complications and poorer health after surgery, compared to those who had only part of their kidney removed, a study has shown.

Sad dads spank more, read less, study finds Posted: 18 Mar 2011 09:19 AM PDT Depression in fathers can negatively affect a young child's health and development. Compared to their non-depressed counterparts, depressed fathers are nearly four times more likely to report spanking their child, according to a new study. Depressed dads are also less likely to read to their children, the study found.

Human gender roles influence research on animals, Swedish biologists argue Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:20 AM PDT Biologists have shown that animals' and plants' traits and behavior in sexual conflicts are colored by a human viewpoint. They want to raise awareness of the issue and provoke discussion among their colleagues in order to promote objectivity and broaden the research field.

Prognosis for brain damage Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:20 AM PDT Scientists are developing new magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques to study the brain. This could have impact for victims of brain damage as well as Alzheimer patients.

Masked fears: Are fears that are seemingly overcome only hidden? Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:20 AM PDT Fear is a natural part of our emotional life and acts as a necessary protection mechanism. However, fears sometimes grow beyond proportions and become difficult to shed. Scientists have now used computer simulations to understand the processes within the brain during the formation and extinction of fears.

Electronic medical records improve quality of care in resource-limited countries, study suggests Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:19 AM PDT Scientists are demonstrating the impact of an electronic record systems on the quality of medical care in a developing country.

Hospital infections: Unique antibody from llamas provide weapon against Clostridium difficile Posted: 18 Mar 2011 08:19 AM PDT Researchers say they are gaining a deeper understanding of virulent hospital infection and are closer to developing a novel treatment using antibodies from llamas.

Fairy wrens are accountants of the animal kingdom, not altruistic as previously thought Posted: 18 Mar 2011 07:22 AM PDT A puzzling example of altruism in nature has been debunked with researchers showing that purple-crowned fairy wrens are in reality cunningly planning for their own future when they assist in raising other birds' young by balancing the amount of assistance they give with the benefits they expect to receive in the future.

Epilepsy and coordination disorders: Important role for the cerebellum Posted: 18 Mar 2011 07:22 AM PDT Hereditary diseases such as epilepsy or various coordination disorders may be caused by changes in nerve cells of the cerebellum, which do not set in until after birth.

Doctors should evaluate liver disease patients for cognitive impairment, address driving safety, experts urge Posted: 18 Mar 2011 07:22 AM PDT There are potential legal ramifications for physicians of patients who drive with cognitive impairment, experts say.

Can biochar help suppress greenhouse gases? Posted: 18 Mar 2011 07:22 AM PDT Scientists have conducted an experiment over an 86-day spring/summer period to determined the effect of incorporating biochar into the soil on nitrous oxide emissions produced by cattle urine.

New blood analysis chip could lead to disease diagnosis in minutes Posted: 18 Mar 2011 07:22 AM PDT A major milestone in microfluidics could soon lead to stand-alone, self-powered chips that can diagnose diseases within minutes. The device is able to process whole blood samples without the use of external tubing or external components.

Allergies? Pollen also appears outside flowering season Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:11 AM PDT Researchers have shown that the pollen levels of certain plants, such as grasses and cupressaceae, can appear before or after the peak moment of flowering. This phenomenon is caused by the "resuspension" of pollen, and its dispersal over large distances, and this is of great use in predicting allergies.

An icy gaze into the big bang: Quantum physicists investigate new states of matter in ultracold atom mixtures Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:11 AM PDT Scientists have reached a milestone in the exploration of quantum gas mixtures. In an international first, researchers have succeeded in producing controlled strong interactions between two fermionic elements -- lithium-6 and potassium-40. This model system not only promises to provide new insights into solid-state physics but also shows intriguing analogies to the primordial substance right after the Big Bang.

Record-breaking 2010 Eastern European/Russian heatwave Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:11 AM PDT Scientists have compared the hot summers of 2003 and 2010 in detail for the first time. Last year's heatwave across Eastern Europe and Russia was unprecedented in every respect: Europe has never experienced so large summer temperature anomalies in the last 500 years.

Personal music selections change when they can be viewed by the public Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:11 AM PDT Providing information on your music consumption publicly can change it. A small study finds that people are willing to put a lot of effort into maintaining a desirable public image, yet they also want to be truthful. When information about music preferences is published automatically, youth and young adults are reluctant to digitally "cheat" about their musical choices. Instead, they change the music they listen to.

Enzyme can steer cells or possibly stop them in their tracks Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:10 AM PDT Researchers have discovered that members of an enzyme family found in humans and throughout the plant and animal kingdoms play a crucial role in regulating cell motility. Their findings suggest an entirely new strategy for treating conditions ranging from diabetic ulcers to metastatic cancer.

'Bilingual' neurons may reveal the secrets of brain disease Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:10 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a type of "cellular bilingualism" -- a phenomenon that allows a single neuron to use two different methods of communication to exchange information.

New insight into the brain's ability to reorganize itself Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:10 AM PDT New research brings scientists one step closer to to isolating the mechanisms by which the brain compensates for disruptions and reroutes neural functioning -- which could ultimately lead to treatments for cognitive impairments in humans caused by disease and aging.

Ecologists use 70-year-old pressed plants to chart city's vanishing native flora Posted: 18 Mar 2011 06:10 AM PDT More than half of the world's population now lives in cities, yet we know little about how urbanization affects biodiversity. In one the first studies of its kind, ecologists in Indianapolis, USA have used 70-year-old dried plant specimens to track the impact of increasing urbanization on plants.

Transmissible treatment proposed for HIV could target superspreaders to curb epidemic Posted: 17 Mar 2011 02:20 PM PDT Researchers propose a fundamentally new intervention for the HIV/AIDS epidemic based on engineered, virus-like particles that could subdue HIV infection within individual patients and spread to high-risk populations that are difficult for public health workers to reach. A model shows that their approach could work in concert with current treatments for HIV infection and lower the prevalence of infection more effectively than current drugs or proposed vaccines alone.

You are subscribed to email updates from ScienceDaily: Latest Science News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610