ScienceDaily Health Headlines -- for Sunday, July 10, 2011

ScienceDaily Health Headlines

for Sunday, July 10, 2011

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Scientists discover how best to excite brain cells (July 9, 2011) -- Oh, the challenges of being a neuron, responsible for essential things like muscle contraction, gland secretion and sensitivity to touch, sound and light, yet constantly bombarded with signals from here, there and everywhere. How on Earth are busy nerve cells supposed to pick out and respond to relevant signals amidst all that information overload? Somehow neurons do manage to accomplish the daunting task, and they do it with more finesse than anyone ever realized. ... > full story

First whole-genome lung cancer study: Review of lung tumor from a patient who never smoked (July 9, 2011) -- A first-of-its-kind study of a patient with lung cancer who never smoked is shedding new light on the deadly disease. Researchers for the first time sequenced the entire DNA and RNA of a patient with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the lung. ... > full story

Chesapeake Bay pesticides: Some diminish, some persist (July 9, 2011) -- Scientists are identifying factors that influence pesticide levels in the Chesapeake Bay airshed, including traces of "legacy" pesticides that still linger even though they are no longer being used. ... > full story

How visual cues help us understand bodily motion (July 9, 2011) -- The human visual system is tuned towards perceiving other people -- who they are, what they are doing, and what they intend to do. This process is called biological motion perception, and humans are so good at it that even a few dots on a screen representing the major joints of a body are enough to retrieve all the information we need—as long as they move. But what role does motion play in that process? Does the visual system use it only to connect the dots to create a coherent, or "global," structure? Researchers investigated this question in a new study. ... > full story

A change of heart: Researchers reprogram brain cells to become heart cells (July 9, 2011) -- Researchers are the first to demonstrate the direct conversion of a non-heart cell type into a heart cell by RNA transfer. ... > full story

Gene study offers clues on memory puzzle (July 9, 2011) -- Scientists have shed light on why it is easier to learn about things related to what we already know than it is to learn about unfamiliar things, according to a new study. ... > full story

Targeted agent addition to herceptin has positive effect on metastatic HER-2 breast cancer, study finds (July 9, 2011) -- Adding Afinitor to Herceptin, the main treatment for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, helps some women with disease that has been resistant to previous Herceptin-based therapies, according to a new study. ... > full story

Viruses bathe in rivers and at the beach, too, European study finds (July 9, 2011) -- European researchers have found viruses in nearly 40% of more than 1,400 bathing water samples gathered from coastal and inland areas in nine countries, including Spain. The concentrations found are low, but the scientists are calling for these microorganisms to be monitored in recreational waters, above all at times when their populations skyrocket, as is the case after heavy rains. ... > full story

Sexual orientation and gender conforming traits in women are genetic, study finds (July 9, 2011) -- Sexual orientation and 'gender conformity' in women are both genetic traits, according to a new study. Researchers report that a shared set of genes and shared set of random environmental factors are partially responsible both for gender nonconformity and female sexual orientation. ... > full story

Loss of motion after knee surgery may increase osteoarthritis risk, research suggests (July 9, 2011) -- The onset of osteoarthritis may be related to a loss of knee motion after reconstructive ACL surgery. Patients who showed motion limitations after surgery were more likely to develop arthritic changes in the knee. ... > full story

Brain stimulation preserves a memory when other memories interfere (July 8, 2011) -- A new study suggests that specific brain areas actively orchestrate competition between memories, and that by disrupting targeted brain areas through transcranial magnetic stimulation, you can preserve memory -- and prevent forgetting. ... > full story

Why patients with epidermolysis bullosa suffer extreme pain (July 8, 2011) -- For patients suffering from epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a hereditary skin disease, even a gentle touch is extremely painful. Now researchers have discovered the causes underlying this disease. Due to a genetic defect, individuals with EB cannot form laminin-332, a structural molecule of the skin that in healthy individuals inhibits the transduction of tactile stimuli and neuronal branching. ... > full story