ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines -- for Wednesday, November 9, 2011

ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Wednesday, November 9, 2011

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New role for 'hormone of love' oxytocin in brain: Helps direct development of brain-body interface (November 8, 2011) -- Much of the body's chemistry is controlled by the brain -- from blood pressure to appetite to food metabolism. New research reveals the exact structure of one crucial brain area in which biochemical commands are passed from the brain cells to the bloodstream and from there to the body. In the process, scientists have discovered a surprising new role for the "hormone of love," showing that it helps direct the development of this brain structure. ... > full story

Adult living donor liver transplants safe, study finds (November 8, 2011) -- Desperately needed adult living donor liver transplantation is a safe surgery for the donor, according to researchers. The study looked at donor safety from a single center over a period of 10 years and found there were no patient deaths and no life-threatening complications requiring ICU care. ... > full story

Incredible shrinking material: Engineers reveal how scandium trifluoride contracts with heat (November 8, 2011) -- They shrink when you heat 'em. Most materials expand when heated, but a few contract. Now engineers have figured out how one of these curious materials, scandium trifluoride, does the trick -- a finding, they say, that will lead to a deeper understanding of all kinds of materials. ... > full story

Multi-site study finds wide variation in best-estimate clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (November 8, 2011) -- In a study conducted at 12 university-based research sites, there was wide variation in how best-estimate clinical diagnoses within the autism spectrum were assigned to individual children. ... > full story

European biofuels are as carbon intensive as petrol, new study suggests (November 8, 2011) -- New research into greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations provides robust measures now being used to inform international policies on greenhouse gas emissions. ... > full story

Physical functioning declines more rapidly among the poor, study finds (November 8, 2011) -- A new national study shows that wealthier Americans and those with private health insurance fare better than others on one important measure of health – and this health gap only grows wider as they age. Researchers found that, when the study began, middle-aged and older Americans with more income and assets reported having less trouble with five activities of daily living: Walking across a room, bathing, eating, dressing and getting in and out of bed. ... > full story

Castles in the desert: Satellites reveal lost cities of Libya (November 8, 2011) -- Satellite imagery has uncovered new evidence of a lost civilization of the Sahara in Libya's south-western desert wastes that will help re-write the history of the country. The fall of Gaddafi has opened the way for archaeologists to explore the country's pre-Islamic heritage, so long ignored under his regime. ... > full story

Study characterizes epigenetic signatures of autism in brain tissue (November 8, 2011) -- Neurons in the prefrontal cortex of individuals with autism show changes at numerous sites across the genome, according to a new study. ... > full story

Aging could influence climate change: Individual carbon dioxide emissions decline in old age (November 8, 2011) -- New demographic analysis reveals that the carbon dioxide emissions of the average American increase until around the age of 65, and then start to decrease. For the United States this means that, although the aging of the population will lead to a slight overall rise in CO2 emissions over the next four decades, the long-term trends indicate that increasing life expectancy will result in a reduction in emissions. ... > full story

Study identifies factors linked with better medication response for treatment of juvenile arthritis (November 8, 2011) -- Among patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who initiated treatment with the drug etanercept, one-third achieved an excellent response, and this response was associated with low measures of disability at study entry, younger age at the onset of JIA, and fewer disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs used before initiating etanercept, according to a new study. ... > full story

Secrets of tunneling through energy barriers: How massless electrons tunnel through energy barriers in a carbon sheet called graphene (November 8, 2011) -- Electrons moving in graphene behave in an unusual way, as demonstrated by 2010 Nobel Prize laureates for physics Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who performed transport experiments on this one-carbon-atom-thick material. A review article explores the theoretical and experimental results to date of electrons tunneling through energy barriers in graphene. ... > full story

Which way you lean -- physically -- affects your decision-making (November 8, 2011) -- We're not always aware of how we are making a decision. Unconscious feelings or perceptions may influence us. Another important source of information -- even if we're unaware of it -- is the body itself. ... > full story

Sea life 'must swim faster to survive' to survive climate change (November 8, 2011) -- Fish and other sea creatures will have to travel large distances to survive climate change, international marine scientists have warned. Sea life, particularly in the Indian Ocean, the Western and Eastern Pacific and the subarctic oceans will face growing pressures to adapt or relocate to escape extinction, according to a new study. ... > full story

Routine iron fortification of infant formula linked to poorer development (November 8, 2011) -- Iron fortification has helped babies around the world, but a long-term study raises questions about the optimal amount of iron in infant formula. ... > full story

Researchers ink nanostructures with tiny 'soldering iron' (November 8, 2011) -- Researchers have shed light on the role of temperature in controlling a fabrication technique for drawing surface chemical patterns as small as 20 nanometers. This technique could provide an inexpensive, fast route to growing and patterning a wide variety of materials on surfaces for the fabrication of electrical circuits and chemical sensors, or for the study of how pharmaceuticals bind to proteins and viruses. ... > full story

Neuromuscular warm-up associated with reduced lower extremity injuries in adolescent female athletes (November 8, 2011) -- Integrating a coach-led neuromuscular warm-up prior to sports practice appeared to reduce the risk of lower extremity injuries in female high school soccer and basketball athletes, according to a new report. ... > full story

Nanotubes in environment 'rob' green algae of space and light (November 8, 2011) -- Nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes, which are found in an ever-increasing number of products, are ending up more and more frequently in our surroundings. If and how they affect aquatic ecosystems are questions which are still unanswered. An new study shows that while carbon nanotubes do not have toxic effects on green algae they do inhibit its growth by depriving the plant of light and space. ... > full story

Removing sugar-sweetened beverages from schools associated with reduced access to, but not consumption of these beverages among adolescents (November 8, 2011) -- State policies banning all sugar-sweetened beverages in schools are associated with reduced in-school access and purchase of these beverages, however these policies are not associated with a reduction in overall consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a new report. ... > full story

Ancient DNA provides new insights into cave paintings of horses (November 8, 2011) -- An international team of researchers has used ancient DNA to shed new light on the realism of horses depicted in prehistoric cave paintings. The team, which includes researchers from the University of York, has found that all the colour variations seen in Paleolithic cave paintings – including distinctive ‘leopard’ spotting - existed in pre-domestic horse populations, lending weight to the argument that the artists were reflecting their natural environment. ... > full story

Caucasians who avoid sun exposure more likely to be vitamin D deficient, study suggests (November 8, 2011) -- Light-skinned people who avoid the sun are twice as likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiency as those who do not, according to a study of nearly 6,000 people. Surprisingly, the use of sunscreen did not significantly affect blood levels of vitamin D, perhaps because users were applying too little or too infrequently, researchers speculate. ... > full story

Biologists use flies and mice to get to the heart of Down syndrome (November 8, 2011) -- A novel study involving fruit flies and mice has allowed biologists to identify two critical genes responsible for congenital heart defects in individuals with Down syndrome, a major cause of infant mortality and death in people born with this genetic disorder. ... > full story

Critical step to opening elusive class of compounds to drug discovery (November 8, 2011) -- Taxanes are a family of compounds that includes one of the most important cancer drugs ever discovered, Taxol, among other cancer treatments. But the difficulty producing these complex molecules in the lab has hampered or blocked exploration of the family for further drug leads. Scientists have now successfully achieved a major step toward the goal of synthetically producing Taxol and other complex taxanes on a quest to harness chemical reactions that could enable research on previously unavailable potential drugs. ... > full story

Culprit identified: Fungus causes deadly bat disease (November 8, 2011) -- Scientists have discovered that the fungus Geomyces destructans is the cause of deadly white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats, according to new research. The study provides the first direct evidence that the fungus G. destructans causes WNS, a rapidly spreading disease in North American bats. ... > full story

Lost in translation: Credit card bill notes curb cardholders' monthly payments (November 8, 2011) -- Notes printed on credit card statements about minimum payments due actually result in lower cardholder repayments, researchers report. ... > full story

Hi-tech scans catch prehistoric mite hitching ride on spider (November 8, 2011) -- Scientists have produced amazing three-dimensional images of a prehistoric mite as it hitched a ride on the back of a 50-million-year-old spider. At just 176 micrometres long and barely visible to the naked eye, the mite -- trapped inside Baltic amber (fossil tree resin) -- is believed to be the smallest arthropod fossil ever to be scanned using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning techniques. ... > full story

Gene discovered as cause of fatal condition (November 8, 2011) -- Medical scientists have for the first time identified a gene responsible for a fatal abdominal condition that afflicts tens of thousands of people across the world. ... > full story

NASA captures new images of large asteroid passing Earth (November 8, 2011) -- NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to Earth. The asteroid safely will safely fly past our planet slightly closer than the moon's orbit on Nov. 8. The last time a space rock this large came as close to Earth was in 1976, although astronomers did not know about the flyby at the time. The next known approach of an asteroid this size will be in 2028. ... > full story

Polio still a threat to public health, expert says (November 8, 2011) -- After years of tracking isolated cases of live poliovirus, a medical researcher reports that the wild poliovirus can still be found in countries that were widely believed polio-free. ... > full story

Simulating real-world surfaces for automotive design (November 8, 2011) -- Today, cars are designed on computers, and to assist with this, designers want processes which generate realistic surfaces such as seat covers. Researchers have now developed high-resolution scanners which copy objects and fabric samples in a few minutes, converting them into virtual models. The light effects are startlingly realistic. ... > full story

Fatherhood can help change a man's bad habits (November 8, 2011) -- After men become fathers for the first time, they show significant decreases in crime, tobacco and alcohol use, according to a new, 19-year study. Researchers assessed more than 200 at-risk boys annually from the age of 12 to 31, and examined how men's crime, tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use changed over time. While previous studies showed that marriage can change a man's negative behavior, they had not isolated the additional effects of fatherhood. ... > full story

NASA Proposes Orion Spacecraft Test Flight In 2014; Agency Moves to Implement Deep Space Exploration Plan (November 8, 2011) -- NASA plans to add an unmanned flight test of the Orion spacecraft in early 2014 to its contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the multi-purpose crew vehicle's design, development, test and evaluation. This test supports the new Space Launch System that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before. ... > full story

Cardiac stress imaging procedures more frequent among patients seen by physicians who provide and bill for these procedures (November 8, 2011) -- Patients treated by physicians who billed for both technical (practice/equipment) and professional (supervision/ interpretation) components of nuclear and echocardiographic stress imaging tests were more likely to undergo such tests after coronary revascularization compared with patients of physicians who did not bill for these services, according to a new study. ... > full story

Tropical forests fertilized by nitrogen air pollution, scientists find (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists braved ticks and a tiger to discover how human activities have perturbed the nitrogen cycle in tropical forests. Studies at two remote Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory sites in Panama and Thailand show the first evidence of long-term effects of nitrogen pollution in tropical trees. ... > full story

New technology to monitor brain aneurysms (November 7, 2011) -- Researchers have developed new technology for monitoring brain aneurysms – an approach that is potentially less invasive and more accurate than current methods, and one that is simple enough for patients to use at home for frequent monitoring. ... > full story

Millisecond pulsar in spin mode: Gamma radiation of rapidly rotating neutron star casts doubt on origin models (November 7, 2011) -- Astronomers have tracked down the first gamma-ray pulsar in a globular cluster of stars. It is around 27,000 light years away and thus also holds the distance record in this class of objects. Moreover, its high luminosity indicates that J1823-3021A is the youngest millisecond pulsar found to date, and that its magnetic field is much stronger than theoretically predicted. This therefore suggests the existence of a new population of such extreme objects. ... > full story

Young women with rheumatoid arthritis at more risk for broken bones, study finds (November 7, 2011) -- Women under 50 with rheumatoid arthritis are at greater risk of breaking bones than women without the condition, according to a new study. ... > full story

Flash forward 100 years: Climate change scenarios in California's Bay-Delta (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists investigated how California's interconnected San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (the Bay-Delta system) is expected to change from 2010 to 2099 in response to both fast and moderate climate warming scenarios. Results indicate that this area will feel impacts of global climate change in the next century with shifts in its biological communities, rising sea level, and modified water supplies. ... > full story

How we create false memories: Assessing memory performance in older adults (November 7, 2011) -- A new study addresses the influence of age-related stereotypes on memory performance and memory errors in older adults. ... > full story

Brain parasite directly alters brain chemistry (November 7, 2011) -- A research group from the University of Leeds has shown that infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 percent of the UK's population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain. ... > full story

Novel technique switches triple-negative breast cancer cells to hormone-receptor positive cells (November 7, 2011) -- Within many hormone-receptor positive breast cancers lives a subpopulation of receptor-negative cells – knock down the hormone-receptor positive cells with anti-estrogen drugs and you may inadvertently promote tumor takeover by more dangerous, receptor-negative cells. A new study describes how to switch these receptor-negative cells back to a state that can be targeted by existing hormone therapies. ... > full story

2-D electron liquid solidifies in a magnetic field (November 7, 2011) -- Physicists have developed a theory that describes, in a unified manner, the coexistence of liquid and pinned solid phases of electrons in two dimensions under the influence of a magnetic field. ... > full story

CT scans can help detect gout cases traditional tests miss, study finds (November 7, 2011) -- X-ray images known as CT scans can help confirm gout in patients who are suspected of having the painful condition but receive negative results from traditional tests, a Mayo Clinic study has found. ... > full story

Why oxygen becomes the undoing of proteins (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists have published a new study explaining why enzymes used for the production of hydrogen are so sensitive to oxygen. They used spectroscopic methods to investigate the time course of the processes that lead to the inactivation of the enzyme's iron center. ... > full story

Vintage leather football helmets often as protective as modern helmets in common, game-like hits (November 7, 2011) -- Old-fashioned "leatherhead" football helmets from the early 1900s are often as effective as -- and sometimes better than -- modern football helmets at protecting against injuries during routine, game-like collisions, according to researchers. ... > full story

Erasing signs of aging in human cells now a reality (November 7, 2011) -- Scientists have recently succeeded in rejuvenating cells from elderly donors (aged over 100). These old cells were reprogrammed in vitro to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and to rejuvenated and human embryonic stem cells (hESC): cells of all types can again be differentiated after this genuine "rejuvenation" therapy. ... > full story

Colorectal cancer: Jumping gene named Sleeping Beauty plays vital role in investigating cancer pathway (November 7, 2011) -- A jumping gene has helped to unlock vital clues for researchers investigating the genetics of colorectal cancer. In a new study, researchers used DNA transposon system to profile the repertoire of genes that can drive colorectal cancer in a mouse model, identifying many more than previously thought. Around one third of these genes are mutated in human cancer, which provides strong evidence that they are driver mutations in human tumours. ... > full story

Hospital tests reveal the secrets of an Egyptian mummy (November 7, 2011) -- An ancient Egyptian mummy has had quite an afterlife, traveling more than 6,000 miles, spending six decades in private hands, and finally, in 1989, finding a home at the World Heritage Museum (now the Spurlock Museum) at the University of Illinois. The mummy's travels did not end there, however. It has made two trips to a local hospital -- once in 1990 and again this year -- for some not-so-routine medical exams. ... > full story

Most women with lupus can have successful pregnancy outcomes, study finds (November 7, 2011) -- Promising research may offer hope for women with lupus who once thought that pregnancy was too risky. ... > full story