ScienceDaily Top Science Headlines

for Tuesday, November 30, 2010

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Apes unwilling to gamble when odds are uncertain (November 30, 2010) -- Humans are known to play it safe in a situation when they aren't sure of the odds, or don't have confidence in their judgments. We don't like to choose the unknown. And new evidence is showing that chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest living primate relatives, treat the problem the same way we do. ... > full story

Celecoxib may be effective in preventing non-melanoma skin cancers (November 30, 2010) -- Celecoxib may help prevent non-melanoma skin cancers in patients with extensive actinic keratosis, which is often a precursor to these cancers, according to a randomized clinical trial. ... > full story

Seasonal influences help guide cougar prey selection (November 30, 2010) -- As predators, cougars tend to select prey animals that are weaker and easier to attack during certain seasons, according to results of a new study. ... > full story

Artesunate suppositories are cost-effective intervention for severe childhood malaria (November 30, 2010) -- Giving emergency artesunate suppositories to children with suspected severe malaria before referring them for treatment is a cost-effective intervention that can substantially improve the management of childhood malaria in remote African settings, according to a new study. ... > full story

Fire forecast technology could help rescue teams save lives (November 30, 2010) -- Fires in homes and offices could be tackled more efficiently using technology that predicts how a blaze will spread. ... > full story

Prescriptions for teens and young adults on the rise (November 30, 2010) -- Adolescents and young adults are most likely to abuse prescription medications. Yet prescription rates for controlled medications have nearly doubled for those age groups in the past 14 years, according to a recent study. ... > full story

Astronomers probe 'sandbar' between islands of galaxies (November 30, 2010) -- Astronomers have caught sight of an unusual galaxy that has illuminated new details about a celestial "sandbar" connecting two massive islands of galaxies. The research was conducted in part with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. ... > full story

Male reproductive problems may add to falling fertility rates (November 30, 2010) -- Reduced male fertility may be making it even harder for couples to conceive and be contributing to low birth rates in many countries, reveals a new report. ... > full story

Brain cells called pericytes become a player in Alzheimer's, other diseases (November 30, 2010) -- Cells in the brain called pericytes that have not been high on the list of targets for treating diseases like Alzheimer's may play a more crucial role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases than has been realized. The findings, published in Neuron, cast the pericyte in a surprising new role as a key player shaping blood flow in the brain and protecting sensitive brain tissue from harmful substances. ... > full story

Black children more likely to die from neuroblastoma, study finds (November 30, 2010) -- Black, Asian, and Native-American children are more likely than white and Hispanic children to die after being treated for neuroblastoma, according to new research on the pediatric cancer. The study, of more than 3,500 patients with the disease, is the largest ever to look at racial disparities in risk and survival for the most common solid cancer found in young children. ... > full story

New oyster farming technique increases productivity, offers entrepreneurial opportunities (November 30, 2010) -- A new oyster farming initiative has launched in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The goal of this effort is industry adoption of off-bottom oyster culture to supplement the traditional harvest. Historically, oysters are grown on and harvested from reefs on the water bottom. In this new process, oysters are grown suspended in the water column. ... > full story

Diagnosis uncertainty increases anxiety in patients (November 30, 2010) -- Have you ever felt uneasy sitting in a doctor's waiting room or climbed the walls waiting for your test results? That feeling of anxious uncertainty can be more stressful than knowing you have a serious illness, according to a new study. ... > full story

Engineer provides new insight into pterodactyl flight (November 29, 2010) -- Giant pterosaurs -- ancient reptiles that flew over the heads of dinosaurs -- were at their best in gentle tropical breezes, soaring over hillsides and coastlines or floating over land and sea on thermally driven air currents, according to new research. ... > full story

Bladder regeneration using stem cells from patients own bone marrow (November 29, 2010) -- Researchers have developed a medical model for regenerating bladders using stem cells harvested from a patient's own bone marrow. The research is especially relevant for pediatric patients suffering from abnormally developed bladders, but also represents another step towards new organ replacement therapies. ... > full story

Methane-powered laptops? Materials scientists unveil tiny, low-temperature methane fuel cells (November 29, 2010) -- With advances in nanostructured devices, lower operating temperatures, and the use of an abundant fuel source and cheaper materials, researchers are increasingly optimistic about the commercial viability of methane-powered laptops. ... > full story

Pre-eclampsia: Early urine test predicts pregnancy complication (November 29, 2010) -- Pre-eclampsia affects approximately 5% of pregnancies and can pose serious health concerns for mother and child. Some patients develop severe disease associated with kidney, liver, and neurological problems. The condition is characterized by high blood pressure and the loss of protein in the urine during the second half of pregnancy. ... > full story

Functional amino acids regulate key metabolic pathways (November 29, 2010) -- Functional amino acids play a critical role in the development of both animals and humans, according to new research. Animal nutritionists call for scientists to "think out of the box" and place more emphasis on this area of study. ... > full story

Does sex matter? It may when evaluating mental status (November 29, 2010) -- Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that differs between the sexes in terms of age at onset, symptomatology, response to medication and structural brain abnormalities. Now, a new study shows that there is gender difference between men and women's mental ability -- with women performing better than men. ... > full story

Tuning an 'ear' to the music of gravitational waves (November 29, 2010) -- A team of scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has brought the world one step closer to "hearing" gravitational waves -- ripples in space and time predicted by Albert Einstein in the early 20th century. ... > full story

Superantigens could be behind several illnesses (November 29, 2010) -- Superantigens, the toxins produced by staphylococcus bacteria, are more complex than previously believed, reveals new research. The discovery shows that the body’s immune system can cause more illnesses than thought. ... > full story

Monitoring the health of endangered, wild chimpanzees (November 29, 2010) -- Scientists have studied wild chimpanzees living in the tropical rain forest in Ivory Coast at close quarters for a year, and new research describes the health monitoring of this endangered species. What is the risk of retroviral infection in these chimpanzees due to their hunting of monkeys? ... > full story

Stem cell therapy: A future treatment for lower back pain? (November 29, 2010) -- Lower back pain affects many people and may be caused by degeneration of the discs between the vertebrae. Treatment for the condition using stem cells may be an alternative to today's surgical procedures, new research from Sweden suggests. ... > full story

New knowledge on 're-discovered' switchgrass moth (November 29, 2010) -- Scientists are learning more about the life stages and biology of an insect that may compete with humans for the energy crops of the future -- the insect some scientists are calling the switchgrass moth. ... > full story

US adults most likely to forgo care due to cost, have trouble paying medical bills, survey finds (November 29, 2010) -- A new 11-country survey from the Commonwealth Fund finds that adults in the United States are far more likely than those in 10 other industrialized nations to go without health care because of costs, have trouble paying medical bills, encounter high medical bills even when insured, and have disputes with their insurers or discover insurance wouldn't pay as they expected. ... > full story

Earth's lakes are warming, NASA study finds (November 29, 2010) -- In the first comprehensive global survey of temperature trends in major lakes, NASA researchers determined Earth's largest lakes have warmed during the past 25 years in response to climate change. ... > full story

Gene therapy prevents memory problems in mice with Alzheimer's disease (November 29, 2010) -- Scientists have discovered a new strategy to prevent memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Humans with AD and mice genetically engineered to simulate the disease have abnormally low levels of an enzyme called EphB2 in memory centers of the brain. Improving EphB2 levels in such mice by gene therapy completely fixed their memory problems. ... > full story

Scientists manage to adapt juvenile blue fin tuna to captivity in land installations (November 29, 2010) -- Researchers have taken a new step towards achieving the domestication of bluefin tuna. A dozen juveniles have been adapted to captivity in land based facilities, something that had already been successfully achieved in Japan, Australia and the USA in other species of tuna. ... > full story

Male reproductive problems may add to falling fertility rates (November 29, 2010) -- Reduced male fertility may be making it even harder for couples to conceive and be contributing to low birth rates in many countries, a new report reveals. ... > full story

Charging for plastic bags cut bag consumption by half in China (November 29, 2010) -- Research from Sweden shows that people in China -- the number one consumers of plastic bags in the world -- reduced their consumption of plastic bags by half when stores were forced to charge consumers for the bags. ... > full story

National pilot program facilitates kidney paired-donation transplants (November 29, 2010) -- A computer algorithm matched living kidney donors with medically compatible transplant candidates late last month as the national Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) began a national pilot program to increase the number of kidney paired-donation (KPD) transplants. ... > full story

Shrouded burst of stars: Spitzer reveals a buried explosion sparked by a galactic train wreck (November 29, 2010) -- Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found a stunning burst of star formation that beams out as much infrared light as an entire galaxy. The collision of two spiral galaxies has triggered this explosion, which is cloaked by dust that renders its stars nearly invisible in other wavelengths of light. ... > full story

Potential new target for treating triple negative breast cancer identified (November 29, 2010) -- Scientists believe they may have found a new target for treating triple negative breast cancer -- one of the more difficult breast cancers to treat successfully and for which there is no targeted therapy at present. New research shows that TNBC cells respond to compounds that disrupt the signaling processes of another receptor, EGFR, high levels of which are expressed in TNBC. ... > full story

Crown suggests Queen Arsinoë II ruled ancient Egypt as female pharaoh (November 29, 2010) -- A unique queen's crown with ancient symbols combined with a new method of studying status in Egyptian reliefs forms the basis for a re-interpretation of historical developments in Egypt in the period following the death of Alexander the Great. A researcher from Sweden argues that Queen Arsinoë II ruled ancient Egypt as a female pharaoh, predating Cleopatra by 200 years. ... > full story

Scientists learn more about how kidneys fail and how new drugs may intervene (November 29, 2010) -- Scientists are learning more about how protein gets in the urine when the kidneys begin to fail and how a new drug blocks it. ... > full story

To be or not to be a pair: Giant molecules in a quantum superposition (November 29, 2010) -- In human relationships, the question of being a couple or not has a yes-or-no answer: either one is a couple or not. Quantum physics offers an interesting alternative. There, the couples are pairs of atoms that are held together by binding forces to form molecules. Quantum mechanics allows another loophole: a superpostion of free and bound state, where the two atoms are bound and free at the same time. Although this is impossible in our classical world, it is a well known property for quantum mechanical states. Such superpositions have now been observed for weakly bound ultralong-range molecules. ... > full story

Tobacco: Out of sight, out of mind? (November 29, 2010) -- Putting tobacco out of sight in shops can change the attitude of young people to smoking, while not hitting retailers in the pocket, researchers have discovered. ... > full story

Koala bears may be the 'pickiest' marsupials around (November 29, 2010) -- Koalas may be the pickiest marsupials around: They evolved to feed almost exclusively on the leaves of Eucalyptus trees, and they are highly selective when it comes to which species and even which individual trees they visit. When the furry leaf-eater settles on a particular tree, it relies on a number of factors, including taste, to make its selection. ... > full story

Brain tissue loss in people with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment (November 29, 2010) -- People with Alzheimer's disease exhibit striking structural changes in the caudate nucleus, a brain structure typically associated with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease, a new study has found. ... > full story

Iron compounds synthesized to combat tuberculosis (November 29, 2010) -- Researchers have synthesized two iron compounds that inhibit the in vitro growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. Due their low level of toxicity in mammal cells, the compounds could be used in the future as therapeutic agents and hospital disinfectants. ... > full story

Era of personalized oncology: New strategies for cancer drug development urgently needed, experts say (November 29, 2010) -- Millions of cancer patients worldwide may soon be able to receive more effective, personalized treatments for their disease, thanks to developments in the understanding of cancer biology, experts say. ... > full story

Reference database to identify origin of elephant ivory (November 29, 2010) -- A reference database has been established for the identification of the origin of elephant ivory. ... > full story

Earth and space science missions have fewer risks if conducted by a single government agency, report finds (November 29, 2010) -- Earth and space science missions developed and implemented by federal agencies in collaboration typically result in additional complexity and cost and increased risks from divided responsibilities and accountability, says a new report from the National Research Council. ... > full story

Dogs have bigger brains than cats because they are more sociable, research finds (November 28, 2010) -- Over millions of years dogs have developed bigger brains than cats because highly social species of mammals need more brain power than solitary animals, according to a new study. ... > full story

Cholesterol drug shows benefits for kidney patients, study suggests (November 28, 2010) -- A combination drug that lowers levels of 'bad' cholesterol in the blood can benefit people with chronic kidney disease and is safe, a new study suggests. ... > full story

Why are we getting fatter? Seeking a mysterious culprit (November 28, 2010) -- Researchers suggest there are multiple, still undiscovered causes for obesity, based observations of weight gain in controlled groups of animals that has no single explanation, such as diet or activity level. ... > full story

Danger of cancerous tissue development in chromosomal abnormalities (November 28, 2010) -- New research arouses a cautionary warning in the growing field of the development of stem cells as a means for future treatment of patients through replacement of diseased or damaged tissues by using the patient’s own stem cells. The research indicates a possible danger of cancerous tissue development in the use of such cells. ... > full story

Scientists re-sequence six corn varieties, find some genes missing (November 28, 2010) -- Researchers recently re-sequenced and compared six elite inbred corn lines, including the parents of the most productive commercial hybrids in China and found entire genes that were missing from one line to another. ... > full story

Sensory stimulation protects against brain damage caused by stroke (November 28, 2010) -- Mild sensory stimulation given soon after the first symptoms of a stroke can prevent a large area of the brain from becoming damaged, a new animal study shows. If applicable to humans, these findings could potentially help protect vulnerable brain tissue in patients with stroke. ... > full story

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