ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Intelligent onboard transportation systems to prevent car crashes?
• Patient safety risks outside hospital walls
• Fish weight-watchers
• Restoring trust vital in public acceptance of the use of residual newborn screening specimens
• Safety concern with mist inhalers for delivering common drug for chronic lung disease
• New light shed on cell division
• Blood pressure changes are age-related
• Salivating over wheat plants may net Hessian flies big meal or death
• Prolonged TV viewing linked to increased risk of type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease
• Poorer outcomes linked with certain hormone for patients with early-stage chronic kidney disease
• Extensive TV watching linked with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, CVD and all-cause death
• Rating hospital quality means asking the right questions, experts say
• Oregon program aimed at helping patients with advanced illness
• Out of reach? Rural elders have highest rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease
• Forecast: Tough times ahead for daily deal sites
• Protecting medical implants from attack
• Prostate cancer gets around hormone therapy by activating a survival cell signaling pathway
• Fluent English speakers translate into Chinese automatically
• Learning to count not as easy as 1, 2, 3: Working with larger numbers matters
• Note to dads: Good parenting makes a difference
• Two-state dynamics recorded in glassy silicon
• How serious is son preference in China?
• Parkinson's patients sing in tune with creative arts therapy
• Fear boosts activation of immature brain cells: Adult neural stem cells play role in creating emotional context of memory
• Potential therapeutic target for controlling obesity discovered
• Food coloring and ADHD: No known link, but wider safety issues remain, researcher says
• Stress may lead to better bird parenting
• Phosphate sorption characteristics of European alpine soils
• Ancestry plays vital role in nutrition and disease, study shows
• Ovarian cancer cells bully their way through tissue
• Scientists image beginning stages of ovarian cancer growth with time-lapse technique
• New insights on how solar minimums affect Earth
• 'Hidden' galaxies of the universe have lower amounts of heavier elements
• Surprising connection between two types of perception
• Why hair turns gray: Communication between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells key to mystery
• Major flooding on the Mississippi River likely to cause large Gulf of Mexico dead zone
• Noninvasive liver tests may predict hepatitis C patient survival
• Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets may reduce both tumor growth rates and cancer risk
• Wired for sound: A small fish's brain illustrates how people and other vertebrates produce sounds
• Molecular mechanism for some anti-arrhythmia drugs discovered
• Daytime sleepiness is associated with an increased craving for carbs among teens
• New cell type offers immunology hope
• Proving Darwin right: New study supports hypothesis that competition is stronger between more closely related species
• White adolescent girls may be losing sleep from the pressure to be thin
• Sleep loss in early childhood may contribute to the development of ADHD symptoms
• The good life: Good sleepers have better quality of life and less depression
• College students sleep longer but drink more and get lower grades when classes start later
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia can reduce suicidal ideation
• Sleep can boost classroom performance of college students
• Sleep problems may be a link between perceived racism and poor health
• Money can't buy happiness: Individualism a stronger predictor of well-being than wealth, says new study
• What gamers want: Researchers develop tool to predict player behavior
• Nanotubes could pose health risk to production line staff, study suggests
• Copper folds protein into precursors of Parkinson's plaques
• Poorer families have more sedentary children, Spanish study suggests
• Internet could be 10 times faster than it currently is, researchers say
• Bronchitis and emphysema inhaler linked with increased mortality

Intelligent onboard transportation systems to prevent car crashes? Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:39 PM PDT Since 2000, there have been 110 million car accidents in the United States, more than 443,000 of which have been fatal -- an average of 110 fatalities per day. These statistics make traffic accidents one of the leading causes of death in this country, as well as worldwide. More progress must be made to achieve the long-term goal of "intelligent transportation": cars that can "see" and communicate with other vehicles on the road, making them able to prevent crashes virtually 100 percent of the time.

Patient safety risks outside hospital walls Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:36 PM PDT Ever since the Institute of Medicine issued its landmark report "To Err Is Human" in 1999, significant attention has been paid to improving patient safety in hospitals nationwide. In an examination of trends of malpractice claims, there has been a greater decline in the rate of paid claims for inpatient settings than outpatient settings, and in 2009, the number of malpractice claims for events resulting in paid malpractice claims in outpatient and inpatient settings were similar, according to a new study.

Fish weight-watchers Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:36 PM PDT Telling your partner to watch her weight is not recommended -- unless you're a male cleaner fish, according to a new study.

Restoring trust vital in public acceptance of the use of residual newborn screening specimens Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:36 PM PDT Government guidelines on the use of dried blood spots collected during mandatory newborn screening underemphasize the importance of getting the public on board with the practice, according to one researcher.

Safety concern with mist inhalers for delivering common drug for chronic lung disease Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:36 PM PDT People who use a mist inhaler to deliver a drug widely prescribed in more than 55 countries to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease may be 52 percent more likely to die, new research suggests.

New light shed on cell division Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:36 PM PDT A new study has yielded insights into how chromosomes separate when a cell divides. Centromeres, located in the little pinched waist of each chromosome, control the movements that separate sister chromosomes when cells divide ensuring that each daughter cell inherits a complete copy of each chromosome -- and researchers have visualized how the parts of centromeres assemble themselves as human cells grow and divide.

Blood pressure changes are age-related Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:36 PM PDT The main causes of increases in blood pressure over a lifetime are modifiable and could be targeted to help prevent cardiovascular disease.

Salivating over wheat plants may net Hessian flies big meal or death Posted: 14 Jun 2011 01:18 PM PDT The interaction between a Hessian fly's saliva and the wheat plant it is attacking may be the key to whether the pest eats like a king or dies like a starving pauper, according to a new study.

Prolonged TV viewing linked to increased risk of type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease Posted: 14 Jun 2011 01:18 PM PDT Prolonged TV viewing was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death, according to a new study.

Poorer outcomes linked with certain hormone for patients with early-stage chronic kidney disease Posted: 14 Jun 2011 01:18 PM PDT Patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease who had elevated levels of the endocrine hormone fibroblast growth factor 23 (that regulates phosphorus metabolism) had an associated increased risk of end-stage renal disease and death, according to a new study.

Extensive TV watching linked with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, CVD and all-cause death Posted: 14 Jun 2011 01:18 PM PDT In an analysis of data from several studies, watching television for 2-3 hours per day or more was associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause death, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA.

Rating hospital quality means asking the right questions, experts say Posted: 14 Jun 2011 01:18 PM PDT With an increased emphasis on grading hospitals and a push to withhold payments from hospitals who don't meet certain standards, researchers argue that more attention needs to be paid to the quality of the measurement tools used to praise and punish.

Oregon program aimed at helping patients with advanced illness Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:45 PM PDT An Oregon-pioneered program aimed at improving health care for those with advanced illness is now receiving national attention. AARP recently released a report about the Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST, program. The program was created to honor the treatment wishes of patients with advanced progressive illness or frailty.

Out of reach? Rural elders have highest rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:45 PM PDT Despite living in the countryside where open space is plentiful and there is often significant agricultural production, California's more than half a million rural elders are far more likely to be overweight or obese, physically inactive and food insecure than their suburban counterparts, according to a new study. All three conditions are risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and repeated falls -- conditions also more prevalent among rural elders.

Forecast: Tough times ahead for daily deal sites Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:45 PM PDT Over the next few years, it is likely that daily deal sites will have to settle for lower shares of revenues from businesses compared with their current levels, and it will be harder and more expensive for them to find viable candidates to fill their pipelines of daily deals, according to new research.

Protecting medical implants from attack Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:45 PM PDT A new system would jam wireless signals sent to medical implants by unauthorized users.

Prostate cancer gets around hormone therapy by activating a survival cell signaling pathway Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:45 PM PDT Cancer is crafty. Researchers found that when a common type of prostate cancer was treated with conventional hormone ablation therapy blocking androgen production or androgen receptor (AR) function -- which drives growth of the tumor -- the cancer was able to adapt and compensate by activating a survival cell signaling pathway, effectively circumventing the roadblock put up by this treatment.

Fluent English speakers translate into Chinese automatically Posted: 14 Jun 2011 11:47 AM PDT Over half the world's population speaks more than one language. But it's not clear how these languages interact in the brain. A new study finds that Chinese people who are fluent in English translate English words into Chinese automatically and quickly, without thinking about it.

Learning to count not as easy as 1, 2, 3: Working with larger numbers matters Posted: 14 Jun 2011 11:47 AM PDT Preschool children seem to grasp the true concept of counting only if they are taught to understand the number value of groups of objects greater than three, research shows. Seeing that there are three objects doesn't have to involve counting. It's only when children go beyond three that counting is necessary to determine how many objects there are, researchers have found.

Note to dads: Good parenting makes a difference Posted: 14 Jun 2011 11:47 AM PDT A new study looked at biologically related sisters from both intact families and those where parents had divorced. Researchers found that quality time with fathers reduced the incidences of risky sexual behaviors in their daughters.

Two-state dynamics recorded in glassy silicon Posted: 14 Jun 2011 11:15 AM PDT Using high-resolution imaging technology, researchers have answered a question that had confounded semiconductor researchers: Is amorphous silicon a glass? The answer? Yes -- until hydrogen is added. For the first time, researchers directly observed two-state dynamics in a-Si, which disappears after hydrogenation.

How serious is son preference in China? Posted: 14 Jun 2011 11:14 AM PDT Why are female fetuses aborted in China? Does an increase in the number of abortions of female fetuses reflect an increase in son preference? A sociologist from Sweden has studied why families in China have a preference for sons.

Parkinson's patients sing in tune with creative arts therapy Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:20 AM PDT Music and drama offers physical and emotional benefits for patients with Parkinson's.

Fear boosts activation of immature brain cells: Adult neural stem cells play role in creating emotional context of memory Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT Scientists have long known that fear and highly emotional experiences lead to incredibly strong memories. A new study describes one way by which emotions can affect memory: The brain's emotional center, the amygdala, induces the hippocampus, a relay hub for memory, to generate new neurons. In a fearful situation, these newborn neurons are activated by the amygdala, providing a "blank slate" to strongly imprint the new fearful memory.

Potential therapeutic target for controlling obesity discovered Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT A new study has found that a cellular signaling pathway governs the differentiation of cells into fat tissue or smooth muscle, which lines the vascular system. Engaging this signaling pathway and its capacity to govern cell differentiation has important implications in preventing obesity and cardiovascular disease.

Food coloring and ADHD: No known link, but wider safety issues remain, researcher says Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT When University of Maryland psychologist Andrea Chronis-Tuscano testified at an FDA hearing, it changed her mind about the risks of artificial food coloring for children, and drove her to reconsider what she feeds her kids. Chronis-Tuscano walked into the meeting certain that NO convincing scientific evidence supports the idea that these additives cause ADHD. While testimony from other experts did NOT shake that assessment, it did raise concerns about the overall safety for children.

Stress may lead to better bird parenting Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT Birds with high levels of stress hormones have the highest mating success and offer better parental care to their brood, according to new biology research.

Phosphate sorption characteristics of European alpine soils Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT Researchers have studied the impact alpine soil characteristics, specifically phosphate sorption, have on catchments of alpine lakes.

Ancestry plays vital role in nutrition and disease, study shows Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT Scientists are just beginning to consider the impact of gene-diet interactions in different populations in regards to disease prevention and treatment. In a new study, researchers reveal how humans of different ancestry process a certain type of fat called polyunsaturated (PUFA) fat. Their findings suggest that the dramatic increase in a particular type of fatty acid, omega-6 PUFAs, in the American diet, together with a genetic propensity, causes individuals of African descent to more efficiently convert these dietary PUFAs to long chain PUFAs in the human body. Long chain PUFA can then, in turn, be converted to inflammatory messengers. Increased inflammatory messengers have been associated with a variety of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, arthritis, allergies and asthma, and diabetes.

Ovarian cancer cells bully their way through tissue Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT Ovarian cancer cells use mechanical force to move through tissue and colonize additional organs. A new study contributes to a body of work that will inform future treatments. Eventually, it might be possible to prevent or reverse the spread of ovarian cancer to distant sites in the body.

Scientists image beginning stages of ovarian cancer growth with time-lapse technique Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:19 AM PDT Scientists have created a laboratory model using time-lapse video microscopic technology that allows observation of early stages of ovarian cancer metastasis.

New insights on how solar minimums affect Earth Posted: 14 Jun 2011 10:05 AM PDT Since 1611, humans have recorded the comings and goings of black spots on the sun. The number of these sunspots waxes and wanes over approximately an 11-year cycle -- more sunspots generally mean more activity and eruptions on the sun and vice versa. Observations have shown, however, that magnetic effects on Earth due to the sun, effects that cause the aurora to appear, did not go down in synch with the cycle of low magnetism on the sun. Now, researchers report that these effects on Earth did in fact reach a minimum -- indeed they attained their lowest levels of the century -- but some eight months later. The scientists believe that factors in the speed of the solar wind, and the strength and direction of the magnetic fields embedded within it, helped produce this anomalous low.

'Hidden' galaxies of the universe have lower amounts of heavier elements Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:56 AM PDT A unique example of some of the lowest surface brightness galaxies in the universe have been found by an international team of astronomers. The galaxy has lower amounts of heavier elements than other known galaxies of this type. The discovery means that small low surface brightness galaxies may have more in common with the first galaxies formed shortly after the Big Bang than previously thought.

Surprising connection between two types of perception Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:56 AM PDT The brain is constantly changing as it perceives the outside world, processing and learning about everything it encounters.

Why hair turns gray: Communication between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells key to mystery Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:50 AM PDT A new study has shown that, for the first time, Wnt signaling, already known to control many biological processes, between hair follicles and melanocyte stem cells can dictate hair pigmentation.

Major flooding on the Mississippi River likely to cause large Gulf of Mexico dead zone Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:50 AM PDT The Gulf of Mexico's hypoxic zone is predicted to be larger than average this year, due to extreme flooding of the Mississippi River this spring, according to an annual forecast.

Noninvasive liver tests may predict hepatitis C patient survival Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:50 AM PDT Noninvasive tests for liver fibrosis, such as liver stiffness measurement or the FibroTest, can predict survival of patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets may reduce both tumor growth rates and cancer risk Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:50 AM PDT Eating a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet may reduce the risk of cancer and slow the growth of tumors already present, according to a new study.

Wired for sound: A small fish's brain illustrates how people and other vertebrates produce sounds Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:50 AM PDT Researchers have identified regions of a fish brain that reveal the basic circuitry for how humans and other vertebrates generate sound used for social communication.

Molecular mechanism for some anti-arrhythmia drugs discovered Posted: 14 Jun 2011 08:50 AM PDT Researchers -- using an innovative, atom-by-atom substitution method -- have uncovered the mechanism by which a particular class of drugs controls irregular heartbeats.

Daytime sleepiness is associated with an increased craving for carbs among teens Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:12 AM PDT In a new study, the intensity of self-reported craving for carbohydrates among 262 high school seniors increased in a linear relationship with the severity of subjective daytime sleepiness. The odds of having a strong craving for carbs were 50 percent higher among those with excessive daytime sleepiness. The rate of depression also was higher among students who had a strong craving for carbohydrates (34 percent) than among students who had little or no craving for carbs (22 percent).

New cell type offers immunology hope Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:12 AM PDT Scientists have discovered a new type of cell in the immune system. The new cell type, a kind of white blood cell, belongs to a family of T-cells that play a critical role in protection against infectious disease. Their findings could ultimately lead to the development of novel drugs that strengthen the immune response against particular types of infectious organisms.

Proving Darwin right: New study supports hypothesis that competition is stronger between more closely related species Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT A new study provides support for Darwin's hypothesis that the struggle for existence is stronger between more closely related species. While ecologists generally accept the premise, this new study contains the strongest direct experimental evidence yet to support its validity.

White adolescent girls may be losing sleep from the pressure to be thin Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT Pressures to be thin from girlfriends and the media significantly predict sleep duration, accounting for 4.5 percent of the variance in hours of sleep for adolescent girls, according to a new study. These pressures to be skinny were significantly predictive of sleep duration for white girls, but not for blacks or Hispanics. Together, the two predictors shared 6 percent of the variance in hours of sleep among white girls, with the strongest predictor being pressure to be skinny from girlfriends.

Sleep loss in early childhood may contribute to the development of ADHD symptoms Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT Less sleep in preschool-age children significantly predicted worse parent-reported hyperactivity and inattention at kindergarten. In contrast, hyperactivity and inattention at preschool did not predict sleep duration at kindergarten. The sample consisted of approximately 6,860 children, and analyses controlled for gender, ethnicity and family income. According to the authors, sleep problems, particularly difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, are frequently reported in children and adolescents with ADHD. Longitudinal studies may reveal the direction of causation.

The good life: Good sleepers have better quality of life and less depression Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT People with a "normal" sleep duration of six to nine hours per night had higher self-reported scores for quality of life and lower scores for depression severity compared to short and long sleepers. Among patients who reported having perfect health, there were a higher percentage of normal sleepers, who also had significantly lower scores for depression severity compared to short and long sleepers with perfect health. Data were analyzed from 10,654 patient records.

College students sleep longer but drink more and get lower grades when classes start later Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT Later class start times were associated with a delayed sleep schedule, which led to poorer sleep, more daytime sleepiness, and a lower grade-point average. Students with later class start times also consumed more alcohol and reported more binge drinking. Students who were "night owls" with a natural preference to stay up later were more likely than "morning types" to have a delayed sleep schedule and to consume more alcohol. The study involved 253 college students.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia can reduce suicidal ideation Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT The study involved 303 community outpatients between 18 and 88 years of age who completed group cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. About 21 percent of participants reported having suicidal thoughts or wishes during the past two weeks. Group cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia produced a statistically significant post-treatment reduction in suicidal ideation. Treatment sessions were conducted weekly until the final two sessions, which were conducted bi-weekly.

Sleep can boost classroom performance of college students Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT Performance by university undergraduates on a microeconomics test after completing an introductory, virtual lecture was preserved after a 12-hour period that included sleep, especially for cognitively-taxing integration problems. In contrast, performance declined after 12 hours of wakefulness and after a longer delay of one week. The study uniquely extends sleep research to a realistic task that students would encounter in a university classroom. The study involved 102 undergraduates who had never taken an economics course.

Sleep problems may be a link between perceived racism and poor health Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:11 AM PDT Perceived racism was associated with an elevated risk of self-reported sleep disturbance, which was increased by 61 percent after adjusting for socioeconomic factors and symptoms of depression. People who experience racial discrimination are more likely to have poor mental and physical health. The results suggest that sleep may be an important pathway linking discrimination with health problems.

Money can't buy happiness: Individualism a stronger predictor of well-being than wealth, says new study Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:05 AM PDT Freedom and personal autonomy are more important to people's well-being than money, according to a meta-analysis of data from 63 countries.

What gamers want: Researchers develop tool to predict player behavior Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:05 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new method that can accurately predict the behavior of players in online role-playing games. The tool could be used by the game industry to develop new game content, or to help steer players to the parts of a game they will enjoy most.

Nanotubes could pose health risk to production line staff, study suggests Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:05 AM PDT Tiny fibers used to strengthen everyday products such as bicycle frames and hockey sticks could pose health hazards to those involved in their manufacture. Certain types of carbon nanotubes -- cylindrical molecules about one-thousandth of the width of a human hair -- could cause cancer in the lining of the lung, researchers have found.

Copper folds protein into precursors of Parkinson's plaques Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:05 AM PDT Researchers have figured out how copper induces misfolding in the protein associated with Parkinson's disease, leading to creation of the fibrillar plaques which characterize the disease.

Poorer families have more sedentary children, Spanish study suggests Posted: 14 Jun 2011 06:56 AM PDT It is not strange to expect that families with better living conditions enjoy better health and a longer life expectancy. Now, a new study has also confirmed the relationship between a family's socioeconomic situation and certain sedentary behaviors, such as watching television and playing video games, during the first years of life.

Internet could be 10 times faster than it currently is, researchers say Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:41 AM PDT Could the Internet just stop working one day? With bandwidth requirement increasing annually as the web becomes an ever larger part of the everyday life, keeping up is a challenge for Internet service providers. A European telecommunications cluster CELTIC-Plus project is pushing capacity upwards.

Bronchitis and emphysema inhaler linked with increased mortality Posted: 13 Jun 2011 03:37 PM PDT An inhaler designed to help chronic bronchitis and emphysema sufferers breathe could be significantly increasing their risk of dying, according to new research.