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- Red v. Blue state knowledge about abortion examined
- Red eye feels endless? Blame the internet: Price has become most important factor for airlines
- Quasi-legal drug 15 times stronger than heroin hides in plain sight
- 500 million year reset for immune system
- Project serves up big data to guide managing America's coastal waters
- New tool makes online personal data more transparent
- Pigs' hearts transplanted into baboon hosts remain viable more than a year
- Recycling old car batteries into solar cells: Environmental twofer could recycle lead batteries to make solar cells
- Invasion of Americas by mosquito-borne virus likely
- Smoking during pregnancy may affect grandchildren's growth
- Ocean warming could drive heavy rain bands toward poles
- Ebola has profound effects on wildlife population dynamics
- Butterflies' evolutionary responses to warmer temperatures may compromise their ability to adapt to future climate change
- Did an exceptional iceberg sink the Titanic?
- Prioritizing suicide research can help lead to fewer suicide attempts, deaths
- International scientific team criticizes adoption of 'novel ecosystems' by policymakers
- White, straight women leading surge in infertility treatments
- Antibiotics in early life may alter immunity long-term
- Stronger drunk driving laws lead to safer roads: Study
- Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking
- Sun's activity influences natural climate change
- New discovery: Microbes create dripstones
- Toothless 'dragon' pterosaurs dominated the Late Cretaceous skies
- Artificial cells act like the real thing
- From rectal cells to neurons: Keys to understanding transdifferentiation
- Music to your ears? Evidence of damage to hearing from music
- Genes determine traces that stress leaves behind on brains
- Poor health literacy poses risks for pacemaker, defibrillator patients
- How genes, gender and environment influence substance abuse
- Women seek anti-aging clinicians to treat menopausal symptoms, study finds
- High-intensity exercise found safe and effective in long-term heart transplant, study concludes
- Surprising number of older adults weathered the 'great recession' without financial strain
- 'Super-parent' cultural pressures can spur mental health conditions in new Moms and Dads
- 'Bonus effect' for certain multiracial daters
- Men viewed more favorably than women when seeking work-life balance
- Suspect gene corrupts neural connections: Diseases of synapses' demo'd in a dish
- How children's brains memorize math facts
- Stem cells reveal how illness-linked genetic variation affects neurons
- DNA methylation involved in Alzheimer's disease
- A shift in the code: New method reveals hidden genetic landscape
- Evolutionary misfit: Misunderstood worm-like fossil finds its place in the Tree of Life
- Stuck in neutral: Brain defect traps schizophrenics in twilight zone
- Fascinating rhythm: Light pulses illuminate a rare black hole
- 'Cavity protection effect' helps to conserve quantum information
- Most temporary workers from Mexico no better off than undocumented workers
- Microchip reveals how tumor cells transition to invasion
- New mechanism of erosion: Gorges are eradicated by downstream sweep erosion
- Risky situations increase women’s anxiety, hurt their performance compared to men
- Virginity pledges for men can lead to sexual confusion, even after the wedding day
- Federal law to combat use of 'club drugs' has done more harm than good, study suggests
- Range of skills students taught in school linked to race and class size
- FDA-approved drug restores hair in patients with alopecia areata
- 8,000-year-old mutation key to human life at high altitudes: Study identifies genetic basis for Tibetan adaptation
- Factors that contribute to food trucks' fast spread
Red v. Blue state knowledge about abortion examined Posted: 18 Aug 2014 10:52 AM PDT A new survey uncovers surprising findings regarding political polarization and knowledge about abortion and health. Although initial results showed some support for the red-versus-blue state divide when it came to abortion health knowledge (but not legal knowledge), this difference between states disappeared when researchers took into account individual-level characteristics, including respondents' political beliefs, their beliefs about whether abortion should be permitted and whether or not they knew someone who had an abortion. |
Red eye feels endless? Blame the internet: Price has become most important factor for airlines Posted: 18 Aug 2014 10:52 AM PDT The Internet has affected performance and product quality in the airline industry, especially flight times, a new study shows. Instead of competing for space at the top of travel agents' computer screens by scheduling the shortest flights, airlines have adapted to an environment in which price is playing the dominant role in selling tickets. |
Quasi-legal drug 15 times stronger than heroin hides in plain sight Posted: 18 Aug 2014 10:52 AM PDT Emergency physicians should expect 'an upswing in what on the surface appear to be heroin overdoses,' but are actually overdoses tied to acetyl fentanyl, an opiate that is mixed into street drugs marketed as heroin, a new study suggests. |
500 million year reset for immune system Posted: 18 Aug 2014 10:51 AM PDT A single factor can reset the immune system of mice to a state likely similar to what it was 500 million years ago, when the first vertebrates emerged. The model, researchers report, could provide an explanation of how the immune system had developed in the course of evolution. |
Project serves up big data to guide managing America's coastal waters Posted: 18 Aug 2014 10:51 AM PDT Researchers have given a sweeping assessment to understand how human activities are affecting estuaries, the nation's sounds, bays, gulfs and bayous. This first comprehensive look at changes in land cover, river flow, pollution and nutrient levels offers a comprehensive look at the state of America's estuaries. |
New tool makes online personal data more transparent Posted: 18 Aug 2014 10:51 AM PDT XRay is a new tool that reveals which data in a web account, such as emails, searches, or viewed products, are being used to target which outputs, such as ads, recommended products, or prices. Determined to provide checks and balances on data abuse, XRay is designed to be the first fine-grained, scalable personal data tracking system for the web. |
Pigs' hearts transplanted into baboon hosts remain viable more than a year Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:34 AM PDT Investigators have successfully transplanted hearts from genetically engineered piglets into baboons' abdomens and had the hearts survive for more than one year, twice as long as previously reported. This was achieved by using genetically engineered porcine donors and a more focused immunosuppression regimen in the baboon recipients, according to a new study. |
Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:34 AM PDT This could be a classic win-win solution: A system proposed by researchers recycles materials from discarded car batteries -- a potential source of lead pollution -- into new, long-lasting solar panels that provide emissions-free power. |
Invasion of Americas by mosquito-borne virus likely Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:32 AM PDT While media attention has been focused recently on coronavirus cases in the Arabian peninsula and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, experts note that another threat lies in the spread of Chikungunya fever, an illness that is transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause fever, joint and muscle pain, headaches, and rashes. While it does not often cause death, the symptoms can be severe and disabling, with no treatment available. |
Smoking during pregnancy may affect grandchildren's growth Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:32 AM PDT Smoking during pregnancy has discernible effects on the growth of a woman's future grandkids, a new study shows. The "likely transgenerational effects from the grandmothers' smoking in pregnancy need to be taken into account in future studies of the effects of maternal smoking on child growth and development. If replicated, such studies could be a useful model for the molecular analysis of human transgenerational responses," said the senior author. |
Ocean warming could drive heavy rain bands toward poles Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:32 AM PDT In a world warmed by rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, precipitation patterns are going to change because of two factors: one, warmer air can hold more water; and two, changing atmospheric circulation patterns will shift where rain falls. According to previous model research, mid- to high-latitude precipitation is expected to increase by as much as 50 percent. Yet the reasons why models predict this are hard to tease out. |
Ebola has profound effects on wildlife population dynamics Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:32 AM PDT New research in gorillas that were affected by an Ebola virus outbreak shows that disease can influence reproductive potential, immigration and social dynamics, and it highlights the need to develop complex models that integrate all the different impacts of a disease. |
Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:32 AM PDT Members of the brown argus butterfly species that moved north in response to recent climate change have evolved a narrower diet dependent on wild Geranium plants, researchers report. However, butterflies that did not move north have more diverse diets, including plants such as Rockrose that are abundant in southern parts of the UK. |
Did an exceptional iceberg sink the Titanic? Posted: 18 Aug 2014 08:32 AM PDT While the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is typically blamed on human, design and construction errors, a new paper points to two other unfavorable factors outside human control: there were a greater number of icebergs than normal that year, and weather conditions had driven them further south, and earlier in the year, than was usual. |
Prioritizing suicide research can help lead to fewer suicide attempts, deaths Posted: 18 Aug 2014 07:21 AM PDT Suicide experts recommend research into early behavioral detection, interventions, use of mass media, and other areas, researchers report. Proposed strategies include research into early detection of suicidal behavior, particularly among youth and adolescents, intervention, evidence-based follow-up care, and reducing stigma through the use of mass media. |
International scientific team criticizes adoption of 'novel ecosystems' by policymakers Posted: 18 Aug 2014 07:20 AM PDT Novel ecosystems arise when human activities transform biological communities through species invasions and environmental change. They are seemingly ubiquitous, and thus many policymakers and ecologists argue for them to be accepted as the "new normal" -— an idea the researchers say is a bad one. |
White, straight women leading surge in infertility treatments Posted: 18 Aug 2014 07:20 AM PDT Heterosexual white women are twice as likely as racial or sexual minority women to obtain medical help to get pregnant, according to a recent study. While income and lack of insurance only partially explained the lower number of racial minority women receiving fertility assistance, lack of insurance appeared to play a crucial role in whether lesbian and bisexual women received medical fertility help, especially in more recent years, according to an American study. |
Antibiotics in early life may alter immunity long-term Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:59 AM PDT A new study aims to help scientists understand how different antibiotics affect bacteria that play a positive role in promoting a healthy immune system. "This is the first step to understanding which bacteria are absolutely necessary to develop a healthy immune system later in life," says the lead researcher. |
Stronger drunk driving laws lead to safer roads: Study Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:52 AM PDT Changes to British Columbia's laws against driving while impaired have reduced fatal crashes as well as ambulance calls and hospital admissions resulting from motor vehicle crashes, a new study finds. |
Visual 'gist' helps us figure out where a crowd is looking Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:52 AM PDT Have you ever seen a crowd of people looking off into the distance, perhaps toward a passing biker or up to the top of a building? You probably looked there, too, instantly, even without paying attention to the individuals in the group. Researchers have discovered that we rely on a specialized visual process known as 'ensemble coding' to perceive where a crowd is looking. |
Sun's activity influences natural climate change Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:52 AM PDT A new study has, for the first time, reconstructed solar activity during the last ice age. The study shows that the regional climate is influenced by the sun and offers opportunities to better predict future climate conditions in certain regions. |
New discovery: Microbes create dripstones Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:50 AM PDT According to new research humble, microscopic organisms can create dripstones in caves. This illustrates how biological life can influence the formation of Earth's geology -- and the same may be happening right now on other planets in space. |
Toothless 'dragon' pterosaurs dominated the Late Cretaceous skies Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:50 AM PDT A new study provides an exciting insight into the diversity and distribution of pterosaurs from the Azhdarchidae family. Dominating the Late Cretaceous skies this group of toothless flying 'dragons' represent an important link in evolutionary transitions between the pre-historic times and the world as we know it today. |
Artificial cells act like the real thing Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:50 AM PDT Scientists have created an artificial, network-like cell system that is capable of reproducing the dynamic behavior of protein synthesis. This achievement is not only likely to help gain a deeper understanding of basic biological processes, but it may, in the future, pave the way toward controlling the synthesis of both naturally-occurring and synthetic proteins for a host of uses. |
From rectal cells to neurons: Keys to understanding transdifferentiation Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:48 AM PDT How can a specialized cell change its identity? A research team investigated a 100% effective natural example of this phenomenon, which is called transdifferentiation. This process, by which some cells lose their characteristics and acquire a new identity, could be more generally involved in tissue or organ regeneration in vertebrates, and is a promising research avenue for regenerative medicine. This study identifies the role of epigenetic factors involved in this conversion, underlines the dynamic nature of the process, and shows the key mechanisms for effective transdifferentiation. |
Music to your ears? Evidence of damage to hearing from music Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:48 AM PDT Many people listen to loud music without realizing that this can affect their hearing. This could lead to difficulties in understanding speech during age-related hearing loss which affects up to half of people over the age of 65. New research has examined the cellular mechanisms that underlie hearing loss and tinnitus triggered by exposure to loud sound. |
Genes determine traces that stress leaves behind on brains Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:48 AM PDT Our individual genetic make-up determines the effect that stress has on our emotional centers, researchers have found. Not every individual reacts in the same way to life events that produce the same degree of stress. Some grow as a result of the crisis, whereas others break down and fall ill, for example with depression. The outcome is determined by a complex interaction between depression gene versions and environmental factors. |
Poor health literacy poses risks for pacemaker, defibrillator patients Posted: 18 Aug 2014 06:46 AM PDT 40 percent of patients with pacemakers and defibrillators had little to no ability to understand information about their cardiac health, according to results of a new study. The study examined literacy among patients with medical conditions that are common among patients with pacemakers and defibrillators. Individuals with hypertension or high cholesterol were more than twice as likely to have limited health literacy as individuals without those conditions. Diabetics were almost twice as likely to have low health literacy. |
How genes, gender and environment influence substance abuse Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:23 PM PDT Social integration, including strong family ties, can protect one's wellbeing and even reduce the impact high-risk genes have on health. Scientists call this phenomenon a gene-environment interaction. A study focusing on substance abuse, however, found that a three-way interplay of gender, genetics and social integration produced the different outcomes for men and women. |
Women seek anti-aging clinicians to treat menopausal symptoms, study finds Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:23 PM PDT Feeling that conventional doctors did not take their suffering seriously, women instead sought out hormonal treatments for menopausal symptoms from anti-aging clinicians, according to a study that investigated the appeal of anti-aging medicine. |
High-intensity exercise found safe and effective in long-term heart transplant, study concludes Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:22 PM PDT High-intensity exercise can help stable heart transplant patients reach higher levels of exercise capacity, and gain better control of their blood pressure than moderate intensity exercise, investigators report. Their research shows that high-intensity interval exercise -— training for a few minutes at close to the maximum heart rate -— is safe and more efficient than moderate exercise for improving exercise capacity in different groups of patients with heart disease. |
Surprising number of older adults weathered the 'great recession' without financial strain Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:22 PM PDT The "Great Recession" may have put a dent in many older adults' pocketbooks, but a new study finds that more than 40 percent reported a decrease in "financial strain" between 2006 and 2010. |
'Super-parent' cultural pressures can spur mental health conditions in new Moms and Dads Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:22 PM PDT Mental health experts in the past three decades have emphasized the dangers of post-partum depression for mothers, but a researcher says expanding awareness of several other perinatal mental health conditions is important for all new parents, including fathers. |
'Bonus effect' for certain multiracial daters Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:22 PM PDT While previous research has documented the existence of a racial hierarchy within the dating world with white women and men on top, a new study finds that in certain circumstances multiracial daters are actually seen as more desirable than individuals from all other racial groups, including whites. |
Men viewed more favorably than women when seeking work-life balance Posted: 17 Aug 2014 10:22 PM PDT While some suggest that flexible work arrangements have the potential to reduce workplace inequality, a new study finds these arrangements may exacerbate discrimination based on parental status and gender. |
Suspect gene corrupts neural connections: Diseases of synapses' demo'd in a dish Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:01 PM PDT Researchers have demonstrated in patients' cells how a rare mutation in a suspect gene corrupts the turning on and off of dozens of other genes underlying synapses -- the connections between neurons. In a 'disease-in-a-dish' study, induced neurons of patients from families affected by a mutation associated with schizophrenia and other major mental illness expressed 80 percent lower-than-normal levels of a protein made by a suspect gene. |
How children's brains memorize math facts Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:01 PM PDT As children learn basic arithmetic, they gradually switch from solving problems by counting on their fingers to pulling facts from memory. The shift comes more easily for some kids than for others, but no one knows why. Now, new brain-imaging research gives the first evidence drawn from a longitudinal study to explain how the brain reorganizes itself as children learn math facts. |
Stem cells reveal how illness-linked genetic variation affects neurons Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:01 PM PDT A genetic variation linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression wreaks havoc on connections among neurons in the developing brain, a team of researchers reports. The study used stem cells generated from people with and without mental illness to observe the effects of a rare and pernicious genetic variation on young brain cells. The results add to evidence that several major mental illnesses have common roots in faulty 'wiring' during early brain development. |
DNA methylation involved in Alzheimer's disease Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:01 PM PDT A new study reveals how early changes in brain DNA methylation are involved in Alzheimer's disease. The research is the first large-scale study employing epigenome-wide association (EWAS) studies -- which look at chromosomal make-up and changes -- in relation to the brain and Alzheimer's disease. |
A shift in the code: New method reveals hidden genetic landscape Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:01 PM PDT With three billion letters in the human genome, it seems hard to believe that adding or removing a base could have much of an effect on our health. Yet, such insertions and deletions can dramatically alter biological function. It is has been difficult to detect these mutations. Scientists have devised a new way to analyze genome sequences that pinpoints insertions and deletions in people with diseases such as autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, and Tourette syndrome. |
Evolutionary misfit: Misunderstood worm-like fossil finds its place in the Tree of Life Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:00 PM PDT One of the most bizarre-looking fossils ever found -- a worm-like creature with legs, spikes and a head difficult to distinguish from its tail -- has found its place in the evolutionary tree of life, definitively linking it with a group of modern animals for the first time. |
Stuck in neutral: Brain defect traps schizophrenics in twilight zone Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:00 PM PDT People with schizophrenia struggle to turn goals into actions because brain structures governing desire and emotion are less active and fail to pass goal-directed messages to cortical regions affecting human decision-making, new research reveals. |
Fascinating rhythm: Light pulses illuminate a rare black hole Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:00 PM PDT Astronomers have accurately measured -- and thus confirmed the existence of -- a rare intermediate-mass black hole about 400 times the mass of our sun in a galaxy 12 million light years from the Milky Way. The finding uses a technique never applied in this way before, and opens the door to new studies of these mysterious objects. |
'Cavity protection effect' helps to conserve quantum information Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:00 PM PDT Two different quantum systems are being coupled by researchers to create a powerful hybrid quantum system. Using a strong coupling effect, the coherence time could now be considerably prolonged. |
Most temporary workers from Mexico no better off than undocumented workers Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:00 PM PDT Many politicians see the temporary worker program in the US as a solution to undocumented immigration from Mexico. But a new study finds that these legal workers earn no more than undocumented immigrants, who unlike their legal counterparts can improve their situation by changing jobs or negotiating for better pay. |
Microchip reveals how tumor cells transition to invasion Posted: 17 Aug 2014 07:00 PM PDT A microscopic obstacle course of carefully spaced pillars enables researchers to observe cancer cells directly as they break away from a tumor mass and move more rapidly across the microchip. The device could be useful for testing cancer drugs and further research on the mechanics of metastasis. |
New mechanism of erosion: Gorges are eradicated by downstream sweep erosion Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:59 PM PDT Local surface uplift can block rivers, particularly in mountainous regions. The impounded water, however, always finds its way downstream, often cutting a narrow gorge into the rocks. Subsequent erosion of the rocks can lead to a complete eradication of this initial incision, until not a trace is left of the original breakthrough. In extreme cases the whole gorge disappears, leaving behind a broad valley with a flat floodplain. Previously, the assumption was that this transition from a narrow gorge to a wide valley was driven by gorge widening and the erosion of the walls of the gorges. |
Risky situations increase women’s anxiety, hurt their performance compared to men Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:58 PM PDT Risky situations increase anxiety for women but not for men, leading women to perform worse under these circumstances, finds a new study. |
Virginity pledges for men can lead to sexual confusion, even after the wedding day Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:58 PM PDT Bragging of sexual conquests, suggestive jokes and innuendo, and sexual one-upmanship can all be a part of demonstrating one's manhood, especially for young men eager to exert their masculinity. But how does masculinity manifest itself among young men who have pledged sexual abstinence before marriage? |
Federal law to combat use of 'club drugs' has done more harm than good, study suggests Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:58 PM PDT A federal law enacted to combat the use of "club drugs" such as Ecstasy -- and today's variation known as Molly -- has failed to reduce the drugs' popularity and, instead, has further endangered users by hampering the use of measures to protect them. |
Range of skills students taught in school linked to race and class size Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:58 PM PDT Pressure to meet national education standards may be the reason states with significant populations of African-American students and those with larger class sizes often require children to learn fewer skills, finds a researcher. |
FDA-approved drug restores hair in patients with alopecia areata Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:58 PM PDT Researchers have identified the immune cells responsible for destroying hair follicles in people with alopecia areata, a common autoimmune disease that causes hair loss, and have tested an FDA-approved drug that eliminated these immune cells and restored hair growth in a small number of patients. |
Posted: 17 Aug 2014 06:58 PM PDT In an environment where others struggle to survive, Tibetans thrive in the thin air of the Tibetan Plateau, with an average elevation of 14,800 feet. A new study is the first to find a genetic cause for the adaptation and demonstrate how it contributes to the Tibetans' ability to live in low oxygen conditions. |
Factors that contribute to food trucks' fast spread Posted: 16 Aug 2014 05:45 PM PDT Gourmet food trucks have spread around the nation, according to researchers who harvested Twitter data to conduct a de facto census of up-scale US food trucks, invented in Los Angeles in 2008. |
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