ScienceDaily: Top News

---

• Teachers may be cause of 'obesity penalty' on girls' grades
• Human intuition added to planning algorithms
• Why male immune cells are from Mars and female cells are from Venus
• Studies point way to precision therapies for common class of genetic disorders
• New method improves accuracy of imaging systems
• Why we underestimate time when we're having fun on Facebook
• Electricity costs: A new way they'll surge in a warming world
• Research pinpoints promise of polycrystalline perovskites
• New study is an advance toward preventing a 'post-antibiotic era'
• Overcoming hurdles in CRISPR gene editing to improve treatment
• New way to discover structures of membrane proteins
• Air pollution linked to heightened risk of type 2 diabetes in obese Latino children
• Broader updrafts in severe storms may increase chance of damaging hail
• Genetic defects in tooth enamel conducive to development of cavities
• Prenatal bisphenol A exposure weakens body's fullness cues
• Why are men overlooking the benefits of marriage?
• Sitting not linked to incident diabetes, new research suggests
• New clues to causes of heart failure
• Alzheimer's disease researchers solve mystery of beguiling protein
• The heavier the person, the lower the chance of getting hospice care or dying at home, study finds
• Immune system plays dual role in breast cancer
• More screen time for kids isn't all that bad
• Concerns over wasting doctor's time may affect decision to see GP
• Mysterious white dwarf pulsar discovered
• DNA 'barcoding' allows rapid testing of nanoparticles for therapeutic delivery
• Sixteen aplastic anemia patients free of disease after bone marrow transplant and chemo
• Toxic metals found in e-cigarette liquids
• Study outlines steps that growing startups must follow to succeed
• Stars align in test supporting 'spooky action at a distance'
• Approach removes thyroid gland with no neck scar or need for special equipment
• Successful application of VasalgelTM male contraceptive in monkeys
• E-cigarettes safer than smoking says long-term study
• Malaria control efforts can benefit from forecasting using satellites
• Automatically darkening windows in a wide range of colors
• Algae survive heat, cold and cosmic radiation
• Bohr's quantum theory revised
• Researchers use tiny 3D spheres to combat tuberculosis
• Powerful change: A profile of today's solar consumer
• Researchers find chemical switch that may decrease symptoms of schizophrenia
• Ground-breaking research on the side effects of therapy
• Hundreds of ancient earthworks built in the Amazon
• Pride: Sin or incentive?
• Rewards treat alcohol abuse in those with mental illness
• New algorithms may revolutionize drug discoveries, and our understanding of life
• Bacterial survival strategy: Splitting into virulent and non-virulent subtypes
• New species of gecko has massive scales and tear-away skin
• Medicare could overpay medicare advantage plans by $200 billion over ten years
• Scientists develop 'lab on a chip' that costs 1 cent to make
• What happened to the sun over 7,000 years ago?
• Genomes in flux: New study reveals hidden dynamics of bird and mammal DNA evolution
• Size matters for marine protected areas designed to aid coral
• Scientists find clue to why Zika, but not its close relatives, causes birth defects
• Mimicking nature's cellular architectures via 3D printing
• Myopia cell discovered in retina: Dysfunction of cell may be linked to amount of time a child spends indoors

Teachers may be cause of 'obesity penalty' on girls' grades Posted: 07 Feb 2017 04:18 PM PST While obesity is often thought of as a health problem, a new study suggests that discrimination by body weight may be the more important factor for obese white female students' lower success in school.

Human intuition added to planning algorithms Posted: 07 Feb 2017 01:21 PM PST Researchers are trying to improve automated planners by giving them the benefit of human intuition. By encoding the strategies of high-performing human planners in a machine-readable form, they were able to improve the performance of planning algorithms by 10 to 15 percent on a challenging set of problems.

Why male immune cells are from Mars and female cells are from Venus Posted: 07 Feb 2017 01:21 PM PST A research team is the first to uncover reasons why a specific type of immune cell acts very differently in females compared to males while under stress, resulting in women being more susceptible to certain diseases.

Studies point way to precision therapies for common class of genetic disorders Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:27 AM PST Two studies are opening important new windows into understanding an untreatable group of common genetic disorders known as RASopathies that are characterized by distinct facial features, developmental delays, cognitive impairment and heart problems. The findings could help point the way toward personalized precision therapies for these conditions.

New method improves accuracy of imaging systems Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:27 AM PST New research provides scientists looking at single molecules or into deep space a more accurate way to analyze imaging data captured by microscopes, telescopes and other devices.

Why we underestimate time when we're having fun on Facebook Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:27 AM PST Updating your Facebook status can be a fun way to while away the hours -- but now it seems it really is making us lose track of time as we do it.

Electricity costs: A new way they'll surge in a warming world Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST Climate change is likely to increase US electricity costs over the next century by billions of dollars more than economists previously forecast, according to a new study.

Research pinpoints promise of polycrystalline perovskites Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST A team of scientists has determined that surface recombination limits the performance of polycrystalline perovskite solar cells.

New study is an advance toward preventing a 'post-antibiotic era' Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST New research may help to overcome life-threatening antibiotic-resistant bacteria in what the World Health Organization warns could become a 'post-antibiotic era.' Biologists combined different classes of antibiotics to kill E. coli bacteria in their laboratory and found that certain combinations of three antibiotics are surprisingly effective in killing the bacteria and may be helpful in slowing the evolution of resistance to bacteria.

Overcoming hurdles in CRISPR gene editing to improve treatment Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST The new gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 holds promise for new treatment of such genetic diseases as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and hemophilia. But to work well, it must be delivered across the cell membrane and into its nucleus, a process that can trigger cell defenses and 'trap' CRISPR/Cas9, reducing its treatment potential. Now, a research team has designed a delivery system using nanoparticles to assist CRISPR/Cas9 across the membrane and avoid entrapment by cellular machinery.

New way to discover structures of membrane proteins Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST Scientists have discovered a better way to extract proteins from the membranes that encase them, making it easier to study how cells communicate with each other to create human health and disease.

Air pollution linked to heightened risk of type 2 diabetes in obese Latino children Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST Latino children who live in areas with higher levels of air pollution have a heightened risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new study. Scientists tracked children's health and respective levels of residential air pollution for about 3.5 years before associating chronic unhealthy air exposure to a breakdown in beta cells, special pancreatic cells that secrete insulin and maintain the appropriate sugar level in the bloodstream.

Broader updrafts in severe storms may increase chance of damaging hail Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST Strong updrafts -- currents of rising air -- in severe thunderstorms are a prerequisite for hail formation. The width of these updrafts may be an indicator of an increased hail threat, according to meteorologists.

Genetic defects in tooth enamel conducive to development of cavities Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST Bacteria are not the sole cause of cavities; tooth resistance also plays an instrumental role. Researchers demonstrate that mutated genes lead to defects in the tooth enamel and can therefore encourage the development of cavities.

Prenatal bisphenol A exposure weakens body's fullness cues Posted: 07 Feb 2017 11:26 AM PST An expectant mother's exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) can raise her offspring's risk of obesity by reducing sensitivity to a hormone responsible for controlling appetite, according to a mouse study.

Why are men overlooking the benefits of marriage? Posted: 07 Feb 2017 10:59 AM PST The marriage rate in the U.S. continues to decline and the view that marriage entails a “lack of freedom” is becoming more entrenched, particularly among younger men, according to researchers.

Sitting not linked to incident diabetes, new research suggests Posted: 07 Feb 2017 08:16 AM PST Sitting may not be as deadly as previously thought, with new research ruling out sitting as a direct cause of diabetes.

New clues to causes of heart failure Posted: 07 Feb 2017 08:09 AM PST Of the more than 700,000 Americans who suffer a heart attack each year, about a quarter go on to develop heart failure. Scientists don’t fully understand how one condition leads to the other, but researchers have now discovered a significant clue—which ultimately could lead new therapies for preventing the condition.

Alzheimer's disease researchers solve mystery of beguiling protein Posted: 07 Feb 2017 08:09 AM PST Leading neuroscientists have clarified the role of a controversial immune system protein in Alzheimer’s disease, showing it has opposing effects in early and late stages of the disease. Their discovery unites previous studies that left researchers conflicted and showed the protein both exacerbates and ameliorates disease symptoms. The updated model of disease progression also highlights the need to align certain therapies with disease stages when treating the 1 in 9 Americans over 65 living with Alzheimer’s.

The heavier the person, the lower the chance of getting hospice care or dying at home, study finds Posted: 07 Feb 2017 08:09 AM PST The heavier someone is, the less likely they are to have what many people might call a "good death," with hospice care and a chance to die at home, a new study finds. And that difference comes with a financial, as well as a personal, cost, the research shows.

Immune system plays dual role in breast cancer Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:55 AM PST The immune system plays a paradoxical role in the spread of breast cancer. Some immune cells contribute to metastasis, while other cells can be activated to strengthen the effect of chemotherapy, outlines new research.

More screen time for kids isn't all that bad Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST Chances are that your children will turn out OK even though they spend hours playing video games or watching TV, according to a new study that found that there is only a negligibly small association between excessive screen time and higher levels of depression and delinquency among teenagers.

Concerns over wasting doctor's time may affect decision to see GP Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST Worries over wasting their doctor's time, particularly at a time when NHS resources are stretched, may influence when and whether patients choose to see their GP, according to a study.

Mysterious white dwarf pulsar discovered Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST An exotic binary star system 380 light-years away has been identified as an elusive white dwarf pulsar, the first of its kind ever to be discovered in the universe,

DNA 'barcoding' allows rapid testing of nanoparticles for therapeutic delivery Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST Using tiny snippets of DNA as 'barcodes,' researchers have developed a new technique for rapidly screening the ability of nanoparticles to selectively deliver therapeutic genes to specific organs of the body. The technique could accelerate the development and use of gene therapies for such killers as heart disease, cancer and Parkinson's disease.

Sixteen aplastic anemia patients free of disease after bone marrow transplant and chemo Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST Physicians report they have successfully treated 16 patients with a rare and lethal form of bone marrow failure called severe aplastic anemia using partially matched bone marrow transplants followed by two high doses of a common chemotherapy drug.

Toxic metals found in e-cigarette liquids Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST High levels of toxic metals have been found in the liquid that creates the aerosol that e-cigarette users inhale when they vape.

Study outlines steps that growing startups must follow to succeed Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST By using more than three decades of experience as an entrepreneur and turnaround executive, a researcher lays out a road map for the founding entrepreneur who seeks to retain the CEO position as a company gains market traction and begins a period of rapid growth.

Stars align in test supporting 'spooky action at a distance' Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:53 AM PST Physicists address a loophole in tests of Bell's inequality with 600-year-old starlight. Results show strong evidence for Einstein's quantum spooky action at a distance.

Approach removes thyroid gland with no neck scar or need for special equipment Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:52 AM PST A surgical approach to perform thryroidectomies without scarring the neck appears to be just as successful using standard surgery. Originally, using robotics and endoscopic technology, surgeons made an incision behind the ear instead of in the neck. A new study shows that the same approach can be employed using standard surgical equipment and techniques.

Successful application of VasalgelTM male contraceptive in monkeys Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:52 AM PST Results of a study of Vasalgel in rhesus macaques have been published. Vasalgel is being developed by a social venture as a non-hormonal, long-acting, potentially reversible male contraceptive. It is a polymer hydrogel that works by blocking sperm in the vas deferens. Injection of Vasalgel in sexually mature adult male rhesus monkeys was effective in preventing conception throughout the one-plus year study period.

E-cigarettes safer than smoking says long-term study Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:43 AM PST E-cigarettes are less toxic and safer to use compared to conventional cigarettes, according to new research.

Malaria control efforts can benefit from forecasting using satellites Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:42 AM PST Links between patterns of malaria in Kenya and environmental factors (temperature, rainfall and land cover) are measurable by satellite imagery, says a researcher. In his doctoral dissertation, the researcher shows that conducive environmental conditions occur before increases in hospital admissions and mortality due to malaria, indicating that the satellite information is useful for the development of disease forecasting models and early warning systems.

Automatically darkening windows in a wide range of colors Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:42 AM PST Electrochromic glass darkens automatically when the sun shines and keeps the heat out. Previously it was available only in blue, and switching times were also long. Now, a new process makes it possible to manufacture other glass colors for the first time. And compared to previous models, switching is nearly ten times faster.

Algae survive heat, cold and cosmic radiation Posted: 07 Feb 2017 07:42 AM PST In a long-term experiment on the International Space Station, researchers studied how the extreme conditions in space affect algae. These research findings could benefit industrial applications and perhaps a mission to Mars.

Bohr's quantum theory revised Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:33 AM PST Bohr’s atomic model was utterly revolutionary when it was presented in 1913 but, although it is still taught in schools, it became obsolete decades ago. However, its creator also developed a much wider-ranging and less known quantum theory, the principles of which changed over time. Researchers have now analyzed the development in the Danish physicist’s thought – a real example of how scientific theories are shaped.

Researchers use tiny 3D spheres to combat tuberculosis Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:33 AM PST A new 3D system has been used to study human infection in the laboratory. The team, which includes infection researchers, engineers and bioinformaticians have used an electrostatic encapsulation technique to make tiny 3D spheres within which human cells are infected with tuberculosis (TB) bacteria to generate conditions that more closely reflect events in patients.

Powerful change: A profile of today's solar consumer Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:28 AM PST People with higher incomes and better education no longer dominate demand for the domestic solar market in Queensland with a new study revealing the highest uptake in solar PV systems comes from families on medium to lower incomes.

Researchers find chemical switch that may decrease symptoms of schizophrenia Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:28 AM PST In mice, adjusting levels of a compound called kynurenic acid can have significant effects on schizophrenia-like behavior, research has found. In recent years, scientists have identified kynurenic acid as a potential key player in schizophrenia.

Ground-breaking research on the side effects of therapy Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:28 AM PST While many people who suffer from depression and anxiety are helped by seeing a psychologist, others don't get better or actually get worse. Psychological treatment can have negative side effects, like any medicine.

Hundreds of ancient earthworks built in the Amazon Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST The Amazonian rainforest was transformed over 2,000 years ago by ancient people who built hundreds of large, mysterious earthworks.

Pride: Sin or incentive? Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST Humans correctly forecast the personal qualities valued in their local population, and generate pride accordingly, suggests new research.

Rewards treat alcohol abuse in those with mental illness Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST Offering prizes- - from simple shampoo to DVD players -- can be an effective, low-cost treatment for alcohol abuse, the nation's third leading preventable cause of death, suggests a new report.

New algorithms may revolutionize drug discoveries, and our understanding of life Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST A new set of machine learning algorithms that can generate 3-D structures of tiny protein molecules may revolutionize the development of drug therapies for a range of diseases, from Alzheimer's to cancer.

Bacterial survival strategy: Splitting into virulent and non-virulent subtypes Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST Scientists have discovered a long-term epigenetic memory switch that controls different modes of bacterial virulence, a bacterial survival strategy for outsmarting the human immune response. The study sheds new light on bacterial virulence strategies, resulting in increased disease severity, higher infection persistence, and improved host-to-host spreading.

New species of gecko has massive scales and tear-away skin Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST Many lizards can drop their tails when grabbed, but one group of geckos has gone to particularly extreme lengths to escape predation. Fish-scale geckos in the genus Geckolepis have large scales that tear away with ease, leaving them free to escape whilst the predator is left with a mouth full of scales. Scientists have now described a new species (Geckolepis megalepis) that is the master of this art, possessing the largest scales of any gecko.

Medicare could overpay medicare advantage plans by $200 billion over ten years Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST Current trends in diagnostic coding for patient risk scores will lead to Medicare overpaying Medicare Advantage (MA) plans substantially through 2026-likely to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, suggests a new report.

Scientists develop 'lab on a chip' that costs 1 cent to make Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST Microfluidics, electronics and inkjet technology underlie a newly developed all-in-one biochip that can analyze cells for research and clinical applications.

What happened to the sun over 7,000 years ago? Posted: 07 Feb 2017 06:27 AM PST By analyzing the level of a carbon isotope in tree rings from a specimen of an ancient bristlecone pine, researchers have revealed that the sun exhibited a unique pattern of activity in 5480 BC. By comparing this event with other similar but more recent phenomena, they reported that this event may have involved a change in the sun's magnetic activity, or a number of successive solar burst emissions.