Science news

• Testosterone may be one reason why men don’t get asthma as much as women

  28-11-2017 23:32
  
  Adult women have higher rates of asthma than men, and testosterone’s effect on the immune system may partly explain that difference.
  
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• River departed 'before Indus civilisation emergence'

  28-11-2017 21:35 via bbc.co.uk
  One of the world's earliest urban civilisations thrived in the absence of a big Himalayan river, a new study finds.
  
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• Most blue whales are ‘righties,’ except for this one move

  28-11-2017 20:00
  
  Though many blue whales tend to be “right-handed” when hunting for krill, one specific barrel roll move requires a lefty twist.
  
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• Transmembrane helix connectivity in Orai1 controls two gates for calcium-dependent transcription

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  The channel Orai1 requires Ca2+ store depletion in the endoplasmic reticulum and an interaction with the Ca2+ sensor STIM1 to mediate Ca2+ signaling. Alterations in Orai1-mediated Ca2+ influx have been linked to several pathological conditions including immunodeficiency, tubular myopathy, and cancer. We screened large-scale cancer genomics data sets for dysfunctional Orai1 mutants. Five of the identified Orai1 mutations resulted in constitutively active gating and transcriptional activation. Our
  
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• Papers of note in Science Translational Medicine 9 (417)

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles describe a better diagnostic marker for pediatric biliary atresia and insights into CAR T cell biology that may enable optimization of CAR T cell–based therapy.
  
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• Papers of note in Science Immunology 2 (17)

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This month’s articles show how a hypha-associated fungal peptide triggers an antifungal immune response and how the lipid PIP2 sustains B cell receptor signaling.
  
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• Papers of note in Science 358 (6366)

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  This week’s articles highlight structural insights into peptide loading of MHC; the mechanism by which light opens a channel protein; and how regulation of a host metabolic enzyme affects viral replication.
  
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• Opening the Orai1 gates

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  How the store-operated channel Orai1 opens and the number of gates that control channel opening and conductance remain unclear. In this issue of Science Signaling, Frischauf et al. report on the importance of the basic pore region in addition to the hydrophobic gate in channel gating and identify a site in transmembrane domain 2 (TM2) that controls pore opening.
  
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• Networks of enzymatically oxidized membrane lipids support calcium-dependent coagulation factor binding to maintain hemostasis

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Blood coagulation functions as part of the innate immune system by preventing bacterial invasion, and it is critical to stopping blood loss (hemostasis). Coagulation involves the external membrane surface of activated platelets and leukocytes. Using lipidomic, genetic, biochemical, and mathematical modeling approaches, we found that enzymatically oxidized phospholipids (eoxPLs) generated by the activity of leukocyte or platelet lipoxygenases (LOXs) were required for normal hemostasis and promote
  
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• MEK inhibitor trametinib does not prevent the growth of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-addicted neuroblastomas

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Activation of the RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway is implicated in driving the initiation and progression of multiple cancers. Several inhibitors targeting the RAS-MAPK pathway are clinically approved as single- or polyagent therapies for patients with specific types of cancer. One example is the MEK inhibitor trametinib, which is included as a rational polytherapy strategy for treating EML4-ALK–positive, EGFR-activated, or KRAS-mutant lung cancers and neuroblastomas that also contain ac
  
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• CAFs complicate immunotherapy

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Anti-CSF1R immunotherapy effectively inhibits one suppressive immune cell type but unleashes another through cancer-associated fibroblasts.
  
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• Arabidopsis ATXR2 deposits H3K36me3 at the promoters of LBD genes to facilitate cellular dedifferentiation

  28-11-2017 19:50 via stke.sciencemag.org
  Cellular dedifferentiation, the transition of differentiated somatic cells to pluripotent stem cells, ensures developmental plasticity and contributes to wound healing in plants. Wounding induces cells to form a mass of unorganized pluripotent cells called callus at the wound site. Explanted cells can also form callus tissues in vitro. Reversible cellular differentiation-dedifferentiation processes in higher eukaryotes are controlled mainly by chromatin modifications. We demonstrate that ARABIDO
  
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• RemoveDebris: Space junk mission prepares for launch

  28-11-2017 19:32 via bbc.co.uk
  A spacecraft that will test the best methods to clean up space debris is nearing completion.
  
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• Teenage brains 'not wired for high stakes'

  28-11-2017 17:47 via bbc.co.uk
  Developing brain circuits shape how adolescents approach their goals, say US psychologists.
  
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• Russia says cannot make contact with new space satellite

  28-11-2017 17:29
  VOSTOCHNY COSMODROME, Russia (Reuters) - Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Tuesday it had failed to establish contact with a newly-launched weather satellite.
  
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• In the deep ocean, these bacteria play a key role in trapping carbon

  28-11-2017 17:00
  
  Mysterious nitrite-oxidizing bacteria capture more carbon than previously thought and may be the primary engine at the base of the deep ocean’s food web.
  
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• Federal government should manage Alberta's threatened caribou: letter

  28-11-2017 15:36 via cbc.ca
  Several First Nations and Indigenous groups have asked the federal government to step in and protect some endangered caribou herds on provincial land in Alberta.
  
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• Canadian satellite lost after Russian rocket fails during launch

  28-11-2017 14:58 via cbc.ca
  A Canadian satellite is among 19 satellites lost after the Russian rocket carrying them failed after takeoff.
  
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• What the Pliocene epoch can teach us about future warming on Earth

  28-11-2017 14:00
  
  By simulating the changes that occurred during the warm Pliocene epoch, researchers are trying to predict Earth’s future hundreds of years from now.
  
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• What You Need to Know About Alex Azar, Trump's HHS Nominee

  28-11-2017 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  The former pharmaceutical executive faces Senate scrutiny this week
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Parents may one day be morally obligated to edit their baby’s genes

  28-11-2017 13:00
  
  The CRISPR debate is moving from “should we or shouldn’t we?” to “do we have to?”
  
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• Should Law Enforcement Need a Warrant to Track Your Cell Phone?

  28-11-2017 12:45 via rss.sciam.com
  In Carpenter v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court is about to tackle its biggest case related to the Fourth Amendment and privacy of data generated by cell phones
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Hot tech: U of M prof makes the case for sexbots

  28-11-2017 12:00 via cbc.ca
  A University of Manitoba professor is making the case for sex robots - how they can help humans, and how we need to be ready for them.
  
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• Consumer complaints about telecoms on the rise — wireless issues most common beef

  28-11-2017 12:00 via cbc.ca
  Canadians are becoming more vocal about poor service by their telecom providers, according to a report released today by Canada’s telecom watchdog, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services.
  
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• Of mice and men? Change in rodents linked to climate change, McGill research shows

  28-11-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  Milder winters appear to have resulted in physical changes in two species of mice in southern Quebec, in what a researcher from McGill University says is "very likely" an example of the consequences of climate change.
  
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• Birds can evolve so fast that scientists can watch it happen

  28-11-2017 11:00 via cbc.ca
  You can count on your fingers the number of years it takes for a bird species to visibly evolve — or give rise to a new species, new research shows.
  
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• Russia loses contact with new weather satellite

  28-11-2017 10:52 via bbc.co.uk
  The Meteor satellite was found not to be on its planned orbit, hours after launch from a new base.
  
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• Why is massive star formation quenched in galaxy centers?

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)) A study led by IAC researcher Fatemeh Tabatabaei, published in Nature Astronomy, proposes that one of the reasons that slows down the rate at which massive stars form in galaxies is the existence of relatively large magnetic fields. Research has revealed that this process occurs around the center of the galaxy NGC 1097.
  
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• What helps international students to adapt

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (National Research University Higher School of Economics) Conscious decision-making and internalized intentions, as opposed to extrinsic influencing factors, are the key to a student's successful adaption to life in a foreign country. This was confirmed by research carried out by a group of scientists which included Ken Sheldon, Academic Supervisor and Head of the International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation at the Higher School of Economics (HSE). The research w
  
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• UTSA researcher studies how professional sports fans use mobile phones

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (University of Texas at San Antonio) Seok Kang, an associate professor in the Department of Communication at The University of Texas at San Antonio, is researching how professional sports teams build loyalty by engaging their fans through their mobile devices.Kang published "Mobile communication and pro sports: motivation and fan loyalty," a study in the International Journal of Mobile Communications that describes the findings of a national panel survey of 405 respondents.
  
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• UNM researcher finds stress during pregnancy affects the size of the baby

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (University of New Mexico) A new study has been published that suggests babies are physically affected by the stress level of their mother during pregnancy. 'We found that stress during late gestation reduces offspring growth during dependence, resulting in a reduced body size throughout development, whereas stress during early gestation results in largely unaffected growth rates during dependence but accelerated growth and increased size after weaning,' says Andreas Berghänel, evolutionary
  
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• Tufts University engineer wins Air Force grant for ultra-high-resolution bio-imaging

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Tufts University) Xiaocheng Jiang, assistant professor of biomedicalengineering in the School of Engineering at Tufts University, has been awarded an early-career award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for his work developing graphene-based microfluidics for ultra-high-resolution, dynamic bio-imaging.
  
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• The WHT measures the size of a stellar-mass black hole jet

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC)) Researchers of the IAC participate in a study, in which they have measured the delay between the X-rays and the visible light of a jet emitted by a black hole. Observations, carried out from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, combined with NASA's NuSTAR satellite, shed light about the nature of its formation
  
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• The hero of preconception care

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Boston Medical Center) The Gabby Preconception Care system faces her next test in real-world clinical settings at six Healthy Start and six Community Health Center sites.
  
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• The electronics of everything

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Springer) This book chronicles the invention, development and eventual exploitation of the electronics on which we have come to depend for our work, our democracy and our lives. It shows how we went from absolutely nothing to the abundance of electronic items we regard as normal today.
  
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• Study: Regulators should not consider 'lost pleasure' of quitting smoking

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Georgia State University) Federal officials considering new regulations on tobacco products should give more weight to the fact that a majority of smokers are unhappy about feeling addicted to cigarettes, and should put less emphasis on the theory that smokers who quit are losing 'pleasure' in their lives, according to a recent study by the School of Public Health at Georgia State University.
  
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• Study: How to get patients to share electronic health records

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (University at Buffalo) Education is the key to getting patients to share their medical records electronically with health care providers, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo School of Management.
  
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• Sometimes, it pays for the boss to be humble

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Ohio State University) It's good to be humble when you're the boss -- as long as that's what your employees expect. Researchers studying workplaces in China found that some real-life teams showed more creativity if the employees rated their bosses as showing more humility.
  
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• Severity of post-operative delirium relates to severity of cognitive decline

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Hebrew SeniorLife Institute for Aging Research) Researchers from the Harvard affiliated Hebrew SeniorLife Institute for Aging Research (IFAR), in collaboration with scientists from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Brown University, have found increasing evidence that the level of delirium in post-surgical patients is associated with the level of later cognitive decline in those same patients. Findings from this study were published today in the Jou
  
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• Scientists reveal rules for making ribs

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (University of Southern California - Health Sciences) Scientists from the USC Stem Cell lab of Francesca Mariani recently shared a recipe for ribs, and it doesn't even require barbecue sauce. In a new publication in the journal eLife, first authors Jennifer Fogel from USC, Daniel Lakeland from Lakeland Applied Sciences and colleagues examine the development of the vertebrate ribcage, which supports the body, protects the internal organs and enables life on land.
  
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• Rotman School strategy professor receives Canada Research Chair

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management) András Tilcsik, a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management was named a Canada Research Chair, by the Government of Canada to conduct research, which will provide evidence and information to help managers, companies, and policy makers effectively build more diverse, equitable and fair workplaces and societies.
  
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• Researchers trained neural networks to be fashion designers (sort of)

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (University of California - San Diego) Researchers from the University of California San Diego and Adobe Research have demonstrated how artificial intelligence and neural networks could one day create custom apparel designs to help retailers and apparel makers sell clothing to consumers based on what they learned from a buyer's preferences. Their findings were published in early November on ArXiv in a paper titled 'Visually-Aware Fashion Recommendation and Design with Generative Image Models.'
  
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• Researchers inadvertently boost surface area of nickel nanoparticles for catalysis

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (North Carolina State University) Researchers have discovered that a technique designed to coat nickel nanoparticles with silica shells actually fragments the material -- creating a small core of oxidized nickel surrounded by smaller satellites embedded in a silica shell. The surprising result may prove useful by increasing the surface area of nickel available for catalyzing chemical reactions.
  
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• Patrick M. Woster, Ph.D., among 2017 cohort of AAAS Fellows

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Medical University of South Carolina) Patrick M. Woster, Ph.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers, recognizing distinguished contributions to their respective fields.
  
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• OPTIMISTIC lowers long-stay nursing home residents' avoidable hospitalizations by a third

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Regenstrief Institute) The initial phase of OPTIMISTIC, an innovative program developed and implemented by clinician-researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and partners to decrease avoidable hospitalizations of long-stay nursing facility residents, reduced these events a striking 33 percent, according to an independent evaluation prepared at the request of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation which funds the OPTIMISTIC study.
  
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• One in two people living with HIV in Europe is diagnosed late

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)) The WHO European Region is the only Region worldwide where the number of new HIV infections is rising. With more than 160,000 people newly diagnosed with HIV across the Region, including more than 29,000 new cases from the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), this trend continued in 2016. One reason for this worrying trend: over half (51 percent) of the reported HIV diagnoses happen in a late stage of infection.
  
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• On the influence of the research university in the 20th century

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (University of Luxembourg) In a new book entitled 'The Century Of Science: The Global Triumph of the Research University', international authors explore global scientific developments through the 20th century, as well as how university-based research has become worldwide the driving force of scientific productivity in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including health (STEM+).
  
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• NUS researchers achieve significant breakthrough in topological insulator based devices

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (National University of Singapore) The current induced magnetisation switching by spin-orbit torque (SOT) is an important ingredient for modern non-volatile magnetic devices like magnetic random access memories and logic devices required for high performance data storage and computing. NUS researchers have made a significant breakthrough in topological insulator based devices for modern spintronic applications. The team has successfully demonstrated room temperature magnetisation switching drive
  
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• NREL develops switchable solar window

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Thermochromic windows capable of converting sunlight into electricity at a high efficiency have been developed by scientists at the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
  
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• New technique reduces side-effects, improves delivery of chemotherapy nanodrugs

  28-11-2017 06:00
  (Carnegie Mellon University) Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new method for delivering chemotherapy nanodrugs that increases the drugs' bioavailability and reduces side-effects. Their study, published online in Scientific Reports, shows that administering an FDA-approved nutrition source prior to chemotherapy can reduce the amount of the toxic drugs that settle in the spleen, liver and kidneys.
  
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