EurekAlert! Public News List

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

European Physical Journal E
Protein surfaces defects act as drug targets
New research shows a physical characterisation of the interface of the body's proteins with water. Identifying the locations where it is easiest to remove water from the interface of target proteins could constitute a novel drug design strategy. The candidate drugs would need to be engineered to bind at the site of the protein where interfacial water is most easily dislodged. These findings were recently published in EPJ E.

Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Canadian Family Physician
Doctors urged to talk to patients about parking cellphones
Physicians are encouraged to counsel patients about the dangers of driving while using a cellphone, urge UAlberta team.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association
Study shows combination stroke therapy safe and effective
The combination of the clot-busting drug tPA with an infusion of the antiplatelet drug eptifibatide dissolves blood clots safely and more quickly than tPA alone, a study led by University of Cincinnati researchers has found. Results from the phase-2 clinical trial, known as the CLEAR-ER Stroke Trial, are published online in the journal Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Nature Communications
Researchers overcome technical hurdles in quest for inexpensive, durable electronics and solar cells
Electronic touch pads that cost just a few dollars and solar cells that cost the same as roof shingles are one step closer to reality today.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

ACS Nano
Water clears path for nanoribbon development
A tiny meniscus of water makes it practical to form long graphene nanoribbons less than 10 nanometers wide.

Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Geophysical Research Letters
AGU journal highlights -- July 30, 2013
Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "Atmospheric rivers linked to severe precipitation in Western Europe," "Warming climate increases rainfall extremes," "Carbon fertilization increased arid region leaf cover over past 20 years," "Understanding the complexities of volcanoes that erupt just once," "Revealing the early seafloor spreading history between India and Australia," and "Independent observations corroborate surface air temperature record."

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Journal of Alzheimer's Disease
Exercise may be the best medicine for Alzheimer's disease
A University of Maryland School of Public Health study suggests that regular, moderate exercise could improve memory and cognitive function in those at risk for Alzheimer's disease in a way no drug can. Dr. Carson Smith studied the effects of exercise on a group of older adults with mild cognitive impairment and found that brain activity associated with memory, measured by neuroimaging, improved after 12 weeks of a moderate exercise program.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

American Journal of Agricultural Economics
Study: Taxing sugary beverages not a clear cut strategy to reduce obesity
Taxing sugary beverages may help reduce calories, but the health benefits may be offset as consumers substitute other unhealthy foods, according to a joint study by researchers at RTI International, Duke University, and the US Department of Agriculture.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

American Journal of Infection Control
How superbug spreads among regional hospitals: A domino effect
A moderate increase in vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) at one hospital can lead to a nearly 3 percent increase in VRE in every other hospital in that county, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. VRE is one of the most common bacteria that cause infections in healthcare facilities.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells
Lifelike cooling for sunbaked windows
Sun-drenched rooms make for happy residents, but large glass windows also bring higher air-conditioning bills. Now a bioinspired microfluidic circulatory system for windows developed by researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University could save energy and cut cooling costs dramatically -- while letting in just as much sunlight.

Wyss Institute

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience
Full body illusion is associated with a drop in skin temperature
Researchers used virtual reality technology with a specialized robotic system to test what happens when the mind is tricked into identifying with another body.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Journal of Craniofacial Surgery
Lessons from combat care helped save lives and limbs after Boston bombing, reports
Collaboration across surgical specialties and lessons from combat casualty care -- especially the use of tourniquets and other effective strategies to control bleeding -- helped mount an effective surgical response to aid victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, according to a special editorial in the July issue of The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery, which is led by Editor-in-Chief Mutaz B. Habal, MD, and published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Circulation
Inhalable gene therapy may help pulmonary arterial hypertension patients
The deadly condition known as pulmonary arterial hypertension, which afflicts up to 150,000 Americans each year, may be reversible by using an inhalable gene therapy, report an international team of researchers led by investigators at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Veeries very quiet when owls are about
If you hear an owl hooting at dusk, don't expect to catch the flute-like song of a Veery nearby. This North American thrush has probably also heard the hoots, and is singing much less to ensure that it does not become an owl's next meal. A new study, published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, provides insights into just how eavesdropping between predators and prey around dusk may be shaping communication in birds.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

NEES Quake Summit 2013

Journal of Structural Engineering
Study: Online tools accelerating earthquake-engineering progress
A new study has found that online tools, access to experimental data and other services provided through "cyberinfrastructure" are helping to accelerate progress in earthquake engineering and science.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Neurology
St. Michael's reports second known case of patient developing synesthesia after brain injury
A Toronto man is only the second known person to have acquired synesthesia as a result of a brain injury, in this case a stroke.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

ZooKeys
Your small living creature shoots may benefit big science
Popularity of digital photography of small living creatures (nature macro photography), together with the extended use of internet, has motivated the implementation of photosharing websites in which thousands of excellent images are uploaded daily. When appropriately labelled and hosted, these images may valuably contribute to science, as an exercise of Public Participation in Scientific Research. The article was published in the open access journal Zookeys.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Journal of Affective Disorders
Psychotherapy via the Internet as good as if not better than face-to-face consultations
Online psychotherapy is just as efficient as conventional therapy. Three months after the end of the therapy, patients given online treatment even displayed fewer symptoms. For the first time, clinical researchers from the University of Zurich provide scientific evidence of the equal value of internet-based psychotherapy.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Biological Psychiatry
How to learn successfully even under stress
Whenever we have to acquire new knowledge under stress, the brain deploys unconscious rather than conscious learning processes. Neuroscientists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have discovered that this switch from conscious to unconscious learning systems is triggered by the intact function of mineralocorticoid receptors. These receptors are activated by hormones released in response to stress by the adrenal cortex. The team reports in the journal "Biological Psychiatry".

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Nature Materials
Picosecond accurate slow-motion confirms oxide materials exhibit considerably faster switching properties than do semi-conductors
As part of an international team of researchers, scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin have observed the switching mechanism from a non-conducting to a conducting state in iron oxide (specifically, magnetite) with previously unrealized precision. This switching mechanism -- which, in oxides, proceeds in two consecutive steps and which is thousands of times faster than it is in current transistors -- is described in the current ahead-of-print issue of the scientific journal Nature Materials.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

European Journal of Endocrinology
A smart way of using testosterone to prevent muscle wasting
New Australian research suggests that a small dose of testosterone directed solely to the liver stimulates protein synthesis, likely preventing muscle loss and wasting, and potentially promoting muscle growth. The researchers believe they have developed a safe and effective treatment for men and women, that could prevent the muscle wasting associated with many chronic diseases and with aging.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Clinical Case Reports
New approach to treating venomous snakebites could reduce global fatalities
A team of researchers led by Dr. Matt Lewin of the California Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Department of Anesthesia at the University of California, San Francisco, has pioneered a novel approach to treating venomous snakebites -- administering antiparalytics topically via a nasal spray. This needle-free treatment may dramatically reduce the number of global snakebite fatalities. Following a successful experiment at UCSF, the team published their results in the medical journal Clinical Case Reports.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Controlling contagion by restricting mobility
A study shows that in the face of an epidemic, even moderate government-mandated travel restrictions would slow contagion.

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Oncotarget
Sanford-Burnham researchers uncover how a potent compound kills prostate cancer cells
A new study spearheaded by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute reveals how a promising anticancer compound called SMIP004 specifically kills prostate cancer cells by compromising their ability to withstand environmental stress.

National Institutes of Health, US Department of the Army

Public Release: 30-Jul-2013

Diabetes Care
Severe low blood sugar occurs often in patients with Type 2 diabetes
Patients with diabetes who take certain types of medications to lower their blood sugar sometimes experience severe low blood sugar levels, whether or not their diabetes is poorly or well controlled, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente and Yale University School of Medicine. The finding, published in the current online issue of Diabetes Care, challenges the conventional wisdom that hypoglycemia is primarily a problem among diabetic patients with well-controlled diabetes (who have low average blood sugar levels).


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