https://phys.org/ en-us Spotlight news from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Work published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that an enzyme inhibitor developed by Professor Bruce Hammock and colleagues at UC Davis reduced inflammation in the brains of mice born to mothers with maternal immune activation. Inflammation triggered by the enzyme, soluble epoxide hydrolase, is linked to neurodevelopmental disorders in these mice. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-inflammation-inhibitor-blocks-neurodevelopmental-disorders.html Neuroscience Tue, 19 Mar 2019 17:33:34 EDT news472235604 The vast majority of people who fish in the world do so for pleasure, not food. Yet despite the substantial impacts these fishers have on fish populations and aquatic ecosystems worldwide, fishery management approaches still focus on the production of protein rather than quality leisure. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-fishing-fun-food-stock-recreational.html Ecology Tue, 19 Mar 2019 14:08:21 EDT news472223288 A discovery by researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) has uncovered a common blueprint for proteins that have antimicrobial properties. This finding opens the door to design and development of a new generation of anti-infectives active against pathogens that have become resistant to conventional antibiotics. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-scientists-common-blueprint-protein-antibiotics.html Biochemistry Tue, 19 Mar 2019 11:11:43 EDT news472212691 Species often experience a genetic bottleneck that diminishes genetic variation after speciation or introduction into a new area. Though bottlenecks in population size always reduce fitness and evolutionary potential, introduced species often become invasive. This is known as the genetic paradox of invasion. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-expansion-transposable-elements-clue-genetic.html Plants & Animals Evolution Tue, 19 Mar 2019 08:20:01 EDT news472200156 Undergraduate computer science programs at universities and colleges in the United States appear to produce more skilled students on average than equivalent programs in China, India and Russia, according to new Stanford-led research. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-science-college-seniors-outperform-peers.html Education Tue, 19 Mar 2019 07:23:52 EDT news472199019 Scientists studying monarch butterflies have traditionally focused on two sources for their decline—winter habitat loss in Mexico and fewer milkweed plants in the Midwest. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-monarchs-fall-migration.html Ecology Mon, 18 Mar 2019 17:09:16 EDT news472147746 Bats fly, whales swim, gibbons swing from tree to tree, horses gallop, and humans swipe on their phones—the different habitats and lifestyles of mammals rely on our unique forelimbs. No other group of vertebrate animals has evolved so many different kinds of arms: in contrast, all birds have wings, and pretty much all lizards walk on all fours. Our forelimbs are a big part of what makes mammals special, and in a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists have discovered that our early relatives started evolving diverse forelimbs 270 million years ago—a good 30 million years before the earliest dinosaurs existed. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-mammals-unique-arms-evolving-dinosaurs.html Evolution Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:00:10 EDT news472123360 Stanford researchers have devised a way to generate hydrogen fuel using solar power, electrodes and saltwater from San Francisco Bay. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-hydrogen-fuel-seawater.html Materials Science Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:00:08 EDT news472123446 Increases in chronic inflammation—not the passage of time—is the main reason why injured bones do not heal as well with age. This is the finding of a study in mice and humans published March 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-inflamm-aging-loss-bone-ability-elderly.html Inflammatory disorders Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:00:06 EDT news472124880 Studies have shown women are more risk-averse than men, more likely to opt for the smaller sure thing than gamble on an all-or-nothing proposition, a trait experts say could help to explain the persistent wage gap between men and women. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-people-embrace.html Social Sciences Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:00:05 EDT news472123514 Women who shared their mother's womb with a male twin are less likely to graduate from high school or college, have earned less by their early 30s, and have lower fertility and marriage rates when compared with twins who are both female, according to new Northwestern University research. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-prenatal-testosterone-linked-long-term-effects.html Social Sciences Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:00:05 EDT news472124132 The jawbone is not typically connected to the rib bone, but it might be in an emergency. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-advance-craniofacial-surgery-d-implants.html Medical research Mon, 18 Mar 2019 15:00:02 EDT news472123651 A team of researchers with Charles University and the Czech Academy of Science has discovered a species of bee where males guard a nest while females are off gathering food for their young. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of Ceratina nigrolabiata and what they found. https://sciencex.com/news/2019-03-bee-species-males-babysitting-duties.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 Mar 2019 08:40:01 EDT news472116091 A group at Politecnico di Milano has developed an electronic circuit able to solve a system of linear equations in a single operation in the timescale of a few tens of nanoseconds. The performance of this new circuit is superior not only to classical digital computers, but also to quantum computers. It will be soon possible to develop a new generation of computing accelerators that will revolutionize the technology of artificial intelligence. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-artificial-intelligence.html Quantum Physics Fri, 15 Mar 2019 10:08:15 EDT news471863285 Brazilian scientists have discovered that the strong odor released by some amphibian species is produced by bacteria and that attracting a mate is one of its purposes. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-bacteria-frogs.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 15 Mar 2019 09:04:02 EDT news471859430 It's happened before and it could happen again. https://techxplore.com/news/2019-03-internet-solar-storm-earth.html Telecom Thu, 14 Mar 2019 08:01:17 EDT news471769262 As populations age and hospitalization and long-term care become more common, healthcare-associated infections, including many caused by drug-resistant pathogens, are increasing in importance and pose a significant threat to patient safety. Patients who are discharged to the community and later re-hospitalized can spread infection and colonization from one healthcare facility to another. Therefore, infection control measures at one hospital may impact risk of infection at other institutions or at community and regional levels. In a landmark paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at CDDEP and Princeton University have called for a regional approach to infection control. That recommendation is now being observed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-subsidies-infection-healthcare.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Medical economics Wed, 13 Mar 2019 07:34:36 EDT news471681270 Heat waves are more dangerous than tornadoes, statistically. They kill more people than sharks, and put more human lives at risk than blizzards, floods or lightning storms. But they lack a certain dramatic flair, making it surprisingly difficult for many people to grasp and evaluate the real danger lurking behind their devastating effects. Recognizing those risks could be a matter of life or death – especially as a changing climate is making dangerous extreme heat events more and more likely every year in the United States. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-focusing-extreme-weather-perception-states.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 13 Mar 2019 07:27:59 EDT news471680871 Today, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the results of a pilot study for early detection of liver cancer in a cohort of HBV carriers at risk for developing the disease. This screening technology, known as HCCscreen, relies on detecting a combination of tumor-specific mutations in cell free DNA (cfDNA) and protein markers. This work was a collaborative effort between National Cancer Center/ Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Genetron Health (Beijing) Co. Ltd (Genetron). Based on these promising results, assays such as this, after rigorous clinical validation, could be developed into an application for the detection of early-stage liver cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-results-early-stage-liver-cancer-liquid.html Cancer Wed, 13 Mar 2019 07:26:44 EDT news471680792 In the quest for the perfect alternative for gas-powered vehicles, there have been a lot of contenders over the years. When it comes to public perception, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are some of the most widely known. But among experts in the field, there is another alternative that shows even greater promise for future vehicle electrification: fuel cells. In particular, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, despite decades of development, PEMFCs still lack wide market acceptance in vehicles.  https://techxplore.com/news/2019-03-efficient-fuel-cells-experts.html Energy & Green Tech Tue, 12 Mar 2019 14:46:05 EDT news471620753 Our state of arousal—being fearful, agitated, or calm—can significantly affect our ability to make optimal decisions, judgments, and actions in real-world dynamic environments. Imagine, for instance, walking across a balance beam. Your performance—speed across the beam and the odds of making it across without falling off—are dramatically better if the beam sits a mere six inches off the ground and you are relaxed rather than terror-stricken on a beam 60 feet higher. To keep you in the zone of maximum performance, your arousal needs to be at moderate levels, not so high that it pushes you over the edge. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-brain-computer-interface.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Mar 2019 14:29:51 EDT news471619772 The cytoskeleton is a structure that not only helps cells maintain their shape and internal organisation, but also enables them to perform functions like movement and migration to sites far from the place where they originated. Migration is an essential part of the spread of cancer cells to another organ or tissue (metastasis). https://phys.org/news/2019-03-sensor-cell-migration.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 12 Mar 2019 09:20:03 EDT news471600857 The way we encode our memories involves many pieces of information, and scientists have looked at how most of them work. But one dimension still eludes them: time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-brain-long-term-memories.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Mar 2019 08:48:25 EDT news471599289 The fate of woodland caribou rest on a varied, immediate and intense response to reduce predation rates, according to a University of Alberta-led comprehensive review of population recovery measures. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-population-caribou-herds.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 12 Mar 2019 08:37:39 EDT news471598651 A team of researchers from the University of Montana, the University of Colorado and the U.S. Forest Service has found evidence that suggests low-elevation forests have difficult recoveries after forest fires due to climate change. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine trees in several parts of the western U.S. after fires and what they observed. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-elevation-forests-difficult-regrow-due.html Environment Tue, 12 Mar 2019 08:30:02 EDT news471596066 In a time of drastic change, humans look for predictability. A recent study led by a University of Wyoming researcher found that even in dramatically changing climates, mechanisms can be found that predict how those changes will play out. The last ice age was 11,000 years ago and, since then, climates have continuously changed, triggering constant shifts in the landscape. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-dots-ocean-dynamics-drought-forests.html Earth Sciences Mon, 11 Mar 2019 17:17:01 EDT news471543413 When it comes to advancing social status, it's not what you know, it's who you know—for humans and spotted hyenas alike. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-hyenas-clan.html Ecology Mon, 11 Mar 2019 17:14:09 EDT news471543239 T cells are like the special ops forces of the immune system, detecting and killing infected cells. When a new threat is detected, the cells ramp up from just a few sentry cells to a full platoon. But how does the immune system make just the right amount of T cells, when the starting populations of T cells vary? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-03-infection-fighting-cells-guideline-troops.html Immunology Mon, 11 Mar 2019 17:10:17 EDT news471543003 Shorter intervals between primate births are associated with higher mortality rates in offspring, finds a new study of macaque monkeys. The results are consistent with previous research on human birth intervals, suggesting that this is a pattern of evolutionary origin. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-short-birth-intervals-higher-offspring.html Plants & Animals Mon, 11 Mar 2019 15:00:09 EDT news471506358 Poverty programs throughout the world that give poor families cash for food, education and health needs can have unintended consequences for communities that depend on natural resources, such as fish and trees. That is because the cash infusion that makes the families wealthier can cause a ripple effect in the form of higher demand for, and impact on, the natural resources on which the local economy depends, UC Davis researchers suggest. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-cash-poor-natural-resources.html Environment Mon, 11 Mar 2019 15:00:09 EDT news471529837