Fabio Ciulla from Northeastern University, Boston, USA, and his colleagues demonstrated that the elimination of contestants in TV talent shows based on public voting, such as American Idol, can be anticipated. They unveiled the predictive power of microblogging Twitter signals--used as a proxy for the general preference of an audience--in a study recently published in EPJ Data Science¹. The authors considered the voting system of these shows as a basic test to assess the predictive power of Twitter signals. They relied on the overlap between Twitter users and show audience ...

Turning the volume up too high on your headphones can damage the coating of nerve cells, leading to temporary deafness; scientists from the University of Leicester have shown for the first time. Earphones or headphones on personal music players can reach noise levels similar to those of jet engines, the researchers said. Noises louder than 110 decibels are known to cause hearing problems such as temporary deafness and tinnitus (ringing in the ears), but the University of Leicester study is the first time the underlying cell damage has been observed. The study has ...

Oxford, August 29, 2012 - The Moon is believed to have formed from a collision, 4.5 billion years ago, between Earth and an impactor the size of Mars, known as "Theia." Over the past decades scientists have simulated this process and reproduced many of the properties of the Earth-Moon system; however, these simulations have also given rise to a problem known as the Lunar Paradox: the Moon appears to be made up of material that would not be expected if the current collision theory is correct. A recent study published in Icarus proposes a new perspective on the theory in ...

Implantable devices for treating cardiac arrhythmias, which include ICDs, are already underused in parts of Eastern and Central Europe and there is a risk that the financial crisis could exacerbate the problem. The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the ESC, is tackling this issue through ICD for Life. The initiative aims to raise awareness about the importance of ICDs and sudden cardiac death in countries in Central and Eastern Europe. ICD implantation rates in Europe vary widely, ranging from 1 ICD implantation per million inhabitants in ...

The 2012 expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation was developed by the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society (ECAS) and published in their respective journals: Heart Rhythm, EP Europace (1) and the Journal of Interventional Cardiovascular Electrophysiology (JICE). Since the previous consensus document was published in 2007 catheter and surgical ablation of AF have become standard treatments ...

Aplastic anaemia is characterised by a reduction in the number of the bone marrow cells that go on to form the different cell types present in blood (essentially red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets). In most cases, the causes of the disorder are hard to determine, but some patients have been found to have genetic alterations leading to a shortening of their telomeres (the end regions of chromosomes that protect and stabilise DNA). A team at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) led by María Blasco has successfully created a transgenic mouse model ...

KANSAS CITY, MO—As the national waistline expands, so do pools of intra-cellular fat known as lipid droplets. Although most of us wish our lipid droplets would vanish, they represent a cellular paradox: on the one hand droplets play beneficial roles by corralling fat into non-toxic organelles. On the other, oversized lipid droplets are associated with obesity and its associated health hazards. Until recently researchers understood little about factors that regulate lipid droplet size. Now, a study from the Stowers Institute of Medical Research published in an upcoming ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, more intense rainstorms and more frequent heat waves are among the planetary woes that may come to mind when climate change is mentioned. Now, two University of Michigan researchers say an increased risk of avian influenza transmission in wild birds can be added to the list. Population ecologists Pejman Rohani and Victoria Brown used a mathematical model to explore the consequences of altered interactions between an important species of migratory shorebird and horseshoe crabs at Delaware Bay as a result of climate ...

The analysis was conducted using five editions of the EHRA White Book, which is produced by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The EHRA White Book reports on the current status of arrhythmia treatments in the 54 ESC member countries and has been published every year since 2008. Data is primarily provided by the national cardiology societies and working groups of cardiac pacing and electrophysiology of each ESC country. Prospective data is collected on catheter ablation and on implantation of cardiovascular ...

The registry is part of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) EURObservational Research Programme (EORP) of surveys and registries. Today's presentation reveals current usage of the most modern TAVI valves and catheters in Europe, and compares indications, techniques and outcomes between different countries. "TAVI is a new technology which has been introduced in Europe but many question marks remain on which patients are most suitable," said Professor Di Mario. "We set up this registry because it was important to have a clear picture of clinical practice in Europe. ...

Fampridine (trade name Fampyra®) has been approved in Germany since July 2011 for adult patients suffering from a higher grade walking disability (grades 4 to 7 on the EDSS disability status scale), as a result of multiple sclerosis (MS). The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has assessed the added benefit of the drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG). According to the findings, there is no proof of added benefit, as the manufacturer's dossier contains no evaluable study data for the comparison ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A drug originally developed to stop cancerous tumors may hold the potential to prevent abnormal brain cell growth and learning disabilities in some children, if they can be diagnosed early enough, a new animal study suggests. The surprising finding sets the stage for more research on how anti-tumor medication might be used to protect the developing brains of young children with the genetic disease neurofibromatosis 1 -- and other diseases affecting the same cellular signaling pathway. The findings, made in mice, are reported in the journal Cell ...

Belimumab (trade name Benlysta ®) has been approved since July 2011 as an add-on therapy for adult patients with the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This monoclonal antibody is only considered as treatment when the disease is still active in spite of standard therapy. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined the added benefit of this drug pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG). According to the findings, there is no proof that belimumab provides added benefit ...

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified the genetic cause of a rare and fatal bone disease by studying frozen skin cells that were taken from a child with the condition almost fifty years ago. Their study, which details how the MT1-MMP gene leads to the disease known as Winchester syndrome, appears in the August 23, 2012 online edition of The American Journal of Human Genetics. In 1969, Patricia Winchester, MD, a pediatric radiologist in New York City, was asked to diagnose two young sisters who were losing bone in their hands and feet, developing ...

New Rochelle, NY, August 29, 2012--Biomass recalcitrance--the problem of how to break down complex plant-based cellulosic feedstock into sugars that can be fermented to produce sustainable biofuels and other renewable biobased products—can be overcome through improved methods of biomass characterization. IB IN-DEPTH, a collection of articles from leading research laboratories describing advanced tools and techniques for analyzing the chemistry, structure, and interaction of biomass components, is published in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann ...

A research collaboration between the Gonzaga University and the Max Planck Institute shows that the way in which chimpanzees groom each other depends on the community to which they belong. Specifically, it is the unique handclasp grooming behaviour that reveals this local difference. The specific behaviour that the researchers focused on was the 'grooming handclasp', a behaviour where two chimpanzees clasp onto each other's arms, raise those arms up in the air, and groom each other with their free arm. This behaviour has only been observed in some chimpanzee populations. ...

A University of Central Florida assistant professor has developed a new material using nanotechnology, which could help keep pilots and sensitive equipment safe from destructive lasers. UCF Assistant Professor Jayan Thomas, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University Associate Professor Rongchao Jin chronicle their work in the July issue of the journal Nano Letters. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl301988v) Thomas is working with gold nanoparticles and studying their properties when they are shrunk into a small size regime called nanoclusters. Nanoparticles are already ...

Solar panels, like those commonly perched atop house roofs or in sun-drenched fields, quietly harvesting the sun's radiant energy, are one of the standard-bearers of the green energy movement. But could they be better – more efficient, durable and affordable? That's what engineers from Drexel University and The University of Pennsylvania are trying to find out, with the aid of a little nanotechnology and a lot of mathematical modeling. A three-year grant from the National Science Foundation has set the team on a track to explore ways to make new photoelectric cells more ...

WASHINGTON –- U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Tactical Satellite-4 successfully completes three weeks of intense testing, June 28, as part of the Navy's annual Trident Warrior Experiment 2012 (TW12). TacSat-4 is a Navy-led Joint mission that provides Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite communications (SATCOM). Sponsored by Navy Warfare Development Command, Trident Warrior is an annual fleet experiment focused on gaining valuable insights to improve future capability investments. This year's agenda included at-sea experimentation of critical maritime initiatives, and ...

The first scientific analysis of nutrient levels in edible microgreens has found that many of those trendy seedlings of green vegetables and herbs have more vitamins and healthful nutrients than their fully grown counterparts. A report on the research appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Qin Wang, Gene E. Lester and colleagues point out that microgreens have gained popularity as a new culinary trend over the past few years, especially in upscale markets and restaurants. Those seedlings of spinach, lettuce, red cabbage and other veggies are usually ...

The famous warship, Vasa, displayed in a museum that gets 1.2 million visitors every year and ranks as one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions, is deteriorating despite ongoing preservation efforts, scientists are reporting. Their study, citing a "significant" loss of strength in the ship's wood, appears in ACS' journal Biomacromolecules. Ingela Bjurhager, Lars A. Berglund and colleagues explain that the Vasa sunk in the Stockholm harbor in 1628 on its maiden voyage after sailing less than a nautical mile. The ship was rediscovered in 1958, raised in 1961, treated ...

Responding to an urgent need for better antibacterial coatings on surgical sutures, scientists are reporting the discovery of a new coating that is almost 1,000 times more effective than the most widely used commercial coating. Their report appears in ACS' journal Langmuir. Professor Gregory Tew, who is from UMass-Amherst, and colleagues explain that infection at the site of surgical incisions is one of the most common post-surgical complications that keep patients hospitalized longer and boost hospital bills. The most common antibiotic coating contains triclosan, but ...

A potentially powerful new approach for limiting health care costs — which account for almost $1 out of every $5 spent in the U.S. each year — is the topic of the feature story in this week's edition of Chemical & Enginering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society. C&EN Senior Correspondent Marc S. Reisch explains that one until-now neglected way to reign in health care spending involves providing patients and doctors with better diagnostic tests. Such tests could save money by providing greater ...

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. – August 29, 2012 -- Estimates of the total mass of all life on Earth should be reduced by about one third, based on the results of a study by a team of scientists at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography and colleagues in Germany. The research was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. According to previous estimates, about one thousand billion tons of carbon is stored in living organisms, of which 30 percent is in single-cell microbes in the ocean floor and 55 percent reside in land ...

The use of newer drugs, a greater number of effective drugs, and a longer treatment regimen may be associated with improved survival of patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TR), according to a large study by a team of international researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. Global efforts to control tuberculosis are being challenged by the emergence of strains that are resistant to several antibiotics including isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful, first-line (standard) anti-tuberculosis drugs—so-called multidrug resistant tuberculosis ...