Researchers of Leuven University and VIB in Belgium have shown that the yeasts used to ferment cocoa during chocolate production can modify the aroma of the resulting chocolate. "The set of new yeast variants that we generated makes it possible to create a whole range of boutique chocolates to match everyone's favorite flavor, similar to wines, tea, and coffee" says Dr. Jan Steensels, one of the lead researchers involved in the project. The results were published November 20 in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology.

Looking for robust yeast strains for chocolate production

Researchers have developed power paper; a new material with an outstanding ability to store energy. The material consists of nanocellulose and a conductive polymer and one sheet, 15 centimeters in diameter and a few tenths of a millimeter thick can store as much as 1 F, which is similar to the supercapacitors currently on the market. The material can be recharged hundreds of times and each charge only takes a few seconds.

ATLANTA--Activating receptors in the brain for the body's hunger hormone increases food-related behaviors, such as gathering, storing and consuming food, a finding that has implications for the treatment of obesity, according to researchers at Georgia State University.

Their study suggests that stimulating brain receptors for ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite, by injecting ghrelin into the brain is necessary and adequate to increase appetitive and consummatory behaviors in Siberian hamsters. However, activating ghrelin receptors in other parts of the body isn't required to achieve these food-related behaviors.

The researchers also found that blocking brain receptors for grehlin neutralizes the hormone's effect on food intake.

In 1048 prostate cancer patients previously treated with docetaxel and 996 metastatic, castration-resistant patients, treatment with the androgen-lowering drug abiraterone acetate (Zytiga) led to longer overall disease control, even when a very high Gleason score indicated especially aggressive cancer. Results recently published in the Annals of Oncology show that for patients with Gleason score greater than 8, post-docetaxel treatment with abiraterone extended progression-free survival from 5.5 months to 6.4 months, and pre-chemotherapy abiraterone treatment extended progression-free survival from 8.2 months to 16.5 months.

MANHATTAN, KANSAS -- Kansas State University researchers have developed a new testing method to help millers assure wheat flour purity that will meet baking industry standards and consumers' expectations.

The test introduces sophisticated molecular methods that focus on high, endosperm purity in flour extracted from wheat kernels.

"We are helping the miller by measuring the endosperm purity for flour streams coming from each stage of the milling process," said Mark Boatwright, a Kansas State University doctoral candidate in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from Runnels, Iowa. "This will allow the miller to optimize settings on equipment and make decisions to meet the baker's specifications for quality flour."

Dave Goulson’s latest anti-pesticide study is sure to thrill his activist backers. The University of Sussex biology professor has a new study concerning declining butterfly populations in the UK, which he claims “adds to the growing mountain of evidence that neonicotinoids are one of the causes of these declines.” It’s yet another case of the headlines not matching reality.