Welcome to today's edition of Morning Headlines, keeping you updated with the latest emerging stories this morning in key science and technology sectors worldwide.

This morning, we have picked the following trending stories:

Nanoparticles in Food and Vitamins Could be Harmful

Billions of engineered nanoparticles in foods and pharmaceuticals are ingested by humans daily, and new Cornell research warns they may be more harmful to health than previously thought. A research collaboration led by Michael Shuler, a professor of Chemical Engineering and chair of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University, studied how large doses of polystyrene nanoparticles – a common, FDA-approved substance found in substances ranging from food additives to vitamins – affected how well chickens absorbed iron, an essential nutrient, into their cells. The results were reported online Feb. 12 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

According to the study, high-intensity, short-term exposure to the particles initially blocked iron absorption, whereas longer-term exposure caused intestinal cell structures to change, allowing for a compensating uptick in iron absorption. The researchers tested both acute and chronic nanoparticle exposure using human gut cells in petri dishes as well as live chickens and reported matching results. They chose chickens because these animals absorb iron into their bodies similarly to humans, and they are similarly sensitive to micronutrient deficiencies. Shuler said the research serves to underscore how such particles, which have been widely studied and considered safe, cause barely detectable changes that could lead to, for example, over-absorption of other, harmful compounds. Human exposure to nanoparticles is only increasing, he said.

Faster Treatment for Seizures

Results have just been released from an NIH study conducted at multiple sites, including the University of Kentucky, indicating that an autoinjector pen is a faster and possibly more effective way for emergency medical personnel to treat serious seizures. The study appears in the Feb. 16, 2012 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Typically, when paramedics respond to a patient with status epilepticus (a prolonged seizure lasting longer than five minutes), they attempt to start an IV to deliver anticonvulsant medication to the patient. However, starting an IV in a patient who is experiencing seizures can be challenging for paramedics and waste precious time. An autoinjector — similar to the EpiPen used to treat serious allergic reactions — saves time and delivers needed medication in a quick, consistent way, the researchers said. The autoinjector delivers medication directly into the thigh muscle as an intramuscular injection. The team affirmed that these results are significant, because status epilepticus is a life-threatening emergency that results in approximately 55,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

The investigators, at the University of Kentucky and other institutions, compared two medicines known to be effective in controlling seizures, midazolam and lorazepam. Both are benzodiazepines, a class of sedating anticonvulsant drugs. Midazolam was a candidate for injection because it is rapidly absorbed from muscle. Lorazepam must be given by IV. The study found that 73 percent of patients in the group receiving midazolam via autoinjector were seizure-free upon arrival at the hospital, compared to 63 percent of patients who received IV treatment with lorazepam. The investigators said that while autoinjectors might someday be available for use by epilepsy patients and their family members, more research is required. Because of the strong sedative effect of midazolam, on-site medical supervision is now required for the safety of the patient.

Texting May Stunt Reading Skills

Research designed to understand the effect of text messaging on language found that texting has a negative impact on people's linguistic ability to interpret and accept words. The study, conducted by Joan Lee for her master's thesis in linguistics, revealed that those who texted more were less accepting of new words. On the other hand, those who read more traditional print media such as books, magazines, and newspapers were more accepting of the same words. The study asked university students about their reading habits, including text messaging, and presented them with a range of words both real and fictitious.

The study revealed that reading traditional print media exposes people to variety and creativity in language that is not found in the colloquial peer-to-peer text messaging used among youth or 'generation text.' Lee suggested that reading encourages flexibility in language use and tolerance of different words. It helps readers to develop skills that allow them to generate interpretable readings of new or unusual words. "In contrast, texting is associated with rigid linguistic constraints which caused students to reject many of the words in the study," said Lee. "This was surprising because there are many unusual spellings or "textisms" such as "LOL" in text messaging language." For texters, word frequency is an important factor in the acceptability of words, according to Lee. "Textisms represent real words which are commonly known among people who text," she said. "Many of the words presented in the study are not commonly known and were not acceptable to the participants in the study who texted more or read less traditional print media."