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Gravity Data Show That Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Melting Increasingly Faster

Gravity Data Show That Antarctic Ice Sheet Is Melting Increasingly Faster

Antarctica's massive ice sheet has recently lost twice the amount of ice in the west as what it  accumulated in the east, and the southern continent's ice cap is melting ever faster, according to a new study in which researchers "weighed" Antarctica's ice sheet using gravitational satellite data and found that from 2003 to 2014, the ice sheet lost 92 billion tons of ice per year.
If stacked on the island of Manhattan, that amount of ice would be a mile high, more than five times the height of the Empire State Building.

How FOXO1 Protein Slows Diabetic Wound Healing

How FOXO1 Protein Slows Diabetic Wound Healing

A protein that normally fosters tissue repair instead acts to inhibit healing when sugar levels are high, according to a new study, and that role reversal helps explain why wounds heal slowly in people with diabetes.

Cardiothoracic Physicians In Training Are Fine Doctors

Cardiothoracic Physicians In Training Are Fine Doctors

When educating medical students or residents, there is always a need to balance quality results and optimal patient care with the educational mission - and when it comes to cardiac surgery residents, it works just fine.
A new study found no differences in patient outcomes or graft patency between the residents and attending surgeons when it came to coronary artery bypass grafting. 
The analysis of prospective data from a study of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) found no differences in short-term or one-year patient outcomes and patency of grafts between properly-supervised residents and attending surgeons. G. Hossein Almassi, MD, presented the results of the research earlier this week at the 95th AATS Annual Meeting in Seattle.

Detecting Earthquakes On Venus Using Sound

Detecting Earthquakes On Venus Using Sound

Detecting an earthquake on Venus is no trivial task.
For one thing, it is not a surface like we think of surface. It is under crushing pressure and the temperate is almost 900 degrees. Ordinary seismic instruments aren't suited for that. But the upper atmosphere is not so bad by comparison and so researchers hope to deploy an array of balloons or satellites that could detect Venusian seismic activity.
And instead of using vibrations they will use sound.

Convergent Evolution: Three Creatures Divergent For 550 Million Years Evolved The Same Swimming Solution

Convergent Evolution: Three Creatures Divergent For 550 Million Years Evolved The Same Swimming Solution

The ability to move in water is key to existence for many species so it may not be a surprise that so many species have converged on swimming. What is intriguing is how diverse creatures have evolved to swim with elongated fins using the same mechanical motion that optimizes their speed.
The Persian carpet flatworm, the cuttlefish and the black ghost knifefish are nothing like each other - their last common ancestor lived 550 million years ago, before the Cambrian period - but all three aquatic creatures converged evolutionaru on the same swimming, according to a new study uses a combination of computer simulations, a robotic fish and video footage of real fish. 

Hacked Kinect Controller Relieves Symptom Of Parkinson’s

Hacked Kinect Controller Relieves Symptom Of Parkinson’s

A hacked Microsoft Kinect games controller has been used to relieve one of the most distressing symptoms of Parkinson's - freezing of gait.Many patients are afflicted by 'freezing of gait' where suddenly, in mid-stride, the muscles freeze and they are left unable to move forward, or they simply fall over. Previous research has found that giving visual clues, such as projecting lines ahead on the floor, “unfreezes” the muscles but equipment had to be worn. 

Vitamin D Toxicity Rare In People Who Take Supplements

Vitamin D Toxicity Rare In People Who Take Supplements

The big concern about the latest Vitamin D fad is the potential for toxicity. Some people have low vitamin D levels and we have been told to avoid the sun so vitamin D supplement use has climbed in recent years and some articles and even books are claiming that Vitamin D is the cause and cure for many things, making potential harm even greater.  But Vitamin D is important because it has been shown to boost bone health, that's why some foods are fortified with it. 

Free Radicals, Antioxidants And The Health Benefits Of Coffee

Free Radicals, Antioxidants And The Health Benefits Of Coffee

Coffee has been enjoying a health resurgence. It was once considered a bad thing because of caffeine but now it is lauded for its antioxidants. A new paper details how free radicals and antioxidants behave during every stage of the coffee brewing process, from intact bean to coffee brew.

Saturated Fatty Acids May Directly Damage Your Heart

Saturated Fatty Acids May Directly Damage Your Heart

Olive oil, canola oil, and vegetable oil largely consist of unsaturated fatty acids, whereas animal fat is richer in the saturated ones. After a meal, carbohydrates are the primary source of energy production by the heart but under fasting conditions, free fatty acids become the major energy producer. 

Diabetes Drug Metformin Linked To Intersex Fish

Diabetes Drug Metformin Linked To Intersex Fish

Metformin, a medication commonly taken for Type II diabetes, is being found in freshwater systems worldwide, and a new study says that it causes physical changes in male fish exposed to doses similar to the amount in wastewater effluent. It causes intersex in fish - male fish that produce eggs - according to the study in Chemosphere.
Because intersex fish occur more often downstream from wastewater treatment plants, studies have investigated the effect of hormones from birth control pills, but metformin is not a hormone and it targets blood sugar regulation so the correlation is surprising.

How Accurate Is US Patient Outcome Health Data?

How Accurate Is US Patient Outcome Health Data?

A new study concludes that most U.S. clinical registries that collect data on patient outcomes are substandard and lack critical features necessary to render the information they collect useful.
A paper in the Journal for Healthcare Quality reveals poor data monitoring and reporting that researchers say are hurting national efforts to study disease, guide patient choice of optimal treatments, formulate rational health policies and track in a meaningful way how well physicians and hospitals perform.