One of astronomy's big questions is why galaxies forming as recently as 1 billion years after the Big Bang contain so much dust. The leading hypothesis is that supernovae, stars that explode at the end of their lives, contain large amounts of metal-enriched material that, in turn, harbors key ingredients of dust, like silicon, iron and carbon.
Berkeley — Climate change will bring about major shifts in worldwide fire patterns, and those changes are coming fast, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with scientists at Texas Tech University.
The findings are reported in the April 8 issue of PLoS ONE, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the Public Library of Science.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –Seguro Popular, a Mexican health care program instituted in 2003, has already reduced crippling health care costs among poorer households, according to an evaluation conducted by researchers at Harvard University in collaboration with researchers in Mexico.
The study was designed and led by Gary King, David Florence Professor of Government and director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard. The results are published in the current issue of The Lancet.
"The success of Seguro Popular in reducing catastrophic health expenditures is remarkable," says King, "not least because governmental money spent on the poor in many countries rarely reaches the intended recipients."
In results from the largest health policy study of its kind, a Mexican health care program created in 2003 has been found effective in reducing crippling health care costs among poorer households. The results reflect the success of the Seguro Popular program, and arise from an evaluation conducted by researchers, including a Princeton University faculty member, in collaboration with researchers in Mexico.
Although fractions are thought to be a difficult mathematical concept to learn, the adult brain encodes them automatically without conscious thought, according to new research in the April 8 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The study shows that cells in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the prefrontal cortex — brain regions important for processing whole numbers — are tuned to respond to particular fractions. The findings suggest that adults have an intuitive understanding of fractions and may aid in the development of new teaching techniques.
Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute have found that the growth factor known as TGF-β is essential to the health of blood vessels in the retina and that blocking it can cause retinal dysfunction. These findings, published in the April 2 issue of PLoS ONE, may have an important impact on the prevention and treatment of diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
DURHAM, N.C. – Working out on a stationary bicycle or walking on a treadmill just 25 to 30 minutes most days of the week is enough to modestly lower risk of hospitalization or death for patients with heart failure, say researchers from Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).
The findings stem from the HF-ACTION trial (A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes Exercise Training), the most comprehensive study to date examining the effects of exercise upon patients with heart failure. The study, led by Christopher O'Connor M.D., director of the Duke Heart Center and principal investigator of the trial, and David Whellan, M.D., of Thomas Jefferson University, co-principal investigator, appears in the April 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Patients with early bladder cancer who receive more intensive treatment within the first two years of diagnosis do not appear to have better survival than patients who receive less intensive treatment, according to a retrospective analysis published in the April 7 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Although bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the United States, optimal treatment strategies for the disease remain unclear and there are relatively few data available from randomized controlled clinical trials. Current treatment guidelines favor more intense surveillance and therapy, but individual urologists vary in their approach to treatment.
Multiple, anatomically distinct lung cancer tumors may frequently arise from a single cancer cell, according to a retrospective analysis of patient tumor samples published in the April 7 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Some lung cancer patients have multiple anatomically distinct tumors at the time of diagnosis. Although such multiple tumors usually share a common appearance, it has been unclear whether they arise from a single tumor or are independent primary cancers.
Subsequent Malignancy a Major Cause of Death in Long-Term Survivors of Hereditary Retinoblastoma
Long-term survivors of hereditary retinoblastoma are at an increased risk of death due to a second cancer, according to a large cohort study.
Retinoblastoma is a very rare cancer of the eye that affects approximately 300 children in the U.S. each year. Survivors of retinoblastoma are at risk of subsequent malignancies but information on the risk of death due to these subsequent cancers is limited among long-term survivors.
DURHAM, N.C. – Heart failure patients who regularly exercise fare better and feel better about their lives than do similar patients who do not work out on a regular basis, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.
The findings, reported in the April 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, go a long way toward addressing concerns about the value of exercise for the nation's five million patients with heart failure. They also raise important policy questions for the country's Medicare program and other insurers.
Aerobic exercise training appears safe for patients with heart failure and was associated with a modest reduction in the risk of death and hospitalization, with some improvement in quality of life, according to two articles in the April 8 issue of JAMA.
Older adults with generalized anxiety disorder who received cognitive behavior therapy had greater improvement on measures of worry, depression and mental health than patients who received usual care, according to a study in the April 8 issue of JAMA.
