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.
April 14, 2009 – A new study finds that it will take more than 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon lost when biofuel plantations are established on forestlands. If the original habitat was peatland, carbon balance would take more than 600 years. The study appears in Conservation Biology.
The oil palm, increasingly used as a source for biofuel, has replaced soybean as the world's most traded oilseed crop. Global production of palm oil has increased exponentially over the past 40 years. In 2006, 85 percent of the global palm-oil crop was produced in Indonesia and Malaysia, countries whose combined annual tropical forest loss is around 20,000 square kilometers.
BOULDER--The threat of global warming can still be greatly diminished if nations cut emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases by 70 percent this century, according to a new analysis. While global temperatures would rise, the most dangerous potential aspects of climate change, including massive losses of Arctic sea ice and permafrost and significant sea level rise, could be partially avoided.
The study, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), will be published next week in Geophysical Research Letters. It was funded by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor.
ATLANTA—Contrary to common stereotypes, individuals with major mental disorders are more likely to become victims of violent crimes when they are experiencing an increase in symptoms than they are to commit crime, according to a new study by Brent Teasdale, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Georgia State University.
Teasdale found that patients experiencing delusions, hallucinations and worsening symptoms generally are most likely to become victims of violence. In addition, individuals with mental disorders are particularly vulnerable for victimization during times of homelessness and when suffering from alcohol abuse.
A recent study by Mount Sinai faculty suggests that a gene associated with onset of type-2 diabetes also decreases in Alzheimer's disease dementia cases. The research, led by Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, Ph.D., The Aidekman Family Professor in Neurology, and Professor of Psychiatry and Geriatrics and Adult Development at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, was published this week in the scientific journal, Archives of Neurology.
An international team of scientists from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, the University of North Carolina and several institutions in China have explained how a gene alteration can lead to the development of a type of brain cancer, and they have identified a compound that could staunch the cancer's growth.
Rarely will physicians use the word "miraculous" when discussing patient recoveries. But that's the very phrase orthopaedic physicians and scientists are using in upstate New York to describe their emerging stem cell research that could have a profound impact on the treatment of bone injuries. Results from preliminary work being released todayshow patients confined to wheelchairs were able to walk or live independently again because their broken bones finally healed.
Screening for coronary artery disease in patients with type 2 diabetes did not result in a significant reduction in the rate of heart attacks or cardiac death compared to patients who were not screened, according to a study in the April 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on diabetes.
Frans J. Th. Wackers, M.D., Ph.D., of the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
This release is available in Chinese.
Having hypoglycemic (low blood sugar level) episodes that are severe enough to require hospitalization are associated with a greater risk of dementia for older adults with type 2 diabetes, according to a study in the April 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on diabetes.
Rachel A. Whitmer, Ph.D., of Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif., presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
This release is available in Chinese.
The majority of patients with type 1 diabetes who underwent a certain type of stem cell transplantation became insulin free, several for more than three years, with good glycemic control, and also increased C-peptide levels, an indirect measure of beta-cell function, according to a study in the April 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on diabetes.
Richard K. Burt, M.D., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, presented the findings of the study at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The use of pancreatic islets (hormone-producing cells) is increasing in diabetes research and may play an important role in future treatments, according to an article in the April 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on diabetes.
John S. Kaddis, B.S., of the City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, Calif., presented the findings of the article at a JAMA media briefing at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers' Food Policy Institute (FPI) released a study today showing that many Americans fail to check their homes for recalled food products. Only about 60 percent of the studied sample reported ever having looked for recalled food in their homes, and only 10 percent said they had ever found a recalled food product.
The study was based on a survey of 1,101 Americans interviewed by telephone from Aug. 4 to Sept. 24, 2008. The study can be downloaded at www.foodpolicy.rutgers.edu.
For the first time, scientists have isolated the parasite Nosema ceranae (Microsporidia) from professional apiaries suffering from honey bee colony depopulation syndrome. They then went on to treat the infection with complete success.
