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.
Bethesda, MD (April 1, 2009) – Doctors have developed and validated a clinical prediction rule for recurrent Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection that was simple, reliable and accurate, and can be used to identify high-risk patients most likely to benefit from measures to prevent recurrence. Their findings appear in a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
A new mathematical formula that could be used to give advance warning of where a tsunami is likely to hit and how destructive it will be has been worked out by scientists at Newcastle University.
The research, led by Newcastle University's Professor Robin Johnson, was prompted by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami disaster which devastated coastal communities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
In this instance, an earthquake in the depths of the ocean triggered a long surface wave which resulted in six massive wave fronts, one after the other.
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (April 1, 2009) – It appears that a drug commonly used to treat alcohol and drug addiction has a similar effect on the compulsive behavior of kleptomaniacs – it curbs their urge to steal, according to new research at the University of Minnesota.
The Medical School's Department of Psychiatry conducted an eight-week, double-blind study of 25 men and women ages 17-75, who spent an average of at least one hour a week stealing. Those who took the drug Naltrexone (mean dose of 117mg/day) reported significantly greater decline in stealing behavior compared to those taking placebo.
The research is published in the April 1 issue of the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.
CHICAGO – The April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association features research studies focusing on vegetarian eating plans; dietary quality among children; and relationships between eating habits and metabolic syndrome.
Vegetarians Face Increased Risk of Eating Disorders
While vegetarians tend to eat healthier diets and are less likely than non-vegetarians to be overweight or obese, they may be at increased risk for binge eating with loss of control, and former vegetarians may be at increased risk for extreme unhealthful weight-control behaviors, according to researchers at University of Minnesota, University of Texas and St. John's University.
CHICAGO – The American Dietetic Association has released an updated position on functional foods that says fortified, enriched or enhanced foods can benefit a person's health when consumed as part of a varied diet, encourages further research and urges continued efforts to educate the public on such foods.
ROSEMONT, IL –A popular cable reality television show, Little People, Big World, focuses on the daily lives of short stature individuals. This series bring achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, into the spotlight. According to a literature review published in the April 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), treating patients with dwarfism is an extremely complex process. Orthopaedic surgeons and others caring for people with this disorder should be aware of its many manifestations.
For example, limb lengthening treatments for those living with achondroplasia have been met with mixed results.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – A recent discovery by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine could clear the way for a new drug that inhibits tumor growth in cancer patients and could potentially help in the healing of wounds.
The discovery stems from a study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, in which researchers looked at angiogenesis – the body's formation of new blood vessels from existing blood vessels – and how some blood proteins are involved in that process and affect blood vessel growth.
Researchers at the University of Rochester have developed a novel optical technique that permits rapid analysis of single human immune cells using only light.
Availability of such a technique means that immunologists and other cellular researchers may soon be able to observe the responses of individual cells to various stimuli, rather than relying on aggregate statistical data from large cell populations. Until now scientists have not had a non-invasive way to see how human cells, like T cells or cancer cells, activate individually and evolve over time.
CLEVELAND – March 31, 2009 – The power of magnetism could be an enabling technology to address a major problem facing bioengineers as they try to create new tissue—getting human cells to not only form structures, but to stimulate the growth of blood vessels to nourish their growth.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A new study reveals the first-ever genetic link to the reason African-Americans are at increased risk of dying from colon cancer.
The discovery by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is focused on a protein variant called Pro72 identified through genetic testing. In the study, African-Americans with a Pro72 protein variant had more than double the risk of dying from an advanced form of colon cancer compared to whites, the researchers said.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Older women who live alone are vulnerable to unwanted intrusions in their homes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Caregivers of older women often evaluate crime risk and home security, but fail to identify women's intentions to reduce intrusion risk. In a new study, a University of Missouri professor has found that in order to feel safe at home, older women need to recognize safety risks and perceive themselves as capable of preventing intrusions.
Boulder, CO, USA - GEOLOGY covers multiple aspects of life on Earth, including extinctions and diversifications, "tool" use by the first creatures to walk on land, sirenians (manatees) in the Tethys-Mediterranean, the last refuge of the woolly mammoth, and Edwards Aquifer development as seen through cave spider DNA. Other topics include glaciation, mineralization, mineral decomposition, degassing, climate change, tectonics, volcanics, current velocity and seafloor structure, and giant earth-surface wind ripples. GSA TODAY focuses on the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.
