Dear Reader ,
Here is your customized PHYSorg.com Newsletter for March 15, 2011:
Spotlight Stories Headlines
- Using quantum methods to read classical memories offers surprising advantages- Hubble rules out one alternative to dark energy
- Researchers map 'fly tree of life'
- Nanorods could greatly improve visual display of information (w/ Video)
- Trapping a rainbow: Researchers slow broadband light waves with nanoplasmonic structures
- Rock-paper-scissors tournaments explain ecological diversity
- Neanderthals were nifty at controlling fire: study
- Good vibrations lead to molecular revelation
- Seedless cherimoya, the next banana?
- Climate-related weather disasters could provide opportunities for the rural poor
- Virtual education boom hits the states
- EV fueling stations now on Google Maps
- Time Warner Cable launches iPad app with live TV (Update)
- Research offers new desalination process using carbon nanotubes
- SES gives SpaceX first geostationary satellite launch deal
Space & Earth news
FASTSAT Mission Update
The FASTSat Mini-Me and PISA instruments are successfully performing science observations as the TTI instrument continues sensor optimization.
February exciting month for Kepler team
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Kepler project team had an exciting month in February. Besides recovering the spacecraft from a Safe Mode event, the team released Kepler’s Quarter 2 science data to the public on Feb. 1. The press conference on Feb. 2, announcing the 1,235 planet candidates and the Kepler-11 system, drew the attention of major national and international news outlets. More than 1,150 news media outlets published or aired stories following the announcement. On Feb. 11, NASA Ames Research Center held its first Tweetup. Traveling from five countries and 18 U.S. states, 60 attendees, or ‘tweeps’ as they are affectionately known, donned their mobile devices to participate in the Planet Hunting Tweetup. The attendees were treated to a rare opportunity to tour the labs at NASA Ames, listen to presentations and have their questions answered by researchers who work at the center. All the while, sharing their experience real-time with nearly 1,000 tweets, Facebook! posts, check-ins, and video and photo blogs.
Disaster in Japan highlights need for improved warning system
(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world tried to make sense of the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunamis that rocked Japan on Friday, University of Rhode Island Professor of Ocean Engineering Stephan Grilli spoke with CNN’s John King about the need for improved warning systems in regions of the world that could be impacted by severe weather events.
WHOI experts stress lessons From Japan earthquake
While Japan's 8.9-magnitude earthquake and accompanying tsunami represent a devastating natural disaster for the country's residents, scientists should also seize upon the massive temblor as an important learning tool for future quakes around the world, including the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States, according to experts from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
A research study analyzes marine spill prevention policies in Spain
A study at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) analyzing the capacity of a society to deal with maritime disasters such as the Prestige concludes that in Spain public measures still have not been taken to coordinate reaction when confronting this type of spills.
Arctic on the verge of record ozone loss
Unusually low temperatures in the Arctic ozone layer have recently initiated massive ozone depletion. The Arctic appears to be heading for a record loss of this trace gas that protects the Earth's surface against ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This result has been found by measurements carried out by an international network of over 30 ozone sounding stations spread all over the Arctic and Subarctic and coordinated by the Potsdam Research Unit of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association (AWI) in Germany.
Just to be clear: The moon did not cause the earthquake in Japan
We're getting a lot of visitors to our site today, many searching for information about earthquakes, tsunamis, and the ‘SuperMoon’ phenomenon. Just to be clear, the Moon did not cause the earthquake in Japan. Several scientists have posted articles online today clarifying the topic, and all of them, in no uncertain terms, agree that the the upcoming perigee of the Moon -- where it is closer than usual in its orbit to Earth -- had nothing to do with the earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
N. Zealand sceptics defy 'Moonman' quake prophecy
Geologists, engineers and like-minded sceptics will meet in earthquake-devastated Christchurch Sunday to mock "junk science" predictions another major tremor will hit the city this weekend.
Russia delays ISS launch for 'technical reasons'
Russia announced a delay Monday in the planned launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station on March 30 due to a technical problem with the spacecraft.
Image: Japan's coastline before and after the tsunami
These images show the effects of the tsunami on Japan's coastline.
NASA shows topography of tsunami-damaged Japan city
(PhysOrg.com) -- The topography surrounding Sendai, Japan is clearly visible in this combined radar image and topographic view generated with data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) acquired in 2000. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck offshore about 130 kilometers (80 miles) east of Sendai, the capital city of Japan's Miyagi Prefecture, generating a tsunami that devastated the low-lying coastal city of about 1 million residents.
NASA images tsunami's effects on Northeastern Japan
The extent of inundation from the destructive and deadly tsunami triggered by the March 11, 2011, magnitude 8.9 earthquake centered off Japan's northeastern coast about 130 kilometers (82 miles) east of the city of Sendai is revealed in this before-and-after image pair from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft.
Water for an integrative climate paradigm
International climate negotiations are deadlocked between the affluent global North and "developing" South, between political Left and Right, and between believers and deniers. Now, authors writing in the latest issue of the International Journal of Water argue that a more integrative analysis of climate should help resolve these conflicts.
A seismograph for ancient earthquakes
Earthquakes are one of the world's biggest enigmas -- impossible to predict and able to wreak untold damage within seconds. Now, a new tool from Tel Aviv University may be able to learn from earthquakes of the ancient past to better predict earthquakes of the future.
The science behind a tsunami
The massive magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck off the east coast Japan’s main island on March 11, 2011 set in motion a fierce tsunami that may have claimed thousands of lives, and sent tsunami warnings all across the Pacific basin, thousands of kilometers away from the quake’s epicenter. How do earthquakes trigger such enormous tsunami events, and how can scientists predict where these massive waves might travel?
Space shuttle worker falls to death at launch pad
(AP) -- A space shuttle worker fell to his death Monday at the launch pad, the first fatality there in decades, NASA officials said.
TRMM maps flooding along US East Coast from massive storm
The massive rain storm that stretched from New York to Florida last week dropped some record rainfall and NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite measured that rainfall from space. Those rainfall totals were assembled in a "rain map" created at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
New high-resolution carbon mapping techniques provide more accurate results
A team of scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology and the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) has developed new, more accurate methods for mapping carbon in Hawaii's forests. Their research appears in an online issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Russian rocket ride: $63 million per US astronaut
(AP) -- The Russians are hiking the price of rocket rides again for U.S. astronauts - to nearly $63 million.
US West Coast: on frontline from nuclear cloud?
California is closely watching the crisis at a Japanese nuclear plant, but officials downplayed the threat that a radioactive cloud blown across the Pacific could pose for the US West Coast.
Strength of deadly Japan quake increased to 9.0
The U.S. Geological Survey has upgraded the magnitude of Friday's deadly earthquake in Japan to 9.0
Fewer Americans worry about climate change: poll
The number of Americans who are worried about global warming has fallen to nearly the historic low reached in 1998, a poll released Monday showed.
Climate change's impact on Arctic regions by 2099: study
(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine the vast, empty tundra in Alaska and Canada giving way to trees, shrubs and plants typical of more southerly climates. Imagine similar changes in large parts of Eastern Europe, northern Asia and Scandinavia, as needle-leaf and broadleaf forests push northward into areas once unable to support them. Imagine part of Greenland's ice cover, once thought permanent, receding and leaving new tundra in its wake.
MESSENGER spacecraft to swing into orbit around Mercury on March 17
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are excited about solving some of the mysteries surrounding our smallest and hottest planet. The findings are expected to broaden our understanding of rocky planets, more and more of which are being discovered in other solar systems.
Old-growth tree stumps tell the story of fire in the upper Midwest
Researchers have constructed a 226-year history of fire in southern Illinois by looking at fire scars in tree stumps. Their study, the most in-depth fire history reported for the upper Midwest, reveals that changes in the frequency of fires dating back to the time of early European settlement permanently altered the ecology of the region.
Climate-related weather disasters could provide opportunities for the rural poor
A new study in Honduras suggests that climate-related weather disasters may sometimes actually provide opportunities for the rural poor to improve their lives.
SES gives SpaceX first geostationary satellite launch deal
Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES said on Monday it had reached an agreement with the privately owned company SpaceX for a 2013 launch that will be the first geostationary satellite placement using the US firm's Falcon 9 rocket.
Hubble rules out one alternative to dark energy
(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have ruled out an alternate theory on the nature of dark energy after recalculating the expansion rate of the universe to unprecedented accuracy.
Technology news
Report: Iran's paramilitary launches cyber attack
(AP) -- Iranian hackers working for the powerful Revolutionary Guard's paramilitary Basij group have launched attacks on websites of the "enemies," a state-owned newspaper reported Monday in a rare acknowledgment from Iran that it's involved in cyber warfare.
Vatican kicks off countdown to JP2 beatification
(AP) -- The Vatican on Monday kicked off the countdown to Pope John Paul II's beatification by posting a YouTube video of his famous first papal speech, when the Polish-born pontiff asked the Roman crowd in St. Peter's Square to correct him if he made mistakes in Italian.
Tech companies pitch in on earthquake response
(AP) -- Google, Twitter and other technology companies are finding ways to help following last week's earthquake in Japan.
Russia taps geek power for growth
US-Russia trade has yet to live up to the reset in political ties but US firms believe Russia's human resources can soon do for high-tech engineering what India did to the IT sector two decades ago.
Americans slow to pay for local mobile apps
Nearly half of Americans are using their cellphones and tablet computers to get local news and information but just one percent are paying for applications to do so, according to a new report.
Report: Internet usage transforming news industry
(AP) -- The rapid growth of smart phones and electronic tablets is making the Internet the destination of choice for consumers looking for news, a report released Monday said.
Better batteries for electric cars
The breakthrough with electric cars is a long time coming -- not least on account of their key component, the battery. Lithium-ion batteries are still too expensive and their range too limited. New materials should pave the way for better batteries. Simulation software from researchers is helping speed up the development process.
Solar power systems could lighten the load for British soldiers
A revolutionary type of personal power pack now in development could help our troops when they are engaged on the battlefield.
Japan reels as second blast rocks nuclear plant
A new explosion at a stricken nuclear power plant hit Japan Monday as it raced to avert a reactor meltdown after a quake-tsunami disaster that is feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.
Meet the family with both a Chevy Volt and a Nissan Leaf
The Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf are slowly putting cars on the road, mostly in California, as the companies ramp up production and start delivering to their patient customers. GM handed out 281 Volts in February (928 total), and Nissan got 67 Leafs (173 so far) out the door. It's fair to say, especially given those tiny numbers, that only one family has both a Volt and Leaf.
Rumors of a Google social network fizzle
(PhysOrg.com) -- Rumors. I bet that you thought that they were the domain of high school students with too much time on their hands, but really they seem to make the tech world go round. Everybody wants to know what is new and hot, and what is going to be new and hot in the next few months.
AT&T caps monthly traffic for DSL subscribers
(AP) -- AT&T is placing a limit on the amount of data its home Internet subscribers can transfer in a month.
HP looks to the 'cloud'
Hewlett-Packard plans to offer a complete range of cloud computing services, HP chief executive Leo Apotheker said Monday as he outlined his strategy for the US computer giant.
Zynga players raise $1 million for Japan relief
Zynga, maker of popular social networking games such as "FarmVille," said Monday that its players have raised $1 million for Save the Children's Japan relief efforts.
Digital ways to donate to Japan disaster relief
Technology giants Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter are all offering digital ways to donate to Japan's recovery efforts following the massive earthquake and devastating tsunami.
Twitter, a five-year-old changing the world
At five years old, Twitter is just starting to change the world.
Virtual education boom hits the states
A few years ago, when he was governor of West Virginia, Bob Wise attended a graduation ceremony at Pickens High School in Randolph County, a tiny school on top of a mountain where the graduating class consisted of only two students. As he was leaving, he asked the principal how the school was able to attract foreign language teachers.
EV fueling stations now on Google Maps
(PhysOrg.com) -- Having an electric can can be a challenge for the owners. Unless you have spent a fair amount of time doing the research and making calls, getting your charge on when you are away from home can present more than a modest challenge. The bottom line is that, for now at least, electric car owners have to deal with an infrastructure problem that is not faced by their fossil-fuel powered counterparts.
Time Warner Cable launches iPad app with live TV (Update)
(AP) -- Time Warner Cable Inc. is launching an iPad application that plays live TV, becoming the first cable or satellite company to do so.
Medicine & Health news
Pot docs face new rules in Colorado
(AP) -- Colorado's dispute over which doctors can recommend medical marijuana could become more confusing this week when state health authorities consider tighter limits at the same time lawmakers debate conflicting rules.
'Pre-baby blues' due to lack of support from partner
Pregnancy is meant to be a joyous time however some women experience overwhelming 'baby blues' before the birth of their child. Anxiety and depression during pregnancy can result in premature birth, or low birth weight, and impact the child's health even into early school years. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health shows that a bad relationship with their husband or partner is the strongest predictor of maternal emotional distress.
Three-year-old is UK's 'youngest ever alcoholic'
A three-year-old Briton who was treated in hospital for addiction to alcohol is thought to be the country's youngest ever alcoholic, health officials said Monday.
Daylight savings time can be dangerous
Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 13, but a word of caution. Studies have found that losing an hour can be hazardous for your health.
A very bumpy playing field
As the electronic clock purrs away the milliseconds to the opening of the 2012 London Olympic Games, a new book by a Cambridge University researcher looks at the controversies surrounding the training and performance of athletes over the last 130 years and reveals huge changes in attitudes towards what is fair play and what is cheating, what is natural and what is not.
Early success of anti-HIV preventive oral drug regimen is promising, but questions remain
The first human studies of an oral drug regimen to prevent HIV infection in high-risk individuals yielded a promising near 50% reduction in HIV incidence, but a number of issues require additional research before oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be implemented on a large scale, according to an article in AIDS Patient Care and STDs, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
New mouse model explains common pediatric brain tumor
Pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) is the most common pediatric brain tumor, and there are few medical therapies available to those patients for whom surgery is not curative. However, it has been difficult to design targeted PA therapies because the cellular mechanisms that lead to the cancer are incompletely understood, and there is no animal model of the disease.
Headway being made fighting communicable diseases globally: study
Those working for healthier humans around the globe are making headway in fighting communicable diseases such as AIDS, malaria and diarrheal illness, according to research from the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures in the University of Denver's (DU) Josef Korbel School of International Studies.
Benefits of bariatric surgery may outweigh risks for severely obese
Bariatric surgery can result in long-term weight loss and significant reductions in cardiac and other risk factors for some severely obese adults, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association.
Teens and young adults with cancer face unique challenges and require targeted care
Adolescents and young adults are neither children nor adults and those affected by cancer require targeted care that crosses the boundaries between pediatric and adult oncology, according to several pioneers in this still-developing field of adolescent and young adult oncology. An illuminating roundtable discussion by these experts will be published in the premier issue of Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed publication of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Stopping smoking shortly before surgery is not associated with increased postoperative complications
A meta-analysis of nine previous studies found that quitting smoking shortly before surgery was not associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications, according to a report published online today that will appear in the July 11 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Stroke incidence higher among patients with certain type of retinal vascular disease
Patients with a disease known as retinal vein occlusion (RVO) have a significantly higher incidence of stroke when compared with persons who do not have RVO, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Heavy drinking not linked to common type of gullet cancer
Heavy drinking is not associated with one of the two most common types of gullet (oesophageal) cancer, suggests research published online in Gut.
Natural compounds: the future of anti-malarial treatment
In the run up to World Malaria Day on the 25th April 2011, BioMed Central's open access journal Malaria Journal takes a long hard look at the development of natural compounds for use in the fight against malaria.
Spanking 1-year-olds is common in depressed dads
Just like new moms, new fathers can be depressed, and a study found a surprising number of sad dads spanked their 1-year-olds.
Taking tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer can save lives and money
Tamoxifen, taken by certain women as a preventive measure against breast cancer, saves lives and reduces medical costs. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results suggest that the benefits of tamoxifen to prevent cancer can sufficiently compensate for its side effects in post-menopausal women under age 55 years who have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Scientists uncover a new understanding of male puberty
Scientists from Monash University have uncovered a new understanding of how male puberty begins.
Study provides insight into aging immune systems
A study featured on the cover of the March 15 Journal of Immunology is providing insight into why the elderly are so vulnerable to pneumonia and other bacterial infections.
Neuro signals study gives new insight into brain disorders
Research into how the brain transmits messages to other parts of the body could improve understanding of disorders such as epilepsy, dementia, multiple sclerosis and stroke.
Finns run for iodine after blasts at Japanese nuclear plant
Concerns about possible radiation from Japan's earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant sparked a weekend run on iodine tablets as far away as Finland, the country's largest pharmacy chain said Monday.
Is your child's hobby making him sick?
Research has shown that playing a musical instrument can help nourish, cultivate, and increase intelligence in children, but playing a used instrument also can pose a potentially dangerous health risk.
Study helps explain how pathogenic E. coli bacterium causes illness
Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have shown how the O157:H7 strain of Escherichia coli causes infection and thrives by manipulating the host immune response. The bacterium secretes a protein called NleH1 that directs the host immune enzyme IKK-beta to alter specific immune responses. This process not only helps the bacterium evade elimination by the immune system, it also works to prolong the survival of the infected host, enabling the bacterium to persist and ultimately spread to unaffected individuals. This finely balanced mechanism, observed in both laboratory and animal models, could be relevant to other pathogens involved in foodborne diseases.
Cervical cancer vaccine causing confusion
The public 'recruitment' campaign promoting the new cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil has done little to educate adolescent girls about the cause of the cancer, University of Sydney researchers Kellie Burns and Kate Russell have found.
Online sports betting has created new generation of problem gamblers
Alex Blaszczynski, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sydney, says there is a trend toward online sports betting which has altered the pattern of problem gambling presentations at the various University's Gambling Treatment Clinic.
Study identifies therapeutic target for liver cancer and predictive biomarker of response
In a research study appearing in the journal Cancer Cell on March 14, scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and four other institutions have identified a strategy for targeted molecular therapy in liver cancer, which currently has limited treatment options and one of the worst one-year survival rates of any cancer type. The researchers' experiments reveal that up to 15% of liver tumors are "driven" by the hyperactivity of a gene called FGF19, which is well known for its role in various normal biological processes such as cell growth and tissue repair. Shutting down the activity of this gene with an antibody inhibited tumor growth.
Key mutations act cooperatively to fuel aggressive brain tumor
Mutations in three pathways important for suppressing tumors cooperate to launch glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor that strikes children and adults. But new research from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists shows those changes alone are not sufficient to cause cancer. Tumor formation requires additional mutations, some affecting different points in the same disrupted regulatory pathways.
Why argue? Helping students see the point
Read the comments on any website and you may despair at Americans' inability to argue well. Thankfully, educators now name argumentive reasoning as one of the basics students should leave school with.
Study puts notch on the jagged edge of lung cancer metastasis
Researchers discovered a new, key component in the spread of lung cancer as well as a likely way to block it with drugs now in clinical trial. The study was published today (Monday, March 14) in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Surgical technique helps adult male survivors of childhood cancer regain fertility
A new study has shown that a surgical technique called microdissection testicular sperm extraction (TESE) can effectively locate and extract viable sperm in more than one-third of adult male childhood cancer survivors who were previously considered sterile due to prior chemotherapy treatment. As a result, many of the men were subsequently able to father children with the help of in vitro fertilization. The findings offer a new option for many cancer survivors who want to have children but were thought infertile because of earlier cancer treatment.
Novel strategies target health care-associated infections
Can probiotics prevent pneumonia in patients breathing with the help of ventilators? That's just one question researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis hope to answer as part of innovative new studies to reduce infections in health-care settings.
Collaborative care shown to be successful for patients with opioid addictions
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have found that for the majority of patients with opioid addiction, collaborative care with nurse care managers is a successful method of service delivery while effectively utilizing the time of physicians prescribing buprenorphine. The findings, which appear in the March 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, serve as a model of service delivery for facilitating access and improving outcomes in patients with opioid addiction.
Toxoplasmosis: The strain explains severity of infection
Providing clues into why the severity of a common parasitic infection can vary greatly from person to person, a new Johns Hopkins study shows that each one of three strains of the cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma gondii sets off a unique reaction in the nerve cells it invades.
Tumor metastasis with a twist
In the early stages of human embryogenesis, a transcription factor called Twist1 plays a key regulatory role in how the embryo assumes form and function. Much later in life, however, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, say Twist1 can re-emerge, taking a darker and more deadly turn.
Depression, age, other factors linked to dependence after stroke
People who have a stroke are more likely to be dependent if they are depressed, older or have other medical problems, according to a study published in the March 15, 2011, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Use of $4 generic drug programs could save society billions of dollars, study shows
If all eligible patients filled their prescriptions through a $4 generic drug program, the societal savings could amount to nearly $6 billion, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) study. Published in the March 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, the study is the first to evaluate the potential national savings from a broad use of discounted generic medication programs that are available at many retail stores' pharmacies.
Guided care reduces the use of health services by chronically ill older adults
A new report shows that older people who receive Guided Care, a new form of primary care, use fewer expensive health services compared to older people who receive regular primary care. Research published in the March 2011 edition of Archives of Internal Medicine found that after 20 months of a randomized controlled trial, Guided Care patients experienced, on average, 30 percent fewer home health care episodes, 21 percent fewer hospital readmissions, 16 percent fewer skilled nursing facility days, and 8 percent fewer skilled nursing facility admissions. Only the reduction in home health care episodes was statistically significant.
Research shows rapid adoption of newer, more expensive prostate cancer treatments
With 180,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, it is one of the most common types of cancer in the country. For this reason, it has been cited as a good marker for health care spending in general, reflective of the greater trends across the United States. New research from the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) shows that newer, more expensive treatment options for prostate cancer were adopted rapidly and widely during 2002 – 2005 without proof of their cost-effectiveness, and may offer explanations for why health care spending accounts for 17 percent of the nation's GDP. This research is published online March 14 and will appear in an upcoming print edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Antioxidants in pregnancy prevent obesity in animal offspring
New biological research may be relevant to the effects of a mother's high-fat diet during pregnancy on the development of obesity in her children.
Painkiller prescribing varies dramatically among family physicians: study
Some physicians are prescribing opioids such as OxyContin 55 times as often as others, according to a new study led by St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The study found most opioid-related deaths occur among patients treated by physicians who frequently prescribe opioids, suggesting doctors who prescribe a lot of opioids may not be doing so safely.
Vitamin D insufficiency high among patients with early Parkinson disease
Patients with a recent onset of Parkinson disease have a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency, but vitamin D concentrations do not appear to decline during the progression of the disease, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Omega-3 fatty acid intake linked with reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration in women
Regular consumption of fish and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish is associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing age-related macular degeneration in women, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the June issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.
Heavy drinking associated with increased risk of death from pancreatic cancer
Heavy alcohol consumption, specifically three or more glasses of liquor a day, is associated with an increased risk of death from pancreatic cancer, according to a report in the March 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Newer doesn't mean better when it comes to type 2 diabetes drugs
An inexpensive type 2 diabetes drug that has been around for more than 15 years works just as well and has fewer side effects than a half-dozen other, mostly newer and more expensive classes of medication used to control the chronic disease, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.
Some hospitals open ERs just for graying patients
(AP) -- Many hospitals run emergency rooms just for children. Now a few are opening ERs specially designed for seniors, without all the confusion and clamor and with a little more comfort.
Impact of a bad job on mental health as harmful as no job at all
The impact on mental health of a badly paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at all, indicates research published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
'Ivory wave' may be new legal high after 'miaow miaow' (mephedrone) ban
A new legal high has emerged that seems to be replacing the banned substance mephedrone or "miaow miaow", warns a critical care paramedic in Emergency Medicine Journal.
Osteopathy 'of no benefit' to children with cerebral palsy
Research commissioned by Cerebra, the charity that helps to improve the lives of children with brain conditions, and carried out by the Cerebra Research Unit (CRU) at the Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry, has found little evidence to suggest that cranial osteopathy is of benefit to children with cerebral palsy.
Lambs provide crucial link in understanding obesity
The research, published today in The Journal of Physiology, shows a definite link between maternal and offspring obesity and is the first demonstration that this is the case in mammals which bear 'mature offspring' – as humans do.
Research may lead to new and improved vaccines
Alum is an adjuvant (immune booster) used in many common vaccines, and Canadian researchers have now discovered how it works. The research by scientists from the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine is published in the March 13 online edition of Nature Medicine. The new findings will help the medical community produce more effective vaccines and may open the doors for creating new vaccines for diseases such as HIV or tuberculosis.
Judging couples' chemistry influenced by serotonin
(PhysOrg.com) -- The judgements we make about the intimacy of other couples’ relationships are influenced by the brain chemical serotonin, an Oxford University study has found.
Tumor suppressor blocks viral growth in natural HIV controllers
Elevated levels of p21, a protein best known as a cancer fighter, may be involved in the ability of a few individuals to control HIV infection with their immune system alone. In a paper in the April edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Infectious Disease Division and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard report that CD4 T cells from HIV controllers, while capable of being infected, can effectively suppress key aspects of the viral life cycle, an ability that may be associated with increased expression of the p21 protein. Preliminary results of this study were presented at the October 2010 Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting.
The impact of sex selection and abortion in China, India and South Korea
In the next 20 years in large parts of China and India, there will be a 10% to 20% excess of young men because of sex selection and this imbalance will have societal repercussions, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
Biology news
Tons of dead sardines scooped from Calif. harbor
(AP) -- Cleaning crews on Sunday finished removing millions of fish found floating dead in a Southern California marina, five days after the slimy, stinking mass of sardines was discovered.
Source of nutrients for ecosystem lost as coastal fisheries decline
A new study by researchers at the University of Georgia and Florida International University has found that the elimination of large marine predators through overfishing and habitat alteration removes a vital source of nutrients for coastal ecosystems.
Osteoblasts are bone idle without Frizzled-9
New research shows that the Wnt receptor Frizzled-9 (Fzd9) promotes bone formation, providing a potential new target for the treatment of osteoporosis. The study appears online on March 14 in The Journal of Cell Biology .
New research focuses on prion diseases
New research by Chongsuk Ryou, researcher at the UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics in the UK College of Medicine, may shed light on possible treatments for prion diseases.
Whales 'scared' by sonars, but scientist say its not just sonars that could cause problems
(PhysOrg.com) -- Beaked whales are frightened by sonars used to hunt for submarines, according to new research.
Orchid wears the scent of death
Sex and violence, or at least death, are the key to reproduction for the orchid Satyrium pumilum. Research led by Timotheüs van der Niet at the University of KwaZulu-Natal shows that the orchid lures flies into its flowers by mimicking the smell of rotting flesh. A new study comparing the scent of the orchids with that of roadkill is to be published in the Annals of Botany.
Organizing the slime mold
(PhysOrg.com) -- Cells at the tip of the slime mold's fruiting body organize into an epithelial layer and secrete proteins as do some animals cells.
Seedlings thrive with distant relatives, seeds with close family
A variety of plant seedlings suffer most from competition when planted with close relatives, and grow best when planted alongside distant relatives in field soils, researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of California, Davis, have found.
Seedless cherimoya, the next banana?
Mark Twain called it "the most delicious fruit known to man." But the cherimoya, or custard apple, and its close relations the sugar apple and soursop, also have lots of big, awkward seeds. Now new research by plant scientists in the United States and Spain could show how to make this and other fruits seedless.
Researchers map 'fly tree of life'
Calling it the "new periodic table for flies," researchers at North Carolina State University and collaborators across the globe have mapped the evolutionary history of flies, providing a framework for further comparative studies on the insects that comprise more than 10 percent of all life on Earth.
Rock-paper-scissors tournaments explain ecological diversity
According to classical ecology, when two species compete for the same resource, eventually the more successful species will win out while the other will go extinct. But that rule cannot explain systems such as the Amazon, where thousands of tree species occupy similar ecological niches.
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