PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Protect the world's deltas

Protect the world's deltas
2014-12-03
(Press-News.org) Extensive areas of the world's deltas -- which accommodate major cities such as Shanghai, Dhaka and Bangkok -- will be drowned in the next century by rising sea levels, according to a Comment piece in this week's Nature. In the article, Dr. Liviu Giosan, a geologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and colleagues call for maintenance efforts to be started now to avert the loss of vast expanses of coastline, and the consequent losses of ecological services, economic and social crises, and large-scale migrations. Problems start upstream: deltas are built from sediments deposited at the mouths of rivers, but dams and river engineering have lowered rates of sediment flow. The Nile and the Indus, for example, carry 98 percent and 94 percent less mud respectively than they did 100 years ago. At the coast, rising seas resulting from warmer global temperatures are eroding delta plains, increasing the chance of flooding. Coastal lands lower than a meter in elevation will be inundated within a century. Lack of quantitative knowledge of basic delta processes is hindering efforts to develop maintenance strategies for deltas, the authors say. The retention of sand and mud as well as the role of healthy marshes and vegetation in holding on to sediment and forming organic soils remains to be fully understood. Giosan and colleagues call for monitoring programs to be set up worldwide, coordinated and guided by United Nations committee of experts. River sediment flows must be restored, and natural land-building methods should be exploited in delta plains.

INFORMATION:


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Protect the world's deltas

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

'Wound response' of cancer stem cells may explain chemo-resistance in bladder cancer

2014-12-03
HOUSTON - (Dec. 3, 2014) - A novel mechanism - similar to how normal tissue stem cells respond to wounding - might explain why bladder cancer stem cells actively contribute to chemo-resistance after multiple cycles of chemotherapy drug treatment. Targeting this "wound response" of cancer stem cells can potentially provide a novel approach for therapeutic invention, said researchers from the National Cancer Institute-designated Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. The results of their study appear online in the journal Nature today. "Treatment ...

Solving a long-standing mystery, scientists identify principal protein sensor for touch

Solving a long-standing mystery, scientists identify principal protein sensor for touch
2014-12-03
LA JOLLA, CA--December 3, 2014--A team led by biologists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has solved a long-standing mystery in neuroscience by identifying the "mechanoreceptor" protein that mediates the sense of touch in mammals. Mice that lack the Piezo2 ion-channel protein in their skin cells and nerve endings lose nearly all their sensitivity to ordinary light touch, but retain a mostly normal sensitivity to painful mechanical stimuli. "We can say with certainty that Piezo2 is the principal touch sensor in mammals," said Ardem Patapoutian, professor at TSRI ...

Study set to shape medical genetics in Africa

2014-12-03
Researchers from the African Genome Variation Project (AGVP) have published the first attempt to comprehensively characterise genetic diversity across Sub-Saharan Africa. The study of the world's most genetically diverse region will provide an invaluable resource for medical researchers and provides insights into population movements over thousands of years of African history. These findings appear in the journal Nature. "Although many studies have focused on studying genetic risk factors for disease in European populations, this is an understudied area in Africa," says ...

Is a brace necessary for spinal fracture healing?

2014-12-03
ROSEMONT, Ill.--Compression fractures in the spine due to osteoporosis, a common condition causing progressive bone loss and increased fracture risk, are especially common in older women. A new study appearing in the December 3rd issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that patients who wore a brace as treatment for a spinal compression fracture had comparable outcomes in terms of pain, function and healing when compared to patients who did not wear a brace. Nearly 700,000 men and women suffer from a spinal compression fracture each year. These fractures, ...

Virginia Tech researchers connect sleep cycle, cancer incidence

2014-12-03
People who work around the clock could actually be setting themselves back, according to Virginia Tech biologists. Researchers found that a protein responsible for regulating the body's sleep cycle, or circadian rhythm, also protects the body from developing sporadic forms of cancers. "The protein, known as human period 2, has impaired function in the cell when environmental factors, including sleep cycle disruption, are altered," said Carla Finkielstein, an associate professor of biological sciences in the College of Science, Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate, ...

Commuting linked to lower life satisfaction

2014-12-03
The more time you spend getting to and from work, the less likely you are to be satisfied with life, says a new Waterloo study. Published in World Leisure Journal, the research reveals exactly why commuting is such a contentment killer--and surprisingly, traffic isn't the only reason to blame. "We found that the longer it takes someone to get to work, the lower their satisfaction with life in general," says Margo Hilbrecht, a professor in Applied Health Sciences and the associate director of research for the Canadian Index of Wellbeing. While commuting has long been ...

Check less to reduce email stress

2014-12-03
Is your inbox burning you out? Then take heart - research from the University of British Columbia suggests that easing up on email checking can help reduce psychological stress. Some of the study's 124 adults -- including students, financial analysts medical professionals and others -- were instructed to limit checking email to three times daily for a week. Others were told to check email as often as they could (which turned out to be about the same number of times that they normally checked their email prior to the study). These instructions were then reversed for ...

Geckos are sticky without effort

Geckos are sticky without effort
2014-12-03
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Geckos, found in places with warm climates, have fascinated people for hundreds of years. Scientists have been especially intrigued by these lizards, and have studied a variety of features such as the adhesive toe pads on the underside of gecko feet with which geckos attach to surfaces with remarkable strength. One unanswered question that has captivated researchers is: Is the strength of this adhesion determined by the gecko or is it somehow intrinsic to the adhesive system? In other words, is this adhesion a result of the entire animal initiating ...

Low-grade waste heat regenerates ammonia battery

Low-grade waste heat regenerates ammonia battery
2014-12-03
An efficient method to harvest low-grade waste heat as electricity may be possible using reversible ammonia batteries, according to Penn State engineers. "The use of waste heat for power production would allow additional electricity generation without any added consumption of fossil fuels," said Bruce E. Logan, Evan Pugh Professor and Kappe Professor of Environmental Engineering. "Thermally regenerative batteries are a carbon-neutral way to store and convert waste heat into electricity with potentially lower cost than solid-state devices." Low-grade waste heat is an ...

Are there safe and effective treatments for hereditary angioedema in children?

Are there safe and effective treatments for hereditary angioedema in children?
2014-12-03
New Rochelle, NY, December 3, 2014--Hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare genetic disease that causes recurrent swelling under the skin and of the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract and upper airway, usually first appears before 20 years of age. A comprehensive review of the therapies currently available to treat HAE in adults shows that some of these treatments are also safe and effective for use in older children and adolescents. Current and potential future therapies are discussed in a Review article in a special issue of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Tests to detect marijuana-impaired driving based on ‘pseudoscience’

Pigments that can do more

How to refocus in the age of distraction

The rise of 'artificial historians': AI as humanity’s record-keeper

Older paternal age linked to higher miscarriage risk and lower live birth rates in donor egg IVF cycles, new study finds

New study provides breakthrough in pig-to-human kidney transplantation

Gut bacteria and amino acid imbalance linked to higher miscarriage risk in women with PCOS

Simple blood test detects preeclampsia risk months before symptoms appear, new study shows

3D printing breakthrough: Scientists create functional human islets for type 1 diabetes treatment

Malnutrition in children rises when economy drops

New model enables the study of how protein complex influences mitochondrial function

Device study offers hopes for spinal cord injuries

How urea forms spontaneously

Mayo Clinic’s AI tool identifies 9 dementia types, including Alzheimer’s, with one scan

Gene therapy improves blood flow in the brain in patients with sickle cell disease

Building breast tissue in the lab to better understand lactation

How gut bacteria change after exposure to pesticides

Timepoint at which developing B-cells become cancerous impacts leukemia treatment

Roberto Morandotti wins prestigious IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award 

New urine-based tumor DNA test may help personalize bladder cancer treatment

How a faulty transport protein in the brain can trigger severe epilepsy

Study reveals uneven land sinking across New Orleans, raising flood-risk concerns

Researchers uncover novel mechanism for regulating ribosome biogenesis during brain development

RNA codon expansion via programmable pseudouridine editing and decoding

Post-diagnosis emergency department presentation and demographic factors in malignant skin cancers

A new genetic tuner for embryo development

Insurance churn and the COVID-19 pandemic

Postpartum Medicaid use in birthing parents and access to financed care

Manufacturing chemicals via orthogonal strategy, making full use of waste plastic resources in real life

Study overturns long-held belief about shape of fish schools

[Press-News.org] Protect the world's deltas