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November 2012 story tips

2012-11-06
(Press-News.org) ENVIRONMENT – Ozone affecting watersheds . . .

U.S. Forest Service and Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have found that rising levels of ozone may amplify the impacts of higher temperatures and reduce streamflow from forests to rivers, streams and other water bodies. Such effects could potentially reduce water supplies available to support forest ecosystems and people in the southeastern United States. Using data on atmospheric water supply and demand and statistical models, researchers with the Forest Service and ORNL were able to show what effects ozone, categorized as a greenhouse gas, can have on stream flow in dry seasons. The study was published in the November issue of the journal Global Change Biology. [Contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]

CLIMATE – Advancing modeling . . .

A committee formed by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council has released a report of recommendations to accelerate climate modeling to learn more about climate's regional ramifications and future effects. Suggestions include adopting a common software infrastructure to make modeling more efficient. Oak Ridge National Laboratory's James Hack was a member of the 15-person committee. He was chosen because he is a former climate model developer, head of the Oak Ridge Climate Change Science Institute and director of the ORNL National Center for Computational Sciences, which houses the Titan supercomputer. [Written by Leah Moore; media contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov] [Contact: Leah Moore; 865-576-6448; mooreln@ornl.gov]

ENERGY – Research homes on market . . .

When four of the nation's most energy-efficient houses are sold, the new homeowners can opt to allow the research project to continue, providing additional data that could make houses of tomorrow even better. This would also enable researchers to compare simulated occupant effect on energy use with actual occupancy. Over the last three years, the Wolf Creek subdivision houses in Oak Ridge used less than half the electricity of the average new house of the same size. Making these savings possible were new heat pump water heater and geothermal integrated heat pump technologies, high-efficiency appliances, new envelope techniques and other energy-saving strategies. The ZEBRAlliance houses were designed and built by a team comprised of Schaad Companies, BarberMcMurry Architecture, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority, the Department of Energy and industry partners. [Contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]

ETHANOL – Unexpected test results . . .

Ethanol blends of 10 to 25 percent could potentially have more fuel pump compatibility issues than higher blends, according to a study conducted by a team led by Mike Kass of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Fuels and Engines Research Group. "Many scientists had thought that higher ethanol blends – especially those exceeding 50 percent – would have the poorest properties, but that doesn't' appear to be the case," Kass said. The study focused on potential corrosion and other issues with polymers common to fueling infrastructure components. From a broader perspective, Kass noted that this study will help reduce the chance that underground tanks will leak, thereby helping to protect the environment. The study was also used to develop retrofit kits for gasoline dispensers. It did not examine engines or directly test engine fuel components. [Contact: Ron Walli, (865) 576-0226; wallira@ornl.gov]

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2012-11-06
(Toronto – Nov. 4, 2012) – An international, clinical research trial has shown that patients with diabetes whose multi-vessel coronary artery disease is treated with bypass surgery live longer and are less likely to suffer severe complications like heart attacks than those who undergo angioplasty. The findings are published online today in The New England Journal of Medicine (10.1056/NEJMoa1211585). The study – co-led by researchers at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital and Toronto's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network (UHN) – is known as the FREEDOM trial. "We've ...

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LA JOLLA, Calif. – New findings from a 15-year series of studies led by care providers at Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute reveal that culturally tailored community-created programs are effective at reducing health-related costs and delivering higher quality care. Results from "Community-Created Programs: Can They Be the Basis of Innovative Transformations in Our Health Care Practice?" were published in the fall issue of Clinical Diabetes, and also posted on its website. The journal article discusses the results of a series of studies involving approximately 18,000 ...

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After a natural disaster occurs, we often find ourselves glued to the TV, seeking out details about the extent of the damage and efforts at recovery. While research has shown that exposure to this kind of coverage is associated with symptoms of traumatic stress in youths, new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, suggests that the relationship isn't quite so simple. The new study finds that while the amount of exposure to disaster coverage matters, children's preexisting symptoms of posttraumatic stress also ...

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Administering to patients stem cells derived from their own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health. The results of the trial, called Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (TIME), mirror a previous, related study, LateTIME, which found that such cells (called autologous stem cells) given two to three weeks after a heart attack did not improve heart function. Both TIME and LateTIME were conducted by ...

Drought in 2001-2002 fueled Rocky Mountain pine beetle outbreak

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2012-11-06
Results of a new study show that episodes of reduced precipitation in the Southern Rocky Mountains, especially during the 2001-2002 drought, greatly accelerated a rise in numbers of mountain pine beetles. The overabundance is a threat to regional forests. The research is the first to chart the evolution of the current pine beetle epidemic in the southern Rocky Mountains. It compared patterns of beetle outbreaks in the two primary host species, the ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine, said University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder) researcher Teresa Chapman. A paper ...

Controlling vascular disease may be key to reducing prevalence of Alzheimer's disease

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Amsterdam, NL, November 5, 2012 – Over the last 15 years, researchers have found a significant association between vascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes type 2, hyperlipidemia, and heart disease and an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. In a special issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, leading experts provide a comprehensive overview of the pathological, biochemical, and physiological processes that contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk and ways that may delay or reverse these age-related abnormalities. "Vascular risk factors ...

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Stirred not mixed: How seawater turbulence affects marine food webs
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New research shows that ocean turbulence directly affects the ability of microscopic marine organisms to recycle organic material back into the food web. Results of the study are published in this week's issue of the journal Science. Scientists John Taylor of Cambridge University and Roman Stocker at MIT found that there's a relationship between the natural movement of water in the ocean and the ability of marine bacteria to act as recyclers. "The research provides a unique insight into how small organisms, such as bacteria, interact with their environment," says ...

Researchers discover how underground rodent wards off cancer

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Biologists at the University of Rochester have determined how blind mole rats fight off cancer—and the mechanism differs from what they discovered three years ago in another long-lived and cancer-resistant mole rat species, the naked mole rat. The team of researchers, led by Professor Vera Gorbunova and Assistant Professor Andrei Seluanov, found that abnormally growing cells in blind mole rats secrete the interferon beta protein, which causes those cells to rapidly die. Seluanov and Gorbunova hope the discovery will eventually help lead to new cancer therapies in humans. ...

Researchers create laser the size of a virus particle

2012-11-06
A Northwestern University research team has found a way to manufacture single laser devices that are the size of a virus particle and that operate at room temperature. These plasmonic nanolasers could be readily integrated into silicon-based photonic devices, all-optical circuits and nanoscale biosensors. Reducing the size of photonic and electronic elements is critical for ultra-fast data processing and ultra-dense information storage. The miniaturization of a key, workhorse instrument -- the laser -- is no exception. The results are published in the journal Nano Letters. "Coherent ...

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[Press-News.org] November 2012 story tips