A physical education program that brings commercial-grade fitness equipment to under-resourced schools, along with a curriculum based on boosting confidence and making participation more enjoyable, dramatically increases students' performance on California's standardized physical fitness test, a UCLA study has found. Publishing in the July issue of the Journal of Education and Training Studies, Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, a professor of urban planning and associate dean in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, reported that the UCLA Health Sound Body Sound Mind curriculum ...

Light becomes trapped as it orbits within tiny granules of a crystalline material that has increasingly intrigued physicists, a team led by University of California, San Diego, physics professor Michael Fogler has found. Hexagonal boron nitride, stacked layers of boron and nitrogen atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, has recently been found to bend electromagnetic energy in unusual and potentially useful ways. Last year Fogler and colleagues demonstrated that light could be stored within nanoscale granules of hexagonal boron nitride. Now Fogler's research group ...

Washington, DC, July 16, 2015 - Fewer than one in six (4/30) healthcare workers (HCW) followed all CDC recommendations for the removal of personal protective equipment (PPE) after patient care, according to a brief report published in the July issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). In this study undertaken by researchers from the University of Wisconsin, a trained observer watched healthcare personnel entering and exiting patient rooms specified as ...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Potentially fatal blood clots account for thousands of emergency room visits each year and often those patients are admitted to the hospital, treated with an injectable anticoagulant and monitored for a few days. In companion studies published July 15 in Academic Emergency Medicine, an alternative approach was found to be more effective, less costly and allowed patients to go home the same day. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine treated 106 low-risk patients diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism at two metropolitan ...

To arrange for an interview with a researcher, please contact the Communications staff member identified at the end of each tip. For more information on ORNL and its research and development activities, please refer to one of our media contacts. If you have a general media-related question or comment, you can send it to news@ornl.gov. ENERGY - Samsung savings ... Although variable refrigerant flow heat pumps are known to have advantages, higher initial costs and difficulty in quantifying those benefits serve as deterrents to their widespread use. ORNL's flexible research ...

A new report from the World Health Organisation urges the global community to accelerate action against rabies and other neglected zoonotic diseases. The WHO report - 'The Control of Neglected Zoonotic Diseases: from advocacy to action' - says rabies can be eliminated through existing knowledge and tools. It urges accelerated action by the global community. The study says that achieving a world free from dog-mediated human rabies in just 15 years is possible because of existing management tools - but only if there is increased investment. The Global Alliance for ...

Shooting a firearm requires coordinating many actions that depend upon core cognitive abilities, including the critical ability to stop just before pulling the trigger. People who have difficulty inhibiting responses are more likely to shoot unarmed civilians in simulated scenarios, but response inhibition training can help to reduce these shooting errors, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. "Our findings indicate that shooting abilities can be predicted, in part, by cognitive abilities, ...

A new pilot study in Parkinson's disease suggests a new era of clinical research which removes the barrier of distance for both scientists and volunteers. The research, which appears in the journal Digital Health, could also enable researchers to leverage the rapid growth in personal genetic testing to better diagnose, and potentially treat, a wide range of diseases. "These findings demonstrate that remote recruitment and conduct of research visits is feasible and well-received by participants," said Ray Dorsey, M.D., M.B.A., a neurologist at the University of Rochester ...

July 16, 2015 - Did you belong to community, sports, or other clubs in your teens? If so, you might be more likely to survive into your late seventies, suggests a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer. People who were club members at age 18 are at lower risk of death by age 78, according to the report by Ian Deary, PhD, and colleagues of University of Edinburgh. The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that social participation ...

Cannabis -- marijuana, hashish -- was used as a go-to medical remedy by societies around the world for centuries. But the therapeutic use of marijuana was banned in most countries in the 1930s and '40s due to a growing awareness of the dangers of addiction. The significant medical benefits of marijuana in alleviating symptoms of such diseases as Parkinson's, cancer, and multiple sclerosis have only recently been reinvestigated. A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research by Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University researchers explores another promising ...

Previously identified associations between TV viewing and a less healthful diet may stem from exposure to advertisements of high calorie foods and 'distracted eating' rather than the activity of sitting itself, although sitting time remains an independent risk factor requiring public health focus. These findings are according to a new study by American Cancer Society investigators conducted in collaboration with the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition and the University of Texas School of Public Health. For their study, published in Preventive Medicine, researchers examined ...

The following press release and accompanying images can be found at: http://news.agu.org/press-release/suns-activity-controls-greenland-temperatures/ Sun's activity controls Greenland temperatures AGU Contact: Leigh Cooper +1 (202) 777-7324 lcooper@agu.org WASHINGTON, D.C. - The sun's activity could be affecting a key ocean circulation mechanism that plays an important role in regulating Greenland's climate, according to a new study. The phenomenon could be partially responsible for cool temperatures the island experienced in the late 20th century and potentially ...

WASHINGTON -- A new multispectral microscope, one capable of processing nearly 17 billion pixels representing 13 individual color channels in a single image, has been successfully demonstrated by a team of researchers from the United States and Australia. This is the largest such microscopic image ever created. This level of multicolor detail is essential for studying the impact of experimental drugs on biological samples and is an important advancement over traditional microscope designs, which have fallen short when it comes to imaging large, spectrally diverse samples. ...

(Boston)--Having high blood pressure in your 50's may impact your ability to keep track or plan ahead in your 80's. This study reports a connection between high blood pressure at a younger age can affect cognition many years later. It currently appears in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Life expectancy is on the rise and people the age of 80 are the fastest growing demographic in the world. Several studies have demonstrated that high cardiovascular risk at midlife, particularly hypertension, is linked to subsequent increased risk of dementia. However, there is ...

A newly identified species of feathered dinosaur is the largest ever discovered to have a well-preserved set of bird-like wings, research suggests. Palaeontologists working in China unearthed the fossil remains of the winged dinosaur - a close cousin of Velociraptor, which was made famous by the Jurassic Park films. Researchers say its wings - which are very short compared with other dinosaurs in the same family - consisted of multiple layers of large feathers. They found that the species' feathers were complex structures made up of fine branches stemming from a central ...

July 16, 2015, Shenzhen, China--The CONVERGE Consortium identifies two robust genetic variants for major depressive disorder (MDD). The findings, published online today in Nature, help enhance our understandings of the genetic basis of MDD. The CONVERGE Consortium is comprised of international research organizations, including BGI, University of Oxford, Virginia Commonwealth University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, etc. Major depressive disorder, one of the most frequently encountered forms of mental illness and a leading cause ...

Scientists at VIB and KU Leuven have discovered that the protein APP plays a significant role in the development of fragile X syndrome (FXS) at young stages. They identified an unexpected biological pathway as a promising target to ameliorate deficits associated with FXS and autism. The results have recently been published in Neuron, one of the most influential journals in the field of neuroscience. FXS is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability worldwide, and the most frequent cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The syndrome is a consequence ...

uman-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to the atmosphere are projected to rise to up to 30 gigatonnes of carbon per year by 2100, assuming a "business-as-usual" scenario. As a result, global mean temperatures are projected to increase by almost five degrees Celsius. According to a team of scientists from the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science and GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, these changes might have the power to shift ...

To achieve public support for a transformation to a low carbon society, politicians would be advised to implement a quantity-based energy quota system, with a fixed and decreasing cap on total use, rather than relying on carbon pricing and taxation mechanisms, according to a new study. In a wide-ranging paper published in the Carbon Management journal, researchers from the Fleming Policy Centre - including Dr Victoria Hurth from Plymouth University - set out the potential of a policy framework termed Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs) for meeting the ambitious carbon emissions ...

The research carried out at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) in collaboration with scientists at the University of Otago in New Zealand, tested the effects of lithium chloride on cartilage and found that it slowed the degradation associated with osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis results in degradation of cartilage in joints leading to pain and immobility. It currently affects a third of over 45s in the UK and there are currently no treatments that can prevent it. The study used bovine cartilage samples exposed to inflammatory molecules to mimic the effects of arthritis ...

Rudeness in the workplace isn't just unpleasant: it's also contagious. Encountering rude behavior at work makes people more likely to perceive rudeness in later interactions, a University of Florida study shows. That perception makes them more likely to be impolite in return, spreading rudeness like a virus. "When you experience rudeness, it makes rudeness more noticeable," said lead author Trevor Foulk, a doctoral student in management at UF's Warrington College of Business Administration. "You'll see more rudeness even if it's not there." The findings, published ...

Amsterdam, July 16, 2015 - A tax on sugary drinks that depends on the number of calories or amount of sugar per liter could help fight obesity, suggests new research published in Social Science & Medicine. While a few countries are already trialing a tax on sugary drinks, taxing the dose would encourage drinks companies to offer low-calorie alternatives. Worldwide, an estimated 1.9 billion adults are overweight, and of these 600 million are obese. Obesity increases the risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes; in the US alone, obesity-related healthcare costs around $200 ...

Like most health professionals, David Olson has known for some time of the dangers posed by excessive stress. His latest research, though, is giving surprising new insight into how chronic stress in childhood can have an impact years after it occurred in women giving birth. "Chronic stress is one of the better predictors of preterm birth," says Olson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. "In fact, if women are exposed to two or more adverse childhood experiences while growing up, their risk of preterm ...

Air pollution from wildfires may increase risk of cardiac arrests, and other sudden acute heart problems, researchers have found. Lead author, Dr Anjali Haikerwal, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, said while breathing wildfire smoke was linked to respiratory problems such as asthma - evidence of an association between wildfire smoke exposure and heart problems has been inconsistent. In the new study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, researchers examined the association between exposure to tiny particulate ...

Researchers have discovered a new technique to enhance brain excitability that could improve physical performance in healthy individuals such as athletes and musicians. The technique could also improve treatments for neurological and neuropsychological conditions such as stroke, depression and chronic pain. The idea of stimulating different parts of the brain with electricity may sound futuristic, but these types of treatments have a remarkably long history. Early physicians and scientists such as Claudius Galen (the Roman physician) and Avicenna (the Persian physician) ...