The studies below will be presented at the American College of Cardiology's 64th Annual Scientific Session on Monday, March 16. 1. New Insights on Endurance Sports and Atrial Fibrillation Previous studies have suggested endurance athletes may face a slightly higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a condition in which the heartbeat becomes irregular or rapid. A new study shows that among runners, the total number of years a person has been running is the factor most closely associated with atrial fibrillation risk, as compared to other measures of running behavior ...

To pack two meters of DNA into a microscopic cell, the string of genetic information must be wound extremely carefully into chromosomes. Surprisingly the DNA's sequence causes it to be coiled and uncoiled much like a yoyo, scientists reported in Cell. "We discovered this interesting physics of DNA that its sequence determines the flexibility and thus the stability of the DNA package inside the cell," said Gutgsell Professor of Physics Taekjip Ha, who is a member of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois. "This is actually very elementary ...

Mayo Clinic research finds direct evidence of gadolinium deposition in neuronal tissues following intravenous administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents used in MRI exams. The findings were recently published online in the journal Radiology. In this study, Mayo Clinic identified patients who donated their body to medical research and had undergone multiple gadolinium contrast-enhanced MRI exams during their lifetime. Brain tissue samples from these patients were then compared to donors who had never received a gadolinium contrast agent. The patients exposed to ...

DURHAM, N.C. -- The warm soft folds of the intestines are teeming with thousands of species of bacteria. Collectively known as the gut microbiome, these microbes help break down food, synthesize vitamins, regulate weight and resist infection. If they're so key to health, what factors shape an individual's gut microbial makeup? Previous studies have pointed to the food we eat, the drugs we take, genetics, even our house dust. Now, a new study in baboons suggests that relationships may play a role, too. The researchers studied social interactions, eating habits and ...

The global human population is growing faster than the water supply. Investigators recently analyzed various models and trends to assess both optimistic and pessimistic projections of future water use and shortages. "Historically, water supply has grown through alternating periods of rapid growth and stagnation, and we now seem to be entering a new period of stagnation while the population continues to grow," said Dr. Anthony Parolari, lead author of the WIREs Water article. "To avoid water scarcity from this point forward, the alternatives include further water supply ...

Human babies appear to need more of a nutritional boost from breast-milk proteins than do infants of one of their closest primate relatives, suggests a study comparing human milk with the milk of rhesus macaque monkeys. The research team, led by the University of California, Davis, came to this conclusion after developing a new technique for comparing the proteome -- all detectable proteins -- of human milk with the proteome of the rhesus macaque monkey. The researchers expect the findings will provide a better understanding of human breast-milk composition and identify ...

A new study highlights the complicated spillover effects of incarceration on the quality of relationships. Although paternal incarceration in the past 2 years was mostly inconsequential for fathers' reports of relationship quality, mothers connected to these recently incarcerated men reported lower overall relationship quality, lower supportiveness, and greater physical abuse. Surprisingly, current paternal incarceration was positively associated with some indicators of relationship quality. "The fact that current and recent paternal incarceration have countervailing ...

MAYWOOD, Ill. (March 16, 20125) - Minimally invasive surgery can prevent a fatal rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. And now a new study has found the procedure can extend lives even in patients who are at high risk for surgery due to such risk factors such as advanced age, diabetes, smoking and kidney disease. However, not all high-risk patients - especially those undergoing cancer treatment -- benefit, the study found. The decision on whether to perform the procedure "should be individualized, depending on the number and severity of risk factors," reported corresponding ...

Improving the efficiency by which crops use water is a critical priority for regions facing increased drought or diminished groundwater resources. Now researchers have found that this can be achieved by genetically altering plants' stomata, the tiny openings on the leaf surface through which carbon dioxide is absorbed and water evaporates. "We now have genetic tools to pre-adapt crops to future, drier climates. The goal here is to maintain or improve productivity with less water," said Dr. Peter Franks, lead author of the New Phytologist study. INFORMATION: ...

EVANSTON, Ill. --- A Northwestern University-led study in the emerging field of nanocytology could one day help men make better decisions about whether or not to undergo aggressive prostate cancer treatments. Technology developed by Northwestern University researchers may help solve that quandary by allowing physicians to identify which nascent cancers are likely to escalate into potentially life-threatening malignancies and which ones will remain "indolent," or non-aggressive. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test was once the recommended screening tool for detecting ...

A new study led by Elizabeth Archie, Clare Boothe Luce Asistant Professor of Biology at the University of Notre Dame, has found that social interactions have direct effects on the gut microbiome. Archie points out that most, if not all, animals have a gut microbiome -- an incredibly diverse "rainforest" of bacteria that lives in the intestine and helps animals digest food, make vitamins and fight disease. The new study revealed that baboons that had closer social bonds had more similar gut bacteria than animals with weaker social ties. "In the last few years, scientists ...

The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Nathan east of the Queensland coast on March 16 at 0:00 UTC. The image showed a rounded circulation with bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the center of circulation. At 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Tropical cyclone Nathan's maximum sustained winds were near 55 knots (63.2 mph/102 kph) and the storm was consolidating and organizing. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) forecasters expect Nathan to strengthen to 70 knots in two days. Nathan was centered near 14.3 south latitude ...

New research highlights the capability of reversible shape-memory polymers to change their shape when heated to body temperature and then switch back to their original shape when cooled to room temperature. The technology could have applications in temperature intervals relevant for biomedical applications--for example, devices for external short-term applications such as bandages or temporary fixation parts, where the product would be activated upon exposure to human body temperature. The technology could also be used for home-care products to support the daily life ...

What lies beneath growing islands of graphene is important to its properties, according to a new study led by Rice University. Scientists at Rice analyzed patterns of graphene - a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon - grown in a furnace via chemical vapor deposition. They discovered that the geometric relationship between graphene and the substrate, the underlying material on which carbon assembles atom by atom, determines how the island shapes emerge. The study led by Rice theoretical physicist Boris Yakobson and postdoctoral researcher Vasilii Artyukhov shows how the ...

New treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be highly effective but are associated with substantial costs that may compel clinicians and patients to consider delaying treatment. However, a new study shows that immediate treatment of HCV-infected patients with moderate or advanced liver scarring is cost-effective. Immediate treatment of patients with minimal or no scarring can be cost-effective as well, particularly when lower treatment costs are assumed. "The devastating effects of hepatitis C continue to threaten the health of many Americans, with baby boomers at ...

Heidelberg, 16 March 2015 - A new approach for studying the behaviour of proteins in living cells has been developed by an interdisciplinary team of biologists and physicists in the Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, the Ellenberg Laboratory and the Advanced Light Microscopy Facility at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg. Described in a new study, published today in Nature Biotechnology, the approach allows scientists for the first time to follow the protein networks that drive a biological process in real time. Which proteins interact with each ...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., March 16, 2015--Two reports from Los Alamos National Laboratory this week in the Nature journal Scientific Reports are helping crack the code of how certain materials respond in the highly-damaging radiation environments within a nuclear reactor. The goal of these efforts is to understand at an atomistic level just how materials develop defects during irradiation, and how those defects evolve to determine the ultimate fate of the material. "The new insights provided by these studies will aid in both predicting and designing materials for improved performance ...

A new study has found a strong link between prolonged work at the World Trade Center (WTC) site following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the development of various autoimmune diseases including arthritis and lupus. The risk of developing an autoimmune disease over the next decade increased by about 13% for each month worked at the site. Investigators estimate that individuals worked 10 months at the site were more than 3-times as likely to develop an autoimmune disease than those who worked there for 1 month. "We believe that this is the first study ...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is characterized by a state of inflammation. A new Respirology study has identified certain inflammatory markers that can be used to predict which patients are at the highest risk of dying prematurely. In a national sample of 1144 US adults who were followed from 1988 to 2006, those with obstructive lung function had higher levels of white blood cell count and fibrinogen as well as a higher percentage of elevated C-reactive protein than participants with normal lung function. White blood cell count and concentrations of ...

Research suggests that the ratio of the lengths of the index finger and the ring finger in males may be predictive of a variety of disorders related to disturbed hormonal balance. When the index finger is shorter than the ring finger, this results in a small 2D:4D ratio, pointing to a high exposure to testosterone in the uterus. In a new study of 103 male patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 100 matched healthy male individuals, investigators found that the 2D:4D ratio may be an effective predictor of schizophrenia--there were significant differences between schizophrenia ...

Heterothermy, the ability of some animals to lower their metabolism and body temperature, is traditionally seen as an effective adaptation to predictable seasonal bottlenecks of unproductive cold periods. A new review suggests that the use of heterothermy may have been used as a response to acute emergency situations in animals that colonized Madagascar. Land mammals from Africa may have colonized Madagascar by rafting on drifting vegetation, and heterothermy may have facilitated survival on rafts and after colonization. Furthermore, delayed childbirth and prolonged sperm ...

In a study of 171 women, those who obtained more sleep on a given night experienced greater sexual desire the next day. Reflecting sleep's impact on sexual desire, each additional hour of sleep increased the likelihood of sexual activity with a partner by 14%. Sleep was also important for genital arousal, such that women who slept longer on average experienced fewer problems with vaginal arousal than women who obtained less sleep. "The influence of sleep on sexual desire and arousal has received little attention in the field, but these findings indicate that insufficient ...

Some children and adults are allergic to nickel and develop rashes when they come in contact with it. They also may react to foods--including peanuts, chocolate, oats, and processed American cheese--that contain a significant amount of nickel. A new Pediatric Dermatology study presents 4 clinical cases of hypersensitivity in children due to chocolate consumption at Easter. They all developed dermatitis flares approximately 48 to 96 hours after the holiday and admitted to binging on chocolate during their Easter Egg hunts. INFORMATION: ...

MAYWOOD, Ill. (March 16, 2015) - A minimally invasive spinal fusion back surgery results in less blood loss, less postoperative pain, smaller incisions, a shorter hospital stay and faster recovery and return to work. Rather than cutting through paraspinal (back) muscles, the surgeon spreads and dilates the muscles to obtain access to the lumbar (lower back) spine. One such operation is called a minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS TLIF). It's a complex procedure with a steep learning curve, said Loyola University Medical Center spine surgeon ...

Researchers have identified genes that may be involved in determining whether an individual is sensitive or resistant to rabies virus infection. Through a screening method involving mouse embryonic stem cells, the investigators uncovered 63 genes, some with roles in the immune response, that represent potential targets for prevention or treatment. The wide variety of functions of the genes that were identified points to numerous interactions between the host and the virus at all stages of infection. "Our study is the first to show that libraries of mutant stem cells ...