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Science19 Jun 2015

Study shows global warming is unlikely to reduce winter deaths

A study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health debunks the assumption that global warming will lead to a decline in the number of deaths in winter. Findings by Professor Patrick Kinney, ScD, professor of Environmental Health Sciences and director of the School's Climate and Health Program, showed that a warming climate trend led to much smaller reductions in cold-related mortality than some experts have anticipated. Among 39 cities in the U.S. and France, there was no evidence that cities having warming temperatures experienced any less ...

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Science19 Jun 2015

Increased anxiety associated with sitting down

Low energy activities that involve sitting down are associated with an increased risk of anxiety, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. These activities, which include watching TV, working at a computer or playing electronic games, are called sedentary behavior. Further understanding of these behaviors and how they may be linked to anxiety could help in developing strategies to deal with this mental health problem. Many studies have shown that sedentary behavior is associated with physical health problems like obesity, heart disease, ...

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Science19 Jun 2015

Racehorses at risk from misuse of cobalt, new study finds

In a new study published today in The Veterinary Journal, scientists from the University of Surrey warn about the numerous risks posed to racehorses from the misuse of cobalt chloride, a banned performance-enhancing agent that has been used illegally by trainers in Australia and USA. The team of researchers have uncovered that when excessive levels of the alleged performance-enhancing substance are administered to a horse, it can cause serious cardiovascular issues, potential nerve problems, thickening of the blood and thyroid toxicity. The researchers also pointed to ...

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Environment19 Jun 2015

Climate change won't reduce winter deaths

In a study that contradicts the received wisdom on health impacts of climate change, scientists say that we shouldn't expect substantial reduction in winter deaths as a result of global warming. This new research is published today (Friday 19 June) in IOP Publishing's Environmental Research Letters journal. The research team was led by Professor Patrick Kinney of Columbia University in the USA. Professor Kinney said "As Dr Margaret Chan told delegates at the recent World Health Assembly, we need to know the potential impacts of climate change on health so that we can ...

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Medicine19 Jun 2015

Doctors often misdiagnose zinc deficiency, and unaware of impact of excess zinc

Doctors often misdiagnose zinc deficiency, and seem to be unaware of the impact of excess zinc on the body, shows a small audit of clinical practice, published online in the Journal of Clinical Pathology. Too much zinc, taken in the form of dietary supplements, may disrupt copper uptake, leading to neurological problems and anaemia, the evidence indicates. Zinc is an essential trace element that is required in daily quantities of 5.5 to 9.5 mg for men, and 4 to 7 mg for women. But zinc supplements are usually only available in formulations of 45 or 50 mg. The US recommended ...

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Science19 Jun 2015

Inclusion of experimenters in e-cigarette prevalence studies of 'questionable' value

The inclusion of experimenters -- who are unlikely to become habitual users -- in e-cigarette prevalence studies is of 'questionable' value for monitoring population public health trends, finds research published online in the journal Tobacco Control. Setting the threshold at a minimum of use on six out of the past 30 days would eliminate many of those who are motivated primarily by curiosity and unlikely to become regular users. And it would provide a more accurate picture of use, say the researchers. There is no uniform definition for current users of e-cigarettes. ...

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Medicine18 Jun 2015

Tubal ligation may improve the prognosis of endometrial cancer later in life

Endometrial cancer (EC) can spread by several routes, including the lymph system, blood vessels, through the uterine wall, as well as through the fallopian tubes into the peritoneal cavity, but the association of transtubal dissemination of EC with cancer stage, histological type, and mortality is unknown. However, according to a study published June 18 in the JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, women who have undergone a tubal ligation (TL) and develop more aggressive types of EC may have lower mortality. The authors postulate that women who have had TL have ...

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Science18 Jun 2015

State stroke legislation increases US primary stroke centers

DALLAS, June 18 -- Individual state stroke legislation plays a compelling role in certifying primary stroke centers and improving availability and accessibility of care to acute stroke patients, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke. A hospital that has been certified as a Primary Stroke Center (PSC) has met specific standards for delivering prompt stroke care. To be eligible, hospitals must meet several criteria, including setting up a dedicated stroke-focused program staffed by medical professionals trained in stroke care. Researchers ...

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Medicine18 Jun 2015

Evidence from ivory DNA identifies two main elephant poaching hotspots

University of Washington biologist Samuel Wasser is a pioneer in using DNA evidence to trace the origin of illegal ivory and help police an international trade that is decimating African elephant populations. The broadest application yet uses DNA from tons of ivory samples associated with large-scale trafficking. Results show that over the past decade, ivory has largely come from just two areas in Africa -- one each for the forest and savanna elephants. The findings are published June 18 in the journal Science. 'Africa is a huge continent, and poaching is occurring ...

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Medicine18 Jun 2015

DNA from illegal ivory points to poaching hotspots in Africa

This news release is available in Japanese. New genetic tools are helping researchers to trace illegal ivory back to the elephant populations from which it came, and they might help law enforcement crack down on poaching in the future. Elephant poaching is happening at rates that threaten African populations with extinction. After analyzing 28 ivory seizures made between 1996 and 2014 -- each of them containing half a ton of tusks or more -- Samuel Wasser and colleagues suggest that the illegal ivory trade has been fueled primarily by two poaching hotspots in Africa ...

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Science18 Jun 2015

Baboons decide where to go together

This news release is available in Japanese. Researchers have found evidence of shared decision-making among a troop of wild baboons, providing insight into how animals that live in socially complex, hierarchical societies reach consensus on decisions that affect the entire group. Until now, researchers had wondered if animals with clear hierarchies, such as primates or wolves, use democracy to reach a consensus -- or if their decisions are governed by dominant leaders. It's been difficult to study this, however, because recording the behavior of many individuals simultaneously ...

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Environment18 Jun 2015

Wastewater injection rate strongest trigger for induced quakes

This news release is available in Japanese. A new study aiming to provide a better understanding of how injection wells in the U.S. influence earthquake activity cites wastewater injection rate as a critical factor. In the study, the highest-rate wastewater disposal wells analyzed were nearly twice as likely to be associated with earthquake events compared to their lower-rate counterparts. Earthquakes can be induced by industrial processes, a fact established decades ago. Since 2009, when seismicity in the U.S. midcontinent began to surge, earthquakes induced by the underground ...

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Energy18 Jun 2015

Opening the doors to Iran's nuclear program

This news release is available in Japanese. Opening Iran's national uranium enrichment plant to multinational involvement could limit the long-term risks of Iran's nuclear program as restrictions on it expire, according to this Policy Forum. In July, Iran is expected to sign an agreement restricting its nuclear program, but also affirming its right to pursue uranium enrichment as those restrictions end in 2025 and beyond. Authors Alexander Glaser, Zia Mian, and Frank von Hippel suggest that selling shares of Iran's uranium enrichment plant to other countries could help ...

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Energy18 Jun 2015

After the deal: Partnerships with Iran could reduce long-term nuclear risks

PRINCETON, N.J.--Within the next two weeks, or soon after, the United States and five world powers hope to finalize a nuclear deal with Iran to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for a relaxing of international economic and financial sanctions. But what happens in 10 years when some of the key restrictions being discussed begin to phase out? One of the biggest concerns is Iran's uranium enrichment program, which uses high-speed centrifuges to produce uranium enriched to a level appropriate for nuclear power reactor fuel. Enrichment plants like this can be quickly ...

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Science18 Jun 2015

Not like riding a bike: New motor memories need stabilizing

Well-practiced motor skills like riding a bike are extremely stable memories that can be effortlessly recalled after years or decades. In contrast, a new study publishing in PLOS Computational Biology shows that changes to motor skill memories occurring over the course of a single practice session are not immediately stable, according to researchers Andrew Brennan and Maurice Smith of Harvard University School of Engineering and Applied Science and Center for Brain Science. We're all familiar with the old saying that you never forget how to ride a bike and perhaps personally ...

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Science18 Jun 2015

Safeguarding against chlamydia

Chlamydia trachomatis is a formidable foe. It's the most common sexually transmitted pathogen, infecting more than 100 million people each year. In the developing world, chlamydial infection is the leading cause of preventable blindness. Around the world, it ranks as the number one cause of infertility and ectopic pregnancy. Chlamydial infection ignites chronic inflammation, which scars mucosal surfaces such as eyelids, ovaries or fallopian tubes. Most people who carry the bacterium don't know it. Women with chlamydia are much more vulnerable to other sexually transmitted ...

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Medicine18 Jun 2015

How flu viruses use transportation networks in the US

To predict how a seasonal influenza epidemic will spread across the United States, one should focus more on the mobility of people than on their geographic proximity, a new study suggests. PLOS Pathogens published the analysis of transportation data and flu cases conducted by Emory University biologists. Their results mark the first time genetic patterns for the spread of flu have been detected at the scale of the continental United States. "We found that the spread of a flu epidemic is somewhat predictable by looking at transportation data, especially ground commuter ...

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Social Science18 Jun 2015

Baboon study reveals surprises, breaks ground in tracking behavior

Baboons live in a strongly hierarchical society, but the big guys don't make all the decisions. A new study from the University of California, Davis, reveals -- through GPS tracking -- that animals living in complex, stratified societies make some decisions democratically. The study breaks ground in how animal behavior data is collected. The study is being published Friday (June 19) in Science. "It's not necessarily the biggest alpha males that influence where groups go," said co-author Meg Crofoot, assistant professor of anthropology at UC Davis. "Our results illustrate ...

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Science18 Jun 2015

Kennewick Man closely related to Native Americans, geneticists say

DNA from the 8,500-year-old skeleton of an adult man found in 1996, in Washington, is more closely related to Native American populations than to any other population in the world, according to an international collaborative study conducted by scientists at the University of Copenhagen and the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding challenges a 2014 study that concluded, based on anatomical data, that Kennewick Man was more related to indigenous Japanese or Polynesian peoples than to Native Americans. The study is likely to reignite a long-standing legal ...

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Space18 Jun 2015

NASA provides many views of Tropical Depression Bill

NASA provided four different views of Tropical Depression Bill as it continued traveling through the south-central U.S. and into the Ohio Valley. NASA's Aqua and Terra satellite provided infrared and visible imagery while NASA/NOAA's GOES Project animated NOAA's GOES-East satellite imagery to show the storm's progression since landfall. The Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core satellite also showed rainfall estimates and locations. On June 18, the National Weather Service, Weather Prediction Center (NWS/WPC) noted that flood and flash flood watches and warnings ...

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Science18 Jun 2015

Lefties are all right with kangaroos

Kangaroos prefer to use one of their hands over the other for everyday tasks in much the same way that humans do, with one notable difference: generally speaking, kangaroos are lefties. The finding, reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on June 18--the first to consider handedness in wild kangaroos--challenges the notion that "true" handedness among mammals is a feature unique to primates. "According to a special-assessment scale of handedness adopted for primates, kangaroos pulled down the highest grades," says Yegor Malashichev of Saint Petersburg State ...

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Medicine18 Jun 2015

A single gene turns colorectal cancer cells back into normal tissue in mice

Anti-cancer strategies generally involve killing off tumor cells. However, cancer cells may instead be coaxed to turn back into normal tissue simply by reactivating a single gene, according to a study published June 18th in the journal Cell. Researchers found that restoring normal levels of a human colorectal cancer gene in mice stopped tumor growth and re-established normal intestinal function within only 4 days. Remarkably, tumors were eliminated within 2 weeks, and signs of cancer were prevented months later. The findings provide proof of principle that restoring the ...

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Medicine18 Jun 2015

Drug approved to treat osteoporosis shows promise in pre-clinical diabetes research

American scientists have discovered that a drug commonly used to treat osteoporosis in humans also stimulates the production of cells that control insulin balance in diabetic mice. While other compounds have been shown to have this effect, the drug (Denosumab) is already FDA approved and could more quickly move to clinical trials as a diabetes treatment. The research is published June 18 in Cell Metabolism. Diabetes is a major health issue worldwide that arises due to a deficiency of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. In type 1 diabetes, beta cells die from ...

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Medicine18 Jun 2015

Genomic discovery of skin cancer subtypes provides potential 'signpost' for drug targets

Cutaneous melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, is now believed to be divided into four distinct genomic subtypes, say researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, a finding that could prove valuable in the ever-increasing pursuit of personalized medicine. As part of The Cancer Genome Atlas, researchers identified four melanoma subtypes: BRAF, RAS, NF1 and Triple-WT, which were defined by presence or absence of mutations from analysis of samples obtained from 331 patients. The five-year study resulted from an international collaboration of ...

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Science18 Jun 2015

New sleep genes found

PHILADELPHIA -- Most of us need seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function well, but some people seem to need a lot less sleep. The difference is largely due to genetic variability. In research published online June 18th in Current Biology, researchers report that two genes, originally known for their regulation of cell division, are required for normal slumber in fly models of sleep: taranis and Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (Cdk1). 'There's a lot we don't understand about sleep, especially when it comes to the protein machinery that initiates the process on the ...

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