From AGU's blogs: Global climate models fail to simulate key dust characteristics Climate models that simulate the airborne African dust that influences Atlantic Ocean hurricanes are not up to the task of accurately representing the characteristics of that dust, according to a new study accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters. From AGU's journals: Surface waves contribute to ice retreat in Beaufort Sea Surface waves, created by blowing wind, play a role in energy and nutrient transport and also shape coasts through erosion. Because the Arctic Ocean ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 15, 2014) — A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows how a genetic defect in a specific hormonal pathway may make people more susceptible to developing melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer. Fair-skinned people who tend to burn (rather than tan) from sun exposure have a much higher risk for melanoma than darker-skinned people. On the surface, it appears that the amount of melanin, the natural substance in the skin that determines pigment and acts as the skin's "natural sunscreen," would be the only determinant of melanoma risk. ...

WASHINGTON D.C., July 15, 2014 – Using a newly developed, ultrafast femtosecond infrared light source, chemists at the University of Chicago have been able to directly visualize the coordinated vibrations between hydrogen-bonded molecules -- the first time this sort of chemical interaction, which is found in nature everywhere at the molecular level, has been directly visualized. They describe their experimental techniques and observations in The Journal of Chemical Physics, from AIP Publishing. "These two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy techniques provide a new avenue ...

LOS ANGELES—A new raptorial dinosaur fossil with exceptionally long feathers has provided exciting insights into dinosaur flight. A paper published in Nature Communications on July 15, 2014 asserts that the fossil—discovered by an international team led by Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) paleontologist Dr. Luis Chiappe—has a long feathered tail that Chiappe and co-authors believe was instrumental for decreasing descent speed and assuring safe landings. The 125-million-year-old dinosaur, named Changyuraptor yangi, was found in the Liaoning Province ...

WASHINGTON D.C., July 15, 2014 -- From your hot car to your warm laptop, every machine and device in your life wastes a lot of energy through the loss of heat. But thermoelectric devices, which convert heat to electricity and vice versa, can harness that wasted heat, and possibly provide the green tech energy efficiency that's needed for a sustainable future. Now, a new study shows how porous substances can act as thermoelectric materials—pointing the way for engineering the use of such materials in thermoelectric devices of the future. About 70 percent of all the energy ...

More than 80 per cent of oral health patients are willing to receive rapid HIV-testing in dental settings, which could help reduce the spread of the HIV according to a groundbreaking study revealed today at a Sydney University HIV Testing Symposium. The first of its kind study of 521 Sydney-based dental patients assessed patients' willingness to undergo rapid HIV testing in dental settings, their preference for HIV testing-type type and their willingness to pay for the test. Rapid HIV testing is a screening test that swiftly detects the presence of HIV antibodies in ...

For years a key way of diagnosing dyslexia has been how well a person reads aloud. Similarly, the reading skills of adult readers also have been assessed by having them read words aloud. "The idea is that the more you read in English, the more you will encounter words that don't follow standard rules of pronunciation, so it's an index of reading exposure and, presumably, ability," explains researcher William W. Graves. But are you a better reader if you pronounce a word based on its meaning, or based on its spelling? Does it make a difference? And why? Those are the ...

New Rochelle, NY, July 15, 2014—Alcohol dependence (AD) has a genetic component and testing can determine a person's genetic risk for susceptibility to AD. A new study shows that while more than 85% of the African American adults expressed an interest in genetic testing for AD susceptibility, many had ethical, privacy, and procedural concerns, as reported in Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Genetic Testing and Molecular Biomarkers website. Denise Scott and coauthors ...

July 15, 2014– Placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube has become an "essential" technique for children and young people with a wide range of problems with feeding and nutrition, according to a position statement in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, official journal of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. ...

New Rochelle, NY, July 15, 2014—A new, validated software-based method for identifying patients with newly diagnosed HIV using electronic medical records (EMRs) is described in AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses website at http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/aid.2013.0287 until August 15, 2014. Providing medical care early on to people with newly diagnosed HIV infection is important for improving clinical outcomes. ...

For nearly four decades, scientists have suspected that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) contributed to a green turtle's susceptibility to the virus that causes fibropapilomatosis (FP), a disease that forms large benign tumors that can inhibit the animal's sight, mobility and feeding ability. In a new study,* researchers from the Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML), a government-university partner facility in Charleston, S.C., and from university and federal collaborators in Hawaii demonstrated POPs are not, in fact, a co-factor linked to the increasing number of green ...

July 15, 2014 – Inorganic arsenic in rice and rice-based foods poses health concerns in infants and young children, and steps should be taken to minimize exposure, according to a commentary in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, official journal of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. The inorganic arsenic levels ...

Much of what we know about Oetzi – for example what he looked like or that he suffered from lactose intolerance – stems from a tiny bone sample which allowed the decoding of his genetic make-up. Now, however, the team of scientists have examined more closely the part of the sample consisting of non-human DNA. "What is new is that we did not carry out a directed DNA analysis but rather investigated the whole spectrum of DNA to better understand which organisms are in this sample and what is their potential function", is how Frank Maixner, from the EURAC Institute for Mummies ...

During a recent survey of organisms collected from Bajo de Sico, a mesophotic coral reef ecosystem in Mona Passage off Puerto Rico, one pontarachnid mite species new to science was discovered. The new species was named after the famous Puerto Rican singer Jennifer Lopez. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys. "The reason behind the unusual choice of name for the new species", explains the lead author Vladimir Pešić, Department of Biology, University of Montenegro, "is that J.Lo's songs and videos kept the team in a continuous good mood when writing ...

ATLANTA–A team of researchers at the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University has discovered that hidden differences in the properties of neural circuits can account for whether animals are behaviorally susceptible to brain injury. These results could have implications for the treatment of brain trauma. People vary in their responses to stroke and trauma, which impedes the ability of physicians to predict patient outcomes. Damage to the brain and nervous system can lead to severe disabilities, including epilepsy and cognitive impairment. If doctors could ...

A team of researchers at the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University has discovered that hidden differences in the properties of neural circuits can account for whether animals are behaviorally susceptible to brain injury. These results could have implications for the treatment of brain trauma. People vary in their responses to stroke and trauma, which impedes the ability of physicians to predict patient outcomes. Damage to the brain and nervous system can lead to severe disabilities, including epilepsy and cognitive impairment. If doctors could predict ...

A novel study reveals that more than half of liver transplant patients want to be informed of donor risk at the time a liver is offered for transplantation. Nearly 80% of those patients want to be involved in the decision of whether or not to accept the organ according to findings published in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society. There is a shortage of available donor organs, which leaves many on the liver transplant waiting list. Currently, there are more than ...

TORONTO, July 15, 2014 — Rehabilitation programs must become an integral part of cardiac care to significantly reduce the burden of living with heart disease, one of the most common chronic diseases and causes of death globally, according to York University Professor Sherry Grace. "Cardiac rehabilitation is a cost-effective program offering heart patients exercise, education and risk reduction," says Grace, noting that participation results in 25 per cent less death, lower re-hospitalization rates and better quality of life. Despite these benefits, cardiac rehabilitation ...

Neuropeptide Y exhibits neuroprotective effects. Whether the neuroprotective effects are mediated by the pathways including regulating the immunological activity of reactive microglia and reducing cytokines remains unclear. Prof. Wenqing Zhao, Graduate School, Heibei Medical University, China and his team confirmed that neuropeptide Y prevented excessive production of interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α by inhibiting microglial reactivity, reduced N-methyl-D-aspartate current in rat cortical neurons, preventing excitotoxicity, and thereby protecting neurons. ...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes gene expression changes in different brain regions. Cyclooxygenase-2, glutamate receptor-2, and platelet activating factor receptor expression levels are related to the occurrence and development of TBI. However, the precise relationship between the expression levels of these three factors and neuronal injury after TBI remains poorly understood. Zhiqiang Li, Inner Mongolia Corps Hospital, Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, China performed a study and showed that sequential expression of cyclooxygenase-2, glutamate receptor-2, and platelet ...

The main pathological changes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) include amyloid-beta protein-induced hippocampal neuronal injury and neurite outgrowth impairment. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway are the important signaling pathways respectively responsible for regulating synaptic plasticity and neuronal survival. In view of the fact that ginsenoside Rb1 exhibits anti-aging and anti-dementia effects, Prof. Qionglan Yuan and her team, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Tongji University School of Medicine, ...

It is currently difficult to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the clinic. There are abundant neural network connections and humoral regulation mechanisms between the cerebral hemispheres. Brain tissue on the uninjured side after TBI may also undergo abnormal changes, but these changes remain poorly understood. Hong Lu and her team, Affiliated Haikou Hospital, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, in China performed a study to investigate whether apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements can reflect cytotoxic edema on the uninjured side using ...

The over-expression of α-synuclein is a major factor in the death of dopaminergic neurons in a methamphetamine-induced model of Parkinson's disease (PD). Dr. Huijun Wang, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, China and his team injected α-synuclein-shRNA lentivirus stereotaxically into the right striatum of experimental rats to inhibit α-synuclein mRNA and protein expression. Results showed that after α-synuclein knockdown, the depression manifestations of PD rats were reduced, striatal dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase levels ...

The molecular scale behavior of water at a solid/liquid interface holds fundamental significance in a diverse set of technical and scientific contexts, ranging from the efficiency of oil mining to the activity of biological molecules. Recently, it has become recognized that both the physical interactions and the surface morphology have significant impact on the behavior of interfacial water, including the water structures and wetting properties of the surface. In a new review, Chunlei Wang, Yizhou Yang and Haiping Fang of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics report ...

Acute hemorrhagic anemia can decrease blood flow and oxygen supply to brain, and affect its physiological function. Detecting changes in brain function in patients with acute hemorrhagic anemia is helpful for preventing neurological complications and evaluating therapeutic effects. Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) imaging is a novel, non-invasive method for detecting changes in cerebral oxygen levels that may provide more detailed information regarding cerebral blood flow in patients with hemorrhage. Dr. Jun Xia, Second People's Hospital of Shenzhen City, First Affiliated ...