Leesburg, VA, May 5, 2014—Glutamate imaging reveals ischemic lesions in the first 3 hours after stroke that are not distinguishable in T1-weighted and T2-weighted imaging. Researchers using chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST), an emerging MRI technology, have found that using glutamate with CEST shows high spatial resolution in vivo. The finding has the potential to speed diagnosis—and, therefore, treatment—in the critical first hours after a stroke. "I have been interested in glutamate imaging since its inception," said researcher Zhuozhi Dai of Second Affiliated ...

Premature menopause is associated with long-term negative effects on cognitive function, suggests a new study published today (7 May) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (BJOG). The average age of menopause is around 50 years in the Western World. Premature menopause refers to menopause at or before 40 years of age, this could be due to a bilateral ovariectomy, (surgically induced menopause)or non-surgical loss of ovarian function (sometimes referred to as 'natural' menopause). The study, based on a sample of 4868 women, used cognitive tests ...

Leesburg, VA, May 7, 2014— Patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis catheter placement via fluoroscopy and ultrasound-guidance experienced significantly fewer complications at 1 year post-insertion than did patients whose catheters were placed laparoscopically. The first of two study groups received catheters using fluoroscopy and ultrasound guidance under conscious sedation by interventional radiologists. In the second group, the catheters were inserted using laparoscopy under general anesthesia by surgeons. "Our results showed that the overall complications at 1 ...

Leesburg, VA, May 7, 2014—A study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that estimated radiation doses are substantially lower for pediatric CT exams of the brain that used an adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction technique (ASIR) compared to those that did not use ASIR. The researchers found that the brain and salivary gland doses were much lower for ASIR-enabled exams compared to those without ASIR technique. However, no differences in the estimated organ doses were found for the thyroid gland, skeleton, and eye lenses across ...

Leesburg, VA, May 6, 2014—Screening 40- to 49-year-old women for breast cancer has additional benefits beyond the proven decrease in mortality rate. Patients screened with mammography are statistically less likely to undergo chemotherapy, avoiding the associated toxic morbidities. Screening mammography also helps identify a subset of patients at increased risk of breast cancer by diagnosing high-risk lesions. The majority of high-risk lesions identified in a retrospective chart review were found in screened patients. Identifying patients at high risk may allow for the ...

Leesburg, VA, May 5, 2014—Misinformation and misunderstanding about the risks associated with ionizing radiation create heightened public concern and fear, and may result in avoidance of screening mammography that can detect early cancers. In a study to determine the baseline understanding of the radiation associated with mammography among patients presenting for initial or follow-up imaging, women were asked to rate the amount of radiation received in a single mammogram as being significantly less, slightly less, about the same, slightly more, or significantly more compared ...

Alexandria, Va. – Since hydraulic fracturing operations began in the Marcellus Shale region, debate has raged over whether drilling operations are causing high levels of methane in drinking-water wells. But few systematic scientific studies have been published to date, so it's unknown if high methane levels are natural or the result of contamination from nearby gas wells. Now, a new study is adding some much-needed baseline data for methane levels in groundwater in New York. The results suggest that at least in some cases methane occurs at naturally high levels in groundwater. Read ...

There's a tropical low pressure area in the Eastern Pacific Ocean today, about 8 days before the official Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins. NOAA's National Hurricane Center is giving it a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next two days, and NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead to gather infrared data on it. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over developing tropical low pressure system 90E on May 8 at 08:41 UTC (4:41 a.m. EDT) and infrared data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument aboard, showed that some of the thunderstorms ...

Leesburg, VA, May 5, 2014—Dose-tracking software provides effective and easy monitoring of radiation dose exposure in a busy academic practice, according to research conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital. For commonly ordered abdominal CT exams, iterative reconstruction techniques enabled approximately 50 percent radiation dose reduction compared to the national averages reported in the Dose Index Registry*. "A busy practice with diverse CT technology and remote scanner locations encounters challenges in assessing institutional performance in lowering radiation ...

Leesburg, VA, May 5, 2014—Breast tomosynthesis in the diagnostic workup for one- or two-view focal asymmetry detected at screening mammography resulted in less use of ultrasound, fewer biopsies, and higher positive predictive value for cancer than when diagnostic exams involved only 2D mammography, according to a study conducted at the University of Virginia. "Tomosynthesis has been evaluated in screening populations and been shown to decrease recall rates," said researcher Brandi Nicholson, "but studies in the diagnostic setting are lacking." Five hundred thirty ...

Leesburg, VA, May 6, 2014—A small group of patients with locally advanced unresectable pancreatic carcinoma suffered no major ill effects—pancreatitis or fistula formation—after undergoing percutaneous CT-guided irreversible electroporation (IRE)—a nonthermal ablation technology that is safe near vascular and ductal structures—as a therapy. "Our findings exceeded our expectations," said Maria Paola Belfiore, a researcher at the Institute of Radiology, Second University of Naples. "In fact, three patients were downstaged, and so had a greater life expectancy. This is a ...

Boston, MA — At the elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 anticipated by around 2050, crops that provide a large share of the global population with most of their dietary zinc and iron will have significantly reduced concentrations of those nutrients, according to a new study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Given that an estimated two billion people suffer from zinc and iron deficiencies, resulting in a loss of 63 million life years annually from malnutrition, the reduction in these nutrients represents the most significant health threat ever shown to be associated ...

CINCINNATI – A new study in Nature challenges research data that form the scientific basis of clinical trials in which heart attack patients are injected with stem cells to try and regenerate damaged heart tissue. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), report May 7 that cardiac stem cells used in ongoing clinical trials – which express a protein marker called c-kit – do not regenerate contractile heart muscle cells at high enough rates to justify their use for treatment. Including collaboration from ...

The rapid melting of Greenland glaciers is captured in the documentary "Chasing Ice." The retreat of the ice edge from one year to the next sends more water into the sea. Now University of Washington atmospheric scientists have estimated that up to half of the recent warming in Greenland and surrounding areas may be due to climate variations that originate in the tropical Pacific and are not connected with the overall warming of the planet. Still, at least half the warming remains attributable to global warming caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions. The paper is ...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers have some bad news for future farmers and eaters: As carbon dioxide levels rise this century, some grains and legumes will become significantly less nutritious than they are today. The new findings are reported in the journal Nature. Eight institutions, from Australia, Israel, Japan and the United States, contributed to the analysis. The researchers looked at multiple varieties of wheat, rice, field peas, soybeans, maize and sorghum grown in fields with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels like those expected in the middle of this century. ...

LA JOLLA, CA—May 7, 2014—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA "letters," or bases, not found in nature. The cells of this unique bacterium can replicate the unnatural DNA bases more or less normally, for as long as the molecular building blocks are supplied. "Life on Earth in all its diversity is encoded by only two pairs of DNA bases, A-T and C-G, and what we've made is an organism that stably contains those two plus a third, unnatural pair of bases," said TSRI Associate Professor ...

BOSTON -- Blood vessel formation is critical to life and its manipulation is instrumental to a number of diseases. For more than 40 years, investigations into the structure and function of endothelial cells lining the blood vessels have revealed a complex tissue with complex functions, demonstrating that endothelial cells participate in all aspects of vascular homeostasis and pathological processes. Today, important revelations regarding endothelial cell behavior are emerging from vascular simulation research, a blossoming interdisciplinary field that makes use of novel ...

During two days of intensive airborne measurements, oil and gas operations in Colorado's Front Range leaked nearly three times as much methane, a greenhouse gas, as predicted based on inventory estimates, and seven times as much benzene, a regulated air toxic. Emissions of other chemicals that contribute to summertime ozone pollution were about twice as high as estimates, according to the new paper, accepted for publication in the American Geophysical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. "These discrepancies are substantial," said lead author Gabrielle ...

Move over, Matrix - astronomers have done you one better. They have created the first realistic virtual universe using a computer simulation called "Illustris." Illustris can recreate 13 billion years of cosmic evolution in a cube 350 million light-years on a side with unprecedented resolution. "Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the universe on both large and small scales simultaneously," says lead author Mark Vogelsberger (MIT/Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), who conducted the work in collaboration with researchers at several institutions, ...

NEW YORK, NY (May 7, 2014) — A study has shown that a long-overlooked form of neuron-to-neuron communication called miniature neurotransmission plays an essential role in the development of synapses, the regions where nerve impulses are transmitted and received. The findings, made in fruit flies, raise the possibility that abnormalities in miniature neurotransmission may contribute to neurodevelopmental diseases. The findings, by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), were published today in the online edition of the journal Neuron. The primary way ...

VIDEO: The recent appearance of the freshwater algae known as "rock snot " on river bottoms worldwide is caused by a native species responding to changing environmental conditions rather than by accidental... Click here for more information. The recent blooms of the freshwater algae known as "rock snot" on river bottoms worldwide are caused by a native species responding to changing environmental conditions rather than by accidental introductions by fishermen or the ...

A University of Alberta study is helping crack the code to happiness by exploring the long reach of depression and anger over more than two decades. The study, published recently in the Journal of Family Psychology, followed 341 people for 25 years, and found that negative emotions they may have suffered as young adults can have a lasting grip on their couple relationships, well into middle age. The fact that depression and anger experienced during the teen years clung to people, even through major life events such as child-rearing, marriages and careers was surprising, ...

Young mothers are more likely to breastfeed and have positive relationships with their babies when they have another woman "mothering" them in the delivery room, according to new research at the University of Chicago on the value of doulas—women who help with deliveries and early care for mothers and babies. The assistance from doulas is particularly valuable to young mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds. Those mothers sometimes receive help from women known as community doulas, who are from similar backgrounds as the young women and who visit them weekly for several ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — New research at Michigan State University shows that the uber-destructive emerald ash borer arrived at least 10 years before it was first identified in North America. The study, published in the current issue of journal Diversity and Distributions, shows that EABs were feasting on ash trees in southeast Michigan by the early 1990s, well before this pest was discovered in 2002, said Deb McCullough, MSU professor of forest entomology. "We suspect they arrived inside wood crating or pallets imported from Asia where the beetle is native," she said. ...

This news release is available in Spanish. The work, which has had the participation of the Ikerbasque researcher Javier Gorosabal, co-director of the Associated Unit with the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia/CSIC-UPV/EHU, has been published in the prestigious journal Nature. There is no other event in the cosmos that can compete in terms of energy and intensity with stellar explosions on the outer reaches of the universe and which are known as LGRBs (Long Gamma-Ray Bursts): in just one second a single GRB can emit as many as hundreds of stars like the Sun ...