ITHACA, N.Y. – When it hasn't been your day – your week, your month, or even your year – it might be time to turn to Facebook friends for a little positive reinforcement. According to a new study by social scientists at Cornell University, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Facebook, emotions can spread among users of online social networks. The researchers reduced the amount of either positive or negative stories that appeared in the news feed of 689,003 randomly selected Facebook users, and found that the so-called "emotional contagion" effect worked ...

For prediabetics, many interventions focus on lifestyle changes and weight loss, but new research on periodic fasting has identified a biological process in the body that converts bad cholesterol in fat cells to energy, thus combating diabetes risk factors. Researchers at the Intermountain Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, noticed that after 10 to 12 hours of time fasting, the body starts scavenging for other sources of energy throughout the body to sustain itself. The body pulls LDL (bad) cholesterol from the fat cells and uses it as energy. "Fasting ...

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., June 14, 2014 – Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced results from a late-breaking observational study that assessed the differences in time to initiation of insulin use and the proportion of the population initiating insulin among patients with type 2 diabetes taking the combination of JANUVIA® (sitagliptin) and metformin, and patients taking the combination of a sulfonylurea and metformin. In this study, patients treated with a combination of JANUVIA and metformin initiated insulin therapy at a ...

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J., June 14, 2014 – Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced results from a post-hoc analysis showing that patients with type 2 diabetes having treatment intensified with insulin glargine therapy while also being treated with JANUVIA® (sitagliptin) 100 mg once-daily had a lower incidence of nighttime (nocturnal) hypoglycemia compared to patients also receiving placebo. Results were presented at the American Diabetes Association 74th Scientific Sessions. "Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease, so that ...

June 14, 2014 (San Francisco) – Improving the overall quality of one's diet helps to prevent type 2 diabetes, independent of other lifestyle changes, according to a study presented at the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions®. The study, by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, found that those who improved their diet quality index scores by 10 percent over four years – by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and less sweetened beverages and saturated fats, for example – reduced their risk for type 2 diabetes by about 20 percent, ...

SAN DIEGO, CA (June 14, 2014): Use of anti-oxidants may be ineffective or even contribute to kidney disease and other complications of diabetes, rather than helping to treat such health problems. That conclusion, based on growing unexpected findings that stimulating mitochondrial function and superoxide production results in improved markers of renal, cardiovascular and nerve dysfunction, was presented this week in a "State-of-the-Art Lecture" at the 74th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association. "Scientists have long hypothesized that oxidative stress ...

TORONTO, June 14, 2014—Canola is Canada's oil and new research from St. Michael's Hospital suggests it should also be one of the oils of choice for people with Type 2 diabetes. Dr. David Jenkins, head of the hospital's Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, compared people with Type 2 diabetes who ate either a low glycemic index diet that included bread made with canola oil, or a whole wheat diet known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. His study, published today (Saturday, June 14) in the journal Diabetes Care, found that those on the canola ...

"Don't forget! Check blood sugar before and after physical activity." "Use small plates! Portions will look larger and you may feel more satisfied after eating." "Tick, tock. Take your medication at the same time every day!" These are just a few of the text messages that participants received as part of the Dulce Digital study conducted by the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, a subsidiary of Scripps Health and one of the nation's leading diabetes research, patient care and education organizations. Initial results of the Dulce Digital study were presented at ...

If the icy surface of Pluto's giant moon Charon is cracked, analysis of the fractures could reveal if its interior was warm, perhaps warm enough to have maintained a subterranean ocean of liquid water, according to a new NASA-funded study. Pluto is an extremely distant world, orbiting the sun more than 29 times farther than Earth. With a surface temperature estimated to be about 380 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (around minus 229 degrees Celsius), the environment at Pluto is far too cold to allow liquid water on its surface. Pluto's moons are in the same frigid environment. Pluto's ...

Coastal communities are often relaxing locales with lush natural attributes. At the same time, they face many challenges from both natural and manmade elements. Thomas Colbert, professor at the University of Houston's Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, dedicates his research to discovering ways to protect coastlines and delta regions from severe weather threats and other dangers. This week, he joins a roster of international scholars, designers and architects at the 2014 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) in the Netherlands. Colbert is among ...

VIDEO: Researchers watched TAT proteins (green) journey into microtubules (red). TAT proteins are known to label the insides of the tubes. They observed that TAT can move quickly, back and... Click here for more information. In a new study, scientists at the National Institutes of Health took a molecular-level journey into microtubules, the hollow cylinders inside brain cells that act as skeletons and internal highways. They watched how a protein called tubulin acetyltransferase ...

NASA scientists have created a new recipe that captures key flavors of the brownish-orange atmosphere around Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The recipe is used for lab experiments designed to simulate Titan's chemistry. With this approach, the team was able to classify a previously unidentified material discovered by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in the moon's smoggy haze. "Now we can say that this material has a strong aromatic character, which helps us understand more about the complex mixture of molecules that makes up Titan's haze," said Melissa Trainer, a planetary scientist ...

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA — A new special section on Human Vision in the current issue of Optical Engineering showcases optics and optical engineering research into new techniques and approaches for the study of human vision and the design of novel imaging systems. Put into practice, these new approaches enable applications such as earlier diagnosis of disease, improved treatment monitoring, and more accurate guidance for treatment and surgery. The journal is published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. The special section includes 11 papers ...

VIDEO: This TRMM satellite flyby animation shows that Tropical Storm Nanauk contained powerful towering thunderstorms that were reaching heights of up to 16.8 km (10.4 miles) on June 11, 2014.... Click here for more information. Tropical Storm Nanauk was dissipating in the Arabian Sea on Friday, June 13 as it ran into increasing vertical wind shear, dry air moving into the tropical cyclone and cooler sea surface temperatures. NASA's TRMM satellite observed the soaking rains the ...

Hurricane Cristina intensified rapidly on June 12 and infrared satellite data showed cloud top temperatures became extremely cold as thunderstorms towered to the top of the troposphere. One day later, Cristina was weakening quickly and infrared data showed cloud top temperatures were warming as the cloud tops dropped. Infrared data basically reads a cloud top's temperature. When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Hurricane Cristina early on June 12, cloud top temperatures exceeded -80C (-112F). Today, June 13, infrared data showed cloud top temperatures had warmed to near ...

(June 13, 2014)- Concerted effort is needed to reverse the ongoing rise in pertussis cases and deaths, especially among children and young people, according to the article by Emily Peake, APRN, MSN, FNP-C, CLC, and Lisa K. McGuire, MSN, MBA-HCM, RN. "This effort begins with nurses and nurse practitioners and other primary care providers who educate patients and the public," they write. "The battle of pertussis is winnable through education, awareness, and vaccination." In US and Abroad, Rising Rates of Pertussis Infection and Death Caused by infection with Bordetella ...

Health-related buzzwords, such as "antioxidant," "gluten-free" and "whole grain," lull consumers into thinking packaged food products labeled with those words are healthier than they actually are, according to a new research study conducted by scholars at the University of Houston (UH). That "false sense of health," as well as a failure to understand the information presented in nutrition facts panels on packaged food, may be contributing to the obesity epidemic in the United States, said Temple Northup, an assistant professor at the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication ...

By now, most people feel comfortable conducting financial transactions on the Web. The cryptographic schemes that protect online banking and credit card purchases have proven their reliability over decades. As more of our data moves online, a more pressing concern may be its inadvertent misuse by people authorized to access it. Every month seems to bring another story of private information accidentally leaked by governmental agencies or vendors of digital products or services. At the same time, tighter restrictions on access could undermine the whole point of sharing ...

TAMPA, Fla. (June 13, 2014) – A new Moffitt Cancer Center study published Thursday in Genetics in Medicine shows that counseling from a genetic health care provider before genetic testing educates patients and may help reduce unnecessary procedures. Up to 10 percent of cancers are inherited, meaning a person was born with an abnormal gene that increases their risk for cancer. "Pre-test genetic counseling in which a health care provider takes a thorough family history and discusses the potential risks and benefits of genetic testing is standard of care as recommended ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] —Women diagnosed with breast cancer often face a crucial decision about the extent of their surgical treatment. Many meet national guidelines recommending testing for mutations in the BRCA 1 and 2 genes, which carry a substantial risk of future cancer. A new study reports that among women with breast cancer who undergo recommended testing before surgery, more than 7 in 10 who test positive will change their surgical plan, typically opting for a more extensive procedure such as a double mastectomy and sometimes ovary removal. "As soon ...

Five charities in the UK are both active in alcohol policy processes and funded by the alcohol industry, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Public Health. The study, carried out by researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, looks at the relationships between the alcohol industry, charities and policy influence in the UK. Two of the charities, Addaction and Mentor UK, are the only remaining non-industry, non-governmental members of the Public Health Responsibility Deal's alcohol network – the UK government's initiative ...

Biologists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have discovered new mechanisms used by bacteria to manufacture lipids, i.e. fat molecules, for the cell membrane. Those mechanisms are a combination of familiar bacterial synthesis pathways and of such that occur in higher organisms. Thus, the team headed by Prof Dr Franz Narberhaus and Dr Roman Moser has debunked the long-standing theory that lipid production in bacteria differs substantially from that in higher organisms. The results have been published in the journal Molecular Microbiology. Potential for the pharmaceutical ...

An imbalance of female sex hormones among men in Western nations may be contributing to high levels of male obesity, according to new research from the University of Adelaide. In a paper published in the online journal PLOS ONE, researchers from the University's School of Medical Sciences suggest that obesity among Western men could be linked with exposure to substances containing the female sex hormone estrogen – substances that are more often found in affluent societies, such as soy products and plastics. The research was conducted by University of Adelaide medical ...

Referees may soon have a new way of determining whether a football team has scored a touchdown or gotten a first down. Researchers from North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with Disney Research, have developed a system that can track a football in three-dimensional space using low-frequency magnetic fields. The technology could be particularly useful for situations when the ball is blocked from view, such as goal-line rushing attempts when the ball carrier is often buried at the bottom of a pile of players. The technology could ...

It is the breakthrough that physicists and chemists around the world have long anticipated and it will play a pivotal role in information technology in coming years. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have managed, for the first time, to directly observe the 100 percent spin polarization of a Heusler compound. Heusler alloys are composed of several metallic elements arranged in a lattice structure. They are among those materials that potentially can be used for ever smaller data storage components with ever greater storage capacity. However, doubts ...