The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which holds enough water to raise global seas by several feet, is thinning. Scientists have been warning of its collapse, based on theories, but with few firm predictions or timelines. University of Washington researchers used detailed topography maps and computer modeling to show that the collapse appears to have already begun. The fast-moving Thwaites Glacier will likely disappear in a matter of centuries, researchers say, raising sea level by nearly 2 feet. That glacier also acts as a linchpin on the rest of the ice sheet, which contains ...

NEW YORK, NY, May 14, 2014 — A novel targeted drug shows promise in treating patients with advanced pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS), a rare neoplastic joint disorder, according to new phase I data from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and other institutions highlighted to media today in advance of the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which will take place from May 30 to June 3 in Chicago. At the time of interim analysis, 11 of 14 evaluable patients (79 percent) had a partial response to the drug and three patients ...

Hospital transfers happened more often after surgery at critical access hospitals (CAHs) but the proportion of patients using post-acute care was equal to or less than that of patients treated at non-CAHs. The CAH designation was created to provide financial support to rural hospitals. As such, they are exempt from Medicare's Prospective Payment System and instead are paid cost-based reimbursement. The proliferation of CAHs after the payment policy change has increased interest in the quality and cost of care these facilities provide. The authors used data from ...

Individuals prenatally exposed to tobacco smoke exhibited weaker response in some regions of the brain while processing a task that measures inhibition control (the ability to control inappropriate responses). Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure is a risk factor for adverse physical and mental outcomes in children. Growing evidence suggests that smoking during pregnancy may increase the risk of psychopathology such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Research on ADHD has suggested that individuals with the disorder may exhibit poor inhibitory control. Functional ...

Reduction in brain volume in the hippocampus (a region related to memory) was seen in patients with the psychotic disorders schizophrenia (SZ), schizoaffective disorder (SZA) and psychotic bipolar disorder (BPP). The pathophysiology of psychotic disorders remains unclear, especially SZ. Changes in volume in the hippocampus are a hallmark of SZ. Advances in image processing allow for the precise parceling of specific hippocampal areas. The authors conducted a neuroimaging study in patients with psychotic disorders and healthy volunteers as part of the multisite ...

This past November, NASA launched the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission in the hope of understanding how and why the planet has been losing its atmosphere over billions of years. One instrument aboard the spacecraft will study a special component of the Martian atmosphere to help solve this mystery. By studying ions, or small electrically charged particles, in and above the Red Planet's tenuous atmosphere, the Solar Wind Ion Analyzer will help answer why Mars has gradually lost much of its atmosphere, developing into a frozen, barren planet. Once ...

Even if treated, hypertension and high cholesterol are increasingly common for people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to a new study from researchers at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai Roosevelt hospitals in New York and the University of California, Davis. The finding – published online in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes – leads the study authors to recommend greater emphasis on cardiology in HIV treatment and research. The study authors examined medical records for a diverse group of 4,278 outpatients in New York City ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – As the shale gas boom continues, the atmosphere receives more methane, adding to Earth's greenhouse gas problem. Robert Howarth, greenhouse gas expert and ecology and environmental biology professor, fears that we may not be many years away from an environmental tipping point – and disaster. "We have to control methane immediately, and natural gas is the largest methane pollution source in the United States," said Howarth, who explains in an upcoming journal article that Earth may reach the point of no return if average global temperatures rise by 1.5 to ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – It's an unlikely beer-drinking toast: "Here's to L-T-P-One!" Yet, the secret to optimal foam in the head of a freshly poured brew, according to Cornell food science research, is just the right amount and kind of barley lipid transfer protein No. 1, aka LTP1. Bitter compounds found in hops, like iso-alpha acids, are important to brewers, says Cornell's Karl J. Siebert, principal investigator and author of "Recent Discoveries in Beer Foam," set for publication in next issue of the Journal of the American Society of Brewing Chemists. "Dissolved gases in ...

PORTLAND, Ore. – A comparatively new form of a medication for alcohol and opioid dependence that's injected once a month instead of taken orally once a day appears to be significantly more effective than some other medications – because more patients actually continue the prescribed regimen. The findings, published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment by researchers from Oregon State University and other institutions, offer support for a wider use of medications that may help reduce or prevent substance abuse and related hospital admissions. The cost savings ...

COLLEGE STATION – A team of Texas A&M University System scientists have investigated how "body clock dysregulation" might affect obesity-related metabolic disorders. The team was led by Dr. Chaodong Wu, associate professor in the department of nutrition and food sciences of Texas A&M's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Dr. David Earnest, professor in the department of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics, Texas A&M Health Science Center. Study results were published recently on the Journal of Biological Chemistry website at http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2014/04/25/jbc.M113.539601. "Animal ...

CINCINNATI—Investigators at the University of Cincinnati have found a safe and effective treatment for life-threatening angioedema attacks in the emergency department. In angioedema, patients experience a rapid swelling of the skin and subcutaneous tissues—which, in some cases, can lead to airway obstruction and suffocation. Physicians usually treat angioedema like an allergic reaction with corticosteroids and antihistamines. But that therapy doesn't always work for another version of the condition, thought to be caused by taking a class of drugs known as ACE inhibitors. ...

ROSEMENT, Ill.─ Obesity is associated with longer hospital stays and higher costs in total knee replacement (TKR) patients, independent of whether or not the patient has an obesity-related disease or condition (comorbidity), according to a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). More than half of TKR patients have a body mass index (BMI) within the obesity range (greater than 30 kg/m²), which has been linked to a higher risk for related comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis; and in some studies, to higher medical ...

Winter rains and summer groundwater pumping in California's Central Valley make the Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountain Ranges sink and rise by a few millimeters each year, creating stress on the state's faults that could increase the risk of an earthquake. Gradual depletion of the Central Valley aquifer, because of groundwater pumping, also raises these mountain ranges by a similar amount each year--about the thickness of a dime--with a cumulative rise over the past 150 years of up to 15 centimeters (6 inches), according to calculations by a team of geophysicists. The ...

VIDEO: UC Davis engineer Saif Islam explains how growing semiconductor nano-sized wires and bridges on silicon can lead to a new generation of robust electronic devices. Click here for more information. A new approach to integrated circuits, combining atoms of semiconductor materials into nanowires and structures on top of silicon surfaces, shows promise for a new generation of fast, robust electronic and photonic devices. Engineers at the University of California, Davis, have ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., BEVERLY, MA, and CHICAGO (May 15, 2014) – As minimally invasive therapies are increasingly used to treat diseased heart valves, newly published recommendations provide guidance on best practices for providing optimal care for patients. The document released today offers first-time guidance from four professional medical associations on developing and maintaining a transcatheter mitral valve therapy program, emphasizing collaboration between interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. The document is an important step toward achieving consistent, ...

STANFORD, Calif. - Tinkering with a molecular pathway that governs how intestinal cells respond to stress can help mice survive a normally fatal dose of abdominal radiation, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Because the technique is still partially effective up to 24 hours after exposure, the study suggests a possible treatment for people unintentionally exposed to large amounts of radiation, such as first responders at the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. "We were very surprised by the amount of protection the ...

A commonly prescribed antidepressant can reduce production of the main ingredient in Alzheimer's brain plaques, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Pennsylvania. The findings, in mice and people, are published May 14 in Science Translational Medicine. They support preliminary mouse studies that evaluated a variety of antidepressants. Brain plaques are tied closely to memory problems and other cognitive impairments caused by Alzheimer's disease. Stopping plaque buildup may halt the disastrous mental ...

PHILADELPHIA – A University of Pennsylvania researcher has discovered that the common selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram arrested the growth of amyloid beta, a peptide in the brain that clusters in plaques that are thought to trigger the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Penn, in collaboration with investigators at Washington University, tested the drug's effects on the brain interstitial fluid (ISF) in plaque-bearing mice and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of healthy human subjects to draw its conclusions, which are detailed in the new issue ...

LA JOLLA, CA—May 14, 2014—A vaccine or other therapy directed at a single site on a surface protein of HIV could in principle neutralize nearly all strains of the virus—thanks to the diversity of targets the site presents to the human immune system. The finding, from a study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is likely to influence future designs for HIV vaccines and antibody-based therapies. "We found, for example, that if the virus tries to escape from an antibody directed at that site by eliminating one of its sugars, the antibody often ...

This news release is available in German. Lasers are used in manufacturing to cut materials or weld components together. Laser light is focused to a point using various lenses and mirrors; the smaller the focal point and the higher the energy, the more accurately operators can work with the laser. So, turn up the power and off you go, right? It is not that simple because when laser power increases, the mirror heats up accordingly, causing it to deform. A deformed mirror cannot effectively focus the laser; the focal point gets bigger and laser power falls away. Precisely ...

Revenge is a dish best served with a side of change. A series of experiments conducted by researchers affiliated with Princeton University has found that punishment is only satisfying to victims if the offenders change their attitude as a result of the punishment. "Revenge is only 'sweet' if the person reacts with a change in attitude, if the person understands that what they did was wrong. It is not the act itself that makes punishment satisfying," said Friederike Funk, a Princeton graduate student in psychology and one of the researchers. The findings offer insights ...

PHILADELPHIA — Breastfeeding, tubal ligation – also known as having one's "tubes tied" – and oral contraceptives may lower the risk of ovarian cancer for some women with BRCA gene mutations, according to a comprehensive analysis from a team at the University of Pennsylvania's Basser Research Center for BRCA and the Abramson Cancer Center. The findings, a meta-analysis of 44 existing peer-reviewed studies, are published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The researchers, from Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, found that breastfeeding and tubal ligation ...

Coral Gables, Fla. (May 15, 2014) — Thermoelectric materials can turn a temperature difference into an electric voltage. Among their uses in a variety of specialized applications: generating power on space probes and cooling seats in fancy cars. University of Miami (UM) physicist Joshua Cohn and his collaborators report new surprising properties of a metal named lithium purple-bronze (LiPB) that may impact the search for materials useful in power generation, refrigeration, or energy detection. The findings are published in the journal Physical Review Letters. "If current ...

Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there. Brain tumors are an extremely serious example of this and are not only difficult to treat—both adult and pediatric patients have a five-year survival rate of only 30 percent—but also have even been difficult to image, which could provide important information for deciding next steps in the treatment process. However, Cincinnati Cancer Center and University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute research studies published in an April online issue of the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and a May issue of ...