New research by Andrew Stokes, a doctoral student in demography and sociology in the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that many obesity studies substantially underestimate the mortality risks associated with excess weight in the United States. His study, "Using Maximum Weight to Redefine Body Mass Index Categories in Studies of The Mortality Risks of Obesity," was published in the March issue of the open-access journal Population Health Metrics. "The scholarly community is divided over a large meta-analysis that found that overweight ...

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), the largest component of the third Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III), pioneered the use of quasars to map density variations in intergalactic gas at high redshifts, tracing the structure of the young universe. BOSS charts the history of the universe's expansion in order to illuminate the nature of dark energy, and new measures of large-scale structure have yielded the most precise measurement of expansion since galaxies first formed. The latest quasar results combine two separate analytical techniques. A new kind ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Based on a fundamental chemical discovery by scientists at Oregon State University, it appears that trees may soon play a major role in making high-tech energy storage devices. OSU chemists have found that cellulose – the most abundant organic polymer on Earth and a key component of trees – can be heated in a furnace in the presence of ammonia, and turned into the building blocks for supercapacitors. These supercapacitors are extraordinary, high-power energy devices with a wide range of industrial applications, in everything from electronics to automobiles ...

Eating just 1 serving daily of legumes such as beans, chickpeas, lentils and peas can significantly reduce "bad cholesterol" and the risk of heart disease, found a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). High cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, yet they are modifiable through diet and other lifestyle choices. Most chronic disease prevention guidelines recommend consumption of non–oil-seed legumes (dietary pulses) such as beans, chickpeas, lentils and peas along with other vegetables and fruits as part ...

TORONTO, April 7, 2014—Eating one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can significantly reduce "bad cholesterol" and therefore the risk of cardiovascular disease, a new study has found. However, most people in North America would have to more than double their consumption of these foods known as pulses to reach that target, said the researchers at St. Michael's Hospital. The study, led by Dr. John Sievenpiper of the hospital's Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, was published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Dr. ...

Passwords, gestures and fingerprint scans are all helpful ways to keep a thief from unlocking and using a cell phone or tablet. Cybersecurity researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have gone a step further. They've developed a new security system that continuously monitors how a user taps and swipes a mobile device. If the movements don't match the owner's tendencies, the system recognizes the differences and can be programmed to lock the device. The new system is called LatentGesture and was used during a Georgia Tech lab study using Android devices. The ...

Carbon nanotubes are reinforcing bars that make two-dimensional graphene much easier to handle in a new hybrid material grown by researchers at Rice University. The Rice lab of chemist James Tour set nanotubes into graphene in a way that not only mimics how steel rebar is used in concrete but also preserves and even improves the electrical and mechanical qualities of both. The technique should make large, flexible, conductive and transparent sheets of graphene much easier to manipulate, which should be of interest to electronics manufacturers, Tour said. He suggested ...

Dramatic distribution losses and a few major distribution gains are forecasted for southwestern bird and reptile species as the climate changes, according to just-published research by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of New Mexico, and Northern Arizona University. Overall, the study forecasted species distribution losses – that is, where species are able to live – of nearly half for all but one of the 5 reptile species they examined, including for the iconic chuckwalla. The threatened Sonoran (Morafka's) desert tortoise, however, is projected ...

TORONTO, April 7, 2014 – According to researchers at St. Michael's Hospital, there are two significant reasons why Peel has one of the highest rates of diabetes in Ontario: neighbourhood design that discourages walking and a population with many residents whose ethnic backgrounds predispose them to diabetes. Diabetes is a growing concern in Peel. That is why Peel Public Health partnered with researchers at St. Michael's Centre for Research on Inner City Health to develop an atlas of Peel that maps rates of diabetes in neighbourhoods across Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga. ...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A research team led by a cell biologist at the University of California, Riverside has generated a 3D model of the human malaria parasite genome at three different stages in the parasite's life cycle — the first time such 3D architecture has been generated during the progression of the life cycle of a parasite. The parasite that causes malaria in humans is Plasmodium falciparum. The female Anopheles mosquito transmits P. falciparum from an infected human to healthy individuals, spreading malaria in the process. According to the World Health Organization, ...

The twenty-third tropical cyclone of the Southern Pacific tropical cyclone season has developed near the Solomon Islands and strengthened into Tropical Storm Ita on April 5. NASA satellite imagery showed the center of circulation just southwest of Sudest Island. Sudest is a volcanic island within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. On April 5 at 2100 UTC/5:00 p.m. EDT, Ita formed in the Coral Sea, about 599 nautical miles east-northeast of Cairns, Australia, and was moving to the west-southwestward at 5 knots/5.7 mph/9.2 kph. At that time, maximum sustained winds ...

Fathers who don't live with their children can actually lower their son's or daughter's risk of not having enough food by just maintaining involvement in the child's life. And if the father provides support beyond money, such as gifts, groceries and other offerings, the child's risk of food insecurity may be further reduced. The new research, published this month by Lenna Nepomnyaschy,assistant professor in the School of Social Work, in Social Service Review has found that nonresident father involvement in a child's life is positively associated with lower food insecurity ...

New Rochelle, NY, April 7, 2014—Antipsychotic medications are often used for unlabeled indications, such as treatment of children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The results of a study of "atypical antipsychotic" drug use among youths with ADHD, comparing age groups, Medicaid eligibility, and presence in foster care are presented in Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology ...

A team of French and Brazilian researchers warn that chikungunya virus is poised to invade, and become epidemic in the Americas according to research published ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. The risk of a "catastrophic" epidemic in the Americas is boosted by the FIFA World Cup, to be held in Brazil next month, what with people coming in from near and from far, says corresponding author Ricardo Lourenco-de-Oliveira of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil annually reports the highest incidence of dengue, a virus that is transmitted by ...

The disturbing imagery or violent storylines of videos games like World of Warcraft or Grand Theft Auto are often accused of fostering feelings of aggression in players. But a new study shows hostile behavior is linked to gamers' experiences of failure and frustration during play—not to a game's violent content. The study is the first to look at the player's psychological experience with video games instead of focusing solely on its content. Researchers found that failure to master a game and its controls led to frustration and aggression, regardless of whether the game ...

The antibody-drug conjugate trastuzumab emtansine (trade name: Kadcyla) has been approved since November 2013 for the treatment of patients with unresectable, locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer that is HER2-positive, i.e. that overexpresses the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. Patients must have already received trastuzumab or a taxane – alone or in combination. They should also have already received treatment for the locally advanced or metastatic disease or have developed disease recurrence during or within six months of completing adjuvant therapy. The ...

URBANA, Ill. – During spawning season, a largemouth bass male attentively guards its nest. Recent research at the University of Illinois found that catch-and-release angling could give bass predators the perfect opportunity to consume the young. In fact, the time spent away from the nest during a catch-and-release event and the subsequent exhaustion it creates for the male are critical to the survival of the embryos, particularly in lakes with high densities of brood predators. "One of the main conclusions of the study was that in a lake where there are very few brood ...

New Rochelle, NY, April 7, 2014—Elevated pressure in the eye is the most common risk factor for glaucoma, an optic neuropathy that can cause blindness and affects more than 67 million people worldwide. Elevated eye pressure in glaucoma develops due to abnormal functioning of the trabecular meshwork (TM) causing intraocular fluid to back up. Next-generation glaucoma drugs will target the finely tuned mechanisms of the TM that maintain normal intraocular pressure, as described in an article in Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from ...

Restaurant chefs and food purchasing managers who have bought local foods in the past are more likely to continue adding them to menus and store shelves, according to a team of researchers. "Past experiences will have an impact on buying local foods," said Amit Sharma, associate professor of hospitality management, Penn State. "Restaurant managers who buy local foods currently are significantly more likely to keep purchasing locally." In a study of the cost and benefits of purchasing local foods in restaurants, managers and chefs indicated that certain actions of local ...

Boston – April 7, 2014 - Whether at the office, dorm, PTA meeting, or any other social setting, we all know intuitively who the popular people are – who is most liked – even if we can't always put our finger on why. That information is often critical to professional or social success as you navigate your social networks. Yet until now, scientists have not understood how our brains recognize these popular people. In new work, researchers say that we track people's popularity largely through the brain region involved in anticipating rewards. "Being able to track other ...

The recent slowdown in the warming rate of the Northern Hemisphere may be a result of internal variability of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation -- a natural phenomenon related to sea surface temperatures, according to Penn State researchers. "Some researchers have in the past attributed a portion of Northern Hemispheric warming to a warm phase of the AMO," said Michael E. Mann, Distinguished Professor of Meteorology. "The true AMO signal, instead, appears likely to have been in a cooling phase in recent decades, offsetting some of the anthropogenic warming temporarily." ...

Researchers from the University of Toronto's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP) have defined potential treatment targets for a previously incurable form of pediatric brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). In groundbreaking research published in Nature Genetics, Dr. Cynthia Hawkins, a professor at LMP and Neuropathologist and Scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children, along with PhD candidates Pawel Buczkowicz and Patricia Rakopoulos, identified three subgroups of DIPG, each having distinct molecular features. "In the past, ...

GOVERNMENT plans to overhaul the centuries-old coroner system in England and Wales have been bolstered by the findings of a leading police officer who has become a PhD researcher at the University of Huddersfield. Detailed analysis by ex-Detective Chief Superintendent Max Mclean has shown that there are huge disparities between the decisions made by coroners in differing districts, with the troubling discovery that the deaths of women are considerably less likely to be investigated at an inquest. The result is a "postcode lottery", claims Mr Mclean, who calls for a fully-fledged ...

Researchers at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth have found that the body's immune system response was enhanced when they disrupted VISTA, a protein that prevents the immune system from overreacting. Understanding how checkpoint regulators like VISTA function is important to cancer researchers, who hope to use the immune system to attack tumors. The study, "VISTA deficiency synergizes with a nonredundant immune checkpoint pathway and leads to enhanced immune activation," will be presented on April 7, 2014 at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting ...

DETROIT – An innovative kidney transplant technique developed by Henry Ford Hospital is credited as the first in the world to use a new set of patient safety standards coordinated by the University of Oxford in England. The standards are being assembled and offered as a framework for developing, performing and reporting surgical innovations that, unlike new medical treatments, are not under strict regulations and control. One historic example cited by the Oxford group was the introduction of tracheostomy as a surgical method of treating an obstruction in the trachea. ...