As heads of state get ready for the United Nations General Assembly in two weeks, the second World Happiness Report further strengthens the case that well-being is a critical component of economic and social development. The report is published by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), under the auspices of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and was launched at an international workshop on September 8. The World Happiness Report 2013 will be available at http://unsdsn.org/. The landmark Report, authored by leading experts in economics, psychology, survey ...

SALT LAKE CITY -- University of Utah electrical engineers have developed a network of wireless sensors that can detect a person falling. This monitoring technology could be linked to a service that would call emergency help for the elderly without requiring them to wear monitoring devices. For people age 65 and older, falling is a leading cause of injury and death. Most fall-detection devices monitor a person's posture or require a person to push a button to call for help. However, these devices must be worn at all times. A 2008 study showed 80 percent of elderly adults ...

Music has an uncanny way of bringing us back to a specific point in time, and each generation seems to have its own opinions about which tunes will live on as classics. New research suggests that young adults today are fond of and have an emotional connection to the music that was popular for their parents' generation. "Music transmitted from generation to generation shapes autobiographical memories, preferences, and emotional responses, a phenomenon we call cascading 'reminiscence bumps,'" explains psychological scientist and lead researcher Carol Lynne Krumhansl of ...

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 317-262-5907 (Indianapolis Press Center, Sept. 6-11) 202-872-6042 Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 317-262-5907 (Indianapolis Press Center, Sept. 6-11) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society Better tests for liver toxicity would mean more medicines -- and safer medicines -- for patients INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 8, 2013 — How many breakthrough new drugs never reach patients because tests in clinical trials suggested a high risk of liver damage when the drug actually was quite safe? That question underpins major ...

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 317-262-5907 (Indianapolis Press Center, Sept. 6-11) 202-872-6042 Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 317-262-5907 (Indianapolis Press Center, Sept. 6-11) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society Explaining why so many cases of cardiac arrest strike in the morning INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 8, 2013 — Evidence from people with heart disease strongly supports the existence of the molecular link first discovered in laboratory mice between the body's natural circadian rhythms and cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death (SCD) ...

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 317-262-5907 (Indianapolis Press Center, Sept. 6-11) 202-872-6042 Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 317-262-5907 (Indianapolis Press Center, Sept. 6-11) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society Reverse combustion? Turning carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel back into fuel INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 8, 2013 — With almost 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) released each year from burning coal, gasoline, diesel and other fossil fuels in the United States alone, scientists are seeking ways to turn the tables on the ...

MAYWOOD, Il. – A Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study suggests that omega-3 fish oil might help protect against alcohol-related dementia. Previous studies have shown that long-term alcohol abuse increases the risk of dementia. The Loyola study found that in the brain cells of rats exposed to high levels of alcohol, a fish oil compound protected against inflammation and cell death. The study by Michael A. Collins, PhD, and colleagues was reported Sept. 8 at the 14th Congress of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in Warsaw. An ...

Barcelona, Spain: Virtual observation of patients taking their prescribed TB medication, could prove an effective technique for ensuring patients effectively complete their course of treatment. The research will be presented today (8 September 2013) at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Annual Congress. The new study suggests an alternative method to directly observed treatment (DOT), which is recommended by the World Health Organization. Directly observing treatments is often time consuming for a patient and is resource intensive for outreach projects, which seek ...

Barcelona, Spain: Living close to a busy road is associated with a higher risk of death in people with bronchiectasis. A new study, presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Annual Congress in Barcelona today (8 September 2013), has added to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the damaging effects of road-side pollution. Bronchiectasis is a condition in which the airways of the lungs become abnormally widened, leading to a build-up of excess mucus. It can be caused by cystic fibrosis (CF), and experts usually categorise the condition as cases either ...

Barcelona, Spain: First trial to compare e-cigarettes with nicotine patches shows comparable success in helping smokers to quit. The first ever trial to compare e-cigarettes with nicotine patches has found that both methods result in comparable success in quitting, with roughly similar proportions of smokers who used either method remaining abstinent from smoking for six months after a 13 week course of patches or e-cigarettes. The study, presented today (8 September 2013) at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Annual Congress in Barcelona, Spain and published in ...

Barcelona, Spain: Results of a new study suggest that three new diagnostic tests could each be used to successfully diagnose drug resistance in tuberculosis (TB) patients in a quarter of the time taken by the current method. The research, presented today (8 September 2013) at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Barcelona, has provided evidence that each test could be used as an effective alternative to standard testing, increasing the possibilities open to clinicians. Drug susceptibility tests are carried out in people with active TB in order to ...

'Eat less salt' is a mantra of our health-conscious times and is seen as an important step in reducing heart disease and hypertension. Too much salt in the diet – and specifically sodium – is widely acknowledged as a major risk factor for high blood pressure however, scientists have found that salt's other oft-overlooked constituent chloride might also play an important role. A study by researchers at the University of Glasgow has revealed that low chloride levels in the blood is an independent indicator of mortality risk in people with hypertension. The role of chloride ...

DNA is the blueprint for life. Could it also become the template for making a new generation of computer chips based not on silicon, but on an experimental material known as graphene? That's the theory behind a process that Stanford chemical engineering professor Zhenan Bao reveals in Nature Communications. Bao and her co-authors, former post-doctoral fellows Anatoliy Sokolov and Fung Ling Yap, hope to solve a problem clouding the future of electronics: consumers expect silicon chips to continue getting smaller, faster and cheaper, but engineers fear that this virtuous ...

Two NASA satellites and one of NASA's Global Hawk aircraft got good looks at Gabrielle when it weakened from a tropical storm to a depression. Although Gabrielle is now a remnant low pressure area, there are a couple of other developing low pressure areas in the Atlantic Ocean basin to keep an eye on. As part of NASA's Hurricane Severe Storms Sentinel mission known as HS3, two of NASA's Global Hawks have been investigating Gabrielle and are gathering data over its remnants. Global Hawk 871 and 872 have been gathering data on Gabrielle this week and are expected to fly ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- The future of satellite technology is getting small — about the size of a shoebox, to be exact. These so-called "CubeSats," and other small satellites, are making space exploration cheaper and more accessible: The minuscule probes can be launched into orbit at a fraction of the weight and cost of traditional satellites. But with such small packages come big limitations — namely, a satellite's communication range. Large, far-ranging radio dishes are impossible to store in a CubeSat's tight quarters. Instead, the satellites are equipped with smaller, less ...

The eighth tropical depression of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico at 2 p.m. EDT on Sept. 6, and NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured a visible image of the storm. NOAA's GOES-East satellite image showed a large circulation associated with Tropical Depression 8 or TD8 after it was officially designated a depression by the National Hurricane Center. The image was created by NASA's GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The center of TD8 formed right along the eastern coast of Mexico near Tampico ...

An assistant professor with the Virginia Tech - Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering has developed a flexible microneedle patch that allows drugs to be delivered directly and fully through the skin. The new patch can quicken drug delivery time while cutting waste, and can likely minimize side-effects in some cases, notable in vaccinations and cancer therapy. News of the delivery technology was published in a recent issue of the scientific journal, Advanced Materials. Leading development of the flexible patch was Lissett Bickford, now an assistant professor and ...

SAN FRANSISCO, CA – Five additional studies of note are among those that will be presented at the 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium, taking place September 7-9, 2013 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California. Two studies examine cognitive function in women who undergo treatment for early-stage breast cancer; a third evaluates impact of tumor genotyping on clinical trial enrollment; and the final two evaluate the outcomes of different treatment approaches. Saturday, September 7 Presentations Abstract #48: Receptor status change from primary to residual ...

Data from the dropsondes that are dispersed from one of NASA's Global Hawk unmanned aircraft assisted forecasters at the National Hurricane Center when analyzing the environment of newborn Tropical Storm Gabrielle at 11 p.m. EDT on Sept. 4. One of two of NASA's Global Hawks flew over Tropical Depression Seven on Sept. 4, which organized into Tropical Storm Gabrielle. "During this flight, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the tropical system to Tropical Storm Gabrielle and acknowledged the data that they are getting real time from our aircraft on their website," ...

Like the wind adjusting course in the middle of a storm, scientists have discovered that the particles streaming into the solar system from interstellar space have most likely changed direction over the last 40 years. Such information can help us map out our place within the galaxy surrounding us, and help us understand our place in space. The results, based on data spanning four decades from 11 different spacecraft, were published in Science on Sept. 5, 2013. Vestiges of the interstellar wind flowing into what's called the heliosphere -- the vast bubble filled by the ...

LA JOLLA, CA—Alzheimer's disease affects more than 26 million people worldwide. It is predicted to skyrocket as boomers age—nearly 106 million people are projected to have the disease by 2050. Fortunately, scientists are making progress towards therapies. A collaboration among several research entities, including the Salk Institute and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, has defined a key mechanism behind the disease's progress, giving hope that a newly modified Alzheimer's drug will be effective. In a previous study in 2009, Stephen F. Heinemann, a professor ...

HOUSTON, Sept. 5, 2013 – Physicists at the University of Houston's physics department and the Texas Center for Superconductivity are working on an innovation that could boost vehicle mileage by 5 percent and power plant and industrial processing performance as much as 10 percent. Their research uses non-toxic materials – tin telluride, with the addition of the chemical element indium – for waste heat recovery. Telluride has been studied for years, said Zhifeng Ren, M.D. Anderson Chair professor of physics at UH and lead author of a paper describing the ...

Synthetic antidepressants present a narrow spectrum and side effects following long-term application. Recently, medical practitioners have shown interest in the use of Chinese medicines for the treatment of diseases and in the adjustment of the human response to stress. Liping Chen and colleagues from Hainan Branch of Chinese PLA General Hospital have found in their preliminary studies that the Chinese herb Shuyusan, whose main constituent is jasminoidin, has been shown to protect SH-SY5Y cells against corticosterone-induced damage. A recent study reported in the Neural ...

A UCLA study published Sept. 3 in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine demonstrates that an approach that combines behavioral science with social media and online communities can lead to improved health behaviors among men at risk of HIV infection. The evidence-based approach not only led to increased HIV testing and encouraged significant behavioral change among high-risk groups but also proved to be one of the best HIV-prevention and testing approaches on the Internet, according to the study's lead investigator, Sean D. Young, an assistant professor ...

In the central nervous system, nerve cells adhere to the extracellular matrix. Type I collagen is the major class of insoluble fibrous proteins in the extracellular matrix. A previous study has shown that neural stem and progenitor cells, cultured on collagen matrices, are able to expand actively and generate neurons. Collagens can be classified into hydrolyzed and non-hydrolyzed collagens, or two-dimensional and three-dimensional collagens. Which form of collagen is suitable for nerve cell culture? Dr. Mohsen Fathi Najafi and colleagues from Mashhad University of Medical ...