It's less costly to get electricity from wind turbines and solar panels than coal-fired power plants when climate change costs and other health impacts are factored in, according to a new study published in Springer's Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. In fact—using the official U.S. government estimates of health and environmental costs from burning fossil fuels—the study shows it's cheaper to replace a typical existing coal-fired power plant with a wind turbine than to keep the old plant running. And new electricity generation from wind could be more economically ...

WASHINGTON D.C. Sept. 17, 2013 -- In the long sprint to find new sources of clean, low-cost power, slow and steady might win the race -- the slow-moving water of currents and tides, that is. Just as wind turbines tap into the energy of flowing air to generate electricity, hydrokinetic devices produce power from moving masses of water. In a paper appearing in AIP Publishing's Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Ramon Fernandez-Feria, a professor of fluid mechanics at Universidad de Málaga in Spain, and his colleagues Joaquin Ortega-Casanova and Daniel Cebrián ...

New Rochelle, NY, September 17, 2013—Using a new in silico method called OptSwap scientists can predict how to engineer microorganisms to increase the yield of high-value biobased chemicals produced by industrial-scale cell factories. This example of how advanced computational tools are being applied to genome-scale metabolic modeling in microbes illustrates the important contributions from the field of Systems Biology, as highlighted in a special research section in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert Inc., publisher. The articles are ...

Arden Pope's students know him as an excellent economics teacher, but some would be surprised to learn that, thanks to him, the air they breathe today is cleaner than the first breath they ever took. In fact, a new study by this BYU professor concludes that improvements in U.S. air quality since 1990 have sparked a 35 percent reduction in deaths and disability specifically attributable to air pollution. Pope was a member of a large research team who co-authored the study for the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Some of the best news relative to the air ...

Tissue-conserving cancer surgery is a highly skilled procedure which involves time-consuming tissue preparation to detect the margins of cancerous tissue. The goal is to remove as much of the tumour as possible while sparing healthy tissue. With funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), experts at The University of Nottingham have developed a highly accurate prototype technique which can produce a detailed 'spectroscopic fingerprint' of each tissue layer removed during surgery. This technique — which can produce detailed maps of the tissue rich ...

URBANA, Ill. – Removing nitrogen from the environment "the natural way" by creating a wetland is a long-term, nutrient-removal solution, more cost effective than upgrading a wastewater treatment plant, but it isn't necessarily socially beneficial to offer landowners multiple payments for the environmental services that flow from such wetlands, according to a study conducted at the University of Illinois. "In the areas we studied in Bureau County with small wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), it was much cheaper to do pollution control by installing just a few wetlands ...

DURHAM, N.H. – Employees who have a sense of unjustified entitlement are more likely to say that their bosses are abusive and mistreat them than their less entitlement-minded coworkers, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire. The research was conducted by Paul Harvey, associate professor of organizational behavior at UNH, and his research colleagues Kenneth Harris from Indiana University Southeast, William Gillis from the University of South Alabama, and Mark Martinko from the University of Queensland. It is presented in The Leadership Quarterly ...

17 September 2013 – Neither the total nor the core diameters of laser fibers correspond to the advertised laser fiber diameter, revealed a new study investigating lasers used for urological surgery. Furthermore, there are serious differences between manufacturers of fibers with a supposedly equal diameter. The new study, conducted by Dr. Peter Kronenberg of Hospital Fernando Fonseca in Amadora, Portugal, and Prof. Olivier Traxer of the Hôpital Tenon in Paris, France, aimed to objectively confirm the diameter between laser fibers of supposed equal thickness by different ...

New Rochelle, NY—Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers has introduced a preview issue of MOOCs Forum, a new publication dedicated to the development and sustainability of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The burgeoning coverage of MOOCs in the press extols their potential. But within the communities of education, industrial learning, developers, investors and broad student demographics, the credibility, standards, protocols, utility and value of MOOCs are being questioned, researched and developed. MOOCs Forum is committed to providing and promoting dialogue, debate ...

Each cell in an organism has a sensor that measures the health of its "internal" environment. This "alarm" is found in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is able to sense cellular stress and trigger either rescue responses or the death of the cell. A team from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), in Barcelona, has discovered that the protein Mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) plays a crucial role in correctly measuring stress levels, and also makes sure the pathways of cell repair or cell death are effective. The researchers reveal some of the molecular mechanisms that ...

This news release is available in French. Montreal, 17 September 2013 — Can world-saving claims like "not tested on animals" and "phosphate free," help sell bottles of shampoo and bars of soap? A new study from Concordia University's John Molson School of Business proves such statements can make consumers more likely to buy, especially when one's sense of touch is appealed to alongside one's sense of social justice. In a paper recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Concordia University marketing professor Onur Bodur shows that for ethical claims to ...

Human influences have directly impacted the latitude/altitude pattern of atmospheric temperature. That is the conclusion of a new report by scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and six other scientific institutions. The research compares multiple satellite records of atmospheric temperature change with results from a large, multi-model archive of simulations. "Human activity has very different effects on the temperature of the upper and lower atmosphere, and a very different fingerprint from purely natural influences," said Benjamin Santer, the lead ...

Philadelphia, September 17, 2013 -- The American College of Physicians (ACP) sets the framework for a team-based model of health care in a new policy paper published today in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Annals of Internal Medicine. ACP offers more than a dozen principles to encourage and enable clinicians to work together effectively in dynamic clinical care teams. The policy paper, Principles Supporting Dynamic Clinical Care Teams, outlines a process for creating more nimble, adaptable partnerships that encourage teamwork, collaboration, and smooth transitions of ...

About half of smokers seeking treatment for smoking cessation have a history of depression. Compared with smokers who are not depressed, those who suffer from a major depressive disorder (MDD) have greater difficulty quitting. In a Pfizer-sponsored clinical trial to assess the effect of varenicline (Chantix®) on smoking cessation, as well as mood and anxiety levels in smokers with current or a history of depression, researchers concluded that the drug does help some of these patients to quit smoking without worsening symptoms of depression or anxiety. The study was ...

Engineers at Stanford University have devised a new way to generate electricity from sewage using naturally-occurring "wired microbes" as mini power plants, producing electricity as they digest plant and animal waste. In a paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, co-authors Yi Cui, a materials scientist, Craig Criddle, an environmental engineer, and Xing Xie, an interdisciplinary fellow, call their invention a microbial battery. One day they hope it will be used in places such as sewage treatment plants, or to break down organic ...

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered a reason why people with disorders of the thyroid gland may be more sensitive to environmental temperature. According to the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a previously unknown link has been found between the effects of thyroid hormone on blood vessels, and how this in turn affects body temperature. Patients with hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid) or hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid) often feel that they are too hot or too cold, respectively. The ...

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have for the first time found an association between living in proximity to high-density livestock production and community-acquired infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA. Their analysis concluded that approximately 11 percent of community-acquired MRSA and soft tissue infections in the study population could be attributed to crop fields fertilized with swine manure. The study is the first to examine the association between high-density livestock operations ...

Consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in a row is common among high school seniors, with some students engaging in extreme binge drinking of as many as 15 or more drinks, according to a study published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication. Alcohol consumption by adolescents is a public health problem in the United States. Binge drinking, commonly defined as four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men, can cause injury, impaired driving and alcohol poisoning, as well as cause long-term risks such as liver damage, alcohol dependence and alterations ...

The overall cost of childhood food allergies was estimated at nearly $25 billion annually in a study of caregivers that quantified medical, out-of-pocket, lost work productivity and other expenses, according to a report published by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication. Food allergy is a growing public health issue in the United States that affects about 8 percent of children. The condition results in significant medical costs to the health care system but also inflicts substantial costs on families, including special diets and allergen-free foods, according to ...

CHICAGO – A higher proportion of women than men 55 years and younger did not have chest pain in acute coronary syndromes (ACS, such as heart attacks or unstable angina), although chest pain was the most common symptom for both sexes, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Chest pain is a classic symptom that often triggers diagnostic testing for ACS, however, as many as 35 percent of patients with ACS do not report chest pain at presentation. They are more likely to be misdiagnosed in the emergency department and have a higher ...

Threats from overfishing can be detected early enough to save fisheries-- and livelihoods --with minimal adjustments in harvesting practices, a new study by researchers in the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences shows. The work indicates that a healthy fishery can be maintained the way a skillful captain steers an oil tanker: by small course corrections that prevent disaster far ahead. The study, by Ecology, Evolution and Behavior (EEB) graduate student Matt Burgess and co-advisors Stephen Polasky (EEB and Applied Economics in the College of Food, ...

CHICAGO – High exposure to swine manure spread in crop fields and proximity to high-density swine livestock operations appear to be associated with increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and skin and soft-tissue infection in humans, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Most of the antibiotics used in animal feed to promote livestock growth in high-production livestock facilities are not absorbed by the animals and end up in manure. In addition to the antibiotics, antibiotic-resistant bacteria ...

An estimated 30,800 fewer invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections occurred in the United States in 2011 compared to 2005, according to a study by Raymund Dantes, M.D., M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues. MRSA is one of the most common antimicrobial-resistant pathogens causing infections, especially in the skin and soft tissues. The researchers estimated that 80,461 invasive MRSA infections occurred nationally in 2011. Of those, 48,353 were health care-associated community-onset infections ...

Walter A. Rocca, M.D., M.P.H., of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., and colleagues examined the incidence of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson disease dementia (PDD) in a study of residents in Olmsted County, Minn., over a 15-year period. Limited information is available about the incidence of DLB or PDD in the general population so researchers used a well-defined population to help better characterize the two disorders, according to the study background. Among 542 cases of parkinsonism, 64 patients had DLB and 46 had PDD. The overall incidence rate of ...

A small pilot study shows for the first time that changes in diet, exercise, stress management and social support may result in longer telomeres, the parts of chromosomes that affect aging. It is the first controlled trial to show that any intervention might lengthen telomeres over time. The study will be published online on Sept. 16, 2013 in The Lancet Oncology. The study was conducted by scientists at UC San Francisco and the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, a nonprofit public research institute in Sausalito, Calif. that investigates the effect of ...