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Penn researchers find molecular key to exhaustion following sleep deprivation

Penn researchers find molecular key to exhaustion following sleep deprivation
2013-03-07
PHILADELPHIA – It happens to everyone: You stay up late one night to finish an assignment, and the next day, you're exhausted. Humans aren't unique in that; all animals need sleep, and if they don't get it, they must make it up. The biological term for that pay-the-piper behavior is "sleep homeostasis," and now, thanks to a research team at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, one of the molecular players in this process has been identified – at least in nematode round worms. David Raizen, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Neurology, and his colleagues ...

Advance in re-engineering photosynthesis to make drugs, compounds or ingredients

2013-03-07
Scientists are reporting an advance in re-engineering photosynthesis to transform plants into bio-factories that manufacture high-value ingredients for medicines, fabrics, fuels and other products. They report on the research in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology. Poul Erik Jensen and colleagues explain that photosynthesis does more than transform carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen and generate energy. That process also produces a wealth of natural chemical compounds, many of which have potential uses in medicines and other commercial products. However, evolution ...

Exercise shields children from stress

2013-03-07
Chevy Chase, MD ––Exercise may play a key role in helping children cope with stressful situations, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). When they are exposed to everyday stressors, the study found sedentary children had surges of cortisol – a hormone linked to stress. The most active children had little or no increase in their cortisol levels in similar situations. "The findings suggest physical activity plays a role in mental health by buffering children from the effects ...

New software could help cut hospital admissions

New software could help cut hospital admissions
2013-03-07
New software, which will allow GP practice managers to improve healthcare for chronic illnesses including strokes, Alzheimer's and cancer, will be unveiled by scientists from The University of Manchester next week (13 & 14 March). Experts have devised a computer programme which analyses how many patients in a practice have suffered from different conditions over a particular time period and identifies those who might require hospital treatment in the future. Against a back drop of a drive for NHS efficiency savings, they believe the software will help practice managers ...

Worming our way to new treatments for Alzheimer's disease

2013-03-07
Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2013 – According to a 2012 World Health Organization report, over 35 million people worldwide currently have dementia, a number that is expected to double by 2030 (66 million) and triple by 2050 (115 million). Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, has no cure and there are currently only a handful of approved treatments that slow, but do not prevent, the progression of symptoms. New drug development, no matter the disease, is a slow, expensive, and risky process. Thus, innovative techniques to study and assess the possibilities ...

New flex-grid system prevents optical network 'traffic jams'

New flex-grid system prevents optical network traffic jams
2013-03-07
Services like Google Maps use algorithms to determine the fastest route from point A to point B—even factoring in real-time traffic information as you travel to redirect you if, for example, a parade is blocking part of your route. Now, a team of researchers from Spain and Japan have achieved this kind of traffic control for the connections in optical networks by using a new dynamic network management system—and it does Google Maps one better. If necessary, the flexible-grid system can also redirect the traffic-congesting parade to another street (by re-arranging one or ...

Even mild traumatic brain injuries can kill brain tissue

Even mild traumatic brain injuries can kill brain tissue
2013-03-07
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Scientists have watched a mild traumatic brain injury play out in the living brain, prompting swelling that reduces blood flow and connections between neurons to die. "Even with a mild trauma, we found we still have these ischemic blood vessels and, if blood flow is not returned to normal, synapses start to die," said Dr. Sergei Kirov, neuroscientist and Director of the Human Brain Lab at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University. They also found that subsequent waves of depolarization – when brain cells lose their normal positive and ...

Study finds up to half of gestational diabetes patients will develop type 2 diabetes

2013-03-07
Chevy Chase, MD ––Women who were diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy face a significantly higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in the future, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). The prospective cohort study tracked 843 women who were diagnosed with gestational diabetes between 1996 and 2003 at Cheil General Hospital in Seoul, South Korea. About 12.5 percent of the women developed Type 2 diabetes within two months of delivering their babies. During the ...

More baccalaureate-prepared nurses in hospitals connected to fewer patient deaths

2013-03-07
When hospitals hire more nurses with four-year degrees, patient deaths following common surgeries decrease, according to new research by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research as reported in the March issue of the prestigious policy journal Health Affairs. Less than half the nation's nurses (45%) have baccalaureate degrees, according to the most recent data available (2008). If all 134 Pennsylvania hospitals involved in the study had increased the percentage of their nurses with four-year degrees by 10 percentage ...

Age at first menstrual cycle, menopause tied to heart disease risk

2013-03-07
Chevy Chase, MD ––Chinese women are less likely to develop cardiovascular disease if they have their first menstrual cycle or enter menopause later than their peers, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). The study also found earlier onset of menopause was associated with a higher risk of developing osteoporosis. The risk was significantly lower for women who were older than 50 when they underwent menopause. The findings could be used to identify women who are more likely to ...

Child marriages: 39,000 every day

2013-03-07
NEW YORK, 7 March 2013 – Between 2011 and 2020, more than 140 million girls will become child brides, according to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). If current levels of child marriages hold, 14.2 million girls annually or 39,000 daily will marry too young. Furthermore, of the 140 million girls who will marry before the age of 18, 50 million will be under the age of 15. Despite the physical damage and the persistent discrimination to young girls, little progress has been made toward ending the practice of child marriage. In fact, the problem threatens to ...

How science debunked the ancient Aztec crystal skull hoax

2013-03-07
They may have gained fame in the Steven Spielberg adventure film "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but those quartz-crystal skulls that once ranked as a great enigma of archaeology are certifiably fake. And the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News, (C&EN) the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, recalls the details of their rise and fall. In the article, Sarah Everts, C&EN's European science correspondent, delves back into history, explaining that the skull sculptures — supposedly ...

New gender benchmarking study finds women greatly under-represented in South Korean STI

2013-03-07
Seoul, March 7, 2013– In the first gender benchmarking study of its kind, researchers have found that numbers of women in the science, technology and innovation fields are alarmingly low in the world's leading economies, and are actually on the decline in others, including the United States. South Korea's low ranking in the study results reflects a substantial underrepresentation of females in public and economic life. South Korean ranks last of the countries in the study in female economic status, access to resources, supportive policy, and participation in the knowledge ...

The side effects of statin ads

2013-03-07
Television advertising may drive over-diagnosis of high cholesterol and over-treatment with statins, according to a new study¹ by Dr. Jeff Niederdeppe from Cornell University in the US and colleagues. It appears that a trip to the doctor enquiring about statins advertised on TV often leads to a prescription. The work appears online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine², published by Springer. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, and high levels of LDL-cholesterol, or 'bad' cholesterol, are a major contributor. Statins have been proven ...

PTSD linked to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, early markers of heart disease

2013-03-07
SAN FRANCISCO (March 7, 2013) —Patients diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a significantly higher risk of developing insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, placing them at greater risk for heart disease and diabetes, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Researchers say public health interventions are urgently needed to prevent PTSD-related metabolic disorder at its early, reversible stage. This retrospective study included 207,954 veterans in Southern California and Nevada ...

Novel marker helps identify preeclampsia risk in pregnancy

2013-03-07
SAN FRANCISCO (March 7, 2013) — Pregnant women who have a reduced number of capillaries under their skin during pregnancy may be at heightened risk for preeclampsia, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Researchers say monitoring such changes in small blood vessels early in pregnancy may allow for medical intervention long before the potentially life-threatening condition occurs. The study, conducted by researchers in England, evaluated 305 women early in pregnancy to determine whether measuring ...

African-American breast cancer survivors face higher risk of heart failure

2013-03-07
SAN FRANCISCO (March 7, 2013) — African-American women who survive breast cancer are more likely to develop heart failure than other women who have beaten the disease, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. All told, these women have a 1.4-fold greater risk for heart failure compared to their white counterparts, though the likelihood of dying after developing heart failure is roughly the same. This trend remained even after taking other potential contributing factors into account, including age, high ...

Incoming! Then outgoing! Waves generated by Russian meteor recorded crossing the US

Incoming! Then outgoing! Waves generated by Russian meteor recorded crossing the US
2013-03-07
A network of seismographic stations recorded spectacular signals from the blast waves of the meteor that landed near Chelyabinsk, Russia, as the waves crossed the United States. The National Science Foundation- (NSF) supported stations are used to study earthquakes and the Earth's deep interior. While thousands of earthquakes around the globe are recorded by seismometers in these stations--part of the permanent Global Seismographic Network (GSN) and EarthScope's temporary Transportable Array (TA)--signals from large meteor impacts are far less common. The meteor ...

A new material using doped carbon allows fuels to be produced while reducing CO2 emissions

A new material using doped carbon allows fuels to be produced while reducing CO2 emissions
2013-03-07
Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have developed a new material using doped carbon that allows low-cost energy to be produced and also reduces the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. The recently-patented material is a gel that enables the CO2 to be turned back into hydrocarbons via electro-catalytic transformation, with great savings both in time and money At present, power stations run using renewable energies (wind, solar or wave) produce energy peaks that are wasted, since they do not coincide with the energy needs. Storing this energy in batteries ...

Tooth loss associated with cardiovascular risk factors in patients with chronic heart disease

2013-03-07
SAN FRANCISCO (March 7, 2013) — Poor dental health, especially tooth loss, is associated with several established cardiovascular risk factors, including diabetes, smoking, blood pressure, obesity and other novel risk factors, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Although several studies have proposed a link between periodontal disease and coronary heart disease, knowledge about periodontal disease in patients with established heart disease is lacking. Researchers investigated the prevalence of self-reported ...

According to a study, when we have a low opinion of someone, we tend to reject their money

2013-03-07
Research done in the Universities of Granada (Spain), Freiburg (Germany) and University College London (UK) has demonstrated that when we have a low opinion of somebody, we are more likely to reject their money, even though the offer is attractive, because the social information we have on that person influences our decision. Furthermore, people are prepared to even lose money rather than accept it from those they do not hold in high consideration. The article has been published in the journal Frontiers in Decision Neuroscience, based on a study in which the researchers ...

Highlights on women, minorities and persons with disabilities in science and engineering

2013-03-07
Women, persons with disabilities and three racial and ethnic groups--African Americans, Hispanics and American Indians--continue to be underrepresented in science and engineering (S&E) according to a new report released by the National Science Foundation. The report, Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2013, highlights the most recent data on S&E education and employment patterns for these groups. Data in the report demonstrate that women earn a smaller proportion of degrees in many S&E fields of study, although their participation ...

French women trailing behind their European neighbors when it comes to sport and exercise

2013-03-07
Geneva, Switzerland (07 March, 2013) – French women are less likely to spend any time on physical activities including sport, exercise or even household chores, compared to women in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and the UK, according to a new survey. The multi-national survey on sport and exercise habits also reveals that more than 50 per cent of French women did not play competitive sport or spend any time on intensive workouts such as running or cycling in a given week. As the French women's football team prepare for this summer's UEFA Women's EURO in Sweden, the countdown ...

Secondhand smoke exposure linked to signs of heart disease

2013-03-07
SAN FRANCISCO (March 7, 2013) — Nonsmokers, beware. It seems the more you are exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke—whether it was during your childhood or as an adult, at work or at home—the more likely you are to develop early signs of heart disease, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Researchers found that 26 percent of people exposed to varying levels of secondhand smoke had signs of coronary artery calcification (CAC), compared to 18.5 percent in the general population. The new data also shows ...

Electronic discharge tool reduces hospital readmissions in heart failure patients

2013-03-07
SAN FRANCISCO (March 7, 2013) —The use of electronic discharge orders aimed at providing evidence-based decision support and clear instructions to heart failure patients helped increase compliance with quality care measures and lowered hospital readmission rates, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Despite more widespread use of standardized discharge orders and evidence suggesting their effectiveness, little is known about how they impact adherence to quality measures or hospital readmission rates ...
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