The new study demonstrates that old organic matter in sedimentary basins located beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet may have been converted to methane by micro-organisms living under oxygen-deprived conditions. The methane could be released to the atmosphere if the ice sheet shrinks and exposes these old sedimentary basins. The researchers estimate that 50 per cent of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (1 million km2) and 25 per cent of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (2.5 million km2) overlies preglacial sedimentary basins, containing about 21,000 billion tonnes of organic carbon. Team ...

National Institutes of Health scientists have identified how a kind of immature immune cell responds to a part of influenza virus and have traced the path those cells take to generate antibodies that can neutralize a wide range of influenza virus strains. Study researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of NIH, were led by Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIAID's Vaccine Research Center. Their findings appear online in advance of print in Nature. "This new understanding of how an immature immune cell transforms into a ...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Removing the entire pancreas in patients with cancer or precancerous cysts in part of the organ does not result in unmanageable diabetes — as many physicians previously believed, research at Mayo Clinic in Florida has found. The study, published online Sunday in the journal HPB Surgery, evaluates how well patients who had their entire pancreas removed could control their resulting diabetes. The pancreas produces insulin to remove sugar from the blood, so when the organ is gone, insulin must be replaced, usually through an external pump or with injections. The ...

New York, NY, August 29, 2012—The United States lags three other industrialized nations—France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—in its potentially preventable death rate, and in the pace of improvement in preventing deaths that could have been avoided with timely and effective health care, according to a Commonwealth Fund–supported study published as a web first online today in Health Affairs. Between 1999 and 2006/2007, the overall potentially preventable death rate among men ages 0 to 74 dropped by only 18.5 percent in the United States, while the rate declined by nearly ...

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – August 29, 2012 – A study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) presented encouraging news regarding physicians' ability to determine blood flow and associated coronary artery disease (CAD) using noninvasive CT scanning technology. Data from the Determination of Fractional Flow Reserve by Anatomic Computed Tomographic Angiography (DeFACTO) study were presented on August 26 at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich, Germany. John R. Lesser, MD, a Cardiologist and senior researcher at ...

Your mood for food can be changed by a restaurant's choice of music and lighting, leading to increased satisfaction and reduced calorie intake, according to a new study. "When we did a makeover of a fast-food restaurant, we found that softer music and lighting led diners to eat 175 fewer calories and enjoy it more," said the study's lead author, Brian Wansink, professor of marketing and director of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab. Wansink and his co-author, Koert van Ittersum of the Georgia Institute of Technology, found that softening the lighting and music ...

Previous studies have hypothesized that low levels of the enzyme thymidylate synthase (TS) likely mark patients who will benefit from the drug pemetrexed – but results have been inconclusive at best and at times contradictory. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology provides an explanation why: only in combination with high levels of a second enzyme, FPGS, does low TS predict response to pemetrexed in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. "The hope is that oncologists could test a patient for TS and ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—If you're diabetic or prone to diabetes, having a steady job appears to be good for your health, and not just because of the insurance coverage. A new University of Michigan study found that that jobless working-age people with diabetes are less likely to adhere to their oral anti-diabetic medications than diabetics who are employed. Further, people of working age with diabetes are more likely to be unemployed than those who do not have diabetes. The lack of a clear-cut, cause-and-effect relationship between insurance and medication adherence surprised ...

MADISON, WI - Aug. 29, 2012 – The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) announces the following 2012 awards that will be formally presented during their Annual Meetings, Oct. 21-24, 2012 in Cincinnati, OH. Susan Brantley, Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at Penn State - SSSA Presidential Award: Susan Brantley is Distinguished Professor of Geosciences in the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. She received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Geological and Geophysical Sciences from Princeton University. Daniel Hillel, Columbia University ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new national survey of more than 1,000 registered nurses suggests that serious barriers - including resistance from nursing leaders - prevent nurses from implementing evidence-based practices that improve patient outcomes. When survey respondents ranked these barriers, the top five included resistance from nursing leaders and nurse managers - a finding that hasn't been reported in previous similar studies - as well as politics and organizational cultures that avoid change. When asked what would help them implement evidence-based practice, respondents ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- College student retention and low graduation rates are the most significant problems associated with state-provided financial aid. Now, a University of Missouri researcher has found that African-American males are the most likely to lose state lottery-funded scholarships with academic stipulations. Charles Menifield, a professor in the Truman School of Public Affairs at MU, found that more than 50 percent of African-American males lost state-funded scholarships over the course of a four-year academic career. "Race turns out to be one of the best predictors ...

A study in the August 30 issue of Nature provides, in unprecedented detail, the history of a crucial indicator of the relationship between the carbon cycle and climate processes over the past 55 million years. Over this time period, when the Earth is known to have transitioned from "hothouse" to "icehouse" conditions, the oceans also experienced a dramatic shift in the carbonate compensation depth, or CCD. Defined as the depth below which carbonate minerals (such as calcite) dissolve completely, the CCD is known to fluctuate over time – it shallows during warm periods, ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Computer viruses are constantly replicating throughout computer networks and wreaking havoc. But what if they had to find mates in order to reproduce? In the current issue of Evolution, Michigan State University researchers created the digital equivalent of spring break to see how mate attraction played out through computer programs, said Chris Chandler, MSU postdoctoral researcher at MSU's BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. "This is actually a big question that still generates a lot of debate," said Chandler, who co-authored the ...

A team of researchers from Louisiana State University and the American Museum of Natural History has discovered that two groups of blind cave fishes on opposite sides of the Indian Ocean are each other's closest relatives. Through comprehensive DNA analysis, the researchers determined that these eyeless fishes, one group from Madagascar and the other from similar subterranean habitats in Australia, descended from a common ancestor before being separated by continental drift nearly 100 million years ago. Their study, which appears in the journal PLOS ONE this week, also ...

A new study by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, suggests that the nature of California heatwaves is changing due to global warming. Climate researchers Alexander Gershunov and Kristen Guirguis detected a trend toward more humid heatwaves that are expressed very strongly in elevated nighttime temperatures, a trend consistent with climate change projections. Moreover, relative to local warming, the mid-summer heatwaves are getting stronger in generally cooler coastal areas. This carries implications for the millions of Californians living ...

A study of physics faculty awareness and use of research-based instructional techniques offers greater understanding of what is missing from current education reform efforts The world has changed dramatically in recent decades but many argue that the university system has not kept pace. As another academic year begins, if you peek into any introductory college science course you're likely to find the same scene as you would have twenty years ago: An instructor writing equations on the blackboard while a lecture hall full of students take notes. Why is college science ...

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/29/2012) —Can we have enough to eat and a healthy environment, too? Yes—if we're smart about it, suggests a study published in Nature this week by a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal. Global demand for food is expected to double by 2050 due to population growth and increased standards of living. To meet this demand, it is often assumed we will need to expand the environmental burden of agriculture. The paper, based on analysis of agricultural data gathered from around the world, offers hope ...

Johns Hopkins researchers have created a synthetic protein that, when activated by ultraviolet light, can guide doctors to places within the body where cancer, arthritis and other serious medical disorders can be detected. The technique could lead to a new type of diagnostic imaging technology and may someday serve as a way to move medications to parts of the body where signs of disease have been found. In a study published in the Aug. 27-31 Online Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers reported success in using the synthetic ...

COLLEGE STATION Aug. 29, 2012 – Analysis of a specific mutation in a gene in horses that affects the ability of horses to use alternate gaits is strongly related to racing performance and is advantageous for harness-racing horses. In domestic horses, the mutation has had a major impact on their diversification, as the altered gait characteristics of a number of breeds apparently require this mutation, according to a study that includes a Texas A&M University researcher. Gus Cothran, a professor in the Animal Genetic Lab of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical ...

Tropical Storm Kirk looks more like a comet than a tropical storm in infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite because of wind shear. NASA infrared imagery also revealed powerful thunderstorms around the center of circulation which are indicators that Kirk will continue strengthening. Meanwhile, another low pressure area appears to be organizing in the eastern Atlantic, far to the southeast of Kirk. Tropical Depression Kirk formed from the eleventh tropical depression of the Atlantic Ocean season. Tropical Depression 11 formed on Aug. 28 at 5 p.m. EDT about 1,270 miles ...

Hurricane Isaac made two landfalls in southeastern Louisiana. Isaac's first landfall occurred in southeastern Louisiana on Aug. 28 at 7:45 p.m. EDT (1145 UTC), second landfall on Aug. 29 at 6 a.m. EDT (1000 UTC). NASA's TRMM satellite observed heavy rainfall in this slow moving storm, which leads to higher rainfall totals and flooding. NASA and NOAA satellites continue to provide detailed information to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Isaac's first landfall occurred at 7:45 p.m. EDT in extreme southeastern Louisiana, bringing strong winds and dangerous ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –A new "nano machine shop" that shapes nanowires and ultrathin films could represent a future manufacturing method for tiny structures with potentially revolutionary properties. The structures might be "tuned" for applications ranging from high-speed electronics to solar cells and also may have greater strength and unusual traits such as ultrahigh magnetism and "plasmonic resonance," which could lead to improved optics, computers and electronics. The researchers used their technique to stamp nano- and microgears; form tiny circular shapes out of ...

CHICAGO --- Temper tantrums in young children can be an early signal of mental health problems, but how does a parent or pediatrician know when disruptive behavior is typical or a sign of a serious problem? New Northwestern Medicine research will give parents and professionals a new tool to know when to worry about young children's misbehavior. Researchers have developed an easy-to-administer questionnaire specifically designed to distinguish the typical misbehavior of early childhood from more concerning misbehavior. This will enable early identification and treatment ...

(Edmonton) Danielle Peers has lived the thrill and pressure, revelled in competition and brought home hardware from the Paralympic Games. But beneath the cheers, the University of Alberta researcher questions whether the Paralympic movement is as empowering as its benevolent image. The former Paralympian bronze medallist and women's wheelchair basketball world champion says the history of the Paralympic movement dates to the freak shows of the 19th century—and even today's modern games are a spectacle of curiosity that reinforces disability. "The Paralympics is one ...

VIDEO: Mark W. Lee Jr., an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Missouri, and his research team have used carboranes to enhance cancer-fighting drugs. They recently created one drug... Click here for more information. COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Legend has it that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." University of Missouri researchers are doing just that, but instead of building mousetraps, the scientists ...