LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 1, 2012— Combine the tree-ring growth record with historic information, climate records and computer-model projections of future climate trends, and you get a grim picture for the future of trees in the southwestern United States. That's the word from a team of scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona, and several other partner organizations. Described in a paper published in Nature Climate Change this week, "Temperature as a potent driver of regional forest drought stress and tree mortality," ...

Humanitarian workers are at significant risk for mental health problems, both in the field and after returning home. The good news is that there are steps that they and their employers can take to mitigate this risk. These findings, from a new study by scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and collaborators, including Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, are published online in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers surveyed 212 international humanitarian workers at 19 NGOs. Prior to deployment, 3.8% reported symptoms of ...

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 1, 2012) — Usher syndrome is a hereditary disease in which affected individuals lose both hearing and vision. The impact of Usher syndrome can be devastating. In the United States, approximately six in every 100,000 babies born have Usher syndrome. Several genes associated with different types of Usher syndrome have been identified. Most of these genes encode common structural and motor proteins that build sensory cells in the eye and inner ear. In a paper to be published in the November 2012 issue of Nature Genetics, a team of researchers from ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study has outlined for the first time a biological mechanism by which zinc deficiency can develop with age, leading to a decline of the immune system and increased inflammation associated with many health problems, including cancer, heart disease, autoimmune disease and diabetes. The research was done by scientists in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University and the OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences. It suggests that it's especially important for elderly people to get adequate dietary intake of zinc, since they may need ...

ANN ARBOR—A medication usually used to help treat depression and anxiety disorders has the potential to help prevent heart failure, according to researchers at the University of Michigan. John Tesmer, research professor at the U-M Life Sciences Institute and professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the U-M Medical School, and his research team at the Tesmer lab found that paroxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) sold under the name Paxil, inhibits G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2), a protein kinase that becomes over-expressed when people ...

An experimental treatment for blindness, developed from a patient's skin cells, improved the vision of blind mice in a study conducted by Columbia ophthalmologists and stem cell researchers. The findings suggest that induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells – which are derived from adult human skin cells but have embryonic properties – could soon be used to restore vision in people with macular degeneration and other diseases that affect the eye's retina. "With eye diseases, I think we're getting close to a scenario where a patient's own skin cells are used to replace retina ...

BOSTON, Mass.-- Fluoxetine was the first drug approved by the FDA for major depressive disorder (MDD) in children and adolescents, and to this date, it remains one of only two selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) registered for treatment of MDD in children and adolescents, despite reports that indicate this class of drugs is associated with side effects, such as agitation, hostility and aggression. SSRIs have been amongst the most widely prescribed medications in psychiatry for over a decade. While there is a wealth of information regarding their effectiveness ...

PHOENIX -- A new Mayo Clinic study confirms the use of smartphones medical images to evaluate stroke patients in remote locations through telemedicine. The study, the first to test the effectiveness of smartphone teleradiology applications in a real-world telestroke network, was recently published in Stroke, a journal of the American Heart Association. "Essentially what this means is that telemedicine can fit in our pockets," says Bart Demaerschalk, M.D., professor of Neurology, and medical director of Mayo Clinic Telestroke. "For patients this means access to expertise ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Taking enough omega-3 fatty acid supplements to change the balance of oils in the diet could slow a key biological process linked to aging, new research suggests. The study showed that most overweight but healthy middle-aged and older adults who took omega-3 supplements for four months altered a ratio of their fatty acid consumption in a way that helped preserve tiny segments of DNA in their white blood cells. These segments, called telomeres, are known to shorten over time in many types of cells as a consequence of aging. In the study, lengthening ...

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Increasingly, U.S. firms are moving or considering moving their manufacturing operations back to domestic soil from overseas, finds a new study co-authored by a Michigan State University supply chain expert. Fueling the trend are rising labor costs in emerging countries, high oil prices and increasing transportation costs, global risks such as political instability and other factors, said Tobias Schoenherr. "Going overseas is not the panacea that it was thought of just a decade or so ago," said Schoenherr, assistant professor in MSU's top-ranked ...

AMES, Iowa – Two Iowa State University graduate students are just back from the Gulf of Maine with another big catch of clam shells. Shelly Griffin and Madelyn Mette recently boarded a lobster boat, dropped a scallop dredge into 30 meters of ocean water and pulled up load after load of Arctica islandica. "These are the clams that end up in clam chowder," said Alan Wanamaker, an assistant professor of geological and atmospheric sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Wanamaker studies paleoclimatology, the variations and trends of past climates and environments, ...

VIDEO: Dr. Amir Toor from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center's Bone Marrow Transplant program explains a recent clinical trial evaluating a new therapy for multiple myeloma that harnesses the power... Click here for more information. Richmond, Va. – (October 1, 2012) – A novel therapy in the early stages of development at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center shows promise in providing lasting protection against the progression of multiple ...

Bethesda, MD (Oct. 1, 2012) — Patients at average risk of colorectal cancer who have a clean colonoscopy do not need to repeat the test for 10 years. This and many other practical recommendations for cancer prevention were issued in "Guidelines for Colonoscopy Surveillance After Screening and Polypectomy,"1 a consensus update issued by the U.S. Multisociety Task Force on Colorectal Cancer. Colorectal cancer is preventable when precancerous polyps (growths) are found and removed before they turn into cancer. Screening for average risk patients is recommended to begin ...

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/01/2012) —New genome editing technologies developed at the University of Minnesota for use on livestock will allow scientists to learn more about human diseases. The genomic technique, known as TALENS, is described in a report published today in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The technique is cheaper and faster than previous technologies that allow scientists to genetically modify livestock animals; the animals are used to learn more about human diseases, which in turn can help researchers develop cures. ...

"Betcha can't eat just one!" For obese people trying to lose weight, the Lays potato chip advertising slogan hits a bit too close to home as it describes the daily battle to resist high calorie foods. But new research by Terry Davidson, director of American University's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, indicates that diets that lead to obesity—diets high in saturated fat and refined sugar—may cause changes to the brains of obese people that in turn may fuel overconsumption of those same foods and make weight loss more challenging. "It is a vicious cycle that may ...

NASA satellites continue to watch the long-lived Nadine in the eastern Atlantic. Today, Oct. 1, NASA satellite data revealed that Nadine has weakened from a hurricane and is now a tropical storm. Over the weekend of Sept. 29 and 30, Hurricane Nadine dramatically rebounded. On September 19, 2012 Nadine appeared to be dissipating quickly and was expected to become post-tropical but after over a week of meandering near the Azores, Nadine sprang to life again as a hurricane on Friday September 28, 2012. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite's path ...

The twenty-first tropical depression of the northwestern Pacific Ocean was born as a NASA satellite flew overhead on Oct. 1, capturing its "baby picture" in infrared light. On Monday, Oct. 1 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), Tropical Depression 21W (TD21W) had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots. It was centered about300 nautical miles south of Hong Kong, near 17.4 North latitude and 114.8 East longitude. TD21W has tracked northward at 5 knots and is expected to curve to the northwest and west. On Oct. 1, 2012, infrared imagery from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) ...

The western North Pacific is in full swing, tropically speaking and NASA observed the birth of Tropical Storm Maliksi on Sept. 30. NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of the storm when it was a depression and revealed a large area of powerful thunderstorms around its center that hinted at its strengthening. Tropical Storm Maliksi formed from the twentieth tropical depression of the western North Pacific typhoon season. Tropical Depression 20W formed on Sept. 20 about 305 nautical miles from Guam near 16.3 North and 149.0 East. It is moving to the north-northwest ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – New research from the Netherlands shows that the switch from screen film mammography (SFM) to digital mammography (DM) in large, population-based breast cancer screening programs improves the detection of life-threatening cancer without significantly increasing detection of clinically insignificant disease. Results of the study are published online in the journal Radiology. DM's higher sensitivity at detecting breast cancer raised concerns that its introduction into screening programs would increase the diagnosis of clinically unimportant cancers—cancers ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Water diffusion measurements with MRI could decrease false-positive breast cancer results and reduce preventable biopsies, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. Researchers said the technique also could improve patient management by differentiating high-risk lesions requiring additional workup from other non-malignant subtypes. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) has emerged in recent years as a useful tool in breast cancer detection and staging. One of its primary limitations is a substantial number of false-positive ...

Washington — In an article published today (October 2, 2012) in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) High Production Volume (HPV) Chemicals Challenge Program had the potential to use 3.5 million animals in new testing, but after the application of animal-saving measures, approximately 127,000 were actually used. Although this toll in animal lives is high, it would have been many times worse had PETA not obtained major concessions from the ...

Stroke care has improved considerably in Alberta following the implementation of the Alberta Provincial Stroke Strategy (APSS), leading to more targeted patient care and fewer health complications, according to a study presented today at the Canadian Stroke Congress. Nearly 97 per cent of stroke patients received a brain-imaging scan during their admission to hospital in 2011, compared to 88 per cent before the APSS was implemented in 2006. "The faster a patient has access to brain imaging, the faster they get the right diagnosis and the right treatment," says lead ...

Improvements to the diagnosis and screening of sleep apnea are critical to stroke prevention, according to new stroke care guidelines released today at the Canadian Stroke Congress. Obstructive sleep apnea, a disorder where the flow of air to the brain pauses or decreases during sleep, is both a risk factor for stroke and a complication following stroke, according to the Canadian Best Practice Recommendations for Stroke Care. Among the general population sleep apnea increases the likelihood of having a stroke, even after controlling for other stroke risk factors, such ...

A study of stroke patients from Southern Ontario found those who smoke have more difficulty with problem-solving and decision-making than non-smokers. The study, presented today at the Canadian Stroke Congress, tested mental abilities of 76 patients, including 12 smokers, with an average age of 67.5 years, using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) tool. The MoCA exam tests patients with memory and problem solving questions and gives them a score out of 30. Smokers had a median MoCA score two points lower than non-smokers -- 22 out of 30 compared to 24 out of 30. ...

Widespread use of telestroke -- two-way audiovisual linkups between neurologists in stroke centres and emergency rooms in underserved and rural areas -- would save lives, reduce disability and cut health-care costs in all parts of Canada, according to a major national report released today at the Canadian Stroke Congress. However, despite repeated research that shows telestroke delivers quality stroke care to underserviced areas, few stroke patients in Canada are benefiting from this lifesaving service. "The case for telestroke is compelling and the need is urgent," ...