MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/12/2012) —If you've eaten fish, gone for a boat ride or even taken a drink from the tap, you know clean water is a valuable commodity. But just how valuable? That's always been a tough question for policy makers to answer as they weigh the worth of clean water against societal needs that compromise it, such as the need to grow food or produce fossil fuels. Now, however, their ability to do so has been greatly enhanced by a new policy-making framework developed by a team of scientists led by Bonnie Keeler, research associate at the University of ...

After cellulose, xylan is the most abundant biomass material on Earth, and therefore represents an enormous potential source of stored solar energy for the production of advance biofuels. A major roadblock, however, has been extracting xylan from plant cell walls. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have taken a significant step towards removing this roadblock by identifying a gene in rice plants whose suppression improves both the extraction of xylan and the overall release of the sugars needed to make biofuels. The ...

A new study has found that participating in an 8-week meditation training program can have measurable effects on how the brain functions even when someone is not actively meditating. In their report in the November issue of Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Boston University (BU), and several other research centers also found differences in those effects based on the specific type of meditation practiced. "The two different types of meditation training our study participants completed yielded some differences in ...

Northridge, Calif. (November 12, 2012) – Eating more soy was associated with larger reductions in menopausal vasomotor symptoms (VMS), such as hot flashes, among U.S. women that can convert soy to a compound called equol, according to data from a first-of-its-kind study presented in an oral session at the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) 2012 annual meeting. "Numerous studies have examined the association between soy isoflavones – from both soy foods and supplements - and menopausal VMS, but with mixed results," said Belinda H. Jenks, Ph.D., Director of Scientific ...

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 12, 2012 – Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have reported progress in fabricating advanced materials at the nanoscale. The spontaneous self-assembly of nanostructures composed of multiple elements paves the way toward materials that could improve a range of energy efficient technologies and data storage devices. ORNL Materials Science and Technology Division researcher Amit Goyal led the effort, combining theoretical and experimental studies to understand and control the self-assembly of insulating barium ...

A new study demonstrates the dynamic role cilia play in guiding the migration of neurons in the embryonic brain. Cilia are tiny hair-like structures on the surfaces of cells, but here they are acting more like radio antennae. In developing mouse embryos, researchers were able to see cilia extending and retracting as neurons migrate. The cilia appear to be receiving signals needed for neurons to find their places. Genetic mutations that cause the neurodevelopmental disorder Joubert syndrome interfere with these migratory functions of cilia, the researchers show. The ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Communication can be challenging for any married couple, but a personality trait called alexithymia that keeps people from sharing or even understanding their own emotions can further impede marital bliss. University of Missouri interpersonal communication researchers found when one spouse suffers from alexithymia, the partners can experience loneliness and a lack of intimate communication that lead to poor marital quality. Nick Frye-Cox, a doctoral student in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, says people with alexithymia can describe ...

A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy finds many children may be at heightened risk for fire and scald burns by virtue of living in substandard housing. Researchers surveyed the homes of 246 low-income families in Baltimore with at least one young child, and found homes with more housing quality code violations were less likely to have a working smoke alarm and safe hot water temperatures. The report is published in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics. "The effect of substandard housing on children's risk of diseases ...

PASADENA, Calif.—For speed daters, first impressions are everything. But it's more than just whether someone is hot or not. Whether or not we like to admit it, we all may make snap judgments about a new face. Perhaps nowhere is this truer than in speed dating, during which people decide on someone's romantic potential in just a few seconds. How they make those decisions, however, is not well understood. But now, researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have found that people make such speed-dating decisions based on a combination of two different ...

PITTSBURGH—Math instructors promoting calculator usage in college classrooms may want to rethink their teaching strategies, says Samuel King, postdoctoral student in the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research & Development Center. King has proposed the need for further research regarding calculators' role in the classroom after conducting a limited study with undergraduate engineering students published in the British Journal of Educational Technology. "We really can't assume that calculators are helping students," said King. "The goal is to understand the core ...

ANN ARBOR---About 115,000 women lose their private health insurance every year in the wake of divorce, according to a University of Michigan study. And this loss is not temporary: women's overall rates of health insurance coverage remain depressed for more than two years after divorce. "Given that approximately one million divorces occur each year in the U.S., and that many women get health coverage through their husbands, the impact is quite substantial," says Bridget Lavelle, a U-M Ph.D. candidate in public policy and sociology, and lead author of the study, which ...

ANN ARBOR—Reports indicate that Michigan faces a physician shortage much larger than the national average, and it will grow as millions of Americans qualify for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Yet Michigan law prevents the medical professionals who could best mitigate this shortage from doing so, because it prohibits advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) from using the full scope of their training and education to treat patients. "Current regulations make it more difficult to provide much needed care," said Joanne Pohl, professor emeritus at the University ...

MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC) investigators found that a majority of interviewed smoking parents exposed their children to tobacco smoke in their cars, even though many had smoke-free policies at home. The study that will appear in the December 2012 issue of Pediatrics and has been released online, suggests that parents may not recognize the dangers of smoking in their cars with a child present. "Workplaces, restaurants, homes and even bars are mostly smoke-free, but cars have been forgotten," says Emara Nabi-Burza, MBBS, MS, the study's lead author. "Smoking ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Many baby boomers want to improve the way people view aging, but an Oregon State University researcher has found they often reinforce negative stereotypes of old age when interacting with their own parents, coloring the way those seniors experience their twilight years. Drawing on in-depth interviews with consumers in their late 80s, their family members, and paid caregivers, Oregon State University researcher Michelle Barnhart found that study participants viewed someone as "old" when that person consumed in ways consistent with society's concept of ...

San Diego, CA, November 13, 2012 – Health warning labels (HWLs) on cigarette packages that use pictures to show the health consequences of smoking are effective in reaching adult smokers, according to the results of a new study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Although previous studies have demonstrated that HWLs with pictorial imagery are more effective than HWLs with only text in increasing knowledge about smoking dangers and promoting the benefits of quitting, this new research shows which kind of pictures appears to work ...

On December 22, 1887, Srinivasa Ramanujan was born to a poor family in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. From humble and obscure beginnings, he blossomed into one of the greatest mathematical geniuses of all time. Largely self-taught and cut off from much of the current mathematical work of his time, he nevertheless produced observations and results that continue to dazzle. This year, the world is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the birth of Ramanujan. To mark this occasion, the NOTICES OF THE AMS is publishing "Srinivasa Ramanujan: Going Strong at ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A new three-dimensional (3-D) digital mammography technique has the potential to significantly improve the accuracy of breast cancer screening, according to a study published in Radiology. Two-dimensional (2-D) x-ray mammography, the current primary screening method for early detection of breast cancer in women, is a valuable tool but has some limitations. Surrounding normal tissue can mask lesions, and 2-D views do not provide direct information about the volumetric appearance—meaning the three-dimensional physical shape—of a detected lesion. A novel ...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Nov. 13, 2012 – The U.S. preterm birth rate dropped for the fifth consecutive year in 2011 to 11.7 percent, the lowest in a decade, giving thousands more babies a healthy start in life and saving billions in health and social costs. Four states – Vermont, Oregon, New Hampshire, and Maine earned an "A" on the March of Dimes 2012 Premature Birth Report Card as their preterm birth rates met the March of Dimes 9.6 percent goal. Although, the US preterm birth rate improved, it again earned a "C" on the Report Card. "These results demonstrate that many ...

European researchers have published a study which analyses the health economics of increased dairy foods and related reduction in risk of osteoporotic fractures in the population aged over 50. The study was based on a new analytical model that links nutrition and fracture risk, and health economics. It was based on data from the Netherlands, France and Sweden, countries which have varying levels of dairy product intake in the population. Study co-author Professor René Rizzoli, Professor of Medicine and Head of the Division of Bone Disease at the University Hospitals ...

It's a simple, transparent acrylic plate – nothing embedded within it and nothing printed on its surface. Place it at a certain angle between a white wall and a light source, and a clear, coherent image appears of the face of Alan Turing, the famous British mathematician and father of modern computer science. There's no magic here; the only thing at work is the relief on the plaque's surface and a natural optical phenomenon known as a "caustic," which researchers in EPFL's Computer Graphics and Geometry Laboratory have succeeded in bending to their will. Their research ...

ANN ARBOR, Michigan (November 13, 2012) – As newly elected or reelected national leaders consider paths forward for continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act, an innovative, locally-implemented program focused on reducing disparities in diabetes is releasing a new set of policy considerations to help inform decisions on national health policy. The Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes, a national program launched and supported by The Merck Company Foundation, released "Policy Considerations That Make the Link," that offers policymakers options for ways ...

Are there risks involved in using a debt settlement company? In Kentucky and across the country, many Americans are struggling to pay their bills, often accumulating large debts in the process. When faced with mounting debts, it can be difficult for people to know how best to tackle the problem. When someone does not have enough money coming in to pay for necessities, finding a way to put a stop to the ever-increasing bills can seem difficult, if not impossible. Unfortunately, some companies are seeking to exploit those in difficult financial situations by making ...

Buying a home in New York City: co-op or condo? The decision to purchase a home is always a complicated one. However, in the New York City housing market, the process can be even more convoluted. In addition to deciding what neighborhood to live in, how much space they need and how much they can afford to pay, purchasers must also make the important decision between buying a co-op or a condo. In many ways, condos and co-ops are very similar. Both involve buying into a common-interest housing development. However, purchasers of condos and co-ops are buying different ...

Not All "Smiles" For Those Charged Under Florida Synthetic Drug Bans There's a new designer drug on Florida's streets, and it's got concerned citizens in an uproar. Known as "smiles," the new synthetic compound has been linked to violent behavior and even several deaths. Makers of synthetic drugs are constantly working to create new chemical compounds that stay ahead of laws that ban specific substances. But as the law becomes more complex, store owners who sell potpourri, incense and other seemingly innocuous substances have to be increasingly ...

Attorney Andrew Weinstein, managing partner and founder of the South Florida-based Weinstein Law Firm (www.weinstein-law.com) recently spoke as a guest lecturer at the Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center. Andrew's presentation, given to students in the Electoral Process class, focused on Federal campaign finance law and his experiences serving as a member of President Obama's National Finance Committee and as a national co-chair of Lawyers for Obama. "It was an honor to be asked to speak to the students and to share my experience with federal ...