PITTSBURGH -- The toxic byproducts produced by the breakdown of unsaturated fats lead to a higher likelihood of severe inflammation, cell death and multi-system organ failure among acute pancreatitis patients who are obese, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their findings, published online today in Science Translational Medicine, provide new insight into how fat can induce complications after sudden inflammatory, non-infectious illnesses. Doctors have observed that obese people are at greater risk for adverse outcomes after trauma, severe ...

WHAT: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects nine out of ten people worldwide at some point during their lifetimes. Infections in early childhood often cause no disease symptoms, but people infected during adolescence or young adulthood may develop infectious mononucleosis, a disease characterized by swollen lymph nodes, fever and severe fatigue. EBV also is associated with several kinds of cancer, including Hodgkin lymphoma and stomach and nasal cancers. Organ transplant recipients and people infected with HIV (who become infected with or who already are infected with EBV) ...

A landmark study in mice identifies a biological mechanism that could help explain how tobacco products could act as gateway drugs, increasing a person's future likelihood of abusing cocaine and perhaps other drugs as well, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study is the first to show that nicotine might prime the brain to enhance the behavioral effects of cocaine. The gateway drug model is based upon epidemiological evidence that most illicit drug users report use of tobacco products or alcohol prior ...

Roughly 1 million people die by suicide each year. In the U.S., where nearly 36,000 people take their own lives annually, more than 4,600 victims are between the ages of 10 and 24, making suicide the third leading cause of death in this age group. Youths treated at hospital emergency rooms for suicidal behavior remain at very high risk for future suicide attempts. But despite the urgent need to provide them with mental health follow-up care, many don't receive any such care after their discharge. Consequently, a major goal of the U.S. Department of Health and Human ...

New York, NY -- Anyone who uses multithreaded computer programs -- and that's all of us, as these are the programs that power nearly all software applications including Office, Windows, MacOS, and Google Chrome Browser, and web services like Google Search, Microsoft Bing, and iCloud, -- knows well the frustration of computer crashes, bugs, and other aggravating problems. The most widely used method to harness the power we require from multicore processors, multithreaded programs can be difficult for programmers to get right and they often contain elusive bugs called races. ...

Scientists within the New York Center for Astrobiology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have compiled years of research to help locate areas in outer space that have extreme potential for complex organic molecule formation. The scientists searched for methanol, a key ingredient in the synthesis of organic molecules that could lead to life. Their results have implications for determining the origins of molecules that spark life in the cosmos. The findings will be published in the Nov. 20 edition of the Astrophysical Journal in a paper titled "Observational constraints ...

Unusual features of the human placenta may be the underlying cause of postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal deaths during childbirth, according to evolutionary research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Defined as the loss of more than a pint of blood during or just after vaginal delivery, postpartum hemorrhage accounts for nearly 35 percent, or 125,000, of the 358,000 worldwide annual maternal deaths during childbirth. Despite its prevalence, the causes of postpartum hemorrhage are unknown, says Julienne Rutherford, assistant professor of oral ...

Current training programs may not effectively prepare firefighters for the range of scenarios they are likely to encounter, according to human factors/ergonomics researchers Michael R. Baumann, Carol L. Gohm, and Bryan L. Bonner. In their October 2011 Human Factors article, "Phased Training for High-Reliability Occupations: Live-Fire Exercises for Civilian Firefighters," the authors assess the value of current scenario-based training programs. Firefighters must make complex decisions and predictions and must perform extreme tasks at a moment's notice. Failure to keep ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – This year, more than 230,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 40,000 women will not survive their battle with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. New research from the University of Missouri shows that certain factors, including marital status, having children in the home, income level and age, affect the likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors. Further, depressed patients are less likely to adhere to medication regimens, potentially complicating the progress of their treatment. Ann Bettencourt, professor ...

PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE – After discovering an emerging crack that cuts across the floating ice shelf of Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica, NASA's Operation IceBridge has flown a follow-up mission and made the first-ever detailed airborne measurements of a major iceberg calving in progress. NASA's Operation Ice Bridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown, is in the midst of its third field campaign from Punta Arenas, Chile. The six-year mission will yield an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ...

SEATTLE -- A new study has confirmed that the drug, ivacaftor (VX-770), significantly improves lung function in some people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The results of the phase III clinical trial study, "A CFTR Potentiator in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and the G551D Mutation," led by Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD of Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Ivacaftor, also known as VX-770, was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals with financial support from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. ...

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a protein may help prevent the kind of brain damage that occurs in babies with cerebral palsy. Using a mouse model that mimics the devastating condition in newborns, the researchers found that high levels of the protective protein, Nmnat1, substantially reduce damage that develops when the brain is deprived of oxygen and blood flow. The finding offers a potential new strategy for treating cerebral palsy as well as strokes, and perhaps Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative ...

The TRMM satellite passed directly above a recently formed tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea on November 2, 2011 at 0350 UTC (11:50 p.m. EDT, Nov. 1). An analysis of rainfall was done using TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments. TRMM data showed that rainfall rates with tropical storm Keila ranged from light to moderate along the south-eastern coast of Oman. Moderate to heavy rainfall was revealed to be spiraling into Keila's center of circulation in the Arabian Sea near the southeastern coast of Oman. TRMM Precipitation Radar data was ...

Cigarettes and alcohol serve as gateway drugs, which people use before progressing to the use of marijuana and then to cocaine and other illicit substances; this progression is called the "gateway sequence" of drug use. An article in Science Translational Medicine by Amir Levine, MD, Denise Kandel, PhD; Eric Kandel, MD; and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center provides the first molecular explanation for the gateway sequence. They show that nicotine causes specific changes in the brain that make it more vulnerable to cocaine addiction -- a discovery made by ...

Boulder, CO, USA - Highlights for GSA Bulletin articles published ahead of print between 30 Sept. and 21 Oct. 2011 are provided below. Studies include U-Pb geochronology and major and trace element geochemistry in the Andes; wide-angle reflections generated by five controlled blasts and over 110 timed quarry blasts in the Appalachians; cosmogenic isotope burial dating in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa; and SHRIMP analysis of zircons in Redoubt Volcano, Alaska. GSA BULLETIN articles published ahead of print can be accessed online at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent. ...

Plastic Surgery of Gwinnett, PC announces they are now offering surgical treatments for migraine headaches. Techniques initially developed at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland are now brought to the Atlanta area for the treatment of medication resistant intractable migraines. 18% of the population suffers from debilitating migraines headaches, 2/3 of them women. Standard medical treatment fails to provide relief in a high percentage of patients. With the discovery that cosmetic Botox was an effective treatment, the nerve compression causes of migraine was ...

Durham, NC November 2011 Chinese stem cell scientists have published new research that improves the survival and effectiveness of transplanted stem cells. The research led by Dr Hsiao Chang Chan, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, is published in Stem Cells. Research into differentiation has led to a variety of breakthroughs as stem cell researchers harvest cells from one part of the body and genetically adapt them to fulfill a specialized role. However, if the implanted cells are too much like the cells of the targeted area they may not have the plasticity to ...

A new study indicates that many patients undergoing spine surgery have low levels of vitamin D, which may delay their recovery. In a study of 313 patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery, orthopaedic surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that more than half had inadequate levels of vitamin D, including one-fourth who were more severely deficient. The researchers report their findings today at the 26th Annual Meeting of the North American Spine Society. The study was chosen as one of the meeting's best papers. "Our findings suggest ...

As a first line of defense, steel barrels buried deep underground are designed to keep dangerous plutonium waste from seeping into the soil and surrounding bedrock, and, eventually, contaminating the groundwater. But after several thousand years, those barrels will naturally begin to disintegrate due to corrosion. A team of scientists at Argonne National Lab (ANL) in Argonne, Ill., has determined what may happen to this toxic waste once its container disappears. "We want to be sure that nuclides (like plutonium) stay where we put them," says Moritz Schmidt, an ANL post-doctoral ...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- For the first time, researchers have combined gene therapy and stem cell transplantation to successfully reverse the severe, crippling bleeding disorder hemophilia A in large animals, opening the door to the development of new therapies for human patients. Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, collaborating with other institutions, report in Experimental Hematology that a single injection of genetically-modified adult stem cells in two sheep converted the severe disorder to a milder form. The journal ...

With the UK in a state of flux, several changes are being made to restore the balance of our economy. One of the topics with the most controversy surrounding it has been the recent rise in University tuition fees. Although students are not required to pay there fee's upfront, it is predicted that the average graduate will leave university with a debt of GBP39,000. The Outsource Sales Association believes "[t]hat this is a staggering increase, something that many graduates will struggle to pay back even if they gain employment." With unemployment at an all ...

The Outsources Sales Association is an authoritative, governing body formed independently to represent and regulate the Outsourced Sales industry in the United Kingdom. The OSA acts as an impartial organization, offering interested parties clear and concise information regarding the Outsources Sales industry within the UK. It is our aim to present the industry with clarity, dispelling myths and misconceptions alike to eradicate potential misunderstandings. The OSA's mission is to offer the facts about the Outsource Sales across a broad spectrum. OSA considers what ...

Mobile insurance company 2U announces the launch of its new website www.insurance4mobiles.co.uk, making it easier than ever to compare iPhone insurance rates and benefits quickly and choose the right policy to protect an iPhone, laptop or any other valuable gadget. Purchasing an iPhone is not cheap and owners will be anxious not to lose their phone - leaving it on a restaurant table, having it stolen or dropping it in water are just some of the mishaps that frequently happen to mobile phones. Phone theft, in particular, is all too common in the UK, with iPhones being ...

Colorado police recently arrested the treasurer of Ellicott school board for allegedly sending sexually explicit text messages to a 14-year-old boy. Police believe 37-year-old Stefanie Dickinson began sending the text messages to the minor after a camping trip in late August 2011. Upon returning from the camping trip, which also included Dickinson's husband and two sons, the Huffington Post reports that Dickinson asked the minor for his cell phone number so that she would be able to send him pictures that were taken during the trip. Instead of pictures, it is alleged ...

Children are back to school in Ohio and across the country. This means that drivers need to be mindful of children out on the roads and at bus stops. Drivers who fail to take simple precautionary measures contribute to the dangers for children on buses. School districts are investing in sophisticated technologies to make buses safer for students, but by following a few safety tips, drivers can reduce the risk of vehicle accidents. Ohio School Bus Accident Rates According to statistics from the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the number of school bus accidents ...