Ottawa, Canada (September 17, 2012) –A new study published today in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (APNM) looks beyond the much-feared weight gain common to first-year students and reports on the full 4-year impact of higher education on weight, BMI, and body composition. "Gropper et al. present a unique study that follows students through their undergraduate years. It documents the nature of the weight gain and shows the differences between males and females," says Susan Whiting, a professor of nutrition and dietetics at the University of ...

Alexandria, VA – With less than two months before Election Day, AGI and its federation of 50 professional geoscience societies have come together again to provide a list of critical issues and policy recommendations for the next presidential administration. The document, Critical Needs for the Twenty-first Century: the Role of the Geosciences, is meant to inform policymakers of the unique knowledge, experience, and ingenuity of the geoscience community, and to address some of society's most pressing issues. More commonly known as the Critical Needs Document, the new ...

The U.S. federal government is significantly underestimating the costs of carbon pollution because it is using a faulty analytical model, according to a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. A more appropriate accounting of costs would pave the way to cleaner, more economically efficient sources of power generation, the study found. "This is a wake-up call for America to start aggressively investing in low carbon sources of energy. The very real economic benefits will accrue quickly and increase over time," said Dr. Laurie Johnson, ...

New Orleans, LA – Dr. Russell Russo, an Orthopedic Surgeon at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and other researchers stress that orthopedists should have a high index of suspicion for necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacterial infection, in every patient with pain or other symptoms that are out of proportion to the initial diagnosis. Their recommendations are published in the September 2012 issue of Orthopedics Today. Although relatively rare and difficult to diagnose because its symptoms often resemble other conditions like synovitis or cellutitis, a missed ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Extreme precipitation in the tropics comes in many forms: thunderstorm complexes, flood-inducing monsoons and wide-sweeping cyclones like the recent Hurricane Isaac. Global warming is expected to intensify extreme precipitation, but the rate at which it does so in the tropics has remained unclear. Now an MIT study has given an estimate based on model simulations and observations: With every 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature, the study finds, tropical regions will see 10 percent heavier rainfall extremes, with possible impacts for flooding in populous ...

ST. LOUIS – Many U.S. schools are not prepared for bioterrorism attacks, outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases or pandemics, despite the recent 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic that resulted in more than 18,000 deaths worldwide, Saint Louis University researchers say. The study, led by Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., associate professor at SLU's Institute for Biosecurity, surveyed about 2000 nurses working in elementary, middle and high schools across 26 states. The findings reveal that only 48 percent of schools address pandemic preparedness and only 40 percent of schools have ...

The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth (JGR-B), Journal of Geophysical Research – Planets (JGR-E), Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface (JGR-F), Journal of Geophysical Research – Biogeosciences (JGR-G). In this release: 1. Characterizing the surface composition of Mercury 2. African dust forms red soils in Bermuda 3. Sea level controls carbon accumulation in the Everglades 4. Climate change threatens permafrost in soil 5. ...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Magnetically imploded tubes called liners, intended to help produce controlled nuclear fusion at scientific "break-even" energies or better within the next few years, have functioned successfully in preliminary tests, according to a Sandia research paper accepted for publication by Physical Review Letters (PRL). To exceed scientific break-even is the most hotly sought-after goal of fusion research, in which the energy released by a fusion reaction is greater than the energy put into it — an achievement that would have extraordinary energy and defense ...

WASHINGTON — Outdated approaches to preventing and treating substance abuse, barriers to care, and other problems hinder the U.S. Defense Department's ability to curb substance use disorders among military service members and their families, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Service members' rising rate of prescription drug addiction and their difficulty in accessing adequate treatment for alcohol and drug-related disorders were among the concerns that prompted members of Congress to request this review. "We commend the steps that the Department of Defense ...

Early in the morning of September 12 the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), mounted on the Victor Blanco Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, recorded its first images of a southern sky spangled with galaxies. Galaxies up to eight billion light years away were captured on DECam's focal plane, whose imager consists of 62 charge-coupled devices (CCDs) invented and developed by engineers and physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Berkeley Lab CCDs are noted for their exceptionally high ...

Eight billion years ago, rays of light from distant galaxies began their long journey to Earth. That ancient starlight has now found its way to a mountaintop in Chile, where the newly constructed Dark Energy Camera, the most powerful sky-mapping machine ever created, has captured and recorded it for the first time. That light may hold within it the answer to one of the biggest mysteries in physics – why the expansion of the universe is speeding up. Scientists in the international Dark Energy Survey collaboration announced this week that the Dark Energy Camera, the ...

Hear the word "party" and memories of your 8th birthday sleepover or the big bash you attended last New Year's may come rushing to mind. But it's exactly these kinds of memories, embedded in a specific place and time, that people with depression have difficulty recalling. Research has shown that people who suffer from, or are at risk of, depression have difficulty tapping into specific memories from their own past, an impairment that affects their ability to solve problems and leads them to focus on feelings of distress. In a study forthcoming in Clinical Psychological ...

LifeShield Security is proud to announce LifeShield Lifestyles, a unique tool to help consumers to choose home security systems and products that fit their routines and personalities. By offering security systems that are designed for individuals, families, and real-life situations, LifeShield is continuing its mission to go "beyond the alarm" and provide advanced technology wireless security and peace of mind. "Home security is really about people, not houses. Homeowners and renters don't install alarm systems to protect walls, ceilings and doors. They ...

LA JOLLA, CA -- Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and Sea Lane Biotechnologies have solved the co-crystal structure of a human antibody that can neutralize influenza viruses in a unique way. The antibody recognizes the crucial structure that flu viruses use to attach to host cells, even though previously this structure had been thought too small for an antibody to grab effectively. The immune protein manages to hit this precise spot by using just a small part of its target-grabbing apparatus. In so doing, it can neutralize a broad range of dangerous flu viruses. "This ...

Only under a scenario with strong action on mitigating greenhouse-gas emissions and the assumption that corals can adapt at extremely rapid rates, could two thirds of them be safe, shows a study now published in Nature Climate Change. Otherwise all coral reefs are expected to be subject to severe degradation. Coral reefs house almost a quarter of the species in the oceans and provide critical services – including coastal protection, tourism and fishing – to millions of people worldwide. Global warming and ocean acidification, both driven by human-caused CO2 emissions, ...

Chemists at UC San Diego have developed a method that for the first time provides scientists the ability to attach chemical probes onto proteins and subsequently remove them in a repeatable cycle. Their achievement, detailed in a paper that appears online this week in the journal Nature Methods, will allow researchers to better understand the biochemistry of naturally formed proteins in order to create better antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, biofuels, food crops and other natural products. It will also provide scientists with a new laboratory tool they can use to purify ...

Researchers have announced the results of the largest ever health and lifestyle survey of cities and conurbations across Europe – including five British urban centres. The research examined and compared the health, life expectancy and lifestyles of the populations of 26 European cities (the Euro-26) and found major differences, not only between cities, but within individual urban areas too. The pan-European study, led in the UK by the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool, identified key priority areas for each city studied that the researchers hope policymakers ...

September 16, 2012, Shenzhen, China–A Chinese research team, led by Anhui Medical University and BGI, has found the strong genetic evidences of mevalonate kinase gene (MVK) mutations link to disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis (DSAP). It is a major step toward discovering the genetic pathogenesisof DSAP, and sheds an eye-opening insight into its further molecular diagnosis and treatment. The latest study was published online in Nature Genetics. DSAP is a rare, non-cancerous, non-contagious skin disorderthat causes dry, itchy lesions on the arms and legs. It ...

Johns Hopkins scientists report what is believed to be the first evidence that complex, reversible behavioral patterns in bees – and presumably other animals – are linked to reversible chemical tags on genes. The scientists say what is most significant about the new study, described online September 16 in Nature Neuroscience, is that for the first time DNA methylation "tagging" has been linked to something at the behavioral level of a whole organism. On top of that, they say, the behavior in question, and its corresponding molecular changes, are reversible, which has ...

Could a clinic-based intervention that assists in dealing with childhood obesity be scaled down into an easily-taught, community-based program? Yes, according to a new feasibility study conducted by researchers at Temple University's Center for Obesity Research and Education and published in the journal, Pediatrics. Working in partnership with UnitedHealth Group and the Greater Providence YMCA, the Temple researchers conducted a six-month program on weight loss and management for 155 children and their parents or guardians in Providence, R.I. "We've known for decades ...

STANFORD, Calif. - California's pediatricians-in-training are not adequately educated about the methods to prevent recurrent sexually transmitted infections in teenagers. That's the conclusion of a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital examining pediatric residents' knowledge of laws governing treatment of their patients' sexual partners. "Unless you treat the partner, your patient gets re-infected," Neville Golden, MD, an adolescent medicine specialist at Packard Children's and professor of pediatrics at Stanford. ...

PHILADELPHIA — Poly (ADP-Ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, shown to have clinical activity when used alone in women with familial breast and ovarian cancers linked to BRCA mutations, may be a novel treatment strategy in women with HER2-positive breast cancers, according to the results of a study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Currently, women with HER2-positive breast cancers are treated with therapies that target HER2. However, many women with this form of cancer either fail to ever respond to these targeted ...

The age-old parental struggle of convincing youngsters to eat their fruits and vegetables has some new allies: Power Punch Broccoli, X-Ray Vision Carrots — and a host of catchy names for entrees in school cafeterias. Cornell University researchers studied how a simple change, such as using attractive names, would influence elementary-aged children's consumption of vegetables. In the first study, plain old carrots were transformed into "X-ray Vision Carrots." 147 students ranging from 8-11 years old from 5 ethnically and economically diverse schools participated in tasting ...

MBAProjectSearch.com offers businesses an opportunity to contract top-tier MBA talent on a project-by-project basis, while simultaneously assisting MBA students with securing periods of work and experience that stretch far beyond their internships. The team at MBAProjectSearch.com consists of a leading group of entrepreneurs who felt that a vital link needed to be built between the business and the apprentice. "Businesses are missing out on leveraging an untapped intellectual resource - the top-tier MBA student," says Dan Mullaney, the website's Founder. He ...

Old Colony Elder Services (OCES), the Brockton based regional agency serving elders, their families and caregivers throughout greater Brockton and Plymouth County, is offering "Powerful Tools For Caregivers", a six-week educational program for family caregivers. The educational program is designed to help family caregivers take care of themselves while caring for a relative or friend. The class meets on Wednesdays, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Easton Council on Aging, located at 15 Barrows Street. The classes are from October 3 to November 7, 2012. There ...