URBANA -- A 150-foot-high garbage dump in Colombia, South America, may have new life as a public park. Researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated that bacteria found in the dump can be used to neutralize the contaminants in the soil. Jerry Sims, a U of I associate professor of crop sciences and USDA-Agricultural Research Service research leader and Andres Gomez, a graduate student from Medellín, Colombia, have been working on a landfill called "El Morro" in the Moravia Hill neighborhood of Medellín, which served as the city dump from 1972 to 1984. In ...

Turbulent jet streams, regions where winds blow faster than in other places, churn east and west across Saturn. Scientists have been trying to understand for years the mechanism that drives these wavy structures in Saturn's atmosphere and the source from which the jets derive their energy. In a new study appearing in the June edition of the journal Icarus, scientists used images collected over several years by NASA's Cassini spacecraft to discover that the heat from within the planet powers the jet streams. Condensation of water from Saturn's internal heating led to temperature ...

MADISON -- Ice samples pulled from nearly a mile below the surface of Greenland glaciers have long served as a historical thermometer, adding temperature data to studies of the local conditions up to the Northern Hemisphere's climate. But the method -- comparing the ratio of oxygen isotopes buried as snow fell over millennia -- may not be such a straightforward indicator of air temperature. "We don't believe the ice cores can be interpreted purely as a signal of temperature," says Anders Carlson, a University of Wisconsin–Madison geosciences professor. "You have to consider ...

Like a white blanket, Tropical Storm Debby's clouds covered the entire state of Florida in a NASA satellite image. Two satellites have captured imagery that shows Tropical Storm Debby has thrown a large white blanket of clouds over the state of Florida, and it doesn't seem like that blanket is going to lift quickly as Debby moves slowly north. NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Debby and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard the satellite captured a visible image of the storm on Sunday, June 24 at 3:00 p.m. EDT. The ...

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (June 25, 2012) – The twinkling of fireflies heralds summer romance for these magical insects. While courting on-the-wing, male fireflies attract females' attention with bioluminescent flashes. But new research from biologists at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences, published online in Proceedings of the Royal Society - Biological Sciences, reveals that, after the lights go out, female fireflies prefer substance over flash. They seem to choose mates able to give them the largest "nuptial gift" (a high protein sperm package that helps ...

A team of UCLA researchers has created the most powerful high-performance nanoscale microwave oscillators in the world, a development that could lead to cheaper, more energy-efficient mobile communication devices that deliver much better signal quality. Today's cell phones, WiFi–enabled tablets and other electronic gadgets all use microwave oscillators, tiny devices that generate the electrical signals used in communications. In a cell phone, for example, the transmitter and receiver circuits contain oscillators that produce radio-frequency signals, which are then converted ...

A classic study from more than 60 years ago suggesting that males are more promiscuous and females more choosy in selecting mates may, in fact, be wrong, say life scientists who are the first to repeat the historic experiment using the same methods as the original. In 1948, English geneticist Angus John Bateman published a study showing that male fruit flies gain an evolutionary advantage from having multiple mates, while their female counterparts do not. Bateman's conclusions have informed and influenced an entire sub-field of evolutionary biology for decades. "Bateman's ...

In the brains of humans and non-human primates, over 100 billion nerve cells build up complicated neural circuits and produce higher brain functions. When an attempt is made to perform gene therapy for neurological diseases like Parkinson's disease, it is necessary to specify a responsible neural circuit out of many complicated circuits. Until now, however, it was difficult to introduce a target gene into this particular circuit selectively. The collaborative research group consisting of Professor Masahiko TAKADA from Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Professor ...

PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers have long been interested in discovering the ways that human brains represent thoughts through a complex interplay of elec-trical signals. Recent improvements in brain recording and statistical methods have given researchers unprecedented insight into the physical processes under-lying thoughts. For example, researchers have begun to show that it is possible to use brain recordings to reconstruct aspects of an image or movie clip someone is viewing, a sound someone is hearing or even the text someone is reading. A new study by University ...

Charlottesville, VA (June 26, 2012). Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that the Apple iPad 2 can interfere with settings of magnetically programmable shunt devices, which are often used to treat children with hydrocephalus. The iPad 2 contains magnets that can change valve settings in the shunt if the tablet computer is held too close to the valve (within 2 inches). Such a change may result in shunt malfunction until the problem is recognized and the valve adjusted to the proper setting. Patients and their caregivers should monitor use of the tablet computer ...

An investigation led by UCSF has found that the risk of female-to-male HIV transmission is increased three fold for women with bacterial vaginosis, a common disorder in which the normal balance of bacteria in the vagina is disrupted. "Previous research has shown that bacterial vaginosis can increase a women's risk of becoming infected with HIV as much as sixty percent. Our study is the first to show that the risk of transmitting HIV is also elevated. Our findings point to the need for additional research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of bacterial vaginosis, ...

If you drink coffee regularly in moderation, you could reduce your risk of heart failure, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation Heart Failure. Researchers, analyzing previous studies on the link between coffee consumption and heart failure, found that moderate coffee drinking as part of a daily routine may be linked with a significantly lower risk of heart failure. In contrast, indulging excessively may be linked with an increased chance of developing serious heart problems. "While there is a commonly held belief that regular ...

Stanford University scientists have breathed new life into the nickel-iron battery, a rechargeable technology developed by Thomas Edison more than a century ago. Designed in the early 1900s to power electric vehicles, the Edison battery largely went out of favor in the mid-1970s. Today only a handful of companies manufacture nickel-iron batteries, primarily to store surplus electricity from solar panels and wind turbines. "The Edison battery is very durable, but it has a number of drawbacks," said Hongjie Dai, a professor of chemistry at Stanford. "A typical battery ...

"There is significant penetration by multinational processed food manufacturers such as Nestle, Kraft, PepsiCo, and Danone into food environments in low-and-middle income countries, where consumption of unhealthy commodities is reaching—and in some cases exceeding—a level presently observed in high income countries", according to international researchers writing in this week's PLoS Medicine. The authors from the UK, US, and India (led by David Stuckler from the University of Cambridge), analysed trends in unhealthy food and beverages (sugary drinks and processed foods ...

Addressing the twin crises of malnutrition around the world—hunger and obesity— demands that we ask who has power over food, rather than question just the mere presence or absence of food. This is the argument of Raj Patel, activist, author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System and fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Development Studies, in a new Essay in PLoS Medicine this week, which says that "understanding hunger and malnutrition requires an examination of what systems and institutions hold power over food," including ...

Prenatal exposure to a ubiquitous household chemical called butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP) can increase a child's risk for developing eczema, according to research conducted at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at the Mailman School of Public Health. Widely used in vinyl flooring, artificial leather and other materials, BBzB can be slowly released into air in homes. Details are published in the advance online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, a journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Eczema, which is characterized ...

Boston, Mass., June 26, 2012 – A new study published today in the Journal of American Medical Association challenges the notion that "a calorie is a calorie." The study, led by Cara Ebbeling, PhD, associate director and David Ludwig, MD, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children's Hospital, finds diets that reduce the surge in blood sugar after a meal--either low-glycemic index or very-low carbohydrate–may be preferable to a low-fat diet for those trying to achieve lasting weight loss. Furthermore, the study finds that the low-glycemic ...

DURHAM, N.C.— The clot-busting medicine, tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), is safe to use in acute stroke patients already on the home blood thinner warfarin, according to researchers from Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI). This study helps allay previous concerns that tPA was too dangerous to use in patients on home anticoagulation and would lead to high risk for potentially fatal intracranial bleeding. "To date, we have no randomized trials or large cohort studies to guide us," says Ying Xian, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Duke, and first ...

CHICAGO – Although a standard behavioral weight loss intervention among overweight and obese adults resulted in greater average weight loss over 18 months, a stepped care intervention resulted in clinically meaningful weight loss that cost less to implement, according to a study in the June 27 issue of JAMA. "Most weight loss programs are intensive during the initial weeks of treatment, become less intensive over time, and maintain a fixed contact schedule for participants irrespective of treatment success or failure. Intensive weight loss programs are costly and require ...

CHICAGO – In an examination of the effect on energy expenditure and components of the metabolic syndrome of 3 types of commonly consumed diets following weight loss, decreases in resting energy expenditure and total energy expenditure were greatest with a low-fat diet, intermediate with a low-glycemic index diet, and least with a very low-carbohydrate diet, suggesting that a low-fat diet may increase the risk for weight regain compared to the other diets, according to preliminary research published in the June 27 issue of JAMA. "Many people can lose weight for a few ...

PASADENA, Calif., June 26, 2012 – Programs to promote healthy eating can substantially reduce the amount of unhealthy foods and beverages on school grounds if the programs focus on a school's specific needs and involve teachers, parents, staff, and administrators, according to a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study published in BioMed Central's open access journal International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. The Healthy Options for Nutrition Environments in Schools (Healthy ONES) study used a public health approach to change nutrition environments ...

The inexorable spread of Alzheimer's disease through the brain leaves dead neurons and forgotten thoughts in its wake. Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden are the first to show how toxic proteins are transferred from neuron to neuron. Through experiments on stained neurons, the research team – under the leadership of Martin Hallbeck, associate professor of Pathology – has been able to depict the process of neurons being invaded by diseased proteins that are then passed on to nearby cells. "The spread of Alzheimer's, which can be studied in the brains of diseased ...

CHICAGO – An analysis that included 1.2 million veterans enrolled in the Veterans Affairs health care system and Medicare Advantage plan finds that the federal government spends a substantial and increasing amount of potentially duplicative funds in these separate managed care programs for the care of same individuals, according to a study appearing in JAMA. This study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at the Annual Research Meeting of AcademyHealth. "In the United States, some adults may be eligible to enroll simultaneously in 2 federally ...

Madrid, 26 June 2012: Preliminary findings from the EVINCI study show that the prevalence of "significant" coronary artery disease in patients with chest pain symptoms is lower than expected in Europe. In as much as 75% of this population an accurate non-invasive screening could avoid unnecessary and costly invasive procedures. The three year multicentre European trial will define the most cost effective strategy for diagnosing patients with suspected coronary artery disease. The EValuation of INtegrated Cardiac Imaging (EVINCI) study was completed on 15 June. Preliminary ...

Charlottesville, VA (June 26, 2012). Researchers from the Department of Neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology at UCLA have found that a diet enriched with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid, and curcumin, a component of the Indian spice turmeric, can protect the injured spinal cord and minimize the clinical and biochemical effects of spinal cord myelopathy in rats. This finding is fleshed out in the article "Dietary therapy to promote neuroprotection in chronic spinal cord injury. Laboratory ...