EurekAlert! Public News List

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

European Heart Journal
Kentucky study finds common drug increases deaths in atrial fibrillation patients
Digoxin, a drug widely used to treat heart disease, increases the possibility of death when used by patients with a common heart rhythm problem -- atrial fibrillation (AF), according to new study findings by University of Kentucky researchers. The results have been published in the prestigious European Heart Journal, and raises serious concerns about the expansive use of this long-standing heart medication in patients with AF.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

2012 AGU Fall Meeting
Rocks, water, air, space ... and humans: An NSF recipe for AGU success
The National Science Foundation is suggesting adding a bit of spice to a geophysical scientist's research recipe of rocks, water, air, space and life: humans. At next month's Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union a behemoth of a conference of nearly 20,000 Earth and space scientists, educators, students and policy makers, an international group of scientists will make the case for adding the human element to their research.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Nature Communications
NIH-funded researchers show possible trigger for MS nerve damage
High-resolution real-time images show in mice how nerves may be damaged during the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis. The results suggest that the critical step happens when fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein, leaks into the central nervous system and activates immune cells called microglia.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Journal of Adolescent Health
Reducing sibling rivalry in youth improves later health and well-being
Sibling conflict represents parents' No. 1 concern and complaint about family life, but a new prevention program -- designed and carried out by researchers at Penn State -- demonstrates that siblings of elementary-school age can learn to get along. In doing so, they can improve their future health and well-being.

NIH/National Institute of Drug Abuse, Penn State Children, Youth, and Family Consortium

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Hinxton 2012: Data & Materials Sharing & Intellectual Property in PSC Science in Japan and China
East Asia faces unique challenges, opportunities for stem cell innovation
A new consensus statement from the Hinxton Group focuses on stem cell innovation and intellectual property rights in Japan and China.

Center for Global Partnership, Wellcome Trust, RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012
How to buy an ethical diamond
Trina Hamilton, a University at Buffalo expert in corporate responsibility, is leading an ongoing study that looks at how retailers are marketing ethical diamonds to consumers.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Mayo Clinic Proceedings
Resolving conflicts over end-of-life care: Mayo experts offer tips
It's one of the toughest questions patients and their loved ones can discuss with physicians: When is further medical treatment futile? The conversation can become even more difficult if patients or their families disagree with health care providers' recommendations on end-of-life care.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012
GSA Today: Human transformation of land threatens future sustainability?
Social and physical scientists have long been concerned about the effects of humans on Earth's surface -- in part through deforestation, encroachment of urban areas onto traditionally agricultural lands, and erosion of soils -- and the implications these changes have on Earth's ability to provide for an ever-growing population. The December 2012 GSA Today science article presents examples of land transformation by humans and documents some of the effects of these changes.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Nature
Increasing drought stress challenges vulnerable hydraulic system of plants, GW professor finds
The hydraulic system of trees is so finely-tuned that predicted increases in drought due to climate change may lead to catastrophic failure in many species. A recent paper co-authored by George Washington University Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Amy Zanne finds that those systems in plants around the globe are operating at the top of their safety threshold, making forest ecosystems vulnerable to increasing environmental stress.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012
West coast log exports up slightly in third quarter of 2012
Log exports from Washington, Oregon, northern California, and Alaska increased about nine percent in the third quarter of 2012, totaling 412 million board feet, according to the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station. At the same time, lumber exports decreased about eight percent to 186 million board feet, compared to the second quarter of this year.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Nutrition Reviews
New review associates vitamin D with lower rates of tooth decay
Health scientists have long disputed the role of vitamin D in preventing tooth decay. A new review of existing studies suggests that vitamin D may indeed have a role in tooth health. The review encompassed 24 controlled clinical trials from the 1920s to the 1980s. About 3,000 children in several countries participated. Vitamin D levels in many populations are declining while dental caries in children are increasing. The findings reaffirm the importance of vitamin D for dental health.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Nature Cell Biology
What keeps a cell's energy source going
Most healthy cells rely on a complicated process to produce the fuel ATP. Knowing how ATP is produced by the cell's energy storehouse -- the mitochondria -- is important for understanding a cell's normal state, as well as what happens when things go wrong, for example in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and many rare disorders of the mitochondria.

NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH/National Institute of General Medical Sciences, American Heart Association

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science
Compound found in rosemary protects against macular degeneration in laboratory model
Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute report that carnosic acid, a component of the herb rosemary, promotes eye health. The team found that carnosic acid protects retinas from degeneration and toxicity in cell culture and in rodent models of light-induced retinal damage. Their findings, published in the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, suggest that carnosic acid may have clinical applications for diseases affecting the outer retina, including age-related macular degeneration.

National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

American Journal of Pathology
Topical simvastatin shown to accelerate wound healing in diabetes
Delayed wound healing is a major complication of diabetes because the physiological changes in tissues and cells impair the wound healing process. This can result in additional disease outcomes such as diabetic foot ulcer, a significant cause of morbidity in the growing population of diabetic patients. A new study has found that topically applied simvastatin accelerates wound healing in diabetic mice, suggesting important implications for humans with diabetes. This study is published in the December issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders
Amyloid imaging helps in evaluating possible Alzheimer disease
A test to detect brain amyloid deposits associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) provides doctors with useful information on treatment and further testing for patients with cognitive impairment, according to a study published online by the journal Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012
The installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in the US continues to decline at a rapid pace
The installed price of solar photovoltaic power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost-tracking report produced by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

US Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Pediatrics
Gene linked to respiratory distress in babies
Some infants are more susceptible to potentially life-threatening breathing problems after birth, and rare, inherited DNA differences may explain why, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

National Institutes of Health, Eudowood Foundation, Children's Discovery Institute and others

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012
Seeing the world through the eyes of an orangutan
A captive bred Sumatran orangutan and a University of Nottingham neuroscientist in Malaysia are hoping to explain some of the mysteries of the visual brain and improve the lives of captive bred animals.

Ministry of Science and Technology and Innovation, Malaysia

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012
'Walking on marbles' could be a thing of the past for arthritis patients
Researchers at the University of Southampton are to undertake a new stage of a study aimed at improving the health and mobility of those suffering from the common complaint of 'walking on marbles' associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis in the feet.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies
Safer spinach? Scientist's technique dramatically reduces E. coli numbers
University of Illinois scientists have found a way to boost current industry capabilities when it comes to reducing the number of E. coli 0157:H7 cells that may live undetected on spinach leaves. By combining continuous ultrasound treatment with chlorine washing, they can reduce the total number of foodborne pathogenic bacteria by over 99.99 percent.

Food Technology Noord-Oost Nederland, US Department of Agriculture

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Vaccine
Measles vaccine given with a microneedle patch could boost immunization programs
Measles vaccine given with painless and easy-to-administer microneedle patches can immunize against measles at least as well as vaccine given with conventional hypodermic needles, according to research done by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Illuminating the no-man's land of waters' surface
Sylvie Roke, scientist in EPFL's Bioengineering Institute, is refuting previously held theories and offering a new explanation of electrochemical phenomena occurring at the interface between water and a hydrophobic matter. A new paradigm may be on the horizon.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

American Journal of Climate Change
Tracking pollution from outer space
Prof. Pinhas Alpert of Tel Aviv University is turning to three of NASA's high-tech satellites for a comprehensive view of pollutants in the atmosphere. Using eight years' worth of data collected by the satellites, he tracked pollution trends for 189 megacities -- metropolitan hotspots where the population exceeds 2 million.

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012

Cell Transplantation
Study suggests different organ-derived stem cell injections improve heart function
Regeneration of contractile myocardium has been a target of cell therapy. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) tolerate hypoxia, secrete angiogenic factors and have been shown to improve vascularization, therefore to determine if MSCs from different organs would result in different functional outcomes, MSCs from skeletal muscle or adipose tissue were injected into the myocardium of laboratory rats suffering from myocardial infarction. Rats in both groups experienced improved left ventricle function and smaller infarct size after therapy.

Norwegian Council on Cardiovascular Diseases, Storforsk grant Norwegian/Rikshospitalet RC

Contact: Robert Miranda
cogcomm@aol.com
Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Public Release: 27-Nov-2012
An energy conscious workforce: New research looks at how to encourage staff to go green
A new £1.3m project, being led by researchers at The University of Nottingham, is to look at people's attitudes to energy consumption in the workplace and how to encourage colleagues to work together in reducing their organisation's carbon footprint.


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