Researchers pursue new information from East Coast hurricane
While Hurricane Irene had officials along the East Coast preparing for mass evacuations, scientists at the Stroud Water Research Center and the University of Delaware were grabbing their best data collection tools and heading straight for the storm’s path. (more…)
Smokers who also have alcohol, drug and mental disorders would benefit greatly from smoking-cessation counseling from their primary care physicians and would be five times more successful at kicking the habit, a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.
Smokers with these co-morbid conditions make up about 40 percent of the smoking population, have a more difficult time quitting and represent a significant burden on the health care system. If their primary care physicians could help them to quit smoking, it would not only improve their health of patients but would reduce tobacco-related health care costs, said Dr. Michael Ong, an assistant professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. (more…)
Obesity is growing at alarming rates worldwide, and the biggest culprit is overeating. In a study of brain circuits that control hunger and satiety, Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that molecular mechanisms controlling free radicals-molecules tied to aging and tissue damage-are at the heart of increased appetite in diet-induced obesity. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — As Tropical Storm Irene shows, dealing with natural disasters is a two-way street: Both the government and the public play a critical role in curtailing the effects, according to a Michigan State University political scientist. (more…)
After pounding North Carolina and Virginia on Aug. 27, Hurricane Irene made a second landfall near Little Egg Inlet, N.J., early Sunday morning, Aug. 28, still as a category one hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kilometers per hour). It then weakened slightly before making a third landfall over Coney Island, N.Y. as a 65-mph (100-kilometer-per-hour) tropical storm. Irene’s heavy rains, winds and storm surge are causing widespread problems throughout the U.S. mid-Atlantic and Northeast. (more…)
AUSTIN, Texas — The three-dimensional structure of a site on an influenza B virus protein that suppresses human defenses to infection has been determined by researchers at Rutgers University and The University of Texas at Austin. (more…)
*Organizations around the world are addressing cyberbullying — and digital safety overall — by empowering youth and providing educators with resources to help them navigate the digital world. Includes tips for preventing cyberbullying.*
Redmond, Wash. — Aug. 25, 2011 — For all the benefits that smartphones, computers and the Web have to offer — especially for young people who have embraced digital technology and use it every day — there will always be those who misuse the technology to harass others, including their peers.
Known as “cyberbullying,” this problem can occur at any time of the day or night, due to the always-on nature of the devices and technologies used to create these hurtful interactions. So, for some young people, home offers no respite from being victimized. In fact, cyberbullying has beome common enough that the term was recently added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. (more…)
Pegloticase, a modified porcine enzyme, can produce significant and sustained clinical improvements in two out of five patients with chronic gout that is resistant to conventional therapies, researchers report in the Aug. 17 issue of JAMA.
In two controlled clinical trials, pegloticase rapidly lowered high levels of uric acid, the biochemical abnormality in gout, and kept it in the normal range for six months or more in 42 percent of patients receiving the drug every two weeks. Forty percent of patients had complete resolution of at least one of the painful swollen joint nodules, known as tophi, a hallmark of severe gout. (more…)
