ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Arctic warming linked to fewer European and US cold weather extremes, new study shows
• Melting and refreezing of deep Greenland ice speeds flow to sea: Findings may shift understanding of ice sheet behavior
• Diabetes risk: Understanding the unique nature of children's bodies and brains
• Exploring a parasitic tunnel boring machine: Parasitic worm genome and biology provides a solid basis for the development of new interventions
• BRCA test results affect patients' breast cancer surgery plans
• Opioid use prior to spine surgery linked to diminished patient reported outcomes
• Testing Parkinson's disease immune-based drugs: New models
• African Americans respond better to first-line diabetes drug than whites
• Heart rate variability may predict risk of disease in premature infants
• Standing up gets groups more fired up for team work
• Blood product sterilization taken too far?

Arctic warming linked to fewer European and US cold weather extremes, new study shows Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:38 AM PDT Climate change is unlikely to lead to more days of extreme cold, similar to those that gripped the USA in a deep freeze last winter, new research has shown. The Arctic amplification phenomenon refers to the faster rate of warming in the Arctic compared to places further south. It is this phenomenon that has been linked to a spike in the number of severe cold spells experienced in recent years over Europe and North America.

Melting and refreezing of deep Greenland ice speeds flow to sea: Findings may shift understanding of ice sheet behavior Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:38 AM PDT Researchers have found evidence of widespread refreezing of ice at the bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet; some of these features coincide with faster flows. The newly revealed forms may help scientists understand more about how ice sheets behave and how they will respond to a warming climate.

Diabetes risk: Understanding the unique nature of children's bodies and brains Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:38 AM PDT With the increase in childhood obesity and the associated increase in type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents, there is growing interest in how children's bodies process the foods they eat and how obesity and diabetes begin to develop at early ages.

Exploring a parasitic tunnel boring machine: Parasitic worm genome and biology provides a solid basis for the development of new interventions Posted: 15 Jun 2014 11:36 AM PDT Researchers have deduced essential biological and genetic information from the genome sequence of the whipworm, an intestinal parasitic worm that infects hundreds of millions of people in developing countries. This information acts as the foundation for the development of new strategies and treatments against this debilitating parasite.

BRCA test results affect patients' breast cancer surgery plans Posted: 13 Jun 2014 07:17 AM PDT Seven in 10 women with breast cancer who learned before surgery they have BRCA gene mutations changed their surgical plan, often to a more extensive procedure that would reduce future cancer risk, researchers have found. The authors therefore recommend that women who meet genetic testing guidelines get the tests before surgery.

Opioid use prior to spine surgery linked to diminished patient reported outcomes Posted: 12 Jun 2014 11:23 AM PDT The use of opioid pain relievers (prescription medications, such as Percocet) have been linked to less improvement and higher levels of dissatisfaction following spine surgery, a study finds. "We have demonstrated that increasing amounts of preoperative opioid consumption may have a harmful effect on patient reported outcomes in those undergoing spinal surgery," said study's lead author.

Testing Parkinson's disease immune-based drugs: New models Posted: 12 Jun 2014 10:23 AM PDT Using powerful, newly developed cell culture and mouse models of sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD), researchers have demonstrated that immunotherapy with specifically targeted antibodies may block the development and spread of PD pathology in the brain. By intercepting the distorted and misfolded alpha-synuclein (α-syn) proteins that enter and propagate in neurons, creating aggregates, the researchers prevented the development of pathology and also reversed some of the effects of already-existing disease.

African Americans respond better to first-line diabetes drug than whites Posted: 12 Jun 2014 10:23 AM PDT African Americans taking the diabetes drug metformin saw greater improvements in their blood sugar control than white individuals who were prescribed the same medication, according to a new study. Metformin is the most common oral medication prescribed for diabetes. It decreases the amount of glucose produced by the liver and helps the body respond better to insulin, the hormone that helps carry sugar from the bloodstream into cells.

Heart rate variability may predict risk of disease in premature infants Posted: 12 Jun 2014 08:46 AM PDT Measuring variability of heart rate may identify premature infants at risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis, a serious inflammatory condition that can lead to death, according to researchers. Necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC, may lead to destruction of the intestinal wall and vital organ failure. It affects 6 to 10 percent of premature infants within the first two weeks of life.

Standing up gets groups more fired up for team work Posted: 12 Jun 2014 08:46 AM PDT Chairs provide great support during long meetings, but they may also be holding us back. Standing during meetings boosts the excitement around creative group processes and reduces people's tendency to defend their turf, according to a new study. The participants wore small sensors around their wrists to measure "physiological arousal" -- the way people's bodies react when they get excited. When a person's arousal system becomes activated, sweat glands around the feet and hands release bursts of moisture. The sensors pass a small current of electricity through the skin to measure these moisture bursts.

Blood product sterilization taken too far? Posted: 12 Jun 2014 07:49 AM PDT Certain processes used to sterilize blood products could potentially cause serious health issues in transfusion recipients, according to an international study. These processes purportedly alter the blood platelets to the extent of preventing them from carrying out their functions correctly and may be the cause of hemorrhages observed in patients having received treated blood.

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