ScienceDaily: Top News

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• Commonly used intra-aortic balloon pump may have broader potential for heart patients
• New approach to leukemia testing may better define prognosis, treatment
• Analysis supports use of risk equations to guide statin therapy
• US, European cholesterol guidelines differ in statin use recommendations
• Daylight saving impacts timing of heart attacks
• Astronauts' hearts become more spherical in space
• Are statins good for your love life?
• Relaxed blood pressure guidelines cut millions from needing medication
• Health costs of air pollution from agriculture clarified
• Drilling into trends in genetics, epigenetics of aging, longevity
• Fabricating nanostructures with silk could make clean rooms green rooms
• Information processing demonstrated using a light-based chip inspired by our brain
• Technique measures quantity, risks of engineered nanomaterials delivered to cells
• Rainbow-catching waveguide could revolutionize energy technologies
• Genetic variation linked to heart disease risk through RNA machinery
• How rotavirus infection accelerates autoimmune diabetes in a mouse model

Commonly used intra-aortic balloon pump may have broader potential for heart patients Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT One of many uses for the intra-aortic balloon pump is helping ensure adequate oxygen and blood delivery to a heart struggling to resume beating in the aftermath of coronary bypass surgery. However, the most frequently used mechanical circulatory assist device in the world may have untapped potential, physicians say.

New approach to leukemia testing may better define prognosis, treatment Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT Nearly half of patients with the most common form of adult leukemia are said to have normal chromosomes but appear instead to have a distinct pattern of genetic abnormalities that could better define their prognosis and treatment, researchers report. In new work using microarray technology that probes millions of genes within chromosomes, researchers found the unique pattern in the leukemia cells of 22 patients diagnosed with cytogenetically normal acute myelogenous leukemia.

Analysis supports use of risk equations to guide statin therapy Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT In an analysis of almost 11,000 patients, an assessment of equations that help guide whether a patient should begin taking a statin (cholesterol lowering medication) found that observed and predicted five-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risks were similar, suggesting that these equations are helpful for clinical decision making.

US, European cholesterol guidelines differ in statin use recommendations Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT Application of US and European cholesterol guidelines to a European population found that proportions of individuals eligible for statins differed substantially, with one US guideline recommending statins for nearly all men and two-thirds of women, proportions exceeding those of the other guidelines, according to a study.

Daylight saving impacts timing of heart attacks Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT Still feeling the residual effects of springing ahead for daylight saving time? The hour of sleep lost -- or gained -- may play a bigger, perhaps more dangerous role in our body's natural rhythm than we think. It seems moving the clock forward or backward may alter the timing of when heart attacks occur in the week following these time changes, according to research.

Astronauts' hearts become more spherical in space Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT New findings from a study of 12 astronauts show the heart becomes more spherical when exposed to long periods of microgravity in space, a change that could lead to cardiac problems, according to research. With implications for an eventual manned mission to Mars, the findings represent an important step toward understanding how a spaceflight of 18 months or more could affect astronauts' heart health.

Are statins good for your love life? Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT Statins are associated with a significant improvement in erectile function, a fact researchers hope will encourage men who need statins to reduce their risk of heart attack to take them, according to research. "The increase in erectile function scores with statins was approximately one-third to one-half of what has been reported with drugs like Viagra, Cialis or Levitra," said an author.

Relaxed blood pressure guidelines cut millions from needing medication Posted: 29 Mar 2014 02:50 PM PDT New guidelines that ease the recommended blood pressure could result in 5.8 million U.S. adults no longer needing hypertension medication, according to an analysis. The findings are the first peer-reviewed analysis to quantify the impact of guidelines' change to relax the blood pressure goal in adults 60 years and older to 150/90, instead of the previous goal of 140/90.

Health costs of air pollution from agriculture clarified Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:52 PM PDT Ammonia pollution from agricultural sources poses larger health costs than previously estimated, according to research. Computer models, including a NASA model of chemical reactions in the atmosphere, were used to better represent how ammonia interacts in the atmosphere to form harmful particulate matter. The improved simulation helped the scientists narrow in on the estimated health costs from air pollution associated with food produced for export -- a growing sector of agriculture and a source of trade surplus.

Drilling into trends in genetics, epigenetics of aging, longevity Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:52 PM PDT A comprehensive analysis of the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms by an international group of scientists demonstrated that the majority of the genes, as well as genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that are involved in regulation of longevity, are highly interconnected and related to stress response.

Fabricating nanostructures with silk could make clean rooms green rooms Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:52 PM PDT Engineers have demonstrated that it is possible to generate nanostructures from silk in an environmentally friendly process that uses water as a developing agent and standard fabrication techniques. This approach provides a green alternative to the toxic materials commonly used in nanofabrication while delivering fabrication quality comparable to conventional synthetic polymers. Nanofabrication is at the heart of manufacture of semi-conductors and other electronic and photonic devices.

Information processing demonstrated using a light-based chip inspired by our brain Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:51 PM PDT Researchers report on a novel paradigm to do optical information processing on a chip, using techniques inspired by the way our brain works. Neural networks have been employed in the past to solve pattern recognition problems like speech recognition or image recognition, but so far, these bio-inspired techniques have been implemented mostly in software on a traditional computer. What researchers have now done is implement a small (16 nodes) neural network directly in hardware, using a silicon photonics chip.

Technique measures quantity, risks of engineered nanomaterials delivered to cells Posted: 28 Mar 2014 02:50 PM PDT Scientists have discovered a way to measure the effective density of engineered nanoparticles in physiological fluids, making it possible to determine the amount of nanomaterials that come into contact with cells and tissue in culture.

Rainbow-catching waveguide could revolutionize energy technologies Posted: 28 Mar 2014 09:10 AM PDT By slowing and absorbing certain wavelengths of light, engineers open new possibilities in solar power, thermal energy recycling and stealth technology More efficient photovoltaic cells. Improved radar and stealth technology. A new way to recycle waste heat generated by machines into energy. All may be possible due to breakthrough photonics research.

Genetic variation linked to heart disease risk through RNA machinery Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:23 PM PDT Researchers have pinpointed a new mechanism of how natural variation in our DNA alters an individual's risk for developing heart disease by interfering with the ability of a developmental gene to interact with a specialized type of RNA. This work expands on previous work identifying the 'hidden' causes of complex disease risk, with the goal of unlocking new pathways and potential drug targets for cardiovascular disease.

How rotavirus infection accelerates autoimmune diabetes in a mouse model Posted: 27 Mar 2014 07:23 PM PDT A combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors is believed to cause autoimmune (type 1) diabetes. A new study gets at the mechanisms by which rotavirus infection contributes to autoimmune diabetes in a mouse model of the disease.

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