For several thousands of years, ancient Egypt dominated the Mediterranean world—and scholars across the globe have spent more than a century trying to document the reigns of the various rulers of Egypt's Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. Now, a detailed radiocarbon analysis of short-lived plant remains from the region is providing scientists with a long and accurate chronology of ancient Egyptian dynasties that agrees with most previous estimates but also imposes some historic revisions.
Culture
(Boston) – Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that Sfrp5, which refers to secreted frizzled-related protein 5, is an anti-inflammatory adipokine whose expression is disrupted in animal models of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The findings, which currently appear on-line in Science, may provide a new way of targeting metabolic disease, specifically obesity.
Attention college grads: Your degree may be the key to both a career and better health coverage. According to a new study of women's health insurance from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, women without a high school diploma were nearly four times more likely to be uninsured as women with a college degree.
In an effort to protect children from harmful tobacco smoke exposure, health and medical professionals are pushing for a ban on smoking in public housing in a report appearing in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.
Rome, Italy, Thursday 17 June 2010: Biologics-naïve Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) patients may have an increased risk of cancer compared with the general Swedish population, according to research presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy. Results of an additional study, which researched a small cohort of patients showed an increased frequency of cancer in those receiving the biologic etanercept, however, results were deemed not statistically significant by researchers.
Rome, Italy, Thursday 17 June 2010: Italian postmenopausal women who have a low calcium intake show a higher risk of developing both osteoporosis and hypertension (a chronic medical condition in which arterial blood pressure is elevated) than those who consume higher levels of calcium according to research presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy.
EVANSTON, Ill. --- As a young boy growing up in Portugal, Luís Amaral loved playing, watching and talking soccer. Amaral and his friends passionately debated about which players were "the best." But, it was just a matter of opinion. Unlike baseball and basketball, there isn't a lot of statistical information detailing how each soccer player contributes to a match.
Just as President Barack Obama called for in his address to the nation last night, Americans are demanding that BP and all other companies be responsible to both their shareholders and society, according to a new report from Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.
Rome, Italy, Wednesday 16 June 2010: Almost three quarters (72%) of women with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) suffer pain daily, despite the fact that three quarters (75%) receive pain relief medication, according to a new study presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy. Furthermore the physical pain appears to affect women to such an extent that it impacts negatively on emotional and social aspects of their lives.
Television screens are becoming increasingly flatter - some have even become almost as thin as a sheet of paper. Their size takes impressive dimensions, much to the delight of home cinema fans. Cellphones and laptops also have ever brighter and more brilliant displays. All of these developments owe their thanks to miniature light-emitting diodes – LEDs – that beam background lighting into a multitude of devices.
ATLANTA—June 16, 2010—A new consensus statement of experts assembled by the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society reviews emerging evidence that suggests cancer incidence is associated with diabetes as well as certain diabetes risk factors and treatments. The new report reviews the state of science concerning the association between diabetes and cancer incidence/prognosis; risk factors common to both diseases; possible biologic links between diabetes and cancer risk; and whether diabetes treatments influence the risk of cancer or cancer prognosis.
In contrast to clinical guidelines, new research finds that the vast majority of patients hospitalized for severe symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were initially treated with higher doses of corticosteroids administered intravenously, with analysis indicating that these patients had outcomes comparable to patients who received the recommended and lower-cost, less-invasive treatment of low doses of steroids administered orally, according to a study in the June 16 issue of JAMA.
URBANA – With a struggling U.S. economy and a large number of employers downsizing their operations, many Americans are finding themselves in severe financial distress. In some cases, individuals decide their only solution is to file for bankruptcy. The American Bankruptcy Institute reported 1.4 million consumer bankruptcy filings in 2009 and a 17.5 percent increase in the number of bankruptcy cases filed the first three months of 2010 compared to a year ago.
A groundbreaking study of banded mongooses in Uganda has shown even small-brained animals pass on traditions, giving a valuable insight into how complex human culture could have evolved.