Earth

MINNEAPOLIS - People who live in areas where they are exposed to more of the sun's rays, specifically UV-B rays, may be less likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life, according to a study published in the March 7, 2018, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Exposure in childhood and young adulthood may also reduce risk.

High levels of vitamin D may be linked to a lower risk of developing cancer, including liver cancer, concludes a large study of Japanese adults published by The BMJ today.

The researchers say their findings support the theory that vitamin D might help protect against some cancers.

A study led by recent SFU PhD alumnus Kyle Artelle has unveiled new findings that challenge the widespread assumption that wildlife management in North America is science-based. He conducted the study with SFU researchers John Reynolds and Jessica Walsh, as well as researchers from other institutions.

Washington, DC--All women who have unwanted dark, coarse hair growing on the face, chest or back should undergo testing for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and other underlying health problems, Endocrine Society experts concluded in an updated Clinical Practice Guideline released today.

In 2015, the estimated medical costs attributable to both fatal and nonfatal falls in older US adults was approximately $50 billion. The findings come from a recent analysis published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

For nonfatal falls in adults aged 65 and older, Medicare paid approximately $28.9 billion, Medicaid $8.7 billion and private and other payers $12.0 billion. Overall medical spending for fatal falls was estimated to be $754 million.

Differences in the active treatment of lung cancer across England may be cutting short the lives of hundreds of patients with the disease every year, concludes research published online in the journal Thorax.

Disease and patient factors don't seem to be driving these variations, say the researchers, who calculate that if treatment rates rose to optimal levels, 800 patients could "have a clinically relevant extension of their lives each year."

A new special publication orchestrated by five of the nation's leading hearing experts compiles the latest research into hearing loss caused by drugs and solvents - how it occurs, how to treat it, and how to prevent it.

The compilation is being published online as a special research topic by the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. It includes both original research and focused reviews. The Pharmaceutical Interventions for Hearing Loss Working Group organized the effort at the behest of the Department of Defense Hearing Center of Excellence.

There are several ways to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2100, and new research led by IIASA researcher Joeri Rogelj shows under what conditions this could happen.

The team's paper, published in Nature Climate Change, is the first to look at how socioeconomic conditions such as inequalities, energy demand, and international cooperation might affect the feasibility of achieving these goals, and also considers technological and resource assumptions.

RESTON, Va. - An Italian study featured in the March issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine demonstrates that a novel nuclear medicine imaging agent targeting copper accumulation in tumors can detect prostate cancer recurrence early in patients with biochemical relapse (rising prostate-specific antigen [PSA] level).

Bacteria could be programmed to produce drugs, thanks to breakthrough research into synthetic biology from the Universities of Warwick and Surrey

Researchers develop unique system to dynamically allocate essential cellular resources to both synthetic circuit and host cell - allowing both to survive and function properly

Adding synthetic circuitry to cells could enable them to be turned into factories for the production of antibiotics and other valuable drugs - opening up vast possibilities for the future of healthcare

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A new study of long-term snow monitoring sites in the western United States found declines in snowpack at more than 90 percent of those sites - and one-third of the declines were deemed significant.

Pregnant women can safely exercise in warm weather and take short hot baths or saunas without risking critical elevations in body temperature that could harm their unborn child, finds a review of the available evidence published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

The findings contradict current advice that pregnant women should avoid heat stress based on concerns about possible risks of exceeding a core body temperature of 39? during pregnancy.

Papped snaffling in the jungle, a striking set of photos reveal the secret lives of Amazonian crop-raiding animals.

A new study from the University of East Anglia (UK) identifies the Amazon's 'worst offending' crop destroyers - and highlights the problems caused for rural communities.

The research team spent a year working with 47 Amazonian communities in the Juruá region of Amazonas, Brazil.

Most people can relate to the prickly, unsettling experience of déjà vu: When you're in a new situation, but you feel like you've been there before.

For some, that eerie feeling has an added twist: In that moment, they feel like they know what's going to happen next. Say you're walking up a stairwell for the first time, but it feels familiar, like a dream state - so much so that you think, "At the top of the stairs, there will be a Picasso on the left."

The Allen Institute for Brain Science has produced the first comprehensive, publicly available database of predictive neuron models, along with their corresponding data. The generalized leaky integrate-and-fire (GLIF) and biophysically detailed models are described in two articles published in the journal Nature Communications.