Culture

As part of an effort to develop effective medical therapies that block the progression of liver cyst growth in patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD), researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center have found that the liver cyst walls develop and maintain a vasculature as they grow out from the body of the liver and that factors released by epithelial cells that line the liver cyst wall lumen can drive the proliferation and development of vascular endothelial cells.

The anticipated onset of a second wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic could present a host of thorny medical ethics issues best considered well in advance, according to the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, which today released nine papers for public discussion.

Mathematicians from North America, Europe, Australia, and South America have resolved the first one trillion cases of an ancient mathematics problem on congruent numbers. The advance, which included work by David Harvey, an assistant professor at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, was achieved through a complex technique for multiplying large numbers.

Controlled release pills and capsules that show a tendency in the standard laboratory test toward "dose dumping" — releasing their medicine in a faster and potentially unsafe manner in patients who have consumed alcohol — should be withheld from the market until proven safe with testing in people. That's the conclusion of a review of existing studies in the September-October issue of ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal.

Denver released the largest amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) and Barcelona the smallest amount in a new study documenting how differences in climate, population density and other factors affect GHG emissions in global cities. The study, which could identify ways in which cities can reduce GHG emissions, is scheduled for October 1 issue of ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

"Green" roofs, those increasingly popular urban rooftops covered with plants, could help fight global warming, scientists in Michigan are reporting. The scientists found that replacing traditional roofing materials in an urban area the size of Detroit, with a population of about one-million, with green would be equivalent to eliminating a year's worth of carbon dioxide emitted by 10,000 mid-sized SUVs and trucks. Their study, the first of its kind to examine the ability of green roofs to sequester carbon which may impact climate change, is scheduled for the Oct.

New Rochelle, NY, September 23, 2009—The commercial failure of Exubera® (Pfizer, New York, NY), the first inhaled insulin product to come to market, led other companies such as Eli Lilly-Alkermes to halt studies of similar drug delivery in development intended to compete for a share of the lucrative diabetes market. Does this signal defeat for efforts to deliver insulin via the lungs?

Washington, DC – The Presidents of 57 liberal arts colleges in the U.S., representing 22 states, have declared their support for the Federal Research Public Access Act (S. 1373) in an Open Letter released today. The letter is the first from higher education administrators to be issued in support of the 2009 bill, and further reinforcement that support for the Act exists at the highest levels of the higher education community. The presidents' letter notes, "Adoption of the Federal Research Public Access Act will democratize access to research information funded by tax dollars.

More low-income students would make it to college if changes were made to streamline the complicated financial aid process, according to a groundbreaking study released today by researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Stanford University School of Education, the University of Toronto, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

For years, studies have shown that young people from low-income households across North America are less likely to apply to college or university than peers from higher-income families. Now, a groundbreaking new study shows the solution may be as simple as helping students with the financial aid process.

Economists have finally proved what most of us have suspected for a long time – when it comes to apologising, talk is cheap.

According to new research, firms that simply say sorry to disgruntled customers fare better than those that offer financial compensation.

The ploy works even though the recipient of the apology seldom gets it from the person who made it necessary in the first place.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (23 September 2009)—As climate change negotiators continue to skirt the role of agricultural land use in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, top scientists working on land management in the world's vast dry areas will gather this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, determined to make the case that thwarting desertification in drylands is viable and also critical to the success of a new climate deal.

Women in Central Mexico who used a vented stove instead of the traditional indoor open fire, experienced improved respiratory health on par with a pack-a-day smoker kicking the habit, according to a recent study.

The study, which analyzed the first year of data in an ongoing project examining the impact of the use of vented stoves over traditional indoor open fires, was reported in the October 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.

A majority of medical schools surveyed report they have experienced incidents of students posting unprofessional content online, including incidents involving violation of patient confidentiality, with few schools having policies to address these types of postings, according to a study in the September 23/30 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.

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