January 24, 2009

HEALTH
 

Vitamin D intake delays onset of diabetes, reduces complications
Adequate vitamin D intake may prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and reduce complications for those who have already been diagnosed with the condition.

The vitamin is quickly becoming a popular nutrient which has been found to be beneficial in conditions like cancer, osteoporosis and now diabetes. Vitamin D deficiency also may be associated with hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, hypertension and heart disease.

“Vitamin D has widespread benefits for our health and certain chronic diseases in particular,” said Sue Penckofer, co-author of a new study on the subject and professor, Loyola University Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.

Penckofer had recently published another study that reported on the role of chronic vitamin D deficiency in heart disease. Many of the 23 million Americans with diabetes have low vitamin D levels. Evidence suggests that vitamin D plays an integral role in insulin sensitivity and secretion. Its deficiency results in part from poor nutrition, which is one of the most challenging issues for people with diabetes. Another culprit is reduced exposure to sunlight, which is common during cold weather months when days are shorter and more time is spent indoors. One study examined for this review article evaluated 3,000 people with type 1 diabetes and found a decreased risk in disease for people who took vitamin D supplements.

Observational studies of people with type 2 diabetes also revealed that supplementation may be important in the prevention of this disease.

The findings appeared in the latest issue of Diabetes Educator.— PPI

 

A bit of activity can brighten outlook in mental patients
A bit of physical activity can really brighten the outlook of people suffering from serious mental illnesses (SMI) like depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

An Indiana University (IU) study found a positive association between physical activity level and positive mood when low to moderate levels of physical activity are considered, said study author Bryan McCormick, associate professor in IU’s department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies.

Low levels of physical activity also common to this population poses a major hurdle, however, for this study, physical activity is considered most forms of sustained movement, such as house cleaning, gardening, walking for transportation or formal exercise.

“The challenge is how to use naturally motivating activities that people have in their everyday lives to get them out and engaged,” McCormick said.

For seven consecutive days, researchers randomly paged participants, who then filled out questionnaires about their mood and recent activities.

The responses were matched with data collected during the previous 10 minutes using small light-weight accelerometres worn by the study participants.

The equipment measured activity levels and duration. McCormick said this was the first time these research methods were combined, allowing researchers to look at study participants’ daily ups and downs as they occur rather than trying to average the experiences.

McCormick said: “I was expecting a higher level of physical activity within the population of east Europeans. We didn’t see any differences.”

The study was published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Social Psychiatry.— PPI

 

SPACE
 

Martian methane, latest proof that Mars is habitable?
Plumes of methane gas detected on Mars could be a sign of geological or biological activity — and possibly the latest indication that life can be sustained on the red planet, according to a new study.

The presence of methane implies active geological, or possibly even biological, processes on Mars and the amount of methane observed on the ‘red planet’ is comparable to some active sites on Earth, the study published in the journal Science found.

“Right now, we do not have enough information to tell whether biology or geology — or both — is producing the methane on Mars,” said principal researcher Michael Mumma of Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Centre.

On earth, microorganisms thrive in unlikely places, like up to two miles (three kilometres) beneath the Witwatersrand basin of South

Africa, “where natural radioactivity splits water molecules into molecular hydrogen and oxygen,” Mumma said.

“The organisms use the hydrogen for energy. It might be possible for similar organisms to survive for billions of years below the permafrost layer on Mars, where water is liquid, radiation supplies energy, and carbon dioxide provides carbon.” Mumma said. He believed the finding increases the prospects for finding life on Mars.

Researchers noted that living systems produce more than 90 per cent of Earth’s methane, with the other 10 per cent being geochemical in origin. Researchers said that one primary plume of Martian methane contained an estimated 19,000 metric tonnes of the gas — about as much as is produced at a massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara, California.

The scientists said they have detected seasonal variations of methane emissions over some locations on Mars, but remain uncertain about the source of the gas. “The methane we detected is of unknown age. Its origin could be ancient or perhaps recent,” wrote Mumma and his co-authors.

“Both geochemical and biological origins have been explored, but no consensus has eme-rged.” Mumma and a team of researchers used high-dispersion infrared spectrometres to monitor about 90 per cent of the planet’s surface for three Martian years (the equivalent of seven Earth years) for their study.— AFP

 

PALAEONTOLOGY
 

Life is tweet
Archaeopteryx, the first known bird, had a hearing range similar to the modern-day emu’s, according to a study that boosts the avian claims of this descendant of the dinosaurs.

About the size and shape of a European magpie, aArchaeopteryx lithographica appeared on the scene around 150 million years ago, in the Jurassic era.

The first fossil was unearthed in Bavaria, southern Germany, in 1861, and so far eight specimens have come to light.

Scientists at the Natural History Museum in London used a computed tomography (CT) scanner to make a 3D picture of the inner ear of Archaeopteryx, modern birds and reptiles. Their area of interest was the cochlear duct — the bony part of the inner ear that houses the sensory tissue. The size of this duct is a good indicator of an animal’s hearing range.

According to their calculations, Archaeopteryx had an average hearing range of approximately 2,000 hertz.

By comparison, the human voice is general in the range of 80 to 1,100 Hz, and good human hearing runs from around 20 to 20,000 Hz.

The study, appearing in the British Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, could unlock new clues about the enigmatic archaeopteryx, the authors hope. A long debate has raged over this species, with some experts arguing that the mixture of features shows it to be more a feathery theropod — or two-footed dino — than a primitive bird. But the paper gives a powerful push to the pro-avian camp.

“Our previous research has shown that the part of the ear that controls balance was just like that of modern birds. Now we know that archaeopteryx had bird-like hearing, too.” Archaeopteryx and modern birds have longer cochlear ducts than living reptiles, according to the specifics of the study.

The size of the duct is not only a yardstick of what these animals could hear. A longer duct is also an indicator of a species with complex vocal skills, living in groups to boost their survival chances. The characteristic is shared by mammals, including humans, as well as by birds.

“Now we can more accurately predict the habitat types that extinct animals lived in by examining their ability to hear and communicate,”said palaeontologist Paul Barrett.— AFP

 

MARINE LIFE
 

New marine life discovered off Tasmania
A team of researchers from Australia and the US have uncovered new marine life, including fiery red coral and purple-spotted sea anemones, in deep waters off the Australian state of Tasmania, according to findings.

Scientists also found that most reef-forming coral deeper than 4,200 feet in the area were newly dead. Researchers will study samples of the coral to try and determine whether the creatures are dying because of ocean warming, disease, a rise in ocean acidity or some other reason.

One of the expedition’s chief scientists, Ron Thresher of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, said in a statement, “If our analysis identifies this phenomenon as the cause of the reef system’s demise, then the impact we are seeing now below 1,300 metres (4,200 feet) might extend to the shallower portions of the deep reefs over the next 50 years, threatening this entire community.”

The team, also led by scientist Jess Adkins of the California Institute of Technology, used a remotely-operated, car-sized submarine named ‘Jason’ to explore an area of deep water southwest of Tasmania. The sub, which can collect samples and shoot pictures and video footage, made 14 dives lasting up to 48 hours each, reaching depths of more than 13,000 feet (4,010 metres).

Sea spiders, a carnivorous sea squirt and a sponge with a waffle-like appearance were among the treasures the scientists saw more than 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) below the surface, Thresher said.

The team also found communities of marine life that have never been described in scientific literature, including gooseneck barnacles and millions of round, purple-spotted sea anemones.

And they also discovered corals more than 10,000 years old and will study them for clues on ancient climate data, and to help determine when coral reefs have existed south of Tasmania over the last several million years. – AP

 

AT A GLANCE
 

Study Doubts Heart Disease Genetic Testing Value
A study tracking a large group of women for a decade casts doubt on the value of testing for a certain genetic trait linked to heart disease to predict one’s chances of illness, the US researchers said. Knowing a woman had the abnormality on chromosome 9 did not improve cardiovascular illness prediction compared to typical risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol levels, diabetes, family history of heart attack and C-reactive protein as an indicator of arterial inflammation, they found.

Cloaking Device May Make Cellphone Static Vanish
A new light-bending material has brought scientists one step closer to creating a cloaking device that could hide objects from sight. Beyond possible military applications, it also might have a very practical use by making mobile communications clearer, they said.

Physical Exercise May Ease Nocturnal Leg Movement
Exercise may improve sleep patterns in people with insomnia or sleep disruptions related to periodic leg movements, according to study findings reported by Brazilian researchers. Dr Marco Tulio de Mello and colleagues at Federal University of Sao Paulo-UNIFESP assessed the effects of acute intensive exercise on sleep patterns in 22 volunteers with periodic leg movements, which are often ssociated with restless legs syndrome. Eleven subjects continued with 72 physical training sessions for roughly the next six months.

Chemical Used In Making Rubber Linked To Cancer
A chemical commonly used to make rubber products may cause cancer in people exposed to fumes during the manufacturing process, British researchers said. Workers exposed to 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, or MBT, at a rubber chemicals plant in North Wales were twice as likely to develop colon cancer and four times as likely to get bone marrow cancer compared to the general population, they said.

A Deadly Form Of Malaria Kills
The human eye can help doctors understand how an acute form of malaria attacks the brain, researchers said, opening the way to new and better treatments for one of Africa’s biggest killers. By examining the eyes of people with cerebral malaria, researchers detected tiny blood vessel blockages in the brain which they believe starve brain cells and cause the disease, which mainly affects children.---Reuters

BEATING OBESITY
Obesity is becoming a major problem worldwide and has serious impact on a person’s physical, social, sexual and emotional well being.

When dieting and exercising alone does not work, people turn to other means of reducing their weight. These days the removal of unwanted fat deposits has become one of the most common aesthetic surgery procedures in the world.

Describing the procedure, Dr M. Hanif Saeed of Asian Cosmetic Surgery Centre says, “Water-jet assisted liposuction (WAL) uses a thin targeted fan shaped jet called ‘body-jet’ to infiltrate fluid to loosen fat cells with as little damage as possible. This is an active procedure replacing the traditional mechanism of positive entry of fluid through diffusion and osmosis. In using body-jet (WAL), a pressure system directs the infiltration solution through a closed tubing system into a very thin canula. The infiltration canula is surrounded by an external canula, having multiple openings for the purpose of suction. The flow of infiltration and suction pressure can be selected at several different levels through a software guidance system. A pulsating jet is produced which delivers an impact like a powerful shower head. Therefore, there is no possibility of traumatic and tearing effects.”

WAL presents a new and safe method suitable for all types of lipoplasty in local anaesthesia. There is significant reduction in pain related impairment during and after the procedure, as compared to other traditional techniques.