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Sea Breeze Unhealthy
Bracing seaside air may not be so healthy after all. The mix of sea salt, ship fumes and city smoke leads to a chemical reaction that encourages the formation of ozone smog.
A team led by James Roberts, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, has developed a new mass spectrometer capable of measuring nitryl chloride (ClNO2)--a chemical that encourages the formation of ozone, NewScientist wrote.
Cruising along the southeast coast of the US, Roberts and his colleagues recorded unexpectedly high levels of nitryl chloride near the cities of Houston and Miami.
The highest levels of nitryl chloride occurred at night, when nitrogen oxides--from ship exhaust plumes and industrial pollution--mixed with chlorine from sea salt spray. During the day the action of sunlight on nitryl chloride breaks it down into chlorine atoms and nitrogen dioxide.
These reactive chlorine atoms play a key role in encouraging ozone to form. In the lower atmosphere, ozone is a major pollutant, causing respiratory problems and increasing human mortality rates.
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Biological Link
Between Pain, Fatigue
A recent University of Iowa study reveals a biological link between pain and fatigue and may help explain why more women than men are diagnosed with chronic pain and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Working with mice, the researchers, led by Kathleen Sluka, Ph.D., professor in the Graduate Program in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, found that a protein involved in muscle pain works in conjunction with the male hormone testosterone to protect against muscle fatigue, ScienceDaily wrote.
To probe the link between pain and fatigue, and the influence of sex, the UI team compared exercise-induced muscle fatigue in male and female mice with and without ASIC3--an acid-activated ion channel protein that the team has shown to be involved in musculoskeletal pain.
A task involving three one-hour runs produced different levels of fatigue in the different groups of mice as measured by the temporary loss of muscle strength caused by the exercise.
Male mice with ASIC3 were less fatigued by the task than female mice. However, male mice without the ASIC3 protein showed levels of fatigue that were similar to the female mice and were greater than for the normal males.
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Fruit, Veg Diet
Bad for Toddlers
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Providing food to children that was too low in calories, fat and saturated fat and too high in fruit and vegetables puts children at the risk of developing nutritional deficiencies.
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For years nutritionists have recommended a diet high in fiber and low in fat, with plenty of fruit and vegetables. Now, however, nurseries are being told the food they serve in accordance with these guidelines is unsuitable for toddlers and could lead to vitamin deficiencies and even stunted growth.
“Nurseries are applying the principles of adult healthy eating to the food they are supplying to young children,“ said Sarah Almond, a consultant specialist pediatric dietician who has analyzed the results of a trading standards study into nursery food, Guardian reported.
“We expected the study to show nurseries were serving children food that was too high in calories, fat, saturated fat and salt, and low in vegetables and fruit.
Instead, we found that the majority of nurseries had gone to the other extreme and appeared to be providing food that was too low in calories, fat and saturated fat and too high in fruit and vegetables.“
This situation was putting children at the risk of developing nutritional deficiencies, she said.
The research also found that four out of five nurseries were giving children portions that were too small and only three in 10 provided them with meals containing enough calories.
According to Almond, the under-five age group has different and specific nutritional requirements to those children of school age: pre-school children have a high energy and nutrient requirement. Because they have a small stomach and a relatively under-developed gut, they cannot consume large quantities of food at a time but need frequent small meals and snacks throughout the day.
In addition, too much fiber--such as that absorbed through over-consumption of fruit and vegetables--can result in insufficient intake of other food groups and inhibit the absorption of key minerals.
“Because a significant number of children attend nurseries from 7 am until 7 pm, the food and nutrition they receive there are key to their health,“ said Almond.
“Nurseries are applying requirements of healthy eating for school-age children and adults to the one-to-four age group, who have entirely different requirements.“
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Electrical Activity in Thunderstorm
A team of European scientists has deliberately triggered electrical activity in thunderclouds for the first time by
aiming high-power pulses of laser light into a thunderstorm.
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Genetic Cause for Iron Deficiency
The discovery of a gene for a rare form of inherited iron deficiency may provide clues to iron deficiency in the general population--particularly iron deficiency that doesn’t respond to iron supplements--and suggests a new treatment approach.
Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency and the leading cause of anemia in the United States. Most cases are easily reversed with oral iron supplements, but over the years, Mark Fleming, MD, DPhil, interim pathologist-in-chief at Children’s Hospital in Boston, and pediatric hematologist Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD, dean of Duke University School of Medicine, had been referred a number of children with iron deficiency anemia who didn’t respond to oral supplements, and only poorly to intravenous iron, Physorg said.
The cause of their condition--termed iron-refractory iron-deficiency anemia (IRIDA)--was a mystery. The children all had good diets, and none had any condition that might interfere with iron absorption or cause chronic blood loss, the most common causes of iron deficiency.
Seeing reports of several similarly afflicted families in the medical literature, Fleming and Andrews were convinced that genetics was a factor. They found a variety of mutations in a gene called TMPRSS6 (the acronym stands for transmembrane serine protease S6) in all of these families, as well as several patients without a family history of the disorder.
Emptying Organic Rubbish Harmful
German scientists are warning householders of the health dangers posed by storing organic waste, saying exposure to it, particularly to the molds that develop as the material decays, can cause skin problems and even breathing difficulties.
According to Guardian, Harald Morr, a leading pneumologist, who is also chairman of the German Lung Foundation, said studies showed that airborne mold spores from organic waste could lead to allergic reactions, asthma attacks, hay fever-like symptoms and itchy skin lesions.
“Even just opening the lid of a bin containing organic waste can cause mold spores to be stirred up which, if breathed in, can damage the lungs,“ said Morr. “The more spores breathed in, the worse the repercussions on one’s health can be.“
Komodo Dragon’s Deadly Secret Revealed
Komodo dragons may have a wimpy bite for their size, but somehow the giant lizards manage to take down prey as large as water buffalos.
A new study reveals that a few dozen razor-sharp teeth combined with beefy neck muscles make up for the reptile’s dainty chomp, LiveScience reported.
“The Komodo has a featherweight, space-frame skull and bites like a wimp, but a combination of very clever engineering and wickedly sharp teeth allow it to do serious damage,“ said Stephen Wroe, a biologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
To investigate the mystery of how the Komodo dragon can attack with deadly force without powerful chompers, Wroe and Moreno built a model of its head and throat with software normally used to analyze minute forces in vehicles. The jaw may be weak, but 100 million years of evolution have given the dragon--the largest living species of lizard--other tools to succeed.
He explained that the lizard nabs prey with 60 perilous teeth, although its bite is weak. To make up for the lack of biting power, strong throat muscles drag the meal through the razor-sharp jowls and into the stomach.
Physicians Influenced by Patients
Physicians’ choices of prescriptions are often influenced by patients, with patient’s experience with specific drugs playing a strong role, according to the Management Insights feature in the current issue of Management Science. The results have important implications for those who market pharmaceuticals.
Using prescription data from different therapeutic classes and physician specialties, the empirical results indicate improvement in forecasting when patients’ inputs are explicitly considered, ScienceDaily said.
The authors find that, in most cases, the inherent preference for a drug, by both patients and physicians, increases once a patient has used the drug. They also find that patients play an important role in prescription decisions, but that their influence diminishes when the doctor is a specialist, and that they have no influence in situations where specialists are treating patients with severe symptoms.
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