Volcanoes cool the tropics, say researchers

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Climate researchers have shown that big volcanic eruptions over the past 450 years have temporarily cooled weather in the tropics—but suggest that such effects may have been masked in the 20th century by rising global temperatures. Their paper, which shows that higher latitudes can be even more sensitive to volcanism, appears in the current issue of Nature Geoscience.

Nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord sense pain caused by physical insult

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Molecular insight into how a heart failure drug in clinical trials works

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Viagra's other talents: Help a 'signaling' protein shield the heart from high blood pressure damage

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Johns Hopkins and other researchers report what is believed to be the first direct evidence in lab animals that the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil amplifies the effects of a heart-protective protein.

The team's findings, to be published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation online Jan. 5, helps explain why sildenafil, more widely known as Viagra, has already been shown to improve heart function and may one day have value in either treating or preventing heart damage due to chronic high blood pressure.

Study: Can nature's leading indicators presage environmental disaster?

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MADISON — Economists use leading indicators — the drivers of economic performance – to take the temperature of the economy and predict the future.

Now, in a new study, scientists take a page from the social science handbook and use leading indicators of the environment to presage the potential collapse of ecosystems. The study, published today (Jan. 5) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by two ecologists and an economist, suggests it may be possible to use nature's leading indicators to avert environmental disaster.

New appropriate use criteria guide treatment of patients with heart blockage

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If you're committed to fitness, the decision to climb a couple of flights of stairs rather than take the elevator is clear. But if you develop chest pain on the way up, deciding how to treat the symptoms of clogged arteries in your heart is much more complicated.

Understanding extinct microbes may influence the state of modern human health

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The study of ancient microbes may not seem consequential, but such pioneering research at the University of Oklahoma has implications for the state of modern human health. Cecil Lewis, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, says results of this research raise questions about the microbes living on and within people.

Similar long-term mortality risks in men with type 2 diabetes and men with cardiovascular disease

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Men with type 2 diabetes and men with previous heart attack or stroke had a 3 to 4 fold risk of cardiovascular death compared to men without either disease in the years following the first acute event, according to a study in CMAJ http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg40.pdf.

Pneumococcal vaccine does not appear to protect against pneumonia

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Commonly used pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines do not appear to be effective for preventing pneumonia, found a study by a team of researchers from Switzerland and the United Kingdom http://www.cmaj.ca/press/pg48.pdf.

In many industrialized countries, polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccines (PPVs) are currently recommended to help prevent pneumococcal disease in people aged 65 and over and for younger people with increased risk due to conditions like HIV. Studies have shown conflicting results regarding the efficacy of PPV.

The importance of early childhood monitoring

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