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Poor control of diabetes may be linked to low vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with Type 2 diabetes and may be associated with poor blood sugar control, according to a new study. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

"This finding supports an active role of vitamin D in the development of Type 2 diabetes," said study co-author Esther Krug, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an endocrinologist at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore.

Bariatric surgery in diabetic adults improves insulin sensitivity better than diet

Gastric bypass surgery improves Type 2 diabetes by other mechanisms in addition to weight loss and does so better than a low-calorie diet despite achieving equal weight loss, a new study finds. The results will be presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Compost filter socks improve runoff from croplands

MADISON, WI, June 21st, 2010 – Water runoff from cropped farm fields can contain large amounts of eroded soil as well as some of the fertilizer and herbicide. Expanding on existing conservation practices, a team of scientists has tested whether compost filters socks in grassed waterways would reduce sediment flow and retain dissolved chemicals in runoff. The researchers observed reduced sediment in a non-tilled field and reduced concentrations of two herbicides.

Increasing potato production

MADISON, WI, June, 2010 – Despite sophisticated nutrient management of potato crops, quality and yield still see wide variability. Although nutrients are already well understood, the influence of other environmental factors remains understudied.

Using carbon nanotubes in lithium batteries can dramatically improve energy capacity

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Batteries might gain a boost in power capacity as a result of a new finding from researchers at MIT. They found that using carbon nanotubes for one of the battery's electrodes produced a significant increase — up to tenfold — in the amount of power it could deliver from a given weight of material, compared to a conventional lithium-ion battery. Such electrodes might find applications in small portable devices, and with further research might also lead to improved batteries for larger, more power-hungry applications.

Caltech geologist investigates canyon carved in just 3 days in Texas flood

Caltech geologist investigates canyon carved in just 3 days in Texas flood

Cutting carbs is more effective than low-fat diet for insulin-resistant women

Obese women with insulin resistance lose more weight after three months on a lower-carbohydrate diet than on a traditional low-fat diet with the same number of calories, according to a new study. The results will be presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Targeting disease remission has socio-economic benefits over low disease activity

Rome, Italy, Saturday 19 June 2010: Achieving disease remission in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) provides superior outcomes across measures of socio-economic importance including work productivity and quality of life according to results presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy. These Austrian findings are reported in addition to improvements in measures of physical functioning, when compared with RA patients achieving low disease activity (LDA).

Children with home computers likely to have lower test scores

DURHAM, N.C. -- Around the country and throughout the world, politicians and education activists have sought to eliminate the "digital divide" by guaranteeing universal access to home computers, and in some cases to high-speed Internet service.

Over two billion hours served

Over two billion hours served

The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), located at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, has run over two billion processor-hours of computations at a mind-boggling speed of over 557 trillion calculations a second as it enables scientists and engineers to conduct cutting-edge research in just weeks or months rather than years.

UM scientists design intelligent 3-D simulation robots to compete in the Robocup 2010

UM scientists design intelligent 3-D simulation robots to compete in the Robocup 2010

Oceanographers call for more ocean observing in Antarctica

Rutgers' Oscar Schofield and five colleagues from other institutions have published in Science, calling for expanded ocean-observing in the Antarctic, particularly in the Western Antarctic Peninsula, or WAP.

University of Minnesota researchers clear major hurdle in road to high-efficiency solar cells

University of Minnesota researchers clear major hurdle in road to high-efficiency solar cells

A team of University of Minnesota-led researchers has cleared a major hurdle in the drive to build solar cells with potential efficiencies up to twice as high as current levels, which rarely exceed 30 percent.

Risk of heart attack in patients

Rome, Italy, Friday 18 June: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients face a two-fold increased risk of suffering a Myocardial Infarction (MI, heart attack) versus the general population, which is comparable to the increased risk of MI seen in diabetes patients, according to results of a new study presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy.

Women who consume large amounts of tea have increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis

Rome, Italy, Friday 18 June 2010: Women who drink tea have an increased risk of developing Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) compared with those who drink none (p=0.04), according to results presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy. Further results from the same study showed no correlation between the amount of coffee consumption and RA incidence (p=0.16).