Futurity.org » University of Minnesota

Is diet soda healthy? Depends on what you eat

Patric Lane-UNC — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:35:59 +0000

UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US) — New research sheds light on how zero-calorie sodas may affect health, especially in the context of a person’s overall dietary habits.

A number of studies have implicated drinking diet beverages as a cause of cardiovascular disease. Others have suggested such drinks may be a viable tactic for people who are trying to lose or control weight.

Most women can skip frequent bone tests

Tom Hughes-UNC — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:16:18 +0000

UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US) — Older women who receive normal bone mineral density scores may not need to be screened again for 10 years, new research shows.

Since 2002, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that women ages 65 and older be routinely screened for osteoporosis and has suggested that a two-year screening interval might be appropriate. However, what length the screening interval should be is a topic that remains undecided.

Early conflict with mom leaves toddlers angry

Christopher James-NYU — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:41:41 +0000

U. MINNESOTA / NYU (US) — Children who are persistently aggressive and defiant by kindergarten very often have tumultuous relationships with their parents from early on.

A new longitudinal study, published in the journal Child Development, suggests that a cycle involving parenting styles and hostility between mothers and toddlers is at play.

Ice cores: 800,000 years of climate change

Chris Jones-Cardiff — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 20:29:14 +0000

CARDIFF U. (UK) — Drill cores taken from Greenland’s vast ice sheets offer the first clue that Earth’s climate is capable of very rapid transitions.

The ice cores, which cover the last 800,000 years, have led to vigorous scientific investigation into the possible causes of abrupt climate change.

High-profile royal weddings go way back

Patty Mattern-Minnesota — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:53:55 +0000

U. MINNESOTA (US) — As far back as the Wars of the Roses royals having been tying the knot in grandiose affairs intended to draw big audiences.

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London—watched by more than 2 billion people worldwide—is a rather modern take on a long tradition of high-profile nuptials, according to John Watkins, a professor at the University of Minnesota and expert on British history and culture.

By the fourteenth century’s Wars of the Roses, says Watkins, when rival claimants to the throne tried to bolster their claims by high-profile marriages, lavish weddings advertised kingly power.

Invasive plants don’t run amok

Deane Morrison-Minnesota — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:20:41 +0000

U. MINNESOTA (US) — Overachieving super-invader plants aren’t such a threat after all, according to a new study that finds when plants move to a new region, they are no more abundant than they were in their native range.

An international team of ecologists studied 26 species of grasses and forbs—flowering relatives of grasses that include clover, sunflowers, and milkweed—in North America, Europe, China, Australia, and New Zealand. Each species had moved from its native range to at least one new range, usually by jumping continents.

Renewable fuel made from CO2

Jeff Falk-Minnesota — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:18:25 +0000

U. MINNESOTA (US) — Scientists are a step closer to making renewable petroleum fuels using bacteria, sunlight, and carbon dioxide.

Janice Frias, who earned her doctorate at the University of Minnesota discovered how to use a protein to transform fatty acids produced by the bacteria into ketones, which can then be cracked to make hydrocarbon fuels.

Horses hold clues to human disease

Deane Morrison-Minnesota — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:23:51 +0000

U. MINNESOTA (US) — Horses need to be able to efficiently store energy to do the work they are bred for, but doing so too well can lead to disease—some that mirror human conditions.

The link could be beneficial in understanding and treating a variety of diseases in humans, including diabetes and heart disease.

Small change shields anti-HIV protein

Deane Morrison-Minnesota — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:50:21 +0000

U. MINNESOTA (US) — The battle inside white blood cells of people infected with HIV may come down to a fight between two proteins.

New research finds that on the human side is APOBEC3F, or the Apo protein, made by white cells that produces mutations in DNA of the HIV virus. On the HIV side is Vif, a protein made by the virus in cells during infection that attacks Apo.

Teen drinking predicts adult alcoholism

Tracy James-Indiana — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:27:52 +0000

INDIANA U. (US) — Adolescents who suffer consequences from drinking are more likely to be diagnosed with alcoholism as adults.

The association is stronger for females than males, according to a new study that used the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI).