Study looks at distribution of new cases of diabetes, density of specialists

Researchers analyzed national data on the prevalence of diabetes and the number of internal medicine specialists in each U.S. state. They found that cardiologists were the highest represented specialists and conclude that they are well positioned to be integral members of a patient's care team.

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Consuming alcohol leads to epigenetic changes in brain memory centers

New research revealed a surprising pathway that shows alcohol byproducts travel to the brain to promote addiction memory. They show how acetate travels to the brain's learning system and directly alters proteins the regulate DNA function, impacting how some genes are expressed and ultimately affecting how mice behave when given environmental cues to consume alcohol.

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New data on the evolution of plants and origin of species

There are over 500,000 plant species in the world today. They all evolved from a common ancestor. How this leap in biodiversity happened is still unclear. Researchers now present the results of a unique project on the evolution of plants. Using genetic data from 1,147 species the team created the most comprehensive evolutionary tree for green plants to date.

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Sensing sweetness on a molecular level

Whether it's chocolate cake or pasta sauce, the sensation of sweetness plays a major role in the human diet and the perception of other flavors. While a lot is known about the individual proteins that signal ''sweet,'' not much is known about how the proteins work together as a receptor to accomplish this feat.

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Researchers find college football players' weight gain leads to heart problems

Weight gain and high blood pressure in college football players leads to adverse changes in cardiac structure and function, indicating monitoring and early intervention is needed for this young and otherwise healthy athletic population, according to a new study.

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Prisoner's dilemma game reveals cooperation leads to leadership

Game theory has historically studied cooperation and hierarchy, and has sought to explain why individuals cooperate, even though they might be better off not to do so. Researchers now use a specialized graph to map a social network of cooperators and their neighbors; they discovered cooperators can attract more neighbors to follow their behaviors and are more likely to become leaders, indicating different learning patterns exist between cooperators and defectors.

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Embracing sustainable practices would help some winery tasting rooms stand out

Wineries in the mid-Atlantic region should consider recycling and encouraging their customers to bring bottles to their tasting rooms for refilling to distinguish their businesses from so many others, according to a team of wine-marketing researchers who surveyed consumers.

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First identification of a heavy element born from neutron star collision

For the first time, a freshly made heavy element, strontium, has been detected in space, in the aftermath of a merger of two neutron stars. The detection confirms that the heavier elements in the Universe can form in neutron star mergers, providing a missing piece of the puzzle of chemical element formation.

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Pre-programmed microfluidic systems offer new control capabilities

Researchers have discovered how to pre-program microfluidic systems in a way that controls how fluids flow and mix throughout the micropipes. The result? A step toward smartly designed microfluidic systems that behave like a computer chip without relying on external components.

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