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Miscellaneous |
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In the News
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In the News is a free service of TheFreeDictionary.com
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Diet Linked to Survival of Breast Cancer Patients
 Women with early-stage breast cancer may improve their overall chances for survival by following a "prudent" diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy. While this diet does not appear to reduce the risk of death from breast cancer specifically, researchers found that patients who followed such a diet were less likely to die from other causes during an 8-year study period. Women with the most "Western" eating habits, who consumed a diet rich in red and processed meats, snack foods, high-fat dairy, and refined grains, had a 53% higher risk of death overall than those with the lowest intakes of those foods.
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Bacteria Could Slow Spread of Dengue
 Infecting mosquitoes with a common bacterial parasite can reduce the likelihood that they will transmit dengue and other diseases. Once a mosquito encounters dengue or malaria, it takes roughly two weeks of incubation before the insect can spread that pathogen. Using a strain of Wolbachia—a common fruit fly parasite—known to halve the lifespan of its hosts, researchers were able to cut short the lives of infected mosquitoes. The mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia lived long enough to reproduce and spread the parasite to their young but died before they were capable of transmitting dengue.
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Ice Age Comet Linked to Extinctions
 Roughly 12,900 years ago, North America underwent a major climate change during which dozens of mammal species became extinct and the Clovis culture of prehistoric North Americans suffered a decline in population. Various theories have been proposed for the die-off, but now nanodiamonds—minute diamonds produced under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions—found in sediment from the time period have led researchers to conclude that it was likely caused by the explosion of a comet. They believe that the heat of the explosion melted part of a glacier and that the icy runoff triggered a shift in Atlantic Ocean currents that led to a 1,300-year cooling period.
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