due in Biological News

Did the North Atlantic fisheries collapse due to fisheries-induced evolution?

The Atlantic cod has, for many centuries, sustained major fisheries on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the North American fisheries have now largely collapsed. A new paper in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE from scientists at the University of Iceland and Marine Research Ins...

Unexplained chest pain can be due to stress

Each year, many people seek emergency treatment for unexplained chest pains. A thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, indicates several common factors among those affected, including stress at work, anxiety, depression and a sedentary lifestyle. Chest pain is a c...

More than a million cancer survivors declining care due to cost concerns

CAREFREE, A.Z. - More than a million cancer survivors living in the United States are foregoing what they believe is necessary medical care due to the cost, and Hispanics and African-Americans are twice as likely to go without services, according to data presented at the American Association for C...

Inflammation worsens danger due to atherosclerosis

Stockholm, Sweden Current research suggests that inflammation increases the risk of plaque rupture in atherosclerosis. The related report by Ovchinnikova et al, "T cell activation leads to reduced collagen maturation in atherosclerotic plaques of ApoE-deficient- mice," appears in the February 20...

Study shows California's autism increase not due to better counting, diagnosis

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted and the trend shows ...

Stronger coastal winds due to climate change may have far-reaching effects

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--Future increases in wind strength along the California coast may have far-reaching effects, including more intense upwelling of cold water along the coast early in the season and increased fire danger in Southern California, according to researchers at the Climate Change and Imp...

Turtles alter nesting dates due to temperature change says ISU researcher

AMES, Iowa -- Turtles nesting along the Mississippi River and other areas are altering their nesting dates in response to rising temperatures, says a researcher from Iowa State University. Fred Janzen, a professor in ecology, evolution and organismal biology, has studied turtle nesting habits a...

Wildflower declines in Thoreau's Concord woods are due to climate changes

(Boston) Boston University and Harvard University researchers have established for the first time that a study of evolutionary relatedness among plant populations is critical when considering the patterns of species loss due to climate change. Rapid changes in temperature which have led to changes...

Biological invasions increasing due to freshwater impoundments, says CU-Boulder study

The growing number of dams and other impoundments is increasing the number of invasive species and the speed at which they spread, putting natural lakes at risk, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder. The research team combined data on water chemistry, the distribution of fi...

Pregnant women at risk for unnecessary operations due to misdiagnosis of appendicitis

CHICAGO (October 24, 2007) New research published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons suggests that pregnant women suspected of having appendicitis are often misdiagnosed and undergo unnecessary appendectomies (removal of the appendix) that can result in early ...

Studies: Children obese due to a host of unhealthy pressures

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Unhealthy options and pressures influence nearly every part of children's daily lives, according to studies released this week in a special supplement of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. The national studies, which include work conducted at the University of Mic...

Erectile dysfunction in diabetes is due to selective defect in the brain

A new study sheds additional light on how erectile dysfunction (ED) interacts with diabetes. The study is another step in uncovering the link between the two disorders, and may lead to improved efficacy in treatments. The study, "Lack of Central Nitric Oxide Triggers Erectile Dysfunction in Diab...

Resistance to anti-HIV drugs in Uganda developed due to drug supply problems

Some HIV-infected patients in Uganda who self-paid for their antiretroviral medications experienced interruptions in drug supply due to either financial demands or supply logistical disruptions. These treatment interruptions led to the development of resistance to antiretroviral medications in pat...

Salmonella survives better in stomach due to altered DNA

Since 1995 there has been a considerable increase in the number of infections with a specific type of Salmonella bacteria transmitted via food. This type, Salmonella serovar Typhimurium DT104, is resistant to at least five different antibiotics. Dutch researcher Armand Hermans found new genetic inf...

Men with prostate cancer avoid radiation due to misconceptions

Negative perceptions about radiation therapy can strongly influence a prostate cancer patient's choice to avoid external beam radiation therapy, even though studies have proven the treatment to be as safe and effective as other treatments for the disease, including surgery, according to a study pre...

Birds going extinct faster due to human activities

Embryonic stem cells, prized for their astonishing ability to apparently transform into any kind of cell in the body, acquire their identities in part by interacting with their surroundings - even when they are outside of the body in a laboratory dish, University of Florida scientists report. Us...

Most human-chimp differences due to gene regulation ?not genes

The vast differences between humans and chimpanzees are due more to changes in gene regulation than differences in individual genes themselves, researchers from Yale, the University of Chicago, and the Hall Institute in Parkville, Victoria, Australia, argue in the 9 March 2006 issue of the journal ...

Medieval diaries aid scientists ascertain increase in hot spots due to global warming

The temperature of the northern hemisphere has increased over a larger area in the last century than at any time in the past millennium a report published in Science reveals this week. The study finds that the number of 'hot spots' has increased dramatically in the Northern Hemisphere in the las...

Fluoride poisoning in China due to clay, not coal

Millions of people in southwest China suffer from potentially-crippling fluoride poisoning because they burn a mixture of clay and coal, say researchers. The findings, from a study carried out in Guizhou province, contradict the previous belief that the disease was caused by people burning fluor...

Highest ever winter water temperatures recorded

... Tasmania's east coast is recording its highest-ever winter water temperatures of more than 13C up to 1.5C above normal due to a strengthening of an ocean current originating north of Australia. Satellites have given oceanographers an insight into a remarkable phenomenon...

First human gets new antibody aimed at hepatitis C virus

...bloodstream during surgery. The powerful antiviral drugs now used to attack HCV prior to end-stage liver failure are not routinely used during surgery due to the patients' weakened condition and because of the strong medication that must be used to prevent the body from rejecting the new liver. After re-...

Climate-caused biodiversity booms and busts in ancient plants and mammals

...era to an all-time high of 104 genera, the researchers found. "This is also the part of the Eocene when we see the most new appearances of mammals due to evolutionary innovation, rather than immigration," said Stucky, who is curator of paleoecology and evolution at the Denver Museum of Nature & Scien...

Venomous sea snakes play heads or tails with their predators

...of having two heads and two loads of deadly venom. Apart from the Yellow-lipped Sea Krait the ecology of sea snakes has largely gone understudied, due mainly to their off-shore and nocturnal behaviour. Yet, despite the number of behavioural studies devoted to this species, the discovery of this false...

Growing evidence of marijuana smoke's potential dangers

...ntists know that marijuana smoke has adverse effects on the lungs. However, there is little knowledge about marijuana's potential to cause lung cancer due to the difficulty in identifying and studying people who have smoked only marijuana. The new study begins to address that question by comparing ma...

ComCam Selected by ePortation on New Maritime Domain Awareness Project

...lity to secure additional sources of financing. The actual results that ComCam may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. ComCam encourages the public to read the information provided here in conjunction with its most recent filings on For...

Agricultural research key to food security

...c hunger, global food security remains a major concern, despite being a key goal of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Extreme weather events due to climate change and the recent trend to convert croplands to biofuels both threaten to put even more people at risk. The solution, says el-Belta...

Animal and plant communication at the ESA Annual Meeting

...owever, only increased slightly. These results suggest that the bird predators were preferentially targeting generalists. The difference is likely due to the specialists' ability to take better advantage of their host plants, says Singer. Many specialists use chemicals from their host plant's tissue ...

The way you eat may affect your risk for breast cancer

...oportional to the degree of mammary tumor prevention. Second, they originally thought that intermittent calorie restriction might enhance tumor growth due to growth factors being secreted in response to re-feeding, Cleary said. In an accompanying editorial also published in Cancer Prevention Researc...

ADA releases position paper on food and water safety

...hs result from foodborne disease annually, with a cost of $23 billion. High-risk populations (the very young; elderly; pregnant; and immunocompromised due to medical conditions such as diabetes, renal diseases and chemical and radiological treatments) experience the most serious consequences of foodborne...

August 2009 Geology and GSA Today media highlights

...ity. In the past, the cause of these substantial changes was believed to be due to a rapid pulse of seafloor spreading. However, it has also been suggested...tion (about 50%) from the desertified lands in its adjacent north and west, due to anthropogenic activities. The new finding is not only critical in planni...

Iron isotopes as a tool in oceanography

...g plenty of macronutrients such as phosphate, nitrate and silicate. This is due a shortage of the essential micro-nutrient iron, which is needed for the gr...udes, where sediments are subject to enhanced rates of environmental change due to changing climate in these regions," Said Homoky. ...

Structure of protective protein in the eye lens revealed

...ive rise to cancer and neurological defects, including Alzheimer's disease. Many research groups have focused their work on the α-crystallins due to their medical relevance. Despite intensive efforts, up to now, none of them have managed to determine the molecular architecture of these proteins....

Scientists uncork a potential secret of red wine's health benefits

... diseases such as sepsis are very difficult to treat and many die every day due to lack of treatment," said Alirio Melendez, senior lecturer on the faculty...rk. "Moreover, many survivors of sepsis develop a very low quality of life due to the damage that inflammation causes to several internal organs. The ult...

U of M study identifies risk factors of disordered eating in overweight youth

...nce of strong family relationships for overweight adolescents. These youth face pressures above and beyond those faced by their non-overweight peers due to strong social pressures to be thin. Lack of family connectedness, including not eating family meals together, was found to increase the risk of di...

Little-known protein found to be key player

.... HSP is a rare genetic condition that affects fewer than one million people worldwide. It's marked by a partial paralysis of the lower extremities due to defects in the body's longest cells, the neurons that run from the spine through the legs. Daga said atlastin's role in building and maintaining...

Organic food not nutritionally better than conventionally-produced food

...analysed, there were no significant differences between production methods in nutrient content. Differences that were detected were most likely to be due to differences in fertilizer use (nitrogen, phosphorus), and ripeness at harvest (acidity), and it is unlikely that consuming these nutrients at the l...

Wildfires set to increase 50 percent by 2050

...l Research , scientists also say that the increase in wildfires will lead to significant deterioration of the air quality in the western United States due to greater presence of smoke. "Wildfires, such as those in California earlier this year, are a serious problem in the United States and this resea...

University has grand designs to build a house of straw

...t can be seen as having zero, or even a negative carbon footprint. Also, due to its high insulating properties, houses made of straw bales need almost n...ation so you need very little additional heating." The BaleHaus at Bath, due to be completed in the late summer, will be monitored for a year for its in...

Nanodiamonds deliver insulin for wound healing

...lood flow to the wound, suppresses inflammation and fights infection. Earlier investigations have confirmed an increase in alkalinity of wound tissue, due to bacterial colonization, to levels as high as pH 10.5, the pH level that promoted insulin release from the nanodiamonds in the Northwestern study. ...

121 breeding tigers estimated to be found in Nepal

...liatory killing from irate communities have been reported. Other important reasons of tiger population decline are habitat shrinkage and fragmentation due to human intervention, loss/decline of prey species. "The tiger numbers have increased in Chitwan but decreased in Bardia and Shuklaphanta," said M...