Scientists say tropics are next emerging disease hotspot

Scientists from four well-known institutions say the next major disease like HIV/AIDS or SARS could occur in any of a number of developing countries concentrated along the equator. They encourage increased surveillance to prevent the spread of a potential outbreak. Using global databases and so...

Notion Behind Spread of Flu Epidemic may Not Hold True for the Tropics

A study from Brazil has revealed that the notion that flu epidemics begin in areas of high population density and extend outwards may not be appropriate for the tropics. The study revealed that in Brazil, flu is triggered in less populated North area and moves later to the South region. ...

IRS Helps Curb Malaria in the Tropics

In our special series this week we’re looking at efforts to fight malaria. One tool used by health professionals is indoor residual spraying, or IRS//. Insecticides are applied to the interior walls of homes to protect the family against the mosquito that carries the disease. With IRS, protection ...

Rare sheep could be key to better diagnostic tests in developing world, says Stanford study

...es. The technology, which they are modeling in Botswana, is an example of a practical 'can do' innovation in microbiology that will save lives in the tropics at low cost by quickly identifying bacteria to tailor cost-effective antibiotic use a precious commodity overseas." Now, said Baron and Yeh, the o...

Breakthrough in combating the side effects of quinine

...he human body cannot produce it we have to get it from the food we eat. Tryptophan is abundant in meat but limited in yams, a staple food crop in the tropics where malaria is prevalent. If quinine severely reduces tryptophan uptake, then it follows that people with preexisting tryptophan deficiency, a commo...

Researchers develop the first climate-based model to predict Dengue fever outbreaks

...idad and Singapore with extremely accurate results, Fuller said. Other factors that may contribute to the increased occurrence of Dengue Fever in the tropics are: global trade, population growth and uncontrolled or unplanned urbanization. ...

Long, sexy tails not a drag on male birds

... Berkeley -- The long tails sported by many male birds in the tropics look like they're a drag to carry around and a distinct disadvantage when fleeing predators, but experiments by University of California, Berkeley, bi...

Forgotten, but not gone: Leprosy still present in the US

...ealizes that the treatment isn't working giving the disease enough time to start destroying the nervous system. Leprosy is most prevalent in the tropics and third world countries where there are poor living conditions and limited access to medical care. Due to changes in immigrant relocation, leprosy ...

Seasonal Flu Outbreaks Start in Asia: Study

...ld that flu viruses migrate between the northern and southern hemispheres after the flu season. Other theories contend that the viruses surface in the tropics and circulate continuously, or start out in China, Russell said. "We found solid evidence that influenza H3N2 viruses [the most common viruses] ha...

Neglected tropical diseases burden those overseas, but travelers also at risk

... Americans and other travelers to such areas may also be exposed to these disease-causing organisms. To better gauge illnesses following travel to the tropics and subtropics, the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network, a network of travel/tropical medicine clinics on six continents, was established in 1995. A new ...

tropics in Medical Technology

Researchers Find Surprising Pattern of Influenza Spread in South America and Tropics

BETHESDA, Md., March 20, 2007--Researchers studying influenza transmission patterns in the Southern Hemisphere and in tropical areas, specifically Brazil, uncovered the unexpected finding that each season influenza travels from low populated regions near the equator to the more populated centers. ...

U.S. Navy and U.S. Army to Develop Dengue DNA Vaccine Formulated With Vical's Vaxfectin(R) Adjuvant

...Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) under sponsorship of the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA). "Dengue is the scourge of the tropics today, just as yellow fever was before the widespread use of an effective vaccine," said Vijay B. Samant, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vic...

tropics in Medical Dictionary

Tropical sprue

... sprue is a digestive problem that occurs in the tropics and subtropics. ... Tropical sprue is a di...of nutrients (malabsorption) that is common in the tropics and subtropics. Abdominal cramps; Diarrhea, wo...of nutrients (malabsorption) that is common in the tropics and subtropics. Tropical sprue is a malab...

Tropical Diseases

... disease , the U.S. military, ... Tropical Infectious Diseases The tropics are usually defined as that part of the equatorial world bounded by the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn Tropical diseases and in particular Malaria...

Tinea versicolor

...Body Forever, In Less Than 5 Days ... Tinea Versicolor Warning: Don't Use Any Products or ... Tinea versicolor is common year-round in the tropics and subtropics and is seen ... Tinea versicolor occurs more often in teenagers and young adults and appears on ... Tinea versicolor is cau...

Sprue

... ... InteliHealth - Featuring Harvard Medical School's consumer health information. ... Tropical sprue is a digestive problem that occurs in the tropics and subtropics. ... Celiac disease is an inherited, autoimmune disease in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged from eating glu...

Miliaria

... Miliaria is a skin disease marked by small and itchy rashes. Miliaria is a common ailment in hot and humid conditions, such as in the tropics and during the summer season. Although it affects people of all ages, it is especially common in children and infants due to... Miliaria is th...

Hookworm Infection

...uman. Two species of hookworms commonly infect humans, Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator... INTRODUCTION Hookworm infections are common in the tropics and subtropics 1~2 1,2. ... Hypobiosis and related phenomena in hookworm infection . ... Review Article from The New England Journal of Medicin...

Hookworm

...s ... Features cause, risk factors, symptoms, tests, treatment, complications, and prevention. ... Hookworm disease is widespread in the moist tropics and subtropics, ... A hookworm is any of a number of small, parasitic nematodes (roundworms) of the ... aspects of hookworm infections. 9 Refe...

Endemic

...iseases from becoming pandamic? ... endemic adj. Prevalent in or peculiar to a particular locality, region, or people: diseases endemic to the tropics ... use the word endemic in a sentence? Read ... Endemic - Definition of Endemic at Dictionary.com a free online ... or confined to a partic...

Dengue

...ts unexpectedly with... The Dengue virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae and is transmitted ... Dengue is mainly found in the tropics because the mosquitoes require a ... Dengue occurs in most tropical areas of the world. ... There is no specific treatment for dengue . ... ...

tropics in Biological News

Nitrogen pollution boosts plant growth in tropics by 20 percent

Irvine, Calif., Feb. 6, 2008 A study by UC Irvine ecologists finds that excess nitrogen in tropical forests boosts plant growth by an average of 20 percent, countering the belief that such forests would not respond to nitrogen pollution. Faster plant growth means the tropics will take in more ...

More species in the tropics because species have been there longer

Why are there more species in the tropics than in the temperate regions of the globe? Many of the world's species live in the tropics (perhaps more than half), but the reason has been debated for more than 100 years. Many researchers have hypothesized that climatic factors somehow cause species ...

Tryptophan deficiency may underlie quinine side effects

... humans cannot make their own tryptophan and thus require dietary tryptophan, which is abundant in meat but limited in yams, a staple food crop in the tropics where malaria is prevalent. If quinine severely reduces tryptophan uptake, then it follows that people with preexisting tryptophan deficiencies would ...

Fossil teeth of browsing horse found in Panama Canal earthworks

...a team of researchers and students who move in following dynamite blasts to map and collect exposed fossils. "This is one of very few places in the tropics where we have access to fresh outcrops before they are washed away by torrential rains or overgrown by vegetation, and we expect the fossils that we h...

Hunt for 'climate-ready' crops accelerates as organizations search seed collections worldwide

...ury, scientists now predict that temperatures during growing seasons in the tropics and subtropics are destined to be even hotter than what are now considered ...by the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid tropics for resistance against multiple diseases, including downy mildew and head s...

Stanford scientists find heat-tolerant coral reefs that may resist climate change

...ocean acidity, the frequency of weather events and sea-surface temperature. Oliver then compiled dozens of coral reef studies from across the tropics and compared them to Arrigo's environmental data. The results revealed the same pattern: In regions where annual maximum ocean temperatures were above...

Fire is important part of global climate change, report scientists

... and more frequent fires from the western U.S. to the tropics. There are "fires where we don't normally see fires," she says, noting that in the humid tropics a lot of deforestation fires are occurring, usually to expand agriculture or cattle ranching. "Wet rainforests have not historically experienced fires...

Genes from tiny algae shed light on big role managing carbon in world's oceans

...hly a 50th of the width of a human hair, are one of the few globally distributed marine algal species, thriving throughout the world's oceans from the tropics to the poles. They capture CO 2 , sunlight, water, and nutrients and produce carbohydrates and oxygen. Their productivitywhich provides food resourc...

Ecologists question effects of climate change on infectious diseases

...s, will be the key to distributing resources effectively, he says. Scientists have used the fact that infectious diseases are most prevalent in the tropics to argue that warmer, wetter conditions that might occur under climate change would lead to an increase in infectious disease transmission. However, ...

AGU journal highlights -- March 25, 2009

...ilation to determine the sensitivity of the model to fluctuations in physical variables. Their results reveal that oceanic thermal feedback beyond the tropics is an important process influencing the North Atlantic Oscillation, providing a better understanding of the factors affecting climate variations in th...

tropics in Biological Technology

Comprehensive Jatropha Standards Mandatory in Optimum Long-term Biofuel Efficacy

...tation of Degraded Lands Expert panelists for the conference will include individuals from the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid tropics (ICRISAT), Copernicus Institute & Fact Foundation and top executives from The Global Exchange for Social Investment and Agroils. To attend Ja...

Novel compound may treat acute diarrhea

... salt from the intestine could save infant lives in developing regions and alleviate suffering that would otherwise be experienced by travelers to the tropics and subtropics," DuPont said. Travelers' diarrhea affects millions of people annually. The promising treatment is the result of a 30-year invest...

Who is this Adam Bock Person, Anyway?

...O. ( Gentil Organisateur) leading activities like rollerblading, soccer, volleyball, and other sports. Dont be fooled spending all day outside in the tropics playing games sounds great, but after two weeks of being on from 7am until 11pm, it becomes a job. Dancing in the disco until the wee hours is fun whe...

tropics in Biological Definition

Biodiversity

...essures of the growing human population, human activity in many of these areas is increasing dramatically. Most of these hotspots are located in the tropics . Some examples are: Brazil is said to represent 1/5 of the world biodiversity, with 50,000 plant species, 5,000 vertebrates, 10-15 million i...

Charles Darwin

...nd advice he was in no rush to take holy orders. Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt 's Personal Narrative he wanted to study natural history in the tropics and planned to visit Madeira with some class-mates upon graduation. Knowing the need for geological skills, Henslow introduced Charles to the great ...

Malaria

...arsh fever in English ) is an infectious disease which in humans causes about 500 million infections and 2 million deaths annually, mainly in the tropics and sub-Saharan Africa . Malaria is caused by the protozoan parasite , Plasmodium (one of the Apicomplexa ) and the transmission vec...

Thermoregulation

...l is observed. In travelling from very cold to very hot regions a variation of less than one degree occurs, and the temperature of those living in the tropics is practically identical with those dwelling in the Arctic regions. Limits compatible with life There are limits both of heat and cold that a...

tropics in Biological Dictionary

Secondary growth

... be formed before secondary growth can occur ... A secondary forest (or second- growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which ... In the tropics growth of new forests from abandoned farmland greatly exceeds ... Secondary growth is due to the activity of two lateral ... have primary ...

Geographic distribution

... Geographic distribution of S. mansoni. ... Geographic Distribution . Fig. 41.1. The geographic distribution of Burkitt's lymphoma in the tropics ... influencing it's current geographical distribution . ... Geographic distribution of snowfall for each event was determined by identifying ...