PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Scientists clock on to how sunlight shapes daily rhythms

Fresh insight into how biological clocks adjust to having less sunlight in the winter could help us better understand the impact of jet lag and shift work

2010-11-23
(Press-News.org) Fresh insight into how biological clocks adjust to having less sunlight in the winter could help us better understand the impact of jet lag and shift work.

Scientists studying the daily activity cycle in plants – known as circadian rhythms – have discovered a finely tuned process that enables the plant's genes to respond to the times of dawn and dusk each day, as well as the length of daylight in between.

This system helps the plant to reset its internal clock every day in response to seasonal changes in daylight, which helps the plant control the timing of key activities such as growth and flowering.

The findings shed light on how living things, including people, respond to patterns of daylight, and how our bodies respond when our daily rhythms are interrupted, for example by global travel or unsociable working hours.

Circadian rhythms – which are found in most living things – influence many biological functions that vary throughout the day. In people, these include sleepiness, body temperature, blood pressure, and physical strength.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh used mathematical models to show how much the plants' rhythms accounted for dawn and dusk as well as day length.

The study, published in Molecular Systems Biology, was carried out with the Universities of Warwick and Central Lancashire and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Professor Andrew Millar of the University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences, who led the study, said: "Our results give us valuable information on how plants – and people – respond to changing lengths of day. It could give a new way to understand how to cope when our daily rhythms of light and dark are interrupted."

INFORMATION:

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Bacteria help infants digest milk more effectively than adults

2010-11-23
Infants are more efficient at digesting and utilizing nutritional components of milk than adults due to a difference in the strains of bacteria that dominate their digestive tracts. Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and Utah State University report on genomic analysis of these strains in the November 2010 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology identifying the genes that are most likely responsible for this difference. "Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are the third-largest solid component of milk. Their structural complexity ...

Hong Kong hospital reports possible airborne influenza transmission

2010-11-23
Direct contact and droplets are the primary ways influenza spreads. Under certain conditions, however, aerosol transmission is possible. In a study published in the current issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, available online (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/656743), the authors examined such an outbreak in their own hospital in Hong Kong. On April 4, 2008, seven inpatients in the hospital's general medical ward developed fever and respiratory symptoms. Ultimately, nine inpatients exhibited influenza-like symptoms and tested positive for influenza ...

Researchers kick-start ancient DNA

Researchers kick-start ancient DNA
2010-11-23
BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University researchers recently revived ancient bacteria trapped for thousands of years in water droplets embedded in salt crystals. For decades, geologists have looked at these water droplets — called fluid inclusions — and wondered whether microbes could be extracted from them. Fluid inclusions have been found inside salt crystals ranging in age from thousands to hundreds of millions years old. But there has always been a question about whether the organisms cultured from salt crystals are genuinely ancient material or whether they are ...

MU scientist develops salmonella test that makes food safer, reduce recalls

MU scientist develops salmonella test that makes food safer, reduce recalls
2010-11-23
VIDEO: University of Missouri researchers have created a new test for salmonella in poultry and eggs that will produce faster and more accurate results than most currently available tests. Click here for more information. COLUMBIA, Mo. –Earlier this year, an outbreak of salmonella caused by infected eggs resulted in thousands of illnesses before a costly recall could be implemented. Now, University of Missouri researchers have created a new test for salmonella in poultry ...

Cutting-edge salivary diagnostics research presented at AADR 3rd Fall Focused Symposium

2010-11-23
Alexandria, Va. – The American Association for Dental Research (AADR) held its 3rd Fall Focused Symposium on November 12-13, in the Washington, DC, area. This year, the theme was the fast-moving field of Salivary Diagnostics, with a focus on Scientific & Clinical Frontiers. The symposium was sold-out, but AADR also offered a live Webinar broadcast of the oral sessions. AADR created the Fall Focused Symposium under the objective to provide networking opportunities and exchange of ideas, and to offer small regional symposia focused on cutting-edge technology and techniques. ...

Speed heals

Speed heals
2010-11-23
Both the rate and direction of axon growth in the spinal cord can be controlled, according to new research by USC College's Samantha Butler and her collaborators. The study, "The Bone Morphogenetic Protein Roof Plate Chemorepellent Regulates the Rate of Commissural Axonal Growth," by Butler; lead researcher Keith Phan and graduate students Virginia Hazen and Michele Frendo of USC College; and Zhengping Jia of the University of Toronto, was published online in the November 17 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Butler, assistant professor of biological sciences, found ...

New tool detects Ebola, Marburg quickly, easily

2010-11-23
BOSTON (11-22-10) -- Boston University researchers have developed a simple diagnostic tool that can quickly identify dangerous viruses like Ebola and Marburg. The biosensor, which is the size of a quarter and can detect viruses in a blood sample, could be used in developing nations, airports and other places where natural or man-made outbreaks could erupt. "By enabling ultra-portable and fast detection, our technology can directly impact the course of our reaction against bio-terrorism threats and dramatically improve our capability to confine viral outbreaks," said Assistant ...

Ultrathin alternative to silicon for future electronics

Ultrathin alternative to silicon for future electronics
2010-11-23
There's good news in the search for the next generation of semiconductors. Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, have successfully integrated ultra-thin layers of the semiconductor indium arsenide onto a silicon substrate to create a nanoscale transistor with excellent electronic properties. A member of the III–V family of semiconductors, indium arsenide offers several advantages as an alternative to silicon including superior electron mobility and velocity, ...

Hybrid tugboat cuts emissions, University of California, Riverside study shows

2010-11-23
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) --A new study by University of California, Riverside scientists of what is believed to be the world's only hybrid electric tugboat found that the vessel is effective in reducing emissions at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Researchers at the UC Riverside College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) demonstrated the hybrid electric tugboat reduces emissions of soot by about 73 percent, oxides of nitrogen (which help cause smog) by 51 percent, and carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, ...

Overweight primarily a problem among wealthier women in low- to middle-income countries

2010-11-23
Boston, MA – A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) finds that high body mass index (BMI) in developing countries remains primarily a problem of the rich. The findings suggest that the shift towards overweight and obesity among the poor that has already happened in wealthier countries has not yet happened in developing countries. The study appears in an advance online edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and will appear in an upcoming print edition. "Previous research on the increasing overweight and obesity burden in developing countries ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Multi-energy X-ray curved surface imaging-with multi-layer in-situ grown scintillators

Metasurface enables compact and high-sensitivity atomic magnetometer

PFAS presence confirmed in the blood of children in Gipuzkoa

Why do people believe lies?

SwRI installs private 5G network for research, development, testing and evaluation

A new perspective in bone metabolism: Targeting the lysosome–iron–mitochondria axis for osteoclast regulation

Few military spouses use formal support services during, after deployment

Breakthrough in the hunt for light dark matter: QROCODILE project reveals world-leading constraints

2D x-ray imaging technique reveals hidden processes in CO2 electrolyzers

Rational high entropy doping strategy via modular in-situ/post solvothermal doping integration for microwave absorption

Circular Economy has been officially included in the ESCI

Recent advances in exciton-polariton in perovskite

Efficacy and safety of GLP-1 RAs in children and adolescents with obesity or type 2 diabetes

Over-the-counter sales of overdose reversal drug naloxone decline after initial surge

Global trends and disparities in social isolation

Country of birth, race, ethnicity, and prenatal depression

Kissick Family Foundation, Milken Institute announce $2 million in funding for frontotemporal dementia research and new call for proposals

Mayo Clinic study reveals hidden causes of heart attacks in younger adults, especially women

Target: BP initiative helps more than 10M adults with hypertension

New initiative launched to improve care for people with certain types of heart failure

You’ve never seen corn like this before

Mediterranean diet could reduce gum disease

Mount Sinai launches cardiac catheterization artificial intelligence research lab

Why AI is never going to run the world

Stress in the strands: Hair offers clues to children’s mental health

UCLA distinguished professor, CVD researcher to receive 2025 Basic Research Prize

UT San Antonio School of Public Health: The People’s School

‘Preventable deaths will continue’ without action to make NHS more accessible for autistic people, say experts

Scientists shoot lasers into brain cells to uncover how illusions work

Your ecosystem engineer was a dinosaur

[Press-News.org] Scientists clock on to how sunlight shapes daily rhythms
Fresh insight into how biological clocks adjust to having less sunlight in the winter could help us better understand the impact of jet lag and shift work