New technique may help assess how plastic pollution impacts wildlife
2014-11-04
(Press-News.org) By swabbing oil from a gland located at the end of a seabird's tail and analyzing the sample with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, researchers have developed a way to measure wildlife's exposure to plastics.
The minimally invasive technique will prove useful for detecting plastics exposure at population and species levels. Such monitoring is increasingly important as annual plastics production continues to rise—production has increased from less than 2 tons per year in the 1950s to nearly 280 million tons in 2011.
"We're excited about this new method we've developed and we are collaborating with BirdLife International, Oikonos and other seabird biologists as we hope to assess population- and species-level impacts to plastics exposure at the global scale," said Dr. Britta Hardesty, lead author of the Methods in Ecology and Evolution study. "We hope that by applying this approach, we can provide critical information needed to inform policy makers and citizens about the impacts of our plastic litter."
INFORMATION:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2014-11-04
Across Europe, the population of common birds has declined rapidly over the last 30 years, while some of the less abundant species are stable or increasing in number.
The findings, which come from a 30-year data set of 144 bird species, are worrisome because the most common species of birds provide most of the benefits for humans, for example by controlling agricultural pest species, dispersing seeds, and simply providing beautiful birdsongs.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that interaction with the natural world and wildlife is central to human wellbeing, and significant ...
2014-11-04
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Whooping cough, a highly contagious bacterial infection, can be serious and even fatal in newborns, but less than half of birthing hospitals in Michigan included prevention information on websites, says a new University of Michigan analysis that appears in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The majority of Michigan birthing hospitals (64%) had no information about Tdap vaccination to prevent whooping cough in babies; among those that did have information, it typically required searching for the term pertussis or whooping cough.
"Newborns ...
2014-11-04
The physics community has spent three decades searching for and finding no evidence that dark matter is made of tiny exotic particles. Case Western Reserve University theoretical physicists suggest researchers consider looking for candidates more in the ordinary realm and, well, more massive.
Dark matter is unseen matter, that, combined with normal matter, could create the gravity that, among other things, prevents spinning galaxies from flying apart. Physicists calculate that dark matter comprises 27 percent of the universe; normal matter 5 percent.
Instead of WIMPS, ...
2014-11-04
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For the first time, toddlers with autism have demonstrated significant improvement after intensive intervention by parents rather than clinicians, according to a new Florida State University study published online in the journal Pediatrics.
"We've come up with a treatment model that can teach parents to support their child's learning during everyday activities, and we've documented that the children improved their developmental level, social communication skills and autism symptoms," said Amy Wetherby, director of the Autism Institute at Florida ...
2014-11-04
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...November 4 2014 -- With the world facing a shortage of oncologists, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers have determined that preclinical study of oncology may increase the number of students entering the field and may make them more empathetic and concerned about ethical issues of treatment.
The study was published in the journal, Academic Medicine, and led by Dr. Leeat Granek, an assistant professor and health psychologist in BGU's Department of Public Health and Prof. Samuel Ariad, head of the Oncology Department at Soroka University ...
2014-11-04
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...November 4, 2014 -- In the largest MRI study to date, researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Carnegie Mellon University have shown that the brain anatomy in MRI scans of people with autism above age six is mostly indistinguishable from that of typically developing individuals and, therefore, of little clinical or scientific value.
The study, "Anatomical Abnormalities in Autism?" was just published in the prestigious Oxford journal Cerebral Cortex.
"Our findings offer definitive answers regarding several scientific controversies ...
2014-11-04
NEW ORLEANS (November 4, 2014)—Starting with a simple DNA swab taken from fang marks on people bitten by snakes, an international research team correctly identified the species of the biting snake 100 percent of the time in a first-of-its-kind clinical study, according to data presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's (ASTMH) Annual Meeting.
The study, conducted at three medical facilities in Nepal, found that if snake DNA could be isolated from the bite wound, the test identified the species of snake responsible every time.
"These ...
2014-11-04
Philadelphia, PA (November 4, 2014) — Obesity in a pregnant woman may increase the risk that her children will be born with congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract, according to a study that will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2014 November 11¬–16 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.
Congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are diagnosed in up to 1% of pregnancies and account for 20% to 30% of prenatal abnormalities. Because maternal obesity has been linked with congenital malformations in ...
2014-11-04
NEW ORLEANS (November 4, 2014)—Across a broad swath of the southern United States, residents face a tangible but mostly unrecognized risk of contracting Chagas disease—a stealthy parasitic infection that can lead to severe heart disease and death—according to new research presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting.
Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) is typically spread to people through the feces of blood-sucking triatomine bugs sometimes called "kissing bugs" because they feed on people's ...
2014-11-04
WASHINGTON, DC – November 4, 2014 – Filoviruses like Ebola "edit" genetic material as they invade their hosts, according to a study published this week in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The work, by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Galveston National Laboratory, and the J. Craig Venter Institute, could lead to a better understanding of these viruses, paving the way for new treatments down the road.
Using a laboratory technique called deep sequencing, investigators set out to ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] New technique may help assess how plastic pollution impacts wildlife
