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

Environment: Seagrass meadows may facilitate marine plastic removal from the sea

2021-01-14
(Press-News.org) Underwater seagrass meadows may trap, extract and carry marine plastic debris to shore, thereby helping to remove plastic litter from the sea, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

Previous research suggested that most plastics end up in the seafloor and that some are washed back to shore; however, how this occurs was unclear.

Seagrass meadows are widespread in shallow coastal waters and are involved in trapping and binding sediment particles that form the seabed. To assess the role that seagrass may have in trapping and removing marine plastic, Anna Sanchez-Vidal and colleagues measured the amount of plastic debris collected from seagrass litter from four beaches in Mallorca, Spain, between 2018 and 2019. Mallorca has extensive seagrass meadows and high levels of plastic near the shore. The authors found plastic debris among 50% of 42 loose seagrass leaf samples and intertwined in 17% of 198 balls of seagrass fibers, known as aegagropilae or Neptune balls. Up to 613 and 1,470 plastic items were found per kg of loose leaves and Neptune balls, respectively.

Using this data and estimates of seagrass fiber production in the Mediterranean, the authors propose that Mediterranean seagrass meadows may trap up to 867 million plastic items in Neptune balls alone each year, although the number of these carried to shore and the fate of plastic once washed ashore is unknown.

The findings suggest that seagrass meadows may help counteract marine plastic pollution. As previous research found that seagrass areas in the Mediterranean Sea have decreased by 13 to 50% since 1960, seagrass meadow conservation should remain a priority, according to the authors.

INFORMATION:

Article details

Seagrasses provide a novel ecosystem service by trapping marine plastics

DOI:

10.1038/s41598-020-79370-3

Corresponding Author:

Anna Sanchez-Vidal
University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Email: anna.sanchez@ub.edu

Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79370-3



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New method makes better predictions of material properties using low quality data

New method makes better predictions of material properties using low quality data
2021-01-14
Advancements in energy technologies, healthcare, semiconductors and food production all have one thing in common: they rely on developing new materials--new combinations of atoms--that have specific properties enabling them to perform a needed function. In the not-too-distant past, the only way to know what properties a material had was by performing experimental measurements or using very expensive computations. More recently, scientists have been using machine learning algorithms to rapidly predict the properties that certain arrangements of atoms would have. The challenge with this approach is it requires a lot of highly accurate data to train the model, which often does not exist. By combining large ...

Retinal cell transplant clears experimental hurdle toward treating blindness

Retinal cell transplant clears experimental hurdle toward treating blindness
2021-01-14
Retinal cells derived from adult human eye stem cells survived when transplanted into the eyes of monkeys, an important early step in the validation of this approach for treating blindness, according to a study by Liu, et al recently published in Stem Cell Reports. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a layer of pigmented cells in the retina, is essential for sustaining normal vision. Blindness due to RPE dysfunction, such as macular degeneration, affects about 200 million people worldwide. To restore this population of cells, researchers extracted retinal stem cells from donated cadaver adult eyes, grew them into RPE cells and transplanted them into the eyes of monkeys. ...

Scientists take important step toward using retinal cell transplants to treat blindness

2021-01-14
Retinal cells derived from a cadaver human eye survived when transplanted into the eyes of primate models, an important advance in the development of cell therapy to treat blindness, according to a study published on January 14 in Stem Cell Reports. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), a layer of pigmented cells in the retina, functions as a barrier and regulator in the eye to maintain normal vision. RPE dysfunction can lead to eye disorders including macular degeneration and can cause blindness, which affects about 200 million people worldwide. To restore this population of cells, ...

Experts reduce search times for novel high-entropy alloys 13,000-fold using Cuckoo Search

Experts reduce search times for novel high-entropy alloys 13,000-fold using Cuckoo Search
2021-01-14
A major roadblock to computational design of high-entropy alloys has been removed, according to scientists at Iowa State University and Lehigh University. Engineers from the Ames Lab and Lehigh University's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics have developed a process that reduces search time used for predictive design 13,000-fold. According to Ganesh Balasubramanian, an associate professor at Lehigh, the goal of the team's research was to accelerate the computational modeling of complex alloys. The tools available for creating random distribution of atoms in materials simulation models, he says, have been used for many, many years now and are limited in ...

Cancer screening tests, cancer diagnoses during COVID-19 pandemic

2021-01-14
What The Study Did: The number of patients undergoing cancer screening tests and of subsequent cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in the largest health care system in the northeastern United States was assessed in this study. Authors: Toni K. Choueiri, M.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Quoc-Dien Trinh, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, are the corresponding authors. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.7600) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict ...

Socioeconomic disparities in patient use of telehealth during COVID-19 surge

2021-01-14
What The Study Did: Which demographic and socioeconomic factors were associated with patient participation in telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic surge was examined in this observational study. Authors: Ilaaf Darrat, M.D., M.B.A., of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2020.5161) Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, ...

Progression of myopia in children after COVID-19 home confinement

2021-01-14
What The Study Did: Researchers investigated the association of home confinement during the COVID-19 outbreak with myopia (nearsightedness) development in school-age children in China. Authors: Xuehan Qian, M.D., Ph.D., of Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital in Tianjin, China, is the corresponding author. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License. © 2021 Wang J et al. JAMA Ophthalmology.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2020.6239) Editor's Note: The ...

Flip the script: cardiac rehabilitation is underused, but a simple change could fix that

2021-01-14
Cardiac rehabilitation is a therapy that combines guided exercise along with heart-healthy lifestyle education that can be life-saving for the majority of people who have had a major cardiac event, such as a heart attack. However, it is underutilized in the United States, with many hospitals referring just 20 percent or fewer of their eligible patients, largely because the referral process can be cumbersome. But new research shows that implementing a simple, easy to use "opt-out" pathway in the electronic health record drastically increased the rate of referrals, which could lead to fewer rehospitalizations and even lowered mortality. Led by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine ...

Comparing reactions of flu vaccines in older adults

2021-01-14
What The Study Did: Researchers in this randomized clinical trial compared injection-site pain and other reactions among adults age 65 and older who received flu vaccines. Author: Kenneth E. Schmader, M.D., of the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.31266) Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and ...

Not as simple as thought: How bacteria form membrane vesicles

Not as simple as thought: How bacteria form membrane vesicles
2021-01-14
Tsukuba, Japan - Bacteria have the ability to form membrane vesicles to communicate with each other, but also to defend themselves against antibiotics. In a new study, researchers from the University of Tsukuba discovered a novel mechanism by which mycolic acid-containing bacteria, a specific group of bacteria with a special type of cell membrane, form membrane vesicles. Bacteria have traditionally been classified on the basis of the composition of their cell envelopes. For example, microbiologists employ Gram staining to differentiate between bacteria that have a thick (Gram-positive) or thin (Gram-negative) cell wall. While bacterial membranes mostly act as protective barriers, they can also form protrusions to make membrane vesicles with diverse biological functions. ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Adults 65 years and older not immune to the opioid epidemic, new study finds

Artificial intelligence emerging as powerful patient safety tool in pediatric anesthesia

Mother’s ZIP code, lack of access to prenatal care can negatively impact baby’s health at birth, new studies show

American Society of Anesthesiologists honors John M. Zerwas, M.D., FASA, with Distinguished Service Award

A centimeter-scale quadruped piezoelectric robot with high integration and strong robustness

Study confirms that people with ADHD can be more creative. The reason may be that they let their mind wander

Research gives insight into effect of neurodegenerative diseases on speech rhythm

Biochar and plants join forces to clean up polluted soils and boost ecosystem recovery

Salk scientist Joseph Ecker awarded McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies

ADHD: Women are diagnosed five years later than men, despite symptoms appearing at the same age.

Power plants may emit more pollution during government shutdowns

Increasing pressures for conformity de-skilling and demotivating teachers, study warns

Researchers develop smarter menstrual product with potential for wearable health monitoring

Microwaves for energy-efficient chemical reactions

MXene current collectors could reduce size, improve recyclability of Li-ion batteries

Living near toxic sites linked to aggressive breast cancer

New discovery could open door to male birth control

Wirth elected Fellow of American Physical Society

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: October 10, 2025

Destined to melt

Attitudes, not income, drive energy savings at home

The playbook for perfect polaritons

‘Disease in a dish’ study of progressive MS finds critical role for unusual type of brain cell

Solar-powered method lights the way to a ‘de-fossilized’ chemical industry

Screen time linked to lower academic achievement among Ontario elementary students

One-year outcomes after traumatic brain injury and early extracranial surgery in the TRACK-TBI Study

Enduring outcomes of COVID-19 work absences on the US labor market

Affirmative action repeal and racial and ethnic diversity in us medical school admissions

Cancer progression illuminated by new multi-omics tool

Screen time and standardized academic achievement tests in elementary school

[Press-News.org] Environment: Seagrass meadows may facilitate marine plastic removal from the sea