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

UNH research: More than one way for animals to survive climate change

2021-05-06
(Press-News.org) DURHAM, N.H.-- As climate change continues to trigger the rise in temperature, increase drier conditions and shift precipitation patterns, adapting to new conditions will be critical for the long-term survival of most species. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that to live in hotter more desert-like surroundings, and exist without water, there is more than one genetic mechanism allowing animals to adapt. This is important not only for their survival but may also provide important biomedical groundwork to develop gene therapies to treat human dehydration related illnesses, like kidney disease.

"To reference a familiar phrase, it tells us that there is more than one way to bake a cake," said Jocelyn Colella, a postdoctoral researcher in evolutionary biology. "In other words, there are several ways for animals to adapt to desert conditions and discovering this genetic flexibility offers a silver lining to all species that will increasingly be forced to acclimate to hotter, drier settings."

In their END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Aluminum may affect climate change by increasing ocean's carbon sink capacity

Aluminum may affect climate change by increasing oceans carbon sink capacity
2021-05-06
Reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero as soon as possible and achieving "carbon neutrality" is the key to addressing global warming and climate change. The ocean is the largest active carbon pool on the planet, with huge potential to help achieve negative emissions by serving as a carbon sink. Recently, researchers found that adding a small amount of aluminum to achieve concentrations in the 10x nanomolar (nM) range can increase the net fixation of CO2 by marine diatoms and decrease their decomposition, thus improving the ocean's ability to absorb CO2 and sequester ...

Low achieving students benefit most from COVID-19 online switch

2021-05-06
Students struggling academically benefited most when schools around the world transitioned from classroom teaching to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the switch also didn't negatively impact higher achievers. A new study has analysed the impact of online learning during the pandemic by crunching data at three middle schools in China, which administered different educational practices for about 7 weeks during the country's Covid-19 lockdown. Online learning was shown to have a positive impact on overall student performance when compared to not receiving any support from school during lockdown, and the best results were achieved by ...

Worth 1000 words: How the world saw Australia's black summer

Worth 1000 words: How the world saw Australias black summer
2021-05-06
Australia's 'black summer' of bushfires was depicted on the front pages of the world's media with images of wildlife and habitat destruction, caused by climate change, while in Australia the toll on ordinary people remained the visual front-page focus. QUT visual communication researcher Dr TJ Thomson compared the front-page bushfire imagery of the Sydney Morning Herald over three months from November 10, 2019 to January 31 2020 with 119 front pages from international media from the start of January, when the world sat up and took notice, to January 31. "The international sample of front pages included the Americas and Europe (about 90 per cent) representing Australia's 'black summer'. Asia represented around 7 per cent of the international ...

First nanoscale look at a reaction that limits the efficiency of generating hydrogen fuel

2021-05-06
Transitioning from fossil fuels to a clean hydrogen economy will require cheaper and more efficient ways to use renewable sources of electricity to break water into hydrogen and oxygen. But a key step in that process, known as the oxygen evolution reaction or OER, has proven to be a bottleneck. Today it's only about 75% efficient, and the precious metal catalysts used to accelerate the reaction, like platinum and iridium, are rare and expensive. Now an international team led by scientists at Stanford University and the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has developed a ...

Microalgae biofuels: Changing carbohydrates into lipids

Microalgae biofuels: Changing carbohydrates into lipids
2021-05-06
A cross-institutional collaboration has developed a technique to repartition carbon resources from carbohydrates to lipids in microalgae. It is hoped that this method can be applied to biofuel production. This discovery was the result of a collaboration between a research group at Kobe University's Engineering Biology Research Center consisting of Project Assistant Professor KATO Yuichi and Professor HASUNUMA Tomohisa et al., and Senior Researcher SATOH Katsuya et al. at the Takasaki Advanced Radiation Research Institute of the Quantum Beam Science Research Directorate ...

WHO 'needs to act' on suicides caused by pesticides

WHO needs to act on suicides caused by pesticides
2021-05-06
Scientists are calling for more stringent pesticide bans to lower deaths caused by deliberately ingesting toxic agricultural chemicals, which account for one fifth of global suicides. A NHMRC funded study, in which the University of South Australia analysed the patient plasma pesticide concentrations, has identified discrepancies in World Health Organization (WHO) classifications of pesticide hazards that are based on animal doses rather than human data. As a result, up to five potentially lethal pesticides are still being used in developing countries in the Asia Pacific, where self-poisonings account for up to two thirds of suicides. In ...

Epilepsy research reveals why sleep increases risk of sudden death

Epilepsy research reveals why sleep increases risk of sudden death
2021-05-06
New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals why sleep can put people with epilepsy at increased risk of sudden death. Both sleep and seizures work together to slow the heart rate, the researchers found. Seizures also disrupt the body's natural regulation of sleep-related changes. Together, in some instances, this can prove deadly, causing Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy, or SUDEP. "We have been trying to better understand the cardiac changes around the time of a seizure in patients with epilepsy. When we looked ...

Novel tool could fast-track cell discoveries

2021-05-06
Proteins are the workhorses of cells, responsible for almost all biological functions that make life possible. Understanding how specific proteins work is key to disease prevention and treatment, allowing us to lead longer, healthier lives. Yet scientists still know nothing or very little about thousands of proteins that exist in our bodies and their role in keeping us alive. Now researchers from Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University have uncovered a new protein analysis tool - coined the Bacterial Growth Inhibition Screen (BGIS) - that could fast-track the process of assessing proteins. The tool allows for quick and efficient basic characterisation of protein function with no special equipment or cost involved. Dr Ferdinand Kappes of XJTLU's ...

Zero to hero: Overlooked material could help reduce our carbon footprint

Zero to hero: Overlooked material could help reduce our carbon footprint
2021-05-06
It is now well known that carbon dioxide is the biggest contributor to climate change and originates primarily from burning of fossil fuels. While there are ongoing efforts around the world to end our dependence on fossil fuels as energy sources, the promise of green energy still lies in the future. Can something be done in the meantime to reduce the concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere? It would, in fact, be great if the CO2 in the atmosphere could simply be adsorbed! Turns out, this is exactly what direct air capture (DAC), or the capture of CO2 under ambient conditions, aims to do. However, no such material with the ability to adsorb CO2 efficiently under DAC ...

Alzheimer's study: A Mediterranean diet might protect against memory loss and dementia

2021-05-06
In Alzheimer's disease, neurons in the brain die. Largely responsible for the death of neurons are certain protein deposits in the brains of affected individuals: So-called beta-amyloid proteins, which form clumps (plaques) between neurons, and tau proteins, which stick together the inside of neurons. The causes of these deposits are as yet unclear. In addition, a rapidly progressive atrophy, i.e. a shrinking of the brain volume, can be observed in affected persons. Alzheimer's symptoms such as memory loss, disorientation, agitation and challenging behavior are the consequences. Scientists at the DZNE led by Prof. Michael Wagner, head of a research group at the DZNE and senior ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Licensed to live

How to survive the explosion of AI slop

GDF-15 and eGFRdiff: Predicting kidney risk and survival in diabetes mellitus

Detecting cancer cells in blood: the development of microchannel devices with microcone arrays

SLAS Discovery: Advancing tools for cancer fibrosis and drug discovery

Researchers create ‘virtual scientists’ to solve complex biological problems

AI-Powered brain stimulation at home could enhance concentration, new research finds

Carbon-based molecules open new pathways for quantum sensing

Immunotherapy for leukemia may affect the bone marrow environment, cancer researchers find

World’s largest tropical peatlands revealed to be more than 40,000 years old

Pick up the pace of your daily walk to boost longevity, experts say

Normal hormone levels trigger severe depression in some women; researcher discovers mechanism

Mexican neuroscientist identifies glutamate biomarker predicting schizophrenia treatment success

Living brain tissue reveals 80% of genes behave differently than assumed

How much time did our ancestors spend up trees? Studying these chimpanzees might help us find out

Discovery of role of gut hormone in chronic diarrhoea could aid development of new tests and treatments

New discovery reveals the spinal cord’s role in bladder control

Kākāpō decline reveals threat of parasite coextinction

Astrocytes identified as hidden culprit behind PTSD

Offering self-collection kits in routine GP appointments could prevent 1,000 women a year from developing cervical cancer

European study offers clearer picture of childhood brain tumor survival

The Lancet: Three in five liver cancer cases due to preventable risk factors; obesity-linked cases on the rise, new analysis suggest

Tiny artificial cells can keep time, study finds

How aging quiets lupus and brings relief to some older patients

Research alert: Synergistic treatment approach supercharges cancer immunotherapy

White veteran high users of online portal generate and exchange more messages than certain patient minorities in the Veterans Health Administration

Web-based tool helps Michigan physicians navigate diabetes coverage and prior authorization

Most primary care patients with opioid use disorder who start treatment stay engaged

U.S.-born Latinos have higher rates of obesity compared to foreign-born Latino and white youth

Study finds veterans experiencing homelessness who gain housing are more likely to get colorectal and breast cancer screenings

[Press-News.org] UNH research: More than one way for animals to survive climate change